Ok, so much for "keeping up better with the blog"!
The first weekend of May, when Joe was fishing during opening weekend, Fischer and I headed to the LaCrosse area to visit Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bill. We only had one overnight there, so the camera didn't come out too much, but just before we were to leave, Fischer got into Rock Band, and really loved drumming!
Here's a family pic taken on our neighbor's swing (5/10/10). That was 2 pants sizes ago for me! Also, you can see the tree behind us that got chopped down a month later.
Memorial weekend, Saturday morning (5/29/10), we wanted to get out of the house and do something fun. So, we went looking at campers (a fantasy, we realize, but fun none-the-less!).
Fischer had a ball checking them out!
After his nap that day, we went to the shore of Lake Michigan in Algoma. As soon as we stepped out of the car and off of the grass onto the sand, Fischer squatted down and began to fill his pail with sand. It didn't take much convincing to get him nearer the water where he could throw rocks in again and again! He's scolded quite a bit at daycare and home for throwing things...we think he'll be a pitcher or quarterback when he gets older! In the pic below, you can see his full rotation as he whips the rocks into the lake.
We encouraged Fischer to fill his bucket with more rocks, and then we took a walk out onto the pier to see the lighthouse and say hi to passing boats.
And, as there weren't other people on the pier at that time, I set up the timer to take this family pic.
Memorial weekend, we were still undecided as to what to do for moving Fischer from his crib. We thought about bunkbeds (as his one-day sibling would have to share a room with him indefinitely), we thought about a toddler bed...but each option failed to knock our socks off (or even roll them down, as Joe would say). At a rummage sale, we ended up purchasing a convertible crib that turned into a toddler bed.
While I was using an electric screwdriver ("nut driver") to take apart his non-convertible crib and put together his new bed, Fischer was exploring. He was using the tool against the wall, on the floor (no big deal), and was really enjoying himself harmlessly. I turned to put something away in his closet and I heard "Owie, owie!" and he came walking toward me with the nut driver running, holding it to the top of his head. I reversed the direction of the rotation, but it had already gone around several times, pulling out a 2" by 6" section of hair, clean out of Fischer's scalp!
He was fine, and there was no blood or other gore...but I was pretty upset. I held a cool cloth to it and once I calmed down, so did he. Fischer had a successful first nap in his big boy bed, despite his "hair owie" and all the excitement surrounding it. When Joe came home later, having heard about it by phone, he saw Fischer's "zip strip" and said, "Whoa!"
Nothing like a new 'do right before your birthday! We told our mailman, Jack, who lives down the street, about Fischer's hair owie, and he said, "He's 2? Get ready for all those close calls! You know, the corner of the coffee table right here (and he indicated just above his eye--he's got 2 kids)." We're just glad it wasn't an eyelid, earlobe or lip!
The next day at daycare, Ms. Amy, who's a kids' stylist on the weekends, gave him a slick buzz cut. Just perfect for summer!
Below, I asked Fischer to show everyone his big boy bed.
Then I told him to pretend he was sleeping :)
June 3, 2010 was Fischer's 2nd birthday! It also happened to be the day the new toddler playground was ready to use at daycare!!!!!!
Here's Fischer and Abigail--they share the same birthdate! Birthday buddies :)
All the kids were soooo excited about the new climber!
Here's Holly's son, Collin, who's exactly 6 months older than Fischer, enjoying the slide. Every time he went down he said, "This is fun!"
Later that day, Fischer and Abigail shared a birthday snack with their friends. Since we planned a chef theme for Fischer's party the coming weekend, we gave everyone kid-sized aprons. Good thing, too, as they really enjoyed the blueberry applesauce we brought!
Later the evening of his birthday, Fischer got to unwrap presents from me and Joe. He took it very seriously!
On Sunday, June 6th, we had friends and family over for Fischer's birthday party. Below, he's kissin' his cousin Katie.
Friends from daycare came to play, too. Here is Grant, baby brother of Hailey, Fischer's classmate.
This is Hailey enjoying some cake and ice cream :)
Joe's friend-since-gradeschool, Scott, played with all of the kids. Here, he's pushing his granddaughter, Lotus, who'll be two soon, in the car.
More friends from daycare, Eli and Caleb and their moms, came to enjoy the party. It was a blast and we had just enough toys/equipment to share!
Fischer and his second cousin Kaylee are like two peas in a pod! They're 6 months apart. They were lovin' this wagon ride...
And then they entertained themselves (and most everyone else) by screaming as loud as they could! Check out Fischer's expression and clenched fists!
Remember that tree I mentioned above, well, on June 12th, it was taken down. It was rotten in the center, and would've fallen on one of our houses or garages within a year if it wasn't taken down.
The neighbors rented a boom, and had a crew comprised of family members and friends who are experienced in taking down plenty of trees, but not in the city! There were only a couple of small mishaps--one branch fell onto the arm of the boom, creating a dent that they were able to fix, and one guy got knocked in the head with a branch and got a concussion. Otherwise, no other damage to people or things!
Our yard is quite wide open, now. It's kind of sad to be missing all that "green".
On the bright side, we still have a nice big maple in our backyard and two big catalpa trees in our front yard, so we're not lacking on shade too much. Also, it'll be a lot less mess from leaves, "helicopters" and pollen. The neighbors whose tree it was plan to put up a garage in its place. That'll shrink the yard quite a bit! They're expecting a baby any day now. Nick and Lauran are very sweet and considerate neighbors--we really lucked out, as they share a driveway with us!
On Tuesday, June 15th, the ice cream truck came to visit daycare! You can see Fischer (green shirt) choosing his treat with his friends and Ms. Candice.
He was so proud and excited to carry his Dora ice cream into the classroom ("Doora!")
Wednesday, June 16th, was coffee night in Green Bay. I left Fischer home with Joe, but missed him when I got to the new Kavarna and saw that all of my other momma friends brought their little ones! We're a regular "breeders" group! How cool is that :) It's also SUPER COOL that with their change in location, Kavarna also has some new kid-friendly options on their menu as well as an awesome kids play area--yay! I ended up bringing Fischer along two weeks later (the next time coffee was in GB), and although we didn't have quite the momma turnout, the kids ate and played like a dream. He's such excellent company, and has become QUITE the conversationalist :) !!!!
On Monday, June 21st, I had a day off, so the boys and I went strawberry picking.
We told Fischer to only pick the red ones. The ones he didn't eat, he would pick and take off as much of the green top as he could, and then he threw them into our box. So each one he picked took about 2 minutes :)
It was very sunny and very hot, so we had hats and sunscreen galore! Fischer loved it, and didn't wander like I thought he would. He certainly explored, but I think his belly full of strawberries slowed him down a bit.
Some of the berries were pretty tart!
This past weekend, July 2-4, we went up to Tomahawk to visit with Grandpa Ken, Grace, Uncle Nate, Frances and Josiah. Lately he's been pointing out flags on our ride home from daycare each day, "Flag! Right there! See 'em?" There were plenty of flags to see during our drives this weekend!
Fischer laughed his butt off playing with this bubble rocket toy that you have to stomp on to launch!
Fischer and Grandpa Ken always have some good conversations.
Frances is growing and growing. Their baby boy is due August 11th. Josiah was keen to show off his muscles!
The boys really get along well :)
Here's the happy couple :) They got engaged on Frances' birthday, too! (6/18/10) Congratulations, you two!
For camping, we borrowed Grandpa Mike's minivan so we could travel in comfort with all of our stuff. Fischer enjoyed being able to see out the window, too. Here, he's sporting his "do-rag" because we had forgotten his hat at Grandpa Ken's the day before.
Fischer was an excellent camper!!! He loved playing in the water and sand on the shore, waving naked at the boats that passed, and had no problem hanging out and sleeping in the tent. The mosquitos thought he was delicious, though :(.
On Sunday morning, we packed up in a hurry and took our breakfast fixin's over to Grace's house, though, because it looked like rain was coming. Fischer was a little whiny because he didn't understand what was going on, and why it was all happening so quickly...but overall, we had an incredible weekend.
Since we missed Tomahawk's fireworks Sunday night (having left at noon), we planned on seeing the ones in Green Bay (it's easy for us to bike downtown). However, with the rain, we weren't sure they'd be happening. Well, it turned out they happened anyway, so we joined Kristy, Tom, Flora and Leo in Kimberly for fireworks on Monday night, 7/5/10. Watch for a video on the Fisch Finder! If it's not showing more current videos, go to
www.youtube.com and enter Fischer Spiering or grassizgreener in a search. You can see all the videos I've ever posted of our little man :).
At first, Fischer's heart was pounding and he was saying "no" and "all done", but after he realized they're just loud, and wouldn't hurt him, he got into it and was saying "cool!" and "more!" It was a great time hanging out with the Enz's, too. Fischer and I had even gone that morning (as daycare was closed, both he and I had the day free) to Mom and Pop Place in Neenah to meet Kristy and the kids for playtime and lunch. What a great day it was! But long...Fischer had some record-late bedtimes these last few days! Today (Wednesday, 7/7), it seems we're back to normal :)
It wasn't long before the kids found the mud puddle that had developed from all of the water and little tramping feet...
We're still finding dried mud 3 days later! What a blast they had :)
