Backyard Outdoor Fun

It was such a beautiful day today!  From this morning when Christian and I did our usual run - I got him to go 2 miles today at a 9 min/mile pace - to this evening as I cleaned up all the mess we'd made outside, I couldn't believe how perfect the weather was.  I wish it would never change.  Bella's scout troop had a virtual camp-out over zoom.  This means the scoutmaster drove around to everyone's house delivering supplies and then they participated in various activities together at scheduled times over zoom.  One was a mystery dinner - make a meal with the food she delivered and show pictures of it.  This was a bit of a bummer because Bella misunderstood when she was supposed to do it and ended up not getting it done in time.  However, we still ended up eating it and it was delicious.  Dandelion greens with great northern beans over sweet potatoes.  So yummy.  Well, most of us thought it was.  Benjamin thought it was awful.  They also had a virtual scavenger hunt - they emailed a list of items to find and the girls had to collect pictures of those items by a certain time.  She and I went on a walk with Peter around the neighborhood taking pictures - black car, red door, sign of an animal, winged bug, moss, etc.  It was wonderful to be outside and Peter had a great time too.  They also shared stories, jokes, and songs over zoom and did various other activities.  It was a very cute idea.  She was supposed to set up a tent in the backyard and sleep in it tonight, but she opted for the basement instead.  I'm not sure why, but I guess sleeping alone outside made her nervous.  I can't blame her.  So she's in a tent next to Christian in his bed. :)

Other things we did outside today were introducing Peter to soccer, playing on the trampoline, and designing an obstacle course.  Peter had a lot of fun with the soccer ball.  I'm excited for when he's able to stand and kick.  I think he'll love it.  He is becoming so much fun as he becomes less of an infant and more of a child.  He's clearly able to understand more language and responds when you ask him certain things.  If you ask him to point to his ear, he'll do it.  If you ask him if he's hungry, he'll look at the fridge and smile and laugh.  If you tell him you want to feed the fish, he'll look over at the fish tank.  If you say to go downstairs, he'll turn towards the stairs.  He can get up and down the stairs independently now.  He's crawling on hands and knees when the surface requires it, but he still prefers his "swiffer" style crawl, with two arms simultaneously for the hardwood floor.  Every day he tries new foods, both pureed and whole, and eats them all.  He is not picky at all.  Today he ate stuffed peppers (red pepper with a sausage/beef mixture), the dandelion greens and beans and sweet potato, bananas, rotisserie chicken, beets, cheerios, oatmeal, rice, pineapple, peaches, butternut squash, broccoli, carrots, and spinach. He's a champ.  He's also transitioned to only 1 nap/day most days.  I usually try to lay him down for a second nap in the later afternoon, but most days he refuses and I get him back up.  Soon I'll stop trying all together.  He seems fine most days until bed time.  During the night is a different story. He still wakes up and screams and cries 1-2 times a night.  Luckily, most nights it doesn't take too terribly long to calm him down.  Last week it was 60-90 minutes each time.  This week we're down to about 15 minutes.  Hopefully that continues to improve.

Christian and Benjamin's obstacle course was fun.  Run through the tires, push the wheelbarrow, climb over the ladder, walk the rain barrel, etc.   I timed them and as soon as Benjamin's time beat Christian's, he declared himself done and went inside.  At least he came out for a while.  The boys and Kelly also went out for a bike ride at Island Lake park again.  Bella didn't want to go.  She fell the last time she went and still has the roughed up elbow to prove it.  I also think she knows that she'd have a hard time keeping up with the boys.  Update: her pie from yesterday turned out great.  The crust was a bit drier and crumblier than she'd wanted but for a first attempt at homemade pie crust, it was a winner.  We'll definitely be doing it again.