The tribute to our renewed sleeping success...

FROG TOQUE!

oh and and about a half dozen other changes to our bedtime routine and Joshua seems to be back on track to thinking sleep ain't all that bad anymore. We think part of the adjustment was the fact that we hadn't adjusted to the fact that our little baby is actually a big boy and he needed a later bedtime and more wind down time. So all previous efforts got pushed back 15-30 minutes and a "quiet time" has been added to the curriculum. Little did we consider how amazing a time that is for raw, unpolished family bonding. PLUS...we get to color. No better excuse for an adult to get to color again than to join in with a child.
The above shot was Joshua's decision that he felt froggish this particular night so on went his frog toque (though he did take it off before bed.
The new camera owners are starting to come into our own a little bit. There's still alot of nuances to learn with the fancy contraption but we're starting to experiment alot more than prior and are grabbing some kinda cool shots in the process. This was a "blind shot with a high aperture and a manual focus to the left to grab Joshua and I think it turned out kinda cool. We'd still both really like to take a course (maybe even together as we've had some great babysitting instances with both Mamie and Grandma and Grandpa) to see if we can actually know what were doing rather than just chucking stuff at the wall and seeing if it sticks.

Our most recent adventure on Sunday took us to Tubes & Jujubes (forwarning..there's contrastingly annoying, yet strangely hypnotic, music from the moment you hit the site..you've been warned) just off St. Joseph in Hull. For those who have been to Cosmic Adventures it is very similar with a basic Habitrail (crazy interwinding tube tunnels mazes for hamsters) for kids (and adults). However this one also has a very fun soft ball area with cannons for shooting at targets or at others with cannons. Being hit by one is essentially the equivalent to getting hit with a bunch of wadded up bounce sheets but they do fly quite well through essentially what are mounted leaf blowers.

The really cool thing is the ball "fountain" in the middle of this area where kids pile balls into the main fountain reservoir and then push a button to cause raining soft balls everywhere. Joshua was giggling non stop. A blast! And LOTS of pointing ;) They also had a cool soccer/basketball area all padded and lots of soft balls to either kick or throw.
We'll definitely go back again and will likely throw out the invite to some of J-mans friends and/or cousins in the future.

We're certainly looking forward to having and making more visits in the future as Joshua had turned into quite a fulfledged toddler and many need to reaqquaint with this, now truly, "little man". And on out 8th wedding anniversary we feel so amazingly blessed to all have each other (pooch included) in our lives.
Been quite a ride!
Truly all you need is love and we've got by the Tube-full!
Mark