Back to the Farm

Yesterday we went back to Ardenwood Farm. This time we went with Auntie Donna and her 6 year old grandson, Ben. It was a really hot and sunny afternoon and we had a brilliant time. James just loves this place!!

James wasn't scared by how HUGE the horse was ... Mummy kept her distance ...

Ben was great with James - he could even pick him up which James thought was really funny.

James loved playing with Ben - he really made him laugh and he watched everything he did!

James loved feeding the goats once Auntie Donna showed him how ... It really made him giggle when they poked their heads through the fence.

That's my boy ... ;0)

Mr Rosie Cheeks!

James loved playing with the water and Ben was more than happy to pump the water for him!

Ben and James learn how to do the laundry ...

Guess who found the only muddy puddle left and sat in it ...

Here's a video from the other day ...

Crazy Nap Hair

James woke up from his afternoon nap with some seriously crazy bed head going on ...
He looked so funny.

James found a pine cone when we were at the park this morning and wanted to bring it home. He was really excited with his little treasure.

Look at that crazy hair ...

James is REALLY into throwing things at the moment ... and has a surprisingly good and strong throw for a not-yet-2-year-old. We really trying to teach him not to throw things at people but sometimes he gets a bit overzealous ... Here he is throwing his pine cone.

The pine cone reminded me of an art project idea I'd seen. So before lunch James and I went out into the garden to collect leaves and flower cuttings in our little bucket. James was particularly keen on collecting MUD in the bucket and so I had to coax him into finding other things too ...

Looking for treasures to collect in our bucket.

To make the artwork you lay down a piece of clear contact paper sticky side up (I put the green paper down so we knew where to stick!) and then you arrange all your findings on the paper and stick them down ... and watch the creation art unfold before your eyes!

The first leaf goes on.

James actually got quite into it - more so than I thought he would. I think he liked that it was "sticky"!

Finishing it off ...

"Ta-daaa!"
The finished product - being waved around ...
(You stick another piece of clear contact paper on the other side when you are finished.)

Later in the afternoon (after yet another outfit change!) we went back outside for some water play. James had a great time and we stayed outside until we started to lose sunlight!

"Squeeeeeeeeze!"

More evidence of James' new found love of throwing things ...

We got this water play thing in the sale at the end of last summer but today was the first time that James got to play with it outside. It has canal boats and a truck ... but for some reason after driving the truck around on the concrete for a bit he decided to put the truck on top of the traffic light ...

James decided the canal system needed some vegetation ... and muddy water is more fun anyway!

Sitting on the step deciding what to do next ...

We had fun playing in the sun this afternoon!

Where's Bear?

This morning James and I had a conversation that went round in circles (this happens a lot) - by the time I got the video camera out he needed a bit of prompting but he would ask "where's bear?" and when I told him Mummy and Daddy's room, he immediately asked "where's Daddy?" and when I told him that he was right back to "where's bear?" He really makes me laugh!
[Please note the 'creative' way James has been using his play table just lately - this is the one Pat made for him. It's turned into more of a climbing frame - he loves crawling through and over the bars]

Bear gets a nose job!!!

James has been chewing poor Bear's nose so much that it was in serious danger of falling off - it was *bearly* (excuse the pun ...) hanging on by a thread. We were a bit concerned that James would choke on it in the night and so we decided to give Bear a new nose! We removed the old one and replaced it with a nice stiched one instead. Maybe we'll have to start calling Bear Wacko Jacko instead ...

"It's ok, Bear - I'll love you with or without a nose ...
as long as there's something for me to chew I'll never leave you!"

"Where's Bear? HERE HE IS!!!"
(There's no hiding for Bear)

Driving Bear to the hospital.

Half way through the surgery - the old nose has gone ...

Here's the patient with his bandage!

The bandages come off ...

"Sticky!!"

Bear's New Nose!

Bear seemed happy with his new look. The surgeon was a bit rushed (*somebody* was impatient to get Bear back ...) and so it wasn't quite the professional job she'd hoped it would be. Let's see if it survives James' "kisses" ... Next thing Bear needs (really badly)? A BATH!!!!!

James gets the giggles

For some reason James decided that the keyboard wrist rest was hysterical tonight ... We love it when he laughs this hard!

I like driving in my car ...

It looks like James is going to be just like his Uncle Kev and is going to want a good sound system in his car ... he enjoys swaying to the music.
I wonder if this is what Uncle Kev does in his car ... ? ;0)

Nice!

One of James' new catchphrases is "nice!" whenever he eats or drinks something he enjoys. It's really sweet and makes us laugh - hopefully the audio is loud enough for you to hear on this video.

Another trip to Ardenwood Farm!

Yesterday we went to Ardenwood Farm with Hayley, Aiden, Ethan (who didn't want to be in this picture), Keagan and Andrew. It's been raining for the last few days but we managed to time our visit perfectly with some bright sunshine. The kids had a great time exploring, playing together, looking at the animals and jumping in puddles. Devon worked REALLY hard to get all the kids to look at the camera ... she made noises I've never heard a grown woman make ... but it was worth it!! Thanks, Devon - I love these photos.

James couldn't wait to explore and after jumping in puddles he ran off ! He's been here a few times now and I suppose he knew where he was going ... I think he's going to be as contrary as his mother.

"Wait for me!"

Hayley running after James.

Aiden running after Hayley, running after James ...

Aiden - James' surrogate older brother - did a great job of keeping up with James and made sure he didn't get into too much trouble. I think next time Dan and I need a baby sitter we will be calling on Aiden!!

James watched Aiden and Hayley climbing on the picnic tables and decided that it looked like lots of fun and wanted to join in. Too bad this photo came out a bit dark.