Whatever it takes.

Whatever it takes to make the dreaded-but-necessary weekly trip Porter & I make to the grocery store, "fun," I'll do it. We try to get the "car cart" when we can, but lately we've found something else to do the trick. The SPACE SHIP, as Porter calls it, costs a quarter & is worth every cent if it gets us through the trip without any meltdowns, whining or cart-escaping.

To Iowa we go!

Porter headed to Iowa today to finish up his "daycare vacation" with Nana & Papa Dave. He loves it there & couldn't wait to go! We met Nana at the half-way point, Albert Lea & onward he went.


Are we there yet? I'm getting sleepy.


Let's roll, Nana!

Bapa, Bapa, everywhere!

Today for our "daycare vacation" adventure, we took the van & picked up Gammy Jan & headed to the hospital where Bapa Robb works to have lunch. Bapa Robb was asked to be part of the Fairview advertising campaign this year, so just about everywhere we looked in the hospital, we saw his picture. We had a very fun lunch & again, it was great just to be able to go somewhere together for once.

The library...The lunch.

This morning Porter & I headed to the library on our second day of "daycare vacation" while Daddy was at therapy. Porter loves the computers & puzzles more than the books, but it was still fun. Afterwards, I attempted to take him out to lunch--just the two of us--before we had planned to meet up with Daddy again after therapy. I had this grande plan in my head that we would share a fun lunch together, thinking maybe, just maybe he was old enough now that we could have a nice relaxing lunch together. I was wrong. The minute we sat down, he had to go to the bathroom. Then, he complained about not liking his sandwich. Then he was done & ready to go when I still had half of my scrumptious Panera sandwich left to savor. Not exactly what I envisioned. Ah well, maybe in another year? Maybe?

Monkeying around.

Daycare is closed this whole week, so I took the week off too! We were able to rent a van for 3 days this week so we could spend some days together as a family & go wherever we felt like. Today took us to Como Park Zoo & what fun we had! It was a beautiful spring day full of sunshine & smiles.

Sharing popcorn...what a treat!


Picnic lunch in the park.



The zebras & giraffes were inside for some reason, but we still had fun checking them out.






It was a good afternoon for a nap for many of our favorites...

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was Mother's Day & what a beautiful day it was. My boys spoiled me with gifts & we made the most of the day by strolling to the park down the street. We haven't been there since last fall, so it was a treat. It was fun to see how much Porter has grown since last year & all the things he can do by himself now.


He has learned how to "pump" on the swings now! Swing up high, my little man!!

We ended this Mother's Day with dinner at our house with the rest of the Gruman family. Good day.

Play date!

So...daycare was closed today, so Porter & I made plans to meet my friend Amy & her two boys at the park for a play date. We met at Lake Calhoun & found the perfect little park that was just the right size for our little guys. Porter & Ollie are only 3 months apart, so they had a ball.




It was so much fun being right there on the lake. We even saw real live ducks come waddling past...


One minor side note that I can't seem to get out of my head...We were at the park only minutes when Porter said he had to go to the bathroom. I looked around & to my horror, this was our only option:


Without going into too much horrific detail, it was by far the most disgusting bathroom experience I've had with the potty-trained-Porter to date. Oh, and not only did he have to go once, he had to go twice...so we got to enjoy the porta-potty experience two times. Ahhhh, Motherhood.

Low Rider.

We went for a "spin" around the block tonight...Me, Daddy & Low Rider. Porter decided his big wheel was a motorcycle, so that of course meant he had to wear his helmet. It was hysterical.