"Give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding."
-Abraham Kaplan
Monday was Labor Day and since we had the day off we decided to take the kids to Rainforest Café to experience the joy of over-priced food and Chuck-E-Cheese inspired robotic animals. Okay, so I’m being a little harsh, the food isn’t all that bad and the animals make for a fun place for the kids. Ashlyn hung out at the table and watched everything. James kept running off in an attempt to see everything up close and personal. We eventually got James to hang out at the table to eat, and rewarded both the kids with a train ride after the meal.
Grandma has been having fun with the sewing machine lately and the kids have enjoyed the results of her labors. Ashlyn got to show off a new skirt that has a lot of twirling action. James strutted in his John Deere coveralls.
I really hope that Ashlyn and James keep the relationship they are building. Sure, James gets upset at Ashlyn when he wants to play with something she has, and Ashlyn in turn gets upset when James pulls her hair, but when the fussiness is out of the way they are simply a brother and sister who love each other and enjoy playing together.
While gymnastics can still be a struggle for Ashlyn, primarily due to her shyness and the number of kids running around, it doesn’t keep the sport from coming back to the house. Her new favorite thing is doing back hand springs off of the furniture. Even James got in on the action.
Sunday was pool day at Nina and Papa’s, and we took our scuba gear over to test it out before a possible upcoming vacation. Ashlyn wasn’t too sure what to think of the scuba gear, but she still did her flying off the side of the pool routine while making sure Nina was as wet as she was.
Dinner continues to be a source of entertainment and it’s always interesting to see how things turn out when we sit down at the table. For this one, Ashlyn took my hat off and put it on her head, James took his food and put it on his head. Of course, I can’t blame James completely for his messiness with Mom around being such a good role model.
And for no other reason than we liked these pictures, here is Ashlyn being cute.
