Yard Work

 

"Dad, you missed a spot over there."  What a good helper!

He's not afraid of a little manual labor. 

He's good help, but sometimes he gets in the way.

That's okay, there's plenty of other things to do outside, like bring sticks to Ricky.

Or, enjoy the peaceful shade under this shrub.

Finally, break time!  That means rides in the wheelbarrow!

Ricky could hardly wait for his turn.

 Sorry Ricky, it's dad's turn for a ride first.

Atlanta

Ross was sent to Atlanta for work for a couple weeks which gave Max, Ricky, and I an excuse to take a little road trip!  We spent the weekend with Ross exploring the city and a few days with a friend.  Max added two new states (Alabama and Georgia) to the list of states he's visited.

After a long ride in car the day before we were antsy to get outside and run around.  We spent a few hours at Piedmont Park.  Max joined in a soccer game and made lots of friends with the other park goers.

  

It feels so good to get out of the car!

After we had our fill of sunshine we went to the Georgia Aquarium.  There was so much to look at!

The little fish are just as fun to watch as the big ones.

The next day was another day of great weather.  We took a long walk around Stone Mountain before parting ways with Ross for the rest of the week.  This old mill made a nice spot for photos.

Next stop, Stacy's house!

You might say he had a fun time playing with her.

How can you not like visiting Stacy when she takes you out for sweet treats?  Max had his first Krispy Kreme experience.  After watching the freshly made donuts roll off the conveyor belt he got to enjoy his first (few bites of) a hot donut.

Ricky made a new friend, too.  Ricky's friend showed him all the best smelling spots in town.

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

It takes foot work like this...

...to win wrestling matches against opponents like this.

Max's Room

We spread out all his toys for him on the living room floor (blocks, legos, stuffed animals, musical toys, trucks, EVERYTHING) and sit him in front of it.  What does he do?  Stand up and run to his room.  He knows which room is his and that's where he likes to play.  Who needs toys when you can make up your own games?

There he goes!

The first thing he does when he gets in his room is throw himself onto a pile of pillows.  Originally there was just one pillow here.  In all his excitement he would sometimes miss the pillow and hit the wall, so we added a little more padding.

Spying on me through the slats of the crib.

Time to pull the blanket out of the crib...

...and drag it around the room.

Where's Max?

There he is!

Lego People

When Chantal visited she came prepared with a plan for a photoshoot (no surprise there!).  I don't know where she finds this stuff, but she found a Lego man construction costume that fit Max perfectly!

The Lego construction workers are hard at work taking measurements on the site.

Stop playing around you two, get back to work!

A Stroll in the Park

The weather was finally nice enough for us to get out of the house!  Aunt Chantal visited over the weekend and we were stuck inside the whole time (which gave her plenty of time to set up a photoshoot with Max, but that's a post for another day).

 Max was all business at the beginning of the walk.

He even offered to push the stroller for me.

Then he saw a pine needle on the ground and his focus began to shift.

 He's pretty excited to show me the stick he found.

He carried it proudly while we walked along the path.

It didn't take long for the novelty of the stick to wear off.  Even though it was really awesome, nothing beats a crunchy leaf.

Happy New Year!