Jungle Jim's

One of the downsides to working full time is not being able to be there for EVERY second of Tyson's life. Although I love my job and that part of my life, sometimes I wish I had a few more hours in the week where I could do fun stuff like take Tyson to Jungle Jim's Playground. Due to the cruddy state of the economy, Doug was forced to take a couple of days off of work (he has since landed another job, THANK GOODNESS!) and figured it was a good time to take Tyson to play with his friend Jordan.

Here is my agile child climbing in the basketball game to steal a ball. Instead of imparting our son with a moral compass, Doug snaps photos of his crime. I knew there was a reason I married him!

VICTORY

Here they play the old favorite Skee-ball...

Although he whines incessantly to sit on rides like this jeep one, he apparently screamed and threw a fit once the vehicle is actually in motion. Weird kid.

A side note: Did they steal the lion fountain from Hogle Zoo? Or have I been fooled into thinking my whole childhood that theirs was the one and only????

Playdates Galore!

Playdate #1

A while ago, I was able to connect with Jenny, a good friend from high school I found on facebook. I learned that she had adopted a cute little boy named Nico who is going to turn three this month. A few weeks ago, we arranged to get together with my other good friend Crystal and her baby Jesse. Nico and Tyson had a blast coloring, playing with alphabet letters (which Nico knows ALL OF! Smart kid) and chasing each other around Jenny's house.

Jesse wasn't too keen on getting in on the action, being only 5 months and all, but he liked to observe and smile at everyone! I can't believe how big he's gotten since I posted about his birthday!
While the kids were breaking crayons playing, we reminisced about our high school days and the boys we chased after, the groups we avoided and perused through Jenny's yearbook. It was a blast for the boys and for us as well! Can't wait to do it again.

Playdate #2

After talking about doing one forever, we were finally able to arrange a playdate with Tyson's friend Jordan. So on Sunday our friends Brittany and Glen brought little Jordan over for a play date with Tyson. It had been a year since their last play date (when Tyson was about 7 months and Jordan about 5 months old) and it was amazing to see how much progress each has made. From scooting around last time to chasing each other around this time! Jordan has very distinct facial expressions (i.e. he glares!) as seen below:

After a little time to warm up, Tyson and Jordan got along pretty well. It's a good thing we have two "vehicles" to ride on though, because there could have easily been a brawl.

There were a couple of times when there were issues sharing toys (but don't you expect that with kids their age??) but for the most part they seemed to enjoy playing with each other a lot. Tyson is a hugger and clearly Jordan is a little unsure about this. Guess he'll get used to it if they're going to be friends, huh?!
For some reason, my brilliant child decided he was going to start "jumping". His "jumping" consisted of him squatting down, springing upwards and landing on his butt. Oh well, he'll figure it out, right? (Btw, thanks for the awesome Yellowstone shirt Aunt Jodi!)