Goodbye to the Mall

The boys and I headed to the mall today. It was a sad day. They are going to tear down our mall and build a new outdoor one. Harper loves the animals at the play area, so we had to go say goodbye. He also wanted to take pictures of all of them and make sure that we print them out.

The turtle has always been his favorite But he sure did love the dolphin today. He named him Dash like the one in his lighthouse book.
An attempt at the boys together

Harper loved climbing on top of the clam shell

and Holden loved climbing inside it

The alligator

Peeking out the lighthouse window

Posing in the lighthouse

Holden liked sliding down anything that he could. He would say "Weee" the whole time.

Crawling through the tunnel

Peeking through the tunnel

Just had to share this one

Harper having fun in the tunnel

The boys and I had a fun time. We brought our lunch to eat in the food court, since there is only an ice cream shop there. Harper did get some ice cream though. We are so sad to say goodbye to our mall friends and we just hope they find a good home somewhere else!

The Circus

The Circus is in town! I am not sure there are many things that Harper loves more than the circus. Allen took him alone this year. I was sad to stay at home, but there was no way that Holden would have enjoyed it. This was the third year that Harper went. He remembers all of it from last year and keeps talking about it.

Harper was actually participating in the pre-show

Harper's favorite part is the elephants, especially Suzy

Harper and Allen enjoying the show

First Tennis Lessons

Harper had his first tennis lesson this morning. They are doing a lot of conditioning work. He had a really good time.

They started by being silly and putting the cones on their ears

They are doing lots of jumping and rolling the balls, etc.

Outside

The weather has been so perfect lately, we have gotten in some great outside playtime.

Holden in his chair

Harper starting the monkey bars. He still needs help because he isn't strong enough to hang with one arm.

Holden can climb the ladder all by himself all the way to the top! I am just there to catch him when he slips.

Back in the chair

Another Tree House

Since there was no school on Monday, we had a playdate at the regular tree house in Palmetto Bluff. This one is much more kid friendly. The kids had so much fun but got so dirty.

Trying out the hammock swing

Holden in his puppy dog hat

The tree house

Tree House

About a week ago, we went to Palmetto Bluff for a picnic after church. We didn't have time to go to the tree house to play. So everyday Harper has been asking to go. We rushed there after Allen got home from work. The sun was setting, so we didn't have much time to play. Allen mentioned the "other" tree house, so we went on an adventure to find it. It was a really pretty setting and a great place for a party, but the top of the tree house was a little too high for me!

The boys at the very top

The view from the top

Sitting on a tree chair

You can't even see the top from this picture

Enjoying the hammock

They had this cool fire-pit for oyster roasts

Harper's Fall

Monday night Harper was helping us make dinner. Somehow he fell off the stool and hit his mouth on the granite countertop. There was some blood and some tears, but he was a real trooper. About 5 minutes later he still wanted to eat dinner. His upper lip did start to swell, but his top teeth weren't loose. The next morning it looked worse-the inside of his upper lip was pretty bruised and the piece that connects your gums to your lip was torn off. I made him a dentist appointment for the next day. The xrays look good, but his lower teeth are actually loose (I didn't even think to check those). She gave us some rinse to make sure it doesn't get infected. Harper really could care less, he even bit into an apple the same day we went to the dentist. Then I cut it up for him. We go back to make sure everything is healing properly. She thinks his lip will dissolve on its own, but if it doesn't then it will have to be lasered off. It really doesn't seem to bother him though!

Hampton Lake Fun

Harper has been a real terror, since the holidays. We constantly have to take away the TV. The sad thing is that it is really punishment for me! Then we leave the house and do fun things, so I don't think that it was really a punishment in the first place. That was the story today, so I let Harper ride his bike to the amenity village. He did really well, but was just really slow. I thought I could run, that wasn't the case. We did have lots of fun once we finally got there!

Grandma and Granddaddy mailed the boys some suspenders. They were for Holden, since his pants don't stay up, but they couldn't leave Harper out.

The front

The back

Playing horseshoes

Holden instantly climbed into the lawn chair

Harper pretending to take a nap

Great photo spot

Playing on the seesaw

The boys also loved playing in the sand

We had a great time and really enjoyed the nice weather. Did you notice that we were in sweatshirts? There were some people laying out at the pool. It was probably in the upper 60s! Allen asked what part of Michigan they were from?!?

Playing Outside

Well, I thought I had to end this blog. Don't worry-I was going to start another one. I am almost at my storage capacity. I did some research online and found that I can increase my storage for $5/year. So I have saved the blog!

We had some great weather over the weekend and enjoyed lots of time playing outside. Most of the boys' Christmas presents were outside toys.

Harper decided he wanted to be a pirate and drive his boat-the swing set.

Enjoying some rest in his chair

Holden also loves his chair

We watched Ella again, so her grandma could go to the hospital. (Good news though, he is now home from the hospital!) We invited Grayson, Avalyn and Sloan over to play with us. It really cooled off, but the kids wanted to play outside.

Holden's new trick-standing in his chair

Avalyn, Ella and Holden watching Allen go back to work

The usual turkeys that we get in the yard