Mother's Day weekend...

I had such a good weekend with my boy last weekend for Mother's Day.  On Saturday, Jeff went golfing with some of his friends so Deacon and I went to play in the park up the road...

 

[it startled me how big/grown he looks in this one...]

 

And then we went up to a new strawberry farm (close to home!) to pick strawberries!

Deacon did really good finding strawberries to pick.  He liked carrying the bucket and he lasted for probably a good 20 min or so.  Everyone at the farm thought he was adorable and kept giving him these ginormous, outrageously shaped berries to eat.  He was loving that!

 

[instagram photo -- so in love with that app!]

 

When all was said and done, we picked almost 4 lbs of beautiful, yummy strawberries!

Saturday evening, my boys took me out to eat for dinner, my choice.  I chose Blue Water for the outside dining and yummy menu.  We don't eat there often because it's all the way down at Wrightsville Beach, but it was so pretty out, I thought it would be a nice night for it.  And it was.  :)

Deacon enjoyed seeing all the big boats on the water, listening to the seagulls, etc.  And he charmed anyone who would look at him, of course.  He's a show-stealer, that one. :: wink ::

 

[another instagram photo -- it's how I capture my life in real time]

On Sunday, we went to church, of course, and then went home for naps.  Around 4:30 or so, we decided to head to the beach -- our first official trip (with bathing suits and everything!) of the season.  It was absolutely perfect out there.  The water was a little chilly but the air temperature with the sunshine was so nice.  Even the wind was minimal which kept us comfortable.
 

 

[instagram again :)]

 

[here's another one that makes him look so grown... :: sniff ::]

I love being this precious boy's mama.

playing at the park...

A couple weekends ago it was so nice outside, we decided to take Deacon to the park.  We grabbed lunch at McDonald's and went down to Soundside Park in Surf City for a picnic and playing on the playground.

 

Deacon loves being outside and every time we take him to this park, I'm amazed at how much more he can (and will) do than the last time we were here.  This is the same park we had his 2nd birthday party at, and he tackled more this time than he did only 5 months before.

 

He seriously is growing up before my very camera lens eyes.

 

I got so many great shots of him this day at the park that I had a hard time narrowing down what I was going to post here so just prepare yourself for a massive (adorable) photo explosion...

play dough!

Our next door neighbors always remember Deacon at Christmas -- so thoughtful!  This year they gave him play dough which was great because I've been thinking that we should have some of that on hand.  We decided to get it out a couple of weekends ago.

 

I think Mommy and Daddy had just as much fun as Deacon.  :)

 

Deacon did really great with it and it actually occupied his time for at least 30 min or so.  YAY!  The key, though, is having Mommy or Daddy there playing with him, because I tried to get it out one day while I was working from home and it didn't interest him as much because I wasn't standing there by his side, making stuff with him.

 

That's understandable, I guess.  I always liked it more when MY parents would play, too.

 

Anyway, we had a good time with it:

 

Can you tell I wasn't planning to have my photo taken, ahem??  Mommies, you should always be prepared cuz you never know when that photo opportunity with your kids is gonna hit.

 

Children's Museum...

I took Deacon to the Children's Museum of Wilmington last weekend and we had a blast! Jeff was out of town at a conference, and I had a coupon to get us both in for free so off we went Saturday morning.

 

It's a kid's paradise, I tell ya.  There are so many things to do for kids of all ages, it's pretty hard for them to get bored.  But it isn't hard for them to get WORN OUT.  We were there for a couple of hours and that's what it took to get through the whole thing and have time to play.  But that's about all Deacon was good for, so it worked out great.  It was really a nice outing for us.  :)

We started off in an area designed just for toddlers 4 and under.  This room had an enormous tree in the middle of it that you could climb under/through or crawl up on (via stairs).  There was a slide to slide down on one side of the tree.  Deacon found this car and promptly claimed it for his own.  Thankfully, there weren't any other kids in there when we started so he got to play with it for awhile.  He enjoyed sitting in it but also pushing it around.  We did eventually give other kids a turn. :)

 

 

 

We headed outside afterward before it got really sweltering.  There was a gutted schoolbus that Deacon just thought was the coolest.  The kids can climb up in the driver's seat and push all the buttons.  They can turn the A/C controls.  I thought it was pretty cool, too.  :)

 

 

They had this whole courtyard full of stuff for kids to do -- the school bus, a little mini house to walk through, this bridge to cross and the little tunnel to climb up in.  They also had a wagon with water and water toys to play with (Deacon's was more interested in the puddles on the ground around the wagon...lovely.), and a big rope spider web that older kids can climb up.

 

 

But oh, the trains!  The trains were the big hit with Deacon.  Which further confirmed that I'm doing the right thing for his birthday party this year. ;)  I liked to NEVER got him away from these train tables!  He had the best time just walking around and playing with all the trains.  He recognized a lot of the engines because he watches Thomas the Train almost every day.  He was so cute to just sit and watch.  The train tables were a big hit with other kids, too, and Deacon played pretty well with all of them.  :: heart swelling with pride ::

 

 

I did eventually get him away from the trains, though.  :)  We found a little camping site -- I thought it was so cute.  I immediately thought of my brother and his family + my mom & dad who happened to really BE camping while we were at the museum.  Deacon liked getting into the tent with the sleeping bags, but he got a little spooked by those fish sitting there.  He made a break for it after he spotted those.

 

 

 

We found a little restaurant, complete with tables to sit at and order food, plus the means to prepare the food for the customers.  Griddles and burners, lots of fake (but so real-looking) food.  A lot of the older kids enjoyed that.  But Deacon did grill me up a pork chop.  Mmm, tasty.  :)

 

 

We went outside one more time before leaving.  This will definitely be a place that we come to from time to time.  So thankful to have a place that encourages our little ones to imagine and dream!

 

For more photos from our 1st trip to the museum, click here.