Roman's workout of the day (WOD)

While the less than active three year old niece of our neighbor was asking me to push her on Roman's tricycle "because it was too hard to peddle", Roman was pushing around 3 of Matt's atlas stones that weighted 90-150 lbs. We are proud of our active and very strong boy!

Just because...

I have no reason to post these except I found Roman kinda silly. He woke up with hives, so I let him walk around without clothes until the Benadryl started working. He decided that he wanted to go outside, so he started to get himself ready by putting on his shoe.

Naked boy with one shoe...it makes me smile!

Gymnastics

Since the weather hasn't been the most conducive to outdoor play on a regular occasion, we have signed Roman up for some gymnastics/tumbling courses as well as some swim courses at the YMCA. I usually don't get photos of the classes since my involvement is necessary at his age. But on Saturdays, they host and open gym for families to attend and so as Matt entertained Roman on some equipment, I snapped a few photos.

The photos aren't the best quality since it was difficult to get a good action shot with poor lighting.

Below is the gymnastics facility, which is quite substantial for the YMCA and has a lot to offer.

Roman was attempting the balance beam with daddy.
Below- his favorite piece of equipment- the trampoline!! He is still learning how to keep his balance and not go bounding off, but a few times of trial and error and he was quickly catching on.

Even in the few visits he has had at the gymnastics room, he has improved greatly in his balance and skills.

Wildlife out our back door

As the spring season struggles to make its way to Wisconsin, the wildlife doesn't seem much bothered by the delay in season. The geese have been busy and although several other pairs are still wandering around without any offspring, this pair seems to have had enough offspring to make up for the others. this is one fertile goose or a random act of nature that resulted in her mothering 22 baby geese. They have been fun to watch but unfortunately their stay was only for a week or so before them moved to bigger and better pastures.

We have also been visited by cranes...
Plenty of Mallard ducks...
and one lonely baby bunny. We noticed him shortly after we moved in and he is a lone ranger from what we can tell. I have never seen another rabbit around, adult or baby. So this little guy comes out from under our low lying deck to graze on his meal watching ever so closely for the neighboring dogs that may find him a nutritious snack but his keen sense of awareness has proved that the fittest do survive.

And Below is the resident snapping turtle that finds all the visiting baby geese mighty enticing. This probably explains why they have left our premises and ventured to a safer residence.

It is the little things- such as our small bits of wildlife- that bring me joy when I am staring out our back window at the blistery weather that can't seem to find its way to summer. We are thankful for the small pleasure of the 4 ponds outside our town home that provide a sense of serenity when the weather is not so peaceful or enjoyable.

New Addition

Well the Audi S4 is in hibernation as we have acquired a more utilitarian vehicle via Babcock Power for Matt's new job here in Wisconsin. At least if they are going to send us where it was cold, they were nice enough to get Matt a decent vehicle to drive- much nicer than he expected.

Manitowoc, WI

Manitowoc, WI with a population 34,000 was ranked 2nd in Forbes listing of top small cities. When we first moved here I couldn't understand why such a ranking. Cold dreary weather seemed to dominate the landscape and the summer barely lasted 2 months. Not my idea of an ideal city for raising a family. But this is what I have discovered in our few weeks here.

The lawn companies are replaced with kids mowing their own lawn, paper boys actually ride their bikes to deliver papers, crossing guards are necessary here because kids actually walk to school, and kids ride their bikes around town without the chauffeuring parent. It all explains the 25 mph speed limit all through town that can get somewhat annoying but is necessary to maintain the serene and safe environment by which this town is rated.

So although this adjustment hasn't been the easiest, I have been learning to enjoy this Forbes ranked small city for the small delights it has to offer and working to make the most of this opportunity.

Quest for Chaos

Maybe it is my desperate quest to keep this busy boy occupied that brings this photo to pass, or maybe it is Roman's curiosity to explore every nook and cranny in the house...but either way, his current five minute past time is to bring his step stool into the kitchen and use it to rearrange my drawers. I guess my arrangement didn't suffice this toddlers desire for chaos, so he pulled everything out of the drawer, laid it on the counter and then randomly threw it all back in and shut the drawer. "That will keep mom busy", he thought as he picked up his stool and put it back where it belonged!

Why Crocs are great!

I have yet to wonder why it took me SO long to decide to buy a pair of Crocs for Roman. I guess it was the epiphany this week of Roman diving into mud and rain puddles with his tennis shoes, that made me think that there was a better option than spending my evening scrubbing muddy shoes and hoping they dried by morning so we could do this all over again!

So my hat goes off to Crocs who couldn't find a better poster child for their shoe. I bought them today and we took this picture shortly after their test run. They have officially been christened and there was no shoe scrubbing tonight. A quick rinse in a rain puddle on the way back to the house and we are good to go for tomorrow.

The socks and jeans are a different story...but a story to which the washing machine will gladly find a happy ending.

Just when I didn't think he could be more boy...

Here is the first photo of where we are now living in Manitowoc, WI...this is the field in front of our house that has been a great outlet for Maggie to play ball and for Roman to run around (and as you will soon see) and get dirty in.

The one remaining mud puddle from the recent rains couldn't hide from Roman. He has a radar for dirt.
In my infinite wisdom (yet again) I thought asking Roman to wash his hands in the rain puddle would help clean up the mess on his hands before it made it to the rest of his body. Roman had other plans that I obviously did not see coming...
here we are washing our hands...What a good listener!!
And then here we are wiping our hands in our hair- yikes..the unexpected!!!
And if that wasn't enough, the process was repeated time and time again! And when his hands got too clean, he just revisited his mud puddle.
i figured after one swipe of his hands to his hair, that a shower was on our schedule for the day, so I decided I may as well let the muddy fun continue to really make this shower and load of laundry worth the effort.
The aftermath...
He was happy as could be...and I realized that this is why I don't keep a booked schedule. I have to leave room for clean up duty which takes as much time as play time. Before noon we had our 2nd shower of the day and our 2nd change of clothes and another load of laundry.

Nanny and Pops...are you sure you are ready for him to visit?! Stock up on 5 hour energy, lots of laundry detergent and changes of clothes!