We have hit potty training head on due to inspiration from my friend Michelle. I owe her a big thank you for answering all of my questions and reading literature I was too lazy to read. I was hoping for the prodigy child that potty trained himself and reality has hit that I don't have that child. We have been wearing undies and not diapers for a few days now and I have learned a lot of tricks of the trade from Michelle like:
This little peanut has hit a growth spurt. She is growing leaps and bounds. Thank goodness. She is starting to eat a lot better and now likes to be given anything and everything that Mason gets. She loves looking at books and talking on her play phones. She also likes digging in every cubard and drawer she shouldn't be in. I find her on top of the chair on the desk in the kitchen helping herself to whatever is available. She loves being around Mason and is a little shadow in things you do. She is shaking her head no for everything even when she means yes. I could ramble and ramble, but I need to get some sleep.
We were sitting in the parking lot at the gas station waiting on Rob and Mason kept repeating he wanted to go in and say Hi to the "green man". I was a bit confused on what he was requesting, but as we were pulling out I looked into the station and notice a midget size green M&M statue sitting next to the register. Mason had a better view of the inside of the store so I was thinking he was using his imagination when in reality he was just giving me the facts.
Our neighbors called and left a message that they were getting rid of a toy we might be interested in. Boy were they correct. Both kids have a few years before they really grow into the toy, but Mason is super excited over his "new toy". It is an ESPN ball zone, it even turns on and counts your baskets and throws, etc. It give the famous ESPN jingle for you and all, Fancy! Our neighbors said it is old, it was passed down to them and now they are passing the torch to us. I hope it survives our children so I can pass the torch on when we are done with it. Mason now requests to go to the basement to play with "my new toy". We have painters here painting the deck and play structure and Mason even asked them if they wanted to see his "new toy".
HAPPY FATHERS DAY ROB!!!
I think it is pretty cool to have my dad's Highway Patrol badge, stars, and name plate displayed along with Rob's dads wings and a few metals we found. I am sure Rob has many memories of his dad in his wings as I do of mine in his badge. I thought it was the coolest thing when my dad let me help clean and shine them and he cleaned and shined them every night before he went to work the next day. Funny how even the smallest things you do with your father as a child leave a long lasting memory and impression. I am blessed with a wonderful father and a great Papaw to my kids and I am saddened to never have met Rob's father, but if you can turn out a kid as good as Rob, he had to be a pretty special man as well. I hope everyone takes time to reflect on special memories with their dad's and I hope the dads realize how special and dear they really are!
Late in the evening we headed out for a walk up the 70 foot observation tower. Mason climbed up the whole way while I carried Ellery in her sling. I tell you the best baby gift ever was my New Native baby sling. The tower was a bit freaky. Nebraska wind is fierce and the tower swayed ever so slightly with the wind. It was beautiful being above the treetops and looking out. We were able to watch a train go by from high above and see a deer walk through the parking lot and park area. Mason and Ellery loved running around the top and afterwards we took a short hike in the woods. We thought we could get down to the water, but the trail stopped at a cliff above the water.
Following the horse ride we hit the aquatic center. It was packed full of people and fun. We stayed for 4 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Ellery was her usual self and slow to warm up to the idea of water and playing in it. Once she warmed up to the idea, she wouldn't let you hold her hand and loved wading through chest deep. She took a few spills and went under and we would scoop her up and she just kept going like nothing happened. She also tried following Mason around which wasn't easy. Mason was here there and everywhere. He started on a teeny tiny slide and then worked his way up to going down the tube slides seen in the picture. He climbed the stairs himself and slid down the slide feet or head first depending upon his mood. He had no issues going under the water, picking himself up and heading out for more. Rob took them into the wave pool, but I wasn't a fan. I think it brought back memories of me feeling like I was about to drown when I went to Fantasy one year with my brother. I like sitting on the edge, and playing in the wakes but that is about it for me.
I consider going to a state park that is within 30 minutes of the house a staycation. I had heard multiple stories on how much fun Mahoney State Park was so I decided to plan a staycation for us. We loaded up the kids yesterday and packed everything but the kitchen sink and headed out. We stayed over night in a two bedroom cabin, my idea of camping. Rumor has it if you want to get a prime cabin for next year at this time you better do some booking now. I called to book our reservations 5 months ago and the pickings were slim and only one consecutive night stays available, which worked out best us. We had a wonderful time, but kept ourselves busy with all sorts of activities and wore everyone out. We didn't get to experience everything the park had to offer, but here are a few of the highlights.
We don't carry a monkey on our back around here we carry him on the front. Meet Abu, Mason's pet monkey. He requests for Abu to be hooked to him often and he holds his tail up appropriately so he doesn't trip on him. Abu is such a hot commodity that he shares Mason's affection and takes love time away from his dear stuffed "Double". He loves Abu so much he requests to sleep with him, but something about a 2 foot tail makes me nervous. It is pretty sweet watching Mason walk around with his pet monkey. He twists it's head so he can see things, the head isn't a swivel head so he has to put some force to it. He also gives him kisses and pats him on the back and even supports him when he feels it is needed, like walking down the stairs and shielding Abu from the dog. Abu was never used for his intended purchase. Abu was originally purchased for a trip prior to Ellery being born to harness Mason in the Chicago airport, but I didn't have to use it. I thought I had wasted my money, but once again my child will prove me wrong.
I didn't think we were going to get a government lesson at the College World Series but we did.
We took Mason and Ellery to the pool this afternoon and they had a wonderful time. Ellery is more interested in getting snacks and sitting pool side rather than getting in the pool. Rob scooped her up and took her in to let her play a bit and she wasn't that excited about it, but sghe did better than last time he took her in. He also took her down the slide that Mason went down multiple times. Mason enjoyed it a bit more than she did. In her defense, the water was a bit cooler today and I don't think she cared for that.
Thanks to our realtor friend Mark Renner we were able to experience the College World Series with seats that had backs and next to the front rail. We were between 1st base and right field. The visiting teams bull pin was to our right and we were able to watch them warm up. It made us a bit nervous watching them pitch these fast balls towards catchers that were to our right. We asked a few of the people sitting next to us that have had season tickets for 25+ years if anyone was ever hit and they said no, and sure enough they were warming up and a ball flew off the catchers glove hit the rail sitting by my dad and flew into the crowd. If you look in the picture with my dad and note the rail where his arm is the ball hit around where his hand was sitting. We didn't know what it was because it was so fast, like a bird flying by. We noticed it, but didn't know what it was. Even though we came close to getting hit with a ball, we have nothing to show for it but a nice tale. It was a neat experience. It has me hooked to watch the games the rest of the week to see who ends up winning and to label myself a "fan". We took my dad and Debbie to the game and I think they enjoyed it as much as we did. We couldn't have asked for better weather for our night. We experienced all the joys the ball park has to offer, I really wanted a blooming onion that was bigger than my head, but the line was too long for my liking so I settled on the lemonade slush and ice cream cookie that was as big as my hand.
Mini Cake Recipe
Make a wish and ENJOY!!!!!
Papaw and Grandma Debbie came up for a visit and we took them to the zoo. We had a wonderful time at the zoo and again we were able to see another part of the zoo we hadn't discovered and Mason rode the train with Papaw for the first time. It was quite the scene, Mason came around the corner right when a train was taking off and started chasing after it and screaming for it. It took him a few minutes to realize we were going to catch the next one and he was going to get to ride. He was thrilled as can be to ride the train and look at animals, I think Papaw was just as thrilled.
I find all sorts of innovative things Mason does with his toy. He really is like a sponge and notices things that I don't think he notices. 
We have been working on the potty training here in the Chaplin house I think Ellery might train before Mason. I don't think Mason is that thrilled about it. He has only told us a couple of times that he needed to use the big boy toilet and he refuses to poop in it. Yet, even when it isn't fun for him or me he gives me a
chuckle.
We loaded up the clan and headed to downtown Omaha this afternoon for a Taste of Omaha. We keep saying we are going to explore downtown Omaha more, but never seem to get around to doing it. Well we got around to exploring it today with hundreds of others. We walked a nice path along the river and listened to live music and then paid a ridiculous amount of money to get tickets so we could go to different vendors and taste Omaha. We did happen upon an exotic pet show and that captivated Mason. We might as well tattooed sucker parents on our foreheads. We paid $5 to allow our child to get a picture with an exotic pet and touch it. They had the kangaroo out first so we choose that for him, he had no idea he could have chosen an alligator, boa constrictor, fox, and some other creature he called a monkey but wasn't a monkey. You can plainly see he was less than thrilled to take a picture, that required him to turn around and not look at the kangaroo or touch it. He was much more interested in looking and touching rather than posing. Can't say that I blame him.
we were going to our seats we had to walk through a few people because we came in from the wrong side. I guess I should clarify and say Rob made a friend. The female pictured here groped him as we walked by. Oooo la la! We of course forgot to take the camera in so we took pictures on Rob's phone. I pretended to be taking pictures of the concert but faced the camera backwards to catch the perpetrator, but I think her husband was onto me!
Mason and Ellery have a great time playing with each other, for the most part. She loves to crawl onto the push toy and Mason enjoys pushing her on it. I do have to ask him to slow down every once in a while. I think I might have to start making them wear bike helmets if they keep up the speed issue for fear of road rash. He also has started tackling her. We have new rules you can only tackle on carpet or grass. Believe it or not she seems to enjoy it when it is in the designated areas. Speaking from experience we know she isn't a fan of being tackled on the hard wood floors.
I can't thank Nana enough for our custom bows for all of our outfits! Ellery is beautiful without them, but they do add a little something. I put her headband on her and tell her she has a bow on and she looks really pretty. She then takes her hand and rubs the bow as if she can actually touch pretty.
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