How to have the worst picnic ever

Thinking of having a picnic at the playground? Follow these tips so your experience can be as fun-filled as ours:

1. When your 4-year-old asks if you can have a picnic, say yes.

2. Pay no attention to the weather. It has been sunny and 60 the past few days, so surely the 35 degree windy weather the day of the picnic isn't going to last.

3. Or not.

4. Do not believe your child when they tell you they do not need to go to the bathroom before leaving the house.

5. Arrive at the playground. Notice it is completely deserted since everyone else in their right mind is staying inside in this weather.

6. When taking the picnic basket out of the car, be sure to get a splinter in your hand.

7. Two minutes after arriving at the playground, try not to pull your hair out when your child decides they do indeed have to go to the bathroom. This is of course best if you are at a school playground on a Saturday where the building is locked.

8. Suggest going back home to use the bathroom.

9. Be thankful no one else is at the playground to experience the giant fit thrown at this idea.

10. Decide you will have a really quick picnic so you can get home before he has an accident.

11. Watch in amazement as child somehow defies the laws of gravity and falls off the picnic table, landing on his head.

12. Decide gravity is not your friend as child somehow drops every piece of cheese you hand him to the ground. Note to self: mittens and picnics do not mix. Neither do woodchips and cheese.

13. Notice that the baby could also benefit from being near a bathroom as she now needs her diaper changed.

12. Declare end of fun-filled picnic of the century and go home.

Science Central

Science Central is Fort Wayne's science museum for kids. Even though we have lived here almost 3 years now, we hadn't been to the museum until last week. I took Samuel by himself for some special big boy time.

His most favorite thing at the museum was the elevator. After that, he enjoyed:

The parachutes. You attached a parachute to this claw, then pushed a button. The claw would go up about 20 feet in the air and then release the parachute:





He also really like this robotic arm that you could move around and try to pick up foam rocks:



"That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."



Spinning around on the gyroscope:

Posing with the dinosaur statue out front:

The museum was a really neat place that we will definitely be visiting again soon.

Sweaters from Nana

Ernie's grandmother knitted some beautiful sweaters for Samuel and Becca. Here they are showing them off:

5 months old

Becca is 5 months old now. Here is her picture with the bear:



She is getting so big! She weighs 16 pounds now (75-90%), and is 24.5 inches long (25%). She has become a great night sleeper. And I do mean GREAT - she will sleep for 12 hours at night, something Mr. Samuel has never done in his life. When she wakes up each morning, she is so happy to see all of us. Sometimes she wriggles like a little puppy when she first sees us, like "it's you guys again! I'm so glad!"

Other highlights in the past month include:

• getting really good at using her hands to grab things nearby.
• trying real food (sweet potatoes: thumbs down. Avocado, banana, applesauce: thumbs up. Oh, and one day at lunch she practically launched herself into the mashed potatoes I was eating because she wanted them so badly, so I gave her some and she LOVED them.)
• pushing herself all the way up on her arms when she is lying on her stomach. I think she is going to be crawling before too long.
• laughing and laughing at her crazy big brother's antics.