Enka Fair 2012

We took Sam down to an annual fair this weekend.  He was excited at first by everything that went "round and round" but then became overwhelmed.  We stood in line for 20 minutes for a little train ride, that parents and children were riding on.  When we reached the front of the line, they changed the rules and decided parents could not accompany children.  Sam sat on the train (twice) but then quickly decided it wasn't a good idea to ride it without me accompanying him, so he never completed the ride.
His favorite moments of the fair were checking out the fire truck that was parked outside and eating fried dough and running around the grassy area.

 There was some safety in being held and not being down on the ground!

 The train was fun until the wait got a little long and realization set in.

Watching the Lawnmower

Sam likes to watch Chris mow the lawn from the upstairs deck.  When I walked by yesterday, he was out there with his trains lined up next time him.  When I asked, he told me, "trains watch Daddy mow lawn too!"
(If you look closely, there is a line of trains next to his left foot "watching" the lawnmower).

Bumblebees and Blocks

Sam was happily playing with his blocks and trains yesterday in the living room, while I started dinner.  Independent play at this hour of the day is a rare luxury and I was relishing in the fact that I could unload the dishwasher and start dinner, without hearing, "Mama? Mama play twains?"  every three minutes.  Then I heard a little voice say, "oh, spider."  Silence.  Then, "spida?  Spida fast!"  A few seconds later I heard, "no!  No spida play blocks!  Sammy's blocks!"  There was a note of panic in his voice so I went into the living room.  On his block I saw not a spider, but a huge bee.  Like the size of his pinky. 
"Mama, no spida play bwocks!" 

I slowly picked up the block, willing the bee to stay on it and not fly at Sam while I tried to run for the porch door.  Luckily it seemed to be attempting to pollinate the wooden cube and I got out the door and had to bang the thing off.  I returned the brick to Sam and told him it was a bumblebee, not a spider.
"No BUMBLEBEE pway Sammy bwocks!" he declared.  I agreed. When I finished unloading the dishwasher and had the rice started, I went back into to see what he was doing.  The block I had retrieved the bee from sat untouched, contaminated in the corner.  Sam was still shaking his head, muttering about the unwelcome guest.  I was glad I had gone to see this "spider" and that we had avoided a bee sting.

In the Garden

Outside is still one of Sam's favorite places to be.  He has a little set of gardening tools now.  A spade that I had bought for science in the classroom years ago, a rake that my parents dug up in their shed and repaired, a snow shovel that has become useful in all seasons, and to his great delight, the Easter bunny brought him a Radio Flyer wheel barrow at Easter time!  He will run across the yard with it, calling, "Eas-ta bunny bwought Sammy wheel ba-row!"  Everyday when we get home, he wants to be in the backyard.  He is usually moving dirt from one location to another random spot on the lawn.  Our grass looks like it has little pitcher's mounds all over it.

GrandJoe recently built a beautiful and elaborate, very strong gate to contain Sam, which Sam will affectionally pat, and say, "GrandJoe build gate," as he unlatches it ; )  We are working on the latch.  It is very exciting to come home and find GrandJoe and Nelson building the gate, rain or shine.  Sam immediately needs to get underfoot, or into wet concrete, or under the scaffolding.

They have started a gate on the other side of the house now.  This gate is still under construction and has two holes for the granite posts, that are not quite filled in.  They are wonderful for putting things into however and for splashing in.                                                                              Sam is getting the concept of putting plants and flowers in the ground, sometimes they are a little mangled when they are finally planted though.  The garden was a little neglected these past two summers, since he required much more attention.  It's starting to shape up though and it's fun to be out there with him.