Cubs Game

Two weekends ago was the first Cubs Spring Training game of 2016 that we attended and we were lucky enough to have grandma V and grandpa J in town to go with us. It was their first spring training game too.

Max had a good time hanging out in the nice weather, eating and playing with his toys.

We took him to the park so he could burn some of his energy. This was such a neat park and Max had a great time.

Max played a game with grandma and grandpa before we went into the baseball game.

Our tickets were up on the deck and Max had fun eating peanuts with daddy. Cracking open the peanuts entertained him for three innings.

Chandler Festival

On Sunday we took Max to the Ostrich Festival in Chandler. We had never been there before and I assumed it would be a bigger Corn Fest (a festival from my hometown for those that do not know). I was way wrong. This festival was the Corn Fest on steroids x 10. It was HUGE and there were plenty of things to do, so we spent a few hours there on Sunday with grandma V and grandpa J before Max was done and needed to go home for a nap.

Max went on carnival rides and I squeezed myself into a helicopter for my son. This helicopter was hot and I was claustrophobic in it...not my thing, but I sucked it up so Max could "fly" the helicopter.

I then took him on the train and he had a blast on that.

Daddy went on the spinning ride with Max and it reminded Max of the tea cups at Disney World. I believe they could sit there and spin themselves as fast as they wanted. Max was giggling and smiling. I got a kick out of the fact that Andy did not fit in this ride and it was too funny to watch.

He had been talking about riding the cars the whole time, but didn't want to go by himself. This ride he had to go on all by himself. I finally explained to him that he had to go by himself and that we could not go with him because we are too big. If he wanted to go he had to go all by himself and that he's a big boy. He finally said ok. I walked him in and he wanted to ride the blue car so I lifted him up and buckled him up. As I walked away I expected my super shy son to change his mind and start losing it, but he didn't. He was a big boy and was very determined to ride the cars, even if it meant doing it alone.

Then he acquired a passenger behind him and Andy and I were worried that Max was going to lose it and freak out...basically tell the kid to go away, but he didn't. He looked at him and then just focused on the car and the very noisy horn. When the ride was all done the little boy helped Max off the blue car. It was very nice of him.

He also took grandma on the boat ride. This was another spinning ride that did not look like a lot of fun to me, but Max and grandma had a blast. Max was smiling the whole time.

He won himself a big blue ball at the fair by playing the duck game. He was too cute at playing this game.

We also checked out the ostrich races. For those of you not in AZ, this is a real thing. Real ostrich's actually race around a track with jockeys riding on top. It was crazy! Max got to watch from daddy's shoulders, but he didn't seem too impressed. After one race we moved on.

We watched a little bit of a motorcycle show, checked out the ponies, but the most important thing Max got to do was see the fire truck and the ambulance that was parked there. After a very busy morning Max quenched his thirst with a giant lemonade that he completely sucked down in 2.5 seconds.

Visitors: Round 1

It's March and it's the season for visitors. All of the grandparents are here in a three week time-frame. The first round was grandma V and grandpa J.  Here are many pictures of their visit.

Happy Easter Max!

Play time!

Washing strawberries with grandma.

Izzy parking it on grandpa while he was taking a nap out back.

Being silly in the living room.

Playing a game of Memory where Max is an expert at this game. He beat out grandma and grandpa both times.

Playing outside with bubbles, sandbox, cars and chalk.

The grandparents with two of their grand kids.

Advancing in Swimming

I'm This past Friday we did a makeup swim session along with Max's regular swim lesson and so he had a whole hour of learning and it paid off. He did so well that he advanced from level 1 to level 2 of survivor swim lessons. He had to swim to the wall and to the stairs and he had to float on his back for 10 seconds. Yay! He passed...and so fast. Granted, he passed level 1 so fast because I am sure his 8 months of swim lessons at the other school helped. Now in level 2 they will focus on more details of survival swim.

They make a big deal out of the advancement too. There are some kids that love attention and all the focus on them...and then there is my kid. He doesn't love tons of attention and a ringing bell followed by someone yelling "Congrats Maxim just advanced to Level 2." I mean, it's great and all, and this mamma loved it, but not my son.

After class, we went to the front desk to let them know Max advanced to level 2. They also do a big thing in the lobby and the kid get to stand on the pedestal for a picture with his medal. I warned the guy at the front desk that he is shy so let's not scream the announcement. He listened, but Max still didn't want to stand on the pedestal for a photo opportunity. I was ready with my phone. This mamma was eager to get the picture, but Max was not interested. He just wanted to go down the slide they had in the lobby. He didn't even care to pick out a $1 cheap toy from the basket.

That's my kid! It's no big deal that he passed to level 2 and no pictures are needed. He's just a boy that wants to play and go down the slide.

Weekend in Pics

Andy and I got out for a while on Saturday and went to a food festival while Max hung out with Tee-Tee at home.

On Saturday night, Max showed Evan the duck song on daddy's phone.

Max having a blast with his $1 sticky hand toy. 

Andy got a new grill so the box made for a fun coloring toy.

Max loves cantaloupe for snack time.

Swim Lessons

With all the crazy going on in our house lately Max missed three swim lessons in a row. That's not good considering we were just trying to get him used to the new place and instructor. We went this past Friday knowing it was going to be a crying mess. As soon as we got there, Max looked at Nathan and he just started crying. This started out very bad. Andy, Nathan and I tried to be silly and just talking with him, but then we just made him go in the pool...kicking and screaming. He did this for about five minutes and then Nathan gave Max a toy car to play with in the pool. Now all of a sudden Nathan wasn't so bad. Max calmed down and we started swim lessons. I was thrilled, but it's also a bit alarming that all it takes is a toy car from a stranger for my kid to make friends...hello creepy child kidnappers! We will have to work on that on another day.

After the cry-fest calmed down, Max started doing everything asked of him and the swim lessons took a turn for the better. So good, that Andy and I were both very proud of Max. I could finally see that swim lessons at this new place will definitely work in the long run and Max will eventually learn how to swim.