Paxton, giving Harper a "ride" in the ambulance. With red lights flashing, of course.

The only part of the tool room Paxton was interested in was the hard hat.

Harper with a "just his size" shopping cart, planning to make a break for it out of the grocery store.

Paxton finds anything with a steering wheel.

Our other little friend, Donnie, checking out the campfire.

McKenna Children's Museum

My latest adventure with Paxton was to the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels. After hearing rave reviews about it for the better part of a year, it was high time we finally made the short trip to check it out for ourselves. For years, all New Braunfels meant to me was that it was the home of Schlitterbahn. Since I became a mother, I learned that it also has some of the best children's activities in Central Texas. Landa Park is still on my short list of family outings after hearing about how lovely it is and that it comes complete with a quaint train ride around the park.

Chris and I took Paxton to a birthday party at the Austin Children's Museum a few months ago and were blown away by how much fun it was. I expected the McKenna Children's Museum to be a dim shadow of it's neighbor in the big city. Boy, was I wrong. From the moment we pulled up in the parking lot, I was impressed. Paxton, too, considering their were giant sports balls on the roof of the building. He practically sprained a muscle trying to get a glimpse of the "soccer ball" and "taxi ball" (Paxtonese for "basketball"). We wandered starry-eyed through the fun gift shop and paid our relatively inexpensive admission fees ($5.50 per person). And then we walked through the doorway to a world o' fun!

Unlike the Austin Children's Museum, where they change the theme and displays semi-regularly, the McKenna Children's Museum has a large selection of permanent displays. Of course, Paxton headed straight for the trains. I literally had to drag him away so that he could see what else the big world had to offer. There was a camping area, complete with a fishing area, a teepee (or "pee-pee" as Paxton called it), a "campfire", and a kayak. There was a large aquarium, where paper mache puffer fish hanging from the ceiling complemented the real fish swimming in the tank. There was a farm, with a little farmhouse (kitchen and all) and a chicken coop outside of it where a wall display explained the phases of development of an embryonic chick. There was a bank, that boasted a real ATM machine that spit out fake twenty dollar bills. There was a grocery store, with mini-carts that the children could push around to collect food and pay for it at the little register. There was a hospital, a New Braunfit health lab, a house where you could do plumbing or attach siding to the outside and a workshop. There was even a space rocket!

It was a little bit of a buzz kill when Paxton and his friend, Harper, were told they had to keep the grocery carts in the store. It was far more fun to load them up with groceries and then run them through one door of the hospital and out the other, stopping at the ambulance to push the button that lit up the overhead red flashing lights. A 21-month old kiddo and his 16-month-old buddy don't understand the logic of boundries. Sure, the grocery cart is supposed to be just for the grocery store, but any great toddler mind will be happy to expand those limits and show anyone who is interested just how cool it is to take the cart on a joyride to your camping site or, better, to outer space! There were some tears involved when we firmly, but gently, tried to teach our little guys about rules, but they got over it quickly.

In an effort to use the experience to learn a little bit myself, I dragged an uncooperative Paxton to the science lab so we could learn how to make butter. Seeing how devout these people were about really setting the scene, I anticipated that we'd be donning frontier clothes and working a churn. Turns out that all you really need to make butter is a cup with a secure lid, some heavy whipping cream, a little bit of salt and a marble. Or, if you're pressed for time, a mixer. We went the marble route. Paxton was more interested in seeing how fast he could climb on top of the tables than he was in shaking the cup. I dutifully shook and shook, still trying to engage my bored toddler. Finally, the leader of the lesson spared us and let us try a little bit of the butter a little girl had successfully shaken up before we arrived. Mmmm! It was good. Even Pax had to admit that the rewards were worth the lack of interactive excitement the rest of the experience had thus far provided. The boy is like his momma--food wins us over every time.

As we wrapped up our visit, we went outside to see the displays there. Once again, I was wholely impressed. There was a big water feature with different activities to engage and teach the children. Since the high yesterday was an unseasonably chilly 58 degrees, it wasn't ideal, but I could see how this would be a lovely place to spend some of the long days of summer. There was nice shade, giant animals for the children to climb, a gated garden and even an old VW bug that the children could paint, if the museum was offering that activity that day. It was all very cool!

My only complaint was that many of the displays had buttons that were no longer functioning. I don't know if the curators plan to repair them or not, but it would entice Paxton even more to see a reaction to his actions. The flashing lights of the ambulance were clearly his favorite part of the visit, so it's obvious how tickled he would be with more activities like that. As it was, I was absolutely blown away by the overall experience. We definitely intend to get a season pass for our family and visit often. I'm so thankful that we have someplace that cool so near our home, and that I'm able to share such a fun learning opportunity with my little ray of sunshine. Next time, we'll certainly bring Daddy along for the ride!

I like to taste my toys. The duck bucket was kinda gamey.

Mommy says this is out of order, but this is when I fell asleep accidentally.

This is when we were getting ready to leave the beach. Mommy says that I have an impish look on my face and that she should have known I would be naughty on the drive home.

I tried to call my Tizzy on my remote control car, but she wasn't home.

This is Daddy's cool kite.

Here is one of the weddings. Our kite was near them and some people didn't like it, so Mommy made Daddio put it away.

There are a lot of things to look at when you're at the beach.

This is my chin, see?

Mommy says I'm pretty.

This is my belly button. We're on Belly Button Beach.

Here was an eagle with one wing.

I had to smile really big so the camera would look at me and not the big fish behind me.

Whoa! That fish is right in front of me!

This bird was named "Izzy" like my Ya-Ya. He is blue, see?

Mommy and I both love the ocean.

My First Trip to the Beach. By Paxton

This weekend, Mommy and Daddio took me to the ocean. We stayed in a house with a long, dark hallway that I liked to run up and down. Mommy and I stayed in one bedroom. Mommy was on a big bed and I was on a little bed on the floor. Daddio slept in the other bedroom with the dogs. He was worried that his snoring would wake me up. It might have, but Mommy said that I kept rolling over on my toy computer and it would play loud songs and I never woke up from that. Mommy was surprised that I move around so much when I sleep. I'm an active kid. I like to try different things. Sometimes I like to sleep in a ball on the floor. Sometimes I like to sleep across my bed. Sometimes I just like to have my head on the bed, and my body on the floor. I'm a mover and a shaker, you see.

The ocean was like a big, dirty pool. But the water tasted worse than the pool water. I kept tasting it anyway. I could stand up in the ocean, but sometimes the waves knocked me down and that made me cry. It felt weird to walk on sand in my bare feet. But it was better than walking in my water shoes, because they got filled with sand. Mommy was kind of scared to walk in the ocean, because she saw a jellyfish. I held her hand so she would not be so scared. It seemed to help.

Daddy showed me how to build a sandcastle. And he showed me how to fly a kite. Daddy took a long time to put together the kite, but when he got it up in the air, lots of people came over to Daddy to tell him how much they liked it. Mommy says that Daddy is a "Leo" and likes it when people notice his cool toys. I don't like it when people notice my cool toys, because usually they want to play with them, and then I have to scream at them.

Mommy said that there were three weddings on the beach next to us. I saw people standing around and girls wearing big dresses, but I didn't have much time to think too much about it. I wanted to be sure Daddy knew that I needed more water to mix with the sand. Daddy is good at following my directions.

On Saturday, we went to the Texas State Aquarium, where there were LOTS of fish. My favorite part was when I put my finger against the fish tank, and this little yellow and blue fish came over to nibble at it through the glass. Everywhere I moved my finger, the little fish followed. It cracked me up. I could have done that all day, but Mommy got bored and wanted to keep walking. We saw seahorses and jellyfish and sharks and eels and every color fish there is, although I think most of them were "blue". We went outside and saw birds with only one wing. There were lots of birds like that. And then we saw three dolphins who swam and swam all around and smiled with their eyes closed. They jumped up in the air and splashed me. They waved at me, too.

Daddy was mad sometimes this weekend, because he said the mosquitos were everywhere. If I felt like being silly and ran away from Mommy and Daddy, they ran after me and grabbed me and told me we had to run fast away from the mosquitos. They bit me a lot. Mommy said I have 30 bites on me. My neck really itched. It kind of made me mad. I see what Daddio means.

I was glad we brought Lula and Jelly with us. Lula is my best friend. She went into the ocean with me and pretended to bite the waves. It was so funny! When Mommy put her in the car for a little while, I got really worried. I wanted her to be with me in the water. She was so much fun. Jelly was fun, too, but she's scared of the water, so we had to leave her at our condo. I tried to cheer her up by making her growl, but Mommy made me stop. I don't know why. Jelly LOVES to growl!

I was pretty tired by the time we got in the car to go home. But I didn't want to sleep. I was afraid I would miss something. I made Mommy hand me every one of my cars, and I threw them all on the floor. Then I made her read me all of my books. Then I wanted to hear my favorite songs. I wanted my monkey, but then I threw him on the floor, too. Mommy got kind of mad. Then I got mad, too. When we stopped for french fries, Daddio changed my diaper and Mommy gave me french fries with ketchup and then I guess I fell asleep for a little while. I woke up really mad that I missed something. I told Mommy that I wanted cookies! Then I guess I fell asleep for a little longer.

I woke up this morning thinking about the ocean. I told Mommy I wanted to go there, but she said we were home now and got to go to Music class instead. I hope we can go back to the ocean soon. I liked it a lot!

Butler Sprinkler Park

Playing chase with Daddy! CAUGHT!

Merry Go Round, Merry Go Round.

My little Gilligan.

WHEE!

Splish-Splash!

Butler Sprinkler Park

Taking a little sip.

Even though it wasn't fully functioning, it was still a refreshing time at the sprinkler park!

Ahhhhh!

Turtles, turtles, everywhere turtles!

Swinging through the water with Daddy!

Picture Time in the Car, Waiting at Sonic

He's finally begun to smile when he sees the camera. He stopped that months ago. I'm so glad it's returned!

I asked him to show me the sign for "swing". He's doing it, even though it looks like he's beggin me not to take a picture.

And this is the sign for "hat".

We just like to observe our tongues every once in a while. He's apparently got just a bit of Gene Simmons in him.

My smiley, happy, sweetie pie.

Simple Pleasures

I've said it a hundred times, I know, but I love the simple pleasures of spending time with my son and my husband. Everything is more fun with the three of us together, and even better still when we have the company of my mom or our friends. I'm sure I would have tired of the local pool by now, despite the record heat this summer. But seeing Paxton's eyes light up each time he dives in is enough to keep the excitement new for me, as well. Paxton's presence in our lives has also opened up a world of fun, family activities for us that we likely would not have ventured out to experience without him. Today, we took Paxton to a sprinkler park in Austin. I've read about a couple of Sprinkler Parks in the Austin paper over the last couple of months, but, for some reason, didn't investigate further. When a friend of mine wrote on Facebook that she took her daughter to one yesterday, I was newly inspired. I googled "sprinkler park Austin" and went to the first one that came up. It is called Butler Park and it is very near Zilker Park.

I was unsure if the park would actually be in operation with the drought we are experiencing. Just this weekend, there were pictures on the front page of the paper of that fountains at UT looking green and stagnant. The water to them has been shut off due to the extreme lack of rain. I couldn't imagine a sprinkler park fairing any better, but I reasoned that if it was not open, we would find something else new and fun to entertain us until naptime.

Our trusty GPS led us right to the site, and we found parking and went to explore the park. Seeing a little girl being wheeled away in her stroller with wet hair gave us hope. There, just over a hill, was a semi-functioning "sprinkler park". It certainly didn't look like we were experiencing it in its full glory. There were dozens of holes in the ground where water apparently typically spouted from. But only two of those holes were emitting any water. And it was just a small amount. There were shallow pools of water for the children to wade into, as well, though, and that was fun, too. Paxton had a wonderful time. We all made some new friends and got lots of sun and exercise, running to and fro. We even saw dozens of turtles in the water just beside the sprinkler park. Lady Bird Lake, nee "Town Lake", should really have just one more name change to "Turtle Lake" or "Lake Tortuga", because every time I have been there, I have seen more turtles than is strictly necessary. When Chris and I rented a paddle boat one summer day years ago, we were inundated with turtle friends. And today, we saw turtles of all sizes swimming about for our entertainment. It was sort of magical.

Paxton stayed awake throughout the long drive home, devouring Wendy's french fries and Vegetable Straws in lieu of a heathy, well-balanced lunch. He was exhausted, but being fairly tolerable throughout the drive. I brought him home, stripped him down and put him to bed. I followed suit, sleeping for two hours. He slept for more than three! Ah, the power of the sun! It seems to drain Paxton just like it drains me. I'll remember that the next time I'm desperate for him to take a long nap.

He awakened in an awful snit. I feel the same way when my naps go too long. I can relate. But he just couldn't shake that bad mood, even when his Tizzy came over to eat dinner with us. She would make him laugh for a minute and then he'd go back to complaining. He's a sweet boy, but he is not good at stifling his emotions. When Paxton ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. I fear he gets that from me.

I am so looking forward to the cooler weather when we can take trips to the Austin Zoo and Landa Park in New Braunfels and enjoy all of the things we've had to avoid since, oh, about April. Our playdates will move from 9 a.m. back to 3 p.m. We won't have to worry about always packing a sun hat and sunscreen and ice water. I've had a lovely summer with my sweet little family, but the drop in temperatures (from the 100s to the 90s--a big change for us this summer!) has me thinking about all the good things that Fall will blow into our lives again! Every experience, no matter how mundane, is new when viewed through Paxton's eyes. I haven't enjoyed Halloween since I was a kid, but now I begin shivering with excitement about it as soon as September rolls around! And don't even get me started about Christmas! I. Can't. Wait!!!!

Life is good. It's really good. Thanks, God. :)