Makutu’s Island

Today we went to Makutu’s Island to celebrate Boston’s potty training successes.  He worked so hard staying clean and dry and had to earn 15 stars on his chart.  The boys were both beside themselves with excitement about going to “the big playground,” even though they had never been there.


When we first got there it took the boys a long time to warm up to it.  They were both really scarred to go on the bridges and especially the slides.  Stephen screamed and screamed to to the point where I thought we might have to leave.  We spent a lot of time crawling up and around in tunnels and caves.  It is really hard to describe this place but it was really cool.  Scott and I forced helped the boys to go down a few of the slides…in most cases this did not have the desired effect of helping them realize it was fun.  Instead, they became more terrified of the slides. Maybe it was because these slides were scary even for us as adults!  Some of them were two stories up and they were FAST!  I came down one and landed flat on my back. It gave me a new appreciation for the courage it takes little kids to do these things. 


We played and played and played.  One climbing tunnel was my worst nightmare - I was so claustrophobic in there but I had to go up with Boston.  Scott somehow tricked Stephen into getting close to the entrance of a two story twirly slide.  He threw Stephen down the shoot and the next thing we knew we heard a “wooo hoo!” and Stephen came barreling out the bottom with a huge grin on his face!  “That was AWESOME!!!”  He loved it so much that he ran up the stairs and raced down the slide at least 15 more times!  Here is the slide:

We will definitely have to go back.  It seems like the kind of place that is best to go on a random weeknight during the school year…during the summer it must be swarming with kids and I don’t think it would be quite as fun.  As it was, we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  Maybe only one or two other families were there.  We all had a blast at Makutu’s Island!
I am embarrassed to admit it but my legs and arms are already sore!  I am not used to climbing and crawling around like that!
Boston just came and told me, “I went to the bathroom by myself!  I’m going to get a star on my chart and go to the big playground again!”  Uhhhh sure kid, though maybe not as soon as you would like. 

Stephen is Five!

We played it really low key for Stephen’s birthday this year.  After the major Superman themed party last year, his blue lady bug cake was an easy request.  We didn’t serve dinner and only a little bit of our family came (we celebrated on a weeknight).  It was so peaceful and fun.  He didn’t even care that there was not a big deal.

 

So, the blue lady bug cake…

Stephen absolutely INSITED on having a lady bug cake.  We tried to convince him to go with something a little more masculine…not a chance.  He wanted a ladybug cake because he loves playing with the ladybugs we have in our “garden.”  I guess it is a sign of him growing up.  His opinion is not so easily swayed by us anymore.  We used to be able to change his mind pretty easily.  Luckily, he decided at the last minute to have it be a blue ladybug, which of course makes it a boy.  He picked out those awful awesome orange cupcakes with ants on them to share with his friends at school since he could only share “store bought” cupcakes.  (BTW – the “sell by”  date on those cupcakes was sometime in December…uhhhhh).  We used the extras to help play up the “bug” theme and added in some gummy worms and bugs for good measure.  I think it made for a great “big boy turning five” look instead of “baby’s first birthday” that a ladybug cake generally brings to mind. 

Opening his first gift…

 

Art supplies – including construction paper, pipe cleaners, his own roll of scotch tape, new crayons, tongue depressors, several notebooks, and the “super glue stick” he has seen on TV.  He wasn’t very happy that it wasn’t a “toy” but my feelings weren’t hurt.  I knew that once the novelty of the new toys wore off he would be back to his obsession of making “projects.”  I was right! 

 

Getting ready to blow out the candles…

 

This is one of those birthdays when you cringe a little as you watch him blow out the candles…he had a cold and you kind of worry about the germs….

 

There is a lot of smoke left in the air after blowing out FIVE candles!

 

Stephen is thrilled to be five.  A lot of things change when you are five.  Some are good like being allowed to get his own drinks at Grandmas’ houses and some are not so good, like having to take five more bites of something instead of four….  We are sure glad that Stephen is five too.  He is growing up so fast and he is so much fun.  He is a very creative kid and is incredibly smart.  I love my Stephen!

 

Precious:  The morning after his birthday I was on the phone with the electric company and he snuck up next to me and whispered in my free ear, “Mommy, I’m still five!”  I loved the excitement and delight in his sweet voice and I hope to always remember the way he sounded at that moment.

Boston

Here are some cute random pictures of Boston.  He likes to have his picture taken.  Good thing too!  He is adorable.  I know I may have a slight prejudice but eh, who cares.    It is seriously almost impossible to resist this little guy.  If he wants something and asks for it in his sweet little voice and then bats his ridiculously long eyelashes at me, he almost always gets his way.  Spoiled?  Yes.  He does pretty well at staying dry all day and he wears underwear everywhere we go (except to bed). 

He goes days with no accidents and then one day he will pee his pants four times in a row.  Its kind of like he gets tired of the effort and takes a break for the day.  Ah well, I am happy with his progress.  He earned his big prize by staying “clean and dry” for 15 days and earning all of his stars so he can go to Makutu’s Island (a giant indoor playground).  We took Stephen to Chuck-e-Cheese when we potty trained him but Scott and I have vowed to never go there again (HATE that place) and this Makutu’s Island sounds more fun anyway.  Boston and Stephen are both soooo excited!

The Slingshot

Stephen loves to play Angry Birds on our phones.  He even loves to watch us play.  I know, I know, after the reference to Angry Birds in General Conference as a time waster…please don’t judge us.  We don’t spend a whole lot of time playing it.  Stephen came up with a plan to build his very own Angry Birds launcher…

Here is the design he drew for it:

 

Dad made some modifications to the plan and they worked on it together out in the garage. 

 

 

Then Stephen and I went to Michaels where he picked out the paint colors he wanted.  He insisted we get a “real” paint brush (with bristles) even though I tried to convince him that a sponge brush would be easier. I drew an arrow on it for decoration and he did most of the painting on his own.

 

 

We used rubber tubing and I sewed a little “pocket” to put the balls in.  Here is the finished product!

 

Yes, a hand-held slingshot would have been easier to make and use but we didn’t want it to be too versatile.  It is only for knocking down blocks…not breaking windows.  Thus, Scott made it so that Stephen had to kneel on the board – this keeps it on the floor.  We are still working out a few kinks with it, such as what to use as ammo and just how to attach the tubing to the pocket, but it works pretty well despite the imperfections.

 

This project took several weeks to complete.  I don’t know who was more excited about being finished – Stephen or Scott!