Pool Days are Here Again!

Finally the dreariness of winter has subsided and after a very short spring we are having summer like weather. So, the pool is out again and I'm enjoying it very much! I usually get to take a dip after nap and I have enjoyed splashing a lot more this year. I especially enjoy saving my "baby humpback whale". I have a whale that floats and I water it, rescue it, and call for it all afternoon.

Here are a few cute pictures from my first afternoon out.

This is mom's favorite. A rare shot that appears calm and somewhat professional looking.



This is more like it. Ainsley is always in motion. Where the action is, Ainsley is. And, if there's no action, she makes her own! You can get a glimpse of the baby humpback whale in this picture.

The Petting Zoo

Mom's been organizing a church play group for all the kids my age at church. We've had a lot of fun and have made lots of friends. This by far though has been the best activity to date. We went to Deanna Rose Farmstead! A favorite of mine from last spring/summer but I enjoyed it even more this year.

Here I am at the entrance. I loved the waterfall and mom loves my pigtails. My hair is finally growing and this is how we keep it out of my eyes. Mom's getting faster and better at putting them in, today, my part even appeared straight!



I was too small to ride the real ponies. I have to be three to do that. I've steadily been saying "I'm too tiny to ride horsey. I need to grow big." Since our visit. Mom found a decent stand in though at the playground there.





And the highlight...feeding the baby goats. I had quite the conversation with them which included
"Don't knock me over goats."
"Excuse me goats."
"Don't eat me goats."

Pony Tails

Hooray! My hair is finally long enough for the need to sport some pony tails. And I'm at a stage we're I'll even leave them in. Though, I must have two pony tails and not just one for them to stay in throughout the day.

First Movie

The weather has been yucky and I've had a bit of a cold so what could be better than my 1st movie! Mom and I went to see Horton Hears a Who. I loved the big comfy chair with a booster seat and it couldn't have gotten any better until mom got the giant sized popcorn and gave me my first pop, Sprite (no caffiene!).



I made it through the whole movie, I got up a few times to stretch my legs but overall it was a success. Now if I hear it might rain, I say, "Movie Time!"

Artist at Work

Mom got me my first set of watercolor and I've enjoyed them almost everyday since! We have masterpieces all over the house and we're going through paper like crazy. Mom, Dad, and my Papa have even gotten in on the fun.

Wonderscope

Yesterday, mom took me to one of the Children's Museums in Kansas City, Wonderscope. On the way there I sang, "Wonderscope, Telescope" which mom thought was very cute, even though our ride was 40 minutes. They had so many fun things to explore there. Here are a few of my favorites.

My favorite room by far was the raceways room. It had all sort of ramps to roll golf balls down. It was like a roller coaster room for golf balls. I really enjoyed watching the ball roll go round and round.

I loved getting the golf balls out of the big, blue bucket and getting to walk around with my own small bucket.



Here I am at the round and round station. Mom helped me with the ramp. I really got the hang of this one!




Here's the art room. We didn't stay here long. WHo wants to sit when there is so much to explore!



The garden room was a hit as well. I liked the gardening part and planting fake flowers. But I really loved checking out the real, live turtle they had. I love animals, all kinds!

Easter

Mom had a wide array of activities planned for me the weekend of Easter. We colored eggs, we made Easter theme cookies, and then of course we had the Easter basket hunt before church on Easter morning. We all hope that you had a blessed and joyous Easter!

Ooh. Listen, I here something fizzing.



The colors are so pretty!



I even got to "fish" the eggs into and out of the water.






Flour from head to toe!



Literally, check out that cute foot.



I love to roll dough, so mom's been making cookie dough and bread dough a lot for me. I'm becoming a real expert.



I love pushing the cookie cutters into the dough. But my favorite thing is to eat the scraps. Mom has to regulate my cookie dough intake, this was her favorite thing as a kid too.



Mom and I had so much fun.

Spent!

After a hard day at the playground, I came home and finally laid down to rest. I was so tired, mom had to wake me up to go to Good Friday service.

Mr. Mitts and March Madness

Gone are the days of old-fashioned bubbles, I guess. We found Mr. Mitts deeply discounted and mom thought we would give it a try since I have a tendency to get old-fashioned bubbles as much on my lips as I do in the air. (I am getting better though, and my bubble blowing efforts sure bring a smile to mom's face.) But when all else fails, Mr. Mitts helps me out and I love him!



After blowing all of those bubbles, thousands....I was excited to spend some time with dad watching basketball. I love saying "I play basketball." So here we are watching the first round of March Madness together. Mom thought this was a very sweet moment.

World's Greatest Hobby

Today we went to the largest train show in the midwest. It's a touring train show called, The World's Greatest Hobby on Tour." Mom and dad both came and we had so much fun watching all of the model trains go round and round.

While we were there, I learned how to blow a whistle. I have a small yellow plastic whistle led to a real wooden train whistle and I've been choo-chooing ever since with both.





I also got to ride a miniature train with dad. We had so much fun waving to mom and chugging along with the conductor.

New Friend

Yesterday, I went on a play date to my new friend Kennedi's house. She has a great play set out back, a yellow lab named Abby, and a ton of toys I had never seen before. The weather was a balmy 70 and I had so much fun. Here are a few pictures of me and my new friend!

Here we are waiting for some bubbles. There was a bit of a breeze in the air and we had a lot of fun chasing after those floating spheres.



"I'm running, I'm running." I've turned into quite the athlete and love running. Mom is hoping I have some interest in marathons like she does.



Here we are taking turns blowing bubbles on our own. I'm not quite sure if either of us really mastered this skill yet. Oh well, we have all summer.



Here I am with Abby. I wasn't to sure at first, she's a licker. But we definitely warmed up to each other by the end of the morning.



We ended the day with lunch together.

Grow a Duck?

Well, our rubber ducky that indicates if the water is hot is broken. Ainsley reminds us of this at each "bath tub party" not only with the broken duck line but also by saying the water is "too hot", even when we know it is not. So, in an effort to get her a new duck (not with the same functional purpose), I found this grow a duck toy. When purchasing this toy, I did not take into account the patience level it would require nor the fact that Ainsley would enjoy playing in her man-made duck pond more than anything.



Has it grown yet? Watching the duck grow, very slowly - 10 days, for a 2 year old is definitely a stretch. So, we play in the duck pond and take the duck to the bath tub even though it is not full grown.



Regardless, we have had some fun with it. Even better, we can do it over and over again if we just let the duck dry out. Hopefully, he'll always have a pond. I wonder just how big this duck can get.

Say Cheese

Yes, it's finally happened. When mom says "Say Cheese" I'm truly a cheese. Getting a true smile on camera now a days has been somewhat of a challenge. We'll keep working on it though.

Here I am with play-doh. A not so favorite past-time of my Gigi's but mom still let's me play with it anyway. I make trains and dog's with the moldable clay. Mom always says it's a masterpiece, even if she doesn't quite see it.



And here I am reading with my Papa. My favorite books right now are Dr. Suess books. I have quite a few and like them all. Right now, my favorite books are Mr. Brown can Moo can You? and Green Eggs and Ham.

Science City

Science City at Union Station had been something the two of us had been looking forward to for awhile. Ainsley has a love for all things train oriented and here they have train exhibits, train history, and a whole bunch of other neat hands-on exhibits for little hands. Here are just a few snap shots of the fun we had.

Checking out the fire hydrant. Not a standard fire hydrant mind you. If you turn the top, it blows bubbles! Ainsley finally got the hang of it and we ended up a bubbly mess before leaving this exhibit.



Conductor Ainsley. Though there were multiple full size rail cars Ainsley could explore, she especially liked the one in which she could play conductor. All of the levers and buttons were very intriguing.



Digging for bones. Dinosaur bones to be clear. We loved the indoor sand-box and playing archaeologist. We took lots of the rubbery black play sand home with us in our shoes.



RUN! That thing zapped me. Ainsley was not fond of the ball that makes your hand stand on end. The lightning that reached out to your finger was something Ainsley was just not ready to experience yet. Momma's finger touched it and according to Ainsley it had a "boo-boo" till we reached the next stop.

Valentine's or V-Tines

I am woefully behind in blogging. Here is an effort in getting everyone up to date with the going ons of Ainsley in the past month. (Why is it I seem to take less picture's now that she is two?) We have done so many things which I have no picture's of, the camera just never seems to make it into my purse or Ainsley bag. Perhaps that's because I'm chasing a toddler who's telling me "I'm running. Bye-Bye now." She is always ready for that next adventure.

Here is a rare moment. We spent hours at the craft table in our kitchen making V-Tines for everyone in our family. Whether you live near or far, there was a V-Tine here for you. She loved playing with the glue-stick and peeling the backing off stickers. I definitely need to get her more craft like items to play with.



Such concentration! We had multiple arrangements. Ainsley especially liked decorating each animal sticker or heart with googly eyes.