This summer has flown by and I can't believe September is here! Here are some things we did this summer.
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Happy Birthday America!! For the fourth of July we went to a parade that was held in Bill and Gerry's neighborhood. We walked from their house to the elementary school were it was suppose to start. Ethan had so much fun waving his flag and hand at everyone in the parade. I think he loved the fireman best in their big shiny fire truck. After we went back to Bill and Gerry's and had a BBQ. Bill had gotten some small fireworks, sparklers and tanks. If you look at the picture of Matt and Ethan you will see they set up a ambush against one another. Ethan thought this was great, Matt even let him light one. We had a small cake and put sparklers in it and sang "Happy Birthday America" Ethan clapped so hard at the end of the song cheering and saying "yay!!!"" maybe it was his pride for America or maybe he knows that at the end of a Happy Birthday song there is always cake!
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One afternoon Matt and I decided to take Ethan to the Mall where we had heard that they had a Merry Go Round. The Merry Go Round was just like you would see at any fair or carnival except in the mall. At first when I put Ethan on the horse he kept repeating " all done all done" and trying to slide off the horse. I was hoping the guy would hurry up and turn it on and right as Ethan was trying to make his getaway it turned on and the horse started to go up. Immediately Ethan's face broke into a smile. Round and round we went and each time we would pass Matt standing on the outside he would yell "HI DADA HI DADA"" pretty soon he was comfortable enough he started using the pole to push his matchbox cars up and down. After the Merry Go Round we saw a train you could ride throughout the Mall. It was pretty expensive but we decided to do it anyway, and boy am I glad we did. Matt describes it best when he says "you could literally see the magic in his eyes." He kept yelling CHoo CHoo and waving to all the passer byers. The conductor even said everyone say ALL ABOARD and out of no where Ethan just blurts it out perfectly like he had been saying it all a long.
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Part one of Ethan's 2nd Birthday celebrations:
We flew to Tahoe for a few days to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday. It was much needed and welcomed as I think we all needed a break from the daily grind and the heat! Dad rented this fantastic house with every amenity you could possibly imagine. It had a fire pit and a play structure grass and a rock pit for the little guys to play. Our friends the Fagundes came and they have Clarke who is Ethan's age (they are exactly two weeks a part). We did all sorts of things we took a tour of the Thunder Bird lodge, BBQ every night, and went fishing three times! Ethan was so good paddling in the water (which was ice cold but he didn't care) as the guys fished. He even helped a few times reeling in the line. We didn't catch a single fish as hard as we tried. The last morning determined to get a fish Matt and my dad went out and got one fish. But we had fun none the less. We roasted marsh mellows in the fire pit and played ping pong out in the beauty of the wilderness. The night we had cake Ethan loved the singing so much he yelled more after he clapped like crazy for us. So what do we do we re-light the candle and sing again, six times that little boy got sang to each time saying more as we finished. He was so cute and excited it was hard to say no. Matt made a comment that night as we were going to bed that only the Wakerling family would sing to someone six times more enthusiastic as the next! All I can say was that it was perfect company to make a perfect trip!!!
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Ethan's 2nd birthday part two:
When we got back to Texas we had a party on Ethan's actual birthday at the house. It was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed since he loves Mickey so much, we even got a bounce house that was that theme. When we ordered it the weather said 0% chance of rain and why would it, it hadn't rained all summer and we are near drought status and its August. Well no sooner then the kids climb in it it started to rain. At first it was a light drizzle so we told them to be careful but once we heard that first roar of thunder we made them get out. Shortly there after the power was knocked out right as we luckily pulled the food out of the oven. I had to scramble to find flash lights as Matt pulled the BBQ inside the screened porch to finish off the hot dogs. The kids thought it was great fun as they ran around the house with flashlights offering there service of light to anyone that may need it. Everyone ate by candle light huddle in our small house. After almost two hours the power went back on and the bounce house inflated. We used almost all the towels we owned and dried it out real good. The kids got in and bounced a way. Ethan at first was really scared but then his Mimi Uncle Shane and Daddy came in and he soon started to bounce. When the party was over Ethan crashed so hard we ended up having to wake him up for fear that he wouldn't sleep that night. I would say that's a good sign of a successful party! |
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I had to add a Tucker and Ethan section because this blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't. Ethan and Tucker are best of friends. Tuck lets him do anything to him as you can see, he watches Ethan's favorite cartoons with him, lets him ride him like a horse or use him as a seat, he even got inside a ride at the outlet mall and was Ethan's co-pilot as he drove the bus. My favorite thing is when Ethan will be walking by and Tuck steals a quick kiss. Its always on his leg or arm, never his face but always quick if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't have seen it happen. Matt says when Ethan is gone he lays around depressed until he see's Matt grab his keys knowing its time to go pick him up. He said that its his favorite part of the day. And when Ethan comes to the truck the first thing he does is look for Tuck. We joke that on Ethan's first day if the teacher asked him what his name is he would repeat the first name he has ever know Tuck Tuck.
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| Ethan had his first zoo experience yesterday. Gerry went with us to the Austin zoo. It is more like and animal sanctuary for those animals that for example were peoples pets and then had no place to go when they were taken away. It is small but the perfect size for a little guy. We saw tigers, probably the most active I have seen they kept pacing back and forth staking the kids! The wolf Eli they called him came right up to the fence and looked at Ethan. We also saw monkeys and pigs and a bear that was fast asleep with his leg propped up and the fan blowing on his face. It was so hotso I couldn't blame most of the animals for just laying around. They had a area of goats and deer that you could feed and I was so surprised when Ethan gave them the food without fear. He just put his hand out and fed it to them. I guess I shouldn't be he does it to Tucker all the time. But he just kept grabbing more and more food. It was funny he really liked this one and fed him the most when I tried to get him to feed other ones he kept reverting back to that same one. After we fed the goats we went to go ride the train. Of course he loved it. The look on his face was priceless, he kept looking at Gerry like "can you believe this?" All the while screaming all aboard and choo choo. I don't think we made it out of the parking lot before I looked back and saw him passed out. |
