Splash Pad, try 2

Taking Hayden was defiantly a good idea to get Jaxson in the mood. Last time he just cried and ran away but big brother showed him how it was done and they both ran around like fools for the 2 hours we were there... if you haven't visited the local splash pad yet, do so! It's a really nice one and the kids love it!
Here's Hayden showing Jax how to fill the cups.
Jax sitting and enjoying his lunch.... he is such a cool dude!
This would of been a GREAT picture if it wasn't for the huge fountain of water that came up and soaked me at that exact moment. :D
You think he's having fun now?
This is one of the few pictures of Hayden... he was running around so much I never got a real good photo. He was having fun and that's all that matters.
This was also one of the few warmer days we had last week... it was nice to have summer show up for awhile because just like July it's only 52° here today.

Randall Oaks Barn Yard

The other day the boys and I headed out to the Barnyard to spend a day with the animals. Just something for us to do together before Hayden heads back to school this week.
Hayden was a good big brother and showed Jax how to feed the animals.

Jax took a try with the cow... in fact the same cow that licked Hayden the first time we ever went there :)


a , balanced on a fence, self portrait :D
I love how he reaching to see the ducks over the fence.


We made a stop at the park afterwords and then a lunch date at McDonalds. It was a hot but nice day.

A side trip on the way home

We stopped by to visit with Pa K on the way home from Indy. We hadn't been there in 2 years and Jaxson had never gone. It meant a lot to Tim to be able to take his boys there.

It always amazing to me how quiet and peaceful this place is. With as many people that are there you think there would be more people there wandering around.

Gold Belt!

It has taken him 2 years and 9 months to earn his gold belt in karate. This officially marks the end of the childrens program, but since Hayden is not even 7 yet he will have to remain in the same classes till he reaches 7 years old. Then the instructors will evaluate him and see if he is ready to move up.
Here he is testing with his new teacher Mr. Kook.


Our golden boy :)
We are all very proud of him for working so hard and going twice, sometimes, three times a week to get this far.
After the first of the year he will have to decide if he would like to continue on. The commitments in the youth program are different than they are now and we need to get him to like sparring as well but one battle at a time.

Jaxson 18 month checkup

I can finally report accurate numbers for Jax since he had a visit to the doctor on Friday.

Jaxson is now 28lbs. 2 oz. and is 34 1/2 inches tall. Of course this made me look up and compare the boys.
Hayden was 33lbs. 11oz and 34 inches tall at 18 months. So Jax could end up taller than even Hayden! Where did all these tall people come from and why didn't I get any of the height? :)

Other than that Jax is doing perfect! He's reaching all of his milestones and physical markers. He's saying about 15-20 words, not all are understandable to other people and he's signing about 10-15 words. So he gets his point across somehow. He also has 13 teeth, working on #14, #15, #16.... help us all!

Unfortunately he received 3 shots on Friday. He got the first 2 and started saying. " all done. all done." But the nurse told him, "sorry sweetie not yet." Then she gave the third shot. He still has not cried yet. It's when she tried putting the band aides on that he screamed. He has a thing for leaving band aides on... just rips them right off.

Nothing to worry about or keep an eye on. I think we're going to start introducing the potty because he's so interested in it already. He wants to be just like Hayden. :D

Jaxson is just growing along :D

Can you believe?

That my little boy will be starting First Grade in a little over a week?

Museum continued

The other reason to visit the museum was that Dale Chihuly, the famous glass artist, had a permanent exhibit there. And since I am a huge fan of his work it was a stop on my list.
The exhibit was AMAZING!!! Better than the Bellagio ceiling in Las Vegas.
The centerpiece of the exhibit was the 43' tower of glass that starred in the atrium. The ramps for the other floors went around this piece. It was amazing, but a bit dusty, but that still didn't take away from this wonder.
At the base was a floating ceiling where his pieces were suspended... almost like a coral reef on the ocean floor. There was a viewing area below that had a round lounge seat that rotated so you could get a 360° view of the ceiling.
Here are a few of the 100 or so I took :)

The for the kids they had hands on pieces to play with... hard plastic not glass, that they could make their own sculpture. Hayden really liked playing here. It didn't hurt that he remembered we stopped at a glass gallery when we were in VA and saw the man demonstrating how these are made there.
defiantly my favorite part :D

Museum continued

One of the main reasons we went to Indy Children's Museum was because back in Oct when we went to VA we were looking at things to do "along the way" and I happened upon the Museum site and lo and behold they had a Star Wars Clone Wars exhibit. No brainer... but in planning VA we found we didn't have time to stop. So we put it in the vacation idea folder for another time.
Hayden was thrilled and what amazed Tim and I was he could name every character, distinguish whose lightsaber was who's, and who wore what costume. He's way more obsessed that Tim I think :D
Here's our little Sith
The real movie prop... ObiWan's real ship from Attack of the Clones.
Hayden Christenson's real costume from Attack of the Clones
Obi Wan's lightsaber... Hayden knew who's saber was who's.
The man posing with his heros.
They had a drawing exhibit for the Clone wars set up to trace the characters. There were also hundreds of cartoon slides and drawings from the show displayed in the exhibit.
Tim, Duku, and the Sith in training.
It was nice but small. The whole thing only took up a corner but since Hayden enjoyed it, it was well worth it!

Children's Museum of Indianapolis

I can not begin to tell you how amazing this museum is . . . hands on for the kids but interesting enough for the adults. A bit of the Field Museum, MOS&I, and the Children's Museum all rolled into one. Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Really great and I wouldn't hesitate to make the drive for this again. Here's an overview of what we saw.
Hayden in a Little Yellow Submarine.
Crazy driver! !
Tim and Jaxson checking out the trains. Uncle Bob you would of LOVED this exibit... tons of model trains from the past century.

Boys being goofy!
The dino exhibit was amazing! Real fossils and tons of info. Jax liked growling at them.
I see a Hayden fossil down there.


Someone was nice enough to take our family picture
Jax was in heaven! A water table that was just his height. It was a whole area just for kids 2-5 years old. He could of stayed there for hours himself.

Hayden and Jax were cooking us up some dinner.

Hayden was goofing around with the farming toys. I told him it was like real life FarmTown :D
Ha Ha Jax in a box :D LOL
The museum even had a Carousel of Dreams inside that Hayden rode. Jax was sleeping in his stroller.

A self portrait :D

This was the area that was designed for the kids 5-12 years old. Hayden could of stayed here for hours too :) Building areas, climbing areas, a larger water table/river. So many things he could touch and do.

There are two more areas we saw that day... but those will come in a little bit.