Cheerios

Benjamin loves Cheerios.  There is nothing he likes more.  

A few nights ago when he was done with his dinner, we put him down to play while we finished, forgetting that we'd hidden the Cheerios box on the floor.  Of course he promptly found it.

Mom had the great idea to take a few photos of her son eating Cheerios off the floor but when there were enough on the floor, she put the box on the table.  A minute later, Helena decided to help Benjamin out by POURING a third of the box's contents on the floor.  And by pour, I mean box upside down, Cheerios coming down like the water at Niagara Falls.

John & I both looked at each other, and decided that there was nothing to do but enjoy the moment.  So we did.

There was tons of laughter and tons of stuffing our mouths full of Cheerios.  Helena told us over and over again how the kids made dessert that night - Cheerio Dessert!  And Benjamin, even after eating a good dinner, he put handful after handful after handful of Cheerios into his mouth.

We must have been eating our dessert for at least 20 minutes.  This is what the floor looked like right before we started to clean up.

Fun in the Sun

When our little guy wants something, it's hard to stop him!

The perfect climbing tree.

Helena is often finding ways for Benjamin to play with her :)

Helena-isms

Helena has lots to say, all the time.

So we've recently introduced an activity called a brain break.  It's a short amount of time in which no one talks, just to let our brains rest.

While the constant chatter is sometimes hard to handle, it does open the window into the world of our 3 year-old's brain.

Like this afternoon, I found Helena lying on her bed, talking while staring at the ceiling.  Her thought went something like this:

"That's istering (interesting).  Boy persons have short hair and girl persons have long hair, but girl lions have short hair and boy lions have long hair.  That's istering."

She also thinks it's funny that God makes sleep in the morning, rather than at night.

Royal Botanical Gardens

We usually really like living without a car but there are a few things that are just a bit more difficult without one, such as grocery shopping and getting out of the city.  So, another reason we love to have Grandma visit is...drum roll please...she brings her car!

One day we piled in her car and drove to Burlington to visit the Royal Botanical Gardens.  The outside gardens were still completely empty but inside they had a great feature called "Savage Garden, Nature's Ninjas."  It was all about carnivorous plants and animals with interesting defense mechanisms.

They had gigantic sculptures of three different carnivorous plants, so the kids could really see and understand what each one does.  Above, Helena is practicing the instant clamping of a Venus flytrap.

It was awesome.  The myth that chameleons change color to match their surroundings was debunked.  NO chameleons do this.  They actually change color to send messages to other chameleons.

We saw a 7 foot python eat a dead rat.  It was gross yet amazing.

Then, after the show, the animal instructor told us he was there all day, so if we wanted to see any of the animals up close or even touch them, just let him know.  What a treat.  Here's Helena checking out the caiman, which ended up being her favorite animal to touch.

Helena & Grandma's selfie

Thanks so much for taking us to Burlington, Grandma!  We're definitely willing and wanting to go back again with you when the gardens are in bloom.

The Lunchbox

It's great to have Grandma visit, for many reasons. 

One reason John & I fully enjoyed while she was here was having a more-than-willing free babysitter!  John & I saw the movie "The Lunchbox" and it was really great.  It came out end of February so I'm not sure how many theatres still have it (or ever had it, for that matter!) but it's definitely a worthwhile see, especially if you like Bollywood.