Cruisin' to the park

For Christmas Jackson's Grandma and Papa bought him a 'car'.  Now that the snow has melted we decided it was time to go cruisin'.  We cruised around the block to the neighborhood park where Jackson discovered the slides, swings, and sand.

 Taking it off road.

 We made it to the park!

 Sliding with mom.

 Going on the BIG slide with dad.

~ Mama Rach

The 1st Easter Egg Hunt

Today I took Jackson to his 1st Easter egg hunt.  I had pictured it oh so perfectly.  Jackson would look so cute in his pastel clothes.  He would hold my hand and waddle to an egg on a warm sunny day.  Then he'd wonder what it was, pick it up and stick it in his mouth to farther investigate.  He would be happy.  I would get a picture of the kids picking up their eggs gracefully.  A mom would volunteer to take a picture of me helping Jackson find an egg.  And another of Jackson sitting in the grass happily playing with his plastic egg. 

hahahahhaha!  Sometimes my imagination gets a little carried away.  So here's the real story...

Jackson woke up slightly grumpy once we arrived at the park only to be tussled around in order to get a hat, shoes, and two more layers of clothing on.  Because in reality it was cloudy and 39 degrees! 

We waiting a couple minutes until the egg hunt began.  Everyone was suppose to be able to get 6 or 7 eggs. The buzzer sounded and the hunt was completed 60 seconds later.  No joke!

 Jackson only got one egg.

  I tried to pose him for pictures but he decided otherwise.

  It was far from the story in my imagination but an adventure all the same!



~ Mama Rach

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Traditionally, I dress "my (nanny) kids" in green outfits and take them outside to look for 4 leaf clovers on St. Patrick's day.  This activity is great for teaching patience and determination, it incorporates fine motor skills, and it also reinforces counting for younger kids.  And who doesn't like being outside or a beautiful day?  Well, that was back on the east coast. 

My great plan was to dress Jackson up in a green outfit, have him sit in the grass, and I would describe the grass and clovers as I searched for a 4 leaf clover.  Once we got there I realized that we live in Minne-"snow"-da now.  Enough of the snow had melted for us to see grass, but it was dead and brown and there were definintly no clovers.  Jackson didn't care.  He just thought the walk there was fun.

Well, we didn't get a 4 leaf clover but to keep with the green theme he had his first taste of sweet peas for dinner.  Yummy!

~Mama Rach

Stop. Drop and Roll!

A while back I called the fire station and set up a field trip for my mom's group.  I had done this in the past with Cville Nannies in VA and the kids had a blast so I thought, "Why not?".   First a firewomen used the fire teddy bear below and pictures to teach the kids about fire safety.

Next we watched a ABC video that incorperated fire safty, and lastly we go to see the fire trucks!

I know J doesn't understand "Stop, drop, and roll." or fire safety rules, but events like this encourage social, cognitive, developmental, and language development.

~ Mama Rach