Summer fun

 Calvin and I have been busy, busy, busy so far this summer.  One favorite activity was riding the Fenelon Place Elevator.  According to their website this elevator is the world's shortest, steepest scenic railway.  Whether that's true or not we both enjoyed the ride.  After about 2 minutes at the top Calvin was ready to go.  Apparently he's not much into beautiful views of Dubuque, the river, and the tri-states.  

 New (to him) race car!  Grandpa PK (yes, like the cat) was such a trooper running along side Calvin on a hot and humid day just because Calvin wanted him to. 

 Calvin turning the car around.  We tried to teach him to swing out wide so he didn't have to get out of the car but he wasn't having any of it.  We also tried to teach him how to to a Y turn but again wasn't having any of it.  A few days after getting home Calvin and I were playing race car and he told me to turn around.  So without thinking I just stopped in my tracks and turned around.  I was promptly scolded and was then accurately told how to perform a Y turn. 

 Mid-June we went to Green Bay for A Day Out with Thomas.  Above is the train car that we rode on and below is Calvin right before we departed from the station. 

 Calvin after the train ride trying to smile.  Don't let the grimace fool you, he had a great time on the train ride.  Pesky sun was in his eyes.

 The observation tower and Dan forcing Calvin to pose for a picture.  It's hard to tell but Calvin is actually laughing.

 Calvin with Sir Topham Hatt.  Sir Topham Hatt is the railroad controller of the North Western Railway.  He is known (at least in our house) for saying "What really happened is what really happened."  I officially know too much about Thomas the Tank Engine. 

 Calvin is obsessed with school buses.  He likes to tell me that when he gets older and goes to a bigger school he will get to ride on a school bus.  Poor kid is going to be so disappointed when he finds out that he will have to walk to school.  Hopefully he'll get to go on a few field trips!  Anyway, after we had our fill of Thomas we were facing a long walk back to the car when we saw the shuttle bus about to take off.  To Calvin's delight the shuttle bus was actually a school bus.  I'm not sure if he had more fun riding on the train or on the school bus.

Spring adventures

 Easter egg hunt.  This is really the only good photo I got of Calvin.  All the others are of his back while he's squating down to pick up the eggs.  He was so excited to find the eggs that he didn't want to wait for me to finish hiding them.  After finding them all he and Dan hid them for me.  Again, he was so excited that he walked in front of me pointing out where he hid the eggs. 

 First airplane ride!  To say that he was excited is an understatement.  Not only was he thrilled to be on the airplane he was really well behaved even after delay, after delay, after delay. 

 On a submarine in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. 

 Although he's not smiling in the photo Calvin was excited to see the penguins. 

 The train ride was short but nice.  There weren't many kids there so the train engineer let all the kids sound the whistle.  Calvin wasn't interested and we could barely get him to sit in the driver seat.  Strange considering how much he loves trains!

We had a great time at the zoo in Baltimore while everyone else was working hard on the last minute details of Olivia and Jesse's wedding.  We helped by staying out of the way.  While in Baltimore Calvin got to play Jesse's guitar (one of many), ukelele, drums, and who knows what else.  Thanks Jesse for letting Calvin play with all of your toys!  We went to a children's museum, raced around the track at Johns Hopkins, and ate lots of good food.  And last but not least we also attended a fabulous wedding!   I have to admit that I was terrified of traveling long distance with Calvin because I knew that if it was going to be bad it was going to be really bad but in the end he was such a trouper.  Even on the way home when he wasn't feeling well and probably had an ear infection he did great. 

A day at the zoo!

 The first train ride of the day! 

 Hello little monkey.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the monkey hanging by his fingers from the one inch ledge, peeking over and through the window, and then climbing back up onto the ledge to look at Calvin. 

 We were really, really close to the lions.  The normal lion exhibit is being remodeled so they are in a smaller enclosure but it's great for the visitors because we are up close and personal with the lions.  The normal enclosure is down in a valley so visitors are looking down on the lions from far away.

 After walking around for a bit we revisited the lions because we could hear the male lion roaring and making another noise that sounded like barking.  Or what a lion would sound like if he were to bark.  Anyway, it was amazing!  After that the male lion came over by glass and was staring right at Calvin.  The male lion also tried to paw at a guy's head through the glass.  The lions were feeling feisty yesterday!

 First carousel ride of the day.  

 Second train ride looking forward.

 Second train ride looking backward.  Yes, we were the only passengers.  Same for ride number three!

 Second carousel ride.

Staring at the guy whose head looked tasty.

Winter fun

 Calvin is ready for soccer!  On Sunday afternoons Calvin has soccer practice at a local middle school.  It's not so much practice as it is herding cats.

 Calvin has so much fun shoveling snow.  Hopefully this enthusiasm will still be around when he is a teenager.  Not counting on it!

 The side yard needs shoveling too!

 Calvin and I spent an afternoon making english muffins together.  He likes to help measure the ingredients but has more fun squishing dough and playing with flour.  Usually he's pretty good about keeping most of it on the counter but the temptation to fling it off of the counter proved too great.  I wish I could have gotten another picture because this one doesn't do a good job of showing just how much of the floor was covered in flour.  It was the second flinging that really got it covered.  Luckily he also enjoys sweeping. 

Life on the homefront

 No window.

 New window.  Dan has installed new windows in the house.  All but three have been replaced and those will be done when it warms up again.  Now when the wind blows the window coverings don't move!

 I had to give Dan a haircut to get out the caulk that he had in his hair after a window fell out of the window hole and hit him in the head.  He was getting ready to secure the window with screws when it fell out. 

 Without prompting Calvin wanted to put his underwear on his head.

 

 Big boy.

 Little boy.

 Sleeping in his chair for nap time.  I'm sure you've all seen pictures of toddlers sleeping in funny places such as a highchair or standing floor but with his head on the couch snoozing away.  Calvin has never been one of those kids so this is as funny as it gets.  I did have a moment of panic when I went in to wake him up and didn't see him in his bed though.  He chose to sleep on the floor at least once and the chair a few other times.  I think he quickly realized that neither are as comfortable as his bed.  Even though he can get in and out of his bed freely he still likes us to put him in bed and take him out in the morning. 

Calvin wasn't feeling well this morning so he stayed home from school and we decided to make biscuits.  There was some extra flour in a bowl that I let him play with it along with the scraps of dough and he had a great time as you can tell by the big mess that was made.  Big mess = lots of fun!  

Warm biscuits!  Even though Calvin and I don't follow the directions exactly they always turn out!  I tried explaining how to slowly pour milk into flour while stirring but he's more of a dump it all in at once kind of guy. 

It's fun to look back at pictures of Calvin when he was a baby and see how quickly preferences were formed.  Even at four days old he liked to sleep with his arms behind his head and he still does.