That Crazy Blue Elephant

Well, that crazy blue elephant has returned again this summer…reekin’ havoc upon Ace in his very own backyard.

That Crazy Blue Elephant

That damned thing comes out every time it gets warm and teases him with a small shower of cool water, just big enough for a three foot tall person to run through and cool down on a hot summer day.

And then once he gets close enough to enjoy the small shower… WHASHOOSH!  The elephant explodes with a massive flood of freezing cold water that pours down on him…sending him into shock and he runs for his  life…  😀

He reaches safety just in time to see the monsoon turn once again into a small pleasant shower.

And then he does it again…and again…and again…

But after a while he starts to catch on…

DSCF2497

…and he realize that there is a certain someone ( with a camera ) that is enjoying this a little too much.  This certain someone turns a knob connected to the hose every time the monsoon rains down on him.

He is getting smarter…wiser…more experienced.  It looks like that certain someone will have to step up their game in order to keep fooling this toddler.  😀

Bouncing Off The Walls

While Ace can be one hyper kid, that is not what this post is about… 😀

We recently took a trip to the awesome World Of Bounce!

world-of-bounce

World of bounce is fairly new here in the central Ohio area and is so much fun!

Ace, his cousin Olivia, Grandma S, Momma, and I all went for the Family Bounce Night.  Which was quite the deal…  We got to bounce for 3 hours, a large pizza, and drinks for everyone for only $25.

Ace ad Olivia loved it…

ace-and-olivia-loving-the-world-of-bounce

They had four different “bounce houses”.  The one pictured above was a bouncy basketball court.  They also had a huge slide that was probably over 20 feet high, and also two other giant bounce houses with slides, ladders, and numerous obstacles to bounce off of.

The coolest part was that the adults were free to bounce too!  Let’s just say that I forgot just how much fun it was to slide!  😀

Here are a few more pics…

wordl-of-bounce-1

world-of-bounce-2

Ace was one of the younger and smaller kids there.  Most of the kids were 4 to 10, I would guess.

ace-the-little-guy

Of course there were exceptions to the rule.  There were some kids pushing the 12-14 age group and they were being kinda rough seeing how there were much younger kids around.

The funniest part about the whole trip was when we were in the basketball court bounce house.  Ace had a thing for the only yellow ball in there.  He would grab it, throw it, run after it, and grab it again.

Then the older/rougher bunch of kids came in there and they grabbed the yellow ball.  One of the older kids fell down holding the yellow ball and Ace saw the opportunity.  He ran right over and took the ball out of the kids hands.

The older kids looked at each other like “What The…?”.  It was funny because most of the kids would leave when the bigger kids got close to them, but Ace went up and took his ball back.  I loved it!  😀

But anyways, if you come to the central Ohio area and have a few hours to bounce around…check it out!

Locked Down and Locked Out

For the past couple of months we have had to keep our doors locked.  Not to keep the bad guys out, but to keep the little guy in.  😀

Ace, you see,  is a master escape artist.  It never happens when Momma or I are in the room.  He is sneaky.  We could be in the kitchen, or in the basement…anywhere but in sight of the front door…and Ace will make his move.  He reaches up, pulls down on the door handle, and out the door he goes.

Now, he doesn’t get very far.  First of all, because our door squeaks when it is opened.  As soon as one of us hear the squeaky door we know something is up and bee-line it for the door.  He would have to be fast to get away, and he is, but he has a few obstacles in his way.

The step out of our front door is a wee bit longer than his legs.  He can make it out, but it takes a little bit…or else he falls after a failed attempt.

The second obstacle is the step from the stoop to the sidewalk.  This is even higher than the first obstacle.  I kind of think of these steps as a razor-wire fence that keeps in the prisoners.  However, Ace has no fear and will stop at nothing to scale our prison fences.

Luckily we have not had the little guy get too far yet because we do usually keep the door locked.  Every time we come inside the dead bolt gets thrown.  Ace is very observant and I’m sure he has seen this done thousands of times.

On Christmas Eve, I was at work, and Momma was home with Ace.  She went outside to get something out of her truck and when she went to go back into the house the deadbolt was locked, and standing just behind the smoky glass was Ace…with a shit eating grin I might add.  Momma said he laughed histarically as she fumbled trying to get into the door.   She tried to coax Ace into unlocking the door, but to no avail.

Of course Momma’s keys were inside…and we do not have a spare hidden away outside somewhere for emergencies like this.  Our spare key is at Grandma S’s house.  But, Momma’s cell phone was inside too.

So she went over to the neighbors to call Grandma S.  She was at work.  All of Ace’s uncles were not home either, so she had no spare.

Momma checked all of the down stairs windows, but they were locked.  We used to keep one unlocked for emergencies like this, but we recently had someone break in the house through a window…so they are all locked now.  😀

By now Ace is screaming his head off because he is stuck inside and Momma is stuck outside.  So, Momma starts looking for other ways to get inside and she notices the upstairs windows.

I have an extension ladder out back and so she grabs it, extends it, and luckily one of the upstairs windows were unlocked.  She dives in the window, and falls to the floor (creating some pretty nice size bruises on her legs, I might add), and runs downstairs to rescue her little man from his own demise.

So, you would think that we have learned a lesson and put a spare key outside?  Nope.  I had a few spares made and they are sitting on the dining room table…cause we usually lock ourselves in the dining room, right?  😀

The Newest Family Member

I should have made this announcement earlier, but wasn’t real sure if the newest family member was just a phase…or the real thing.  But it looks like Teddy is here to stay…

Teddy is the newest addition to our family.

Teddy is the newest addition to our family.

Ace made Teddy at Build-A-Bear, and I’m betting Ace would consider Teddy to be his best friend.  Ace goes no where without his newest companion!

Ace likes Teddy to be nekkid.  If you have ever been to Build-A-Bear you would know that once you build your bear, you have all sorts of options for clothing…underwear, pants, shoes, shirts, hats, and all sorts of other accessories.

When Momma tried putting clothes on Teddy at the Build-A-Bear store Ace went nuts!  So Teddy is nekkid.  Also, once when Ace had a bad diaper rash and refused to put a diaper back on after Momma took one off, she put a diaper on Teddy to try and convince Ace that even his best friend wears a diaper.  Ace wasn’t having it and cried until Momma took it off.  Teddy is not to be wearing a diaper!!! 😀

Teddy also gets most of Ace’s kisses.  Ace will give Teddy a big hug and kiss him on the nose.   It’s a crowd pleaser almost everywhere we go.  I’ll have to post a video.  It is just too cute.  😀

Teddy has only been around a few months, but Ace has put him through the ringer a time or two.  He has been dragged on almost every dirty surface known to man.  His nose is always saturated with saliva, and he has been puked on numerous times…including last night.

Teddy doesn’t complain.  He doesn’t cry.  He’s just happy to be sitting in Ace’s lap in the carseat or in Ace’s arms at night to go to sleep.

Welcome to our family Teddy!  It looks like you are going to be around for awhile!  😀

Crack Is Whack!

This weekend we took Ace and his cousin Olivia to Circle S Farms. You enter through a pathway with corn stalk walls and are greeted by a couple teen age girls who collect your money, and then you proceed to some cool farm-like activities for kids to do.

Circle S Farms - Sign

Circle S Farms - Sign

They had live animals, goats and chickens, for the kids to look at.  They had a playground made of straw bails where kids could climb and slide down.  They had tractors and bug pumpkins to look at and sit on, and also a hay ride that took you out to pick your very own pumpkin!!

Circle S Farms - Goats

Circle S Farms - Goats

Circle S Farms - Chickens

Circle S Farms - Chickens

And then they had the scare crow maze.  It was a maze made from straw bails that was designed, I’m pretty sure, for torturing parents.  The maze was about 3 ft tall and it had a wood slat fence on the top.  So, it was tall enough where kids could run wild inside there, but parents were stuck crawling, duck walking, waddling, or whatever form of propulsion they could come up with while hunched over…

Ace wouldn’t go in the maze, so I took his cousin Olivia inside.  There she goes at a full sprint around the first corner.  I had lost her in the first 20 seconds.

So I keep wallering through this parent torture device.  I was moving as fast as I could trying to find Olivia because I just knew at some point she would get scared and want out, but wouldn’t be able to find her way.  I speedily rounded one corner and was greeted by something that I had least expected to find…

CRACK!  and lots of it!

There was a Mom crawling in front of me wearing low rise jeans…that were riding, well, WAY TOO LOW!  I swore I stopped fast enough for my hands and knees to make a screeching sound in the loose straw!

I stopped inches away from taking a face plant into the recently discovered revene…but far enough away to not smell the flowers. 😀

I was startled, to say the least, and couldn’t help but watch as the landscape I had almost became intimately familiar with bounced it’s way around the next corner.

I put myself back together, gathered my senses, and continued my way through the parent trap to eventually find Olivia waiting for me outside…ready to move on to the next “attraction”.

And now I know why the say, “Crack Is Whack!”

And to help you remove the image of my face inches away from a three quarter exposed bum…I’ll leave you with a few pics from the crack free portion of our day at Circle S Farms

Circle S Farms - Us

Circle S Farms - On The Hay Ride Blinded By The Sun (Ace was the only smart one who wouldn't look directly into the sun to get his picture taken.) 😀

Circle S Farms - Pumpkin

Circle S Farms - Pumpkin

Circle S Farms - Ace

Circle S Farms - Ace

Circle S Farms - Dad & Ace

Circle S Farms - Dad & Ace

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