Let's Pretend

So for those of you that are questioning whether we still have 2 kids, the answer is yes, yes we do.  

Colin has just been sooo busy lately that it's hard to get him to stop to get a picture, or honestly, whenever I do get a picture, he has an awkward facial expression.

But, this weekend was all about Colin!

Meemaw came in from Topeka (gosh, we are so lucky to have her around!) so she could spend some quality time with Maggie Mae at home, while we took Colin to some fun "big boy" activities.  It was totally worth it!  The one-on-one time with Colin was sooo much fun for all of us.  Plus, Meemaw said she had a blast with Maggie (who apparently was an angel the entire time), so I think she had fun as well.

Colin's imagination is going wild right now.  Sometimes he talks about bunny rabbits in the kitchen, eating all of our dinner.  Or sometimes it's building bridges with all of our rugs rolled up and placed sporadically around our house.  Or sometimes it's chatting on the phone with Santa Claus, can you tell we're ready for him to come back and see us already!?

Well, I got an email from our Parents As Teachers group that we belong to, about an activity they were putting on called "Let's Pretend".  I got so excited about this as soon as I read it.

They had all sorts of stations set up, with different scenarios at each one.  It was busy, but not too busy that Colin got overwhelmed with the crowd.  In fact, this past weekend was really eye-opening for Brian and I, as Colin is starting to get a lot more comfortable with having other kids/parents around.  

It's pretty cool to see his personality evolve...

The first stop was the Car Wash.  It was an empty bucket with some dry sponges, but we cleaned those "dirty" cars up!

Then we hit the "Car Repair Shop" and played with some tools.  Colin didn't have too much interest in this station since he plays with Daddy's real tools at home.  You can do a lot more damage with an actual hammer and drill rather than these plastic ones :)

Next we headed to the "Grocery Store".  Colin thought we needed some green beans, some milk, a box of cake mix, and some cereal.  Our total was $100 (as per the little boy and girl at the register).  We handed them our credit card and they gave us back 2 credit cards and some cash.  I like how this grocery store does business!  I guess that's what you get when the store is ran by 2 and 3 year olds!

Our next stop was the "Doctors Office".  Colin and Daddy were checking out the stethoscope.  

Can you hear me now?!

Baby's checkup was good, and she didn't even get any shots!

Next stop was the "Fire Station".  Colin kept wearing his hat backwards, but I really liked the backpack and fire hose they had.  Notice the house on fire in the background!

Colin was rescuing a cat from the tree.  Such a brave little guy!!

We headed to the "Pizza Shop" next, where Colin made an awesome pizza with TONS of toppings.  This was probably one of his favorite areas.  He loved rolling out the dough, scooping up the toppings, and baking his pizza.  He even washed his dishes when he was done.  He must be learning something from us!!

Colin was sure to tell us the pizza was "hot" when it came out of the oven.  Thanks for the warning!  It sure tasted good!!

Colin checking out his pizza baking in the oven.

The last stop we made was the "Pirate Ship".  They had little binoculars, pirate hats, and cannonballs to launch at the crocodiles (balls of wadded up paper).  This was probably his other favorite station.  Of course, Daddy started launching cannonballs at Colin and Mommy in the pirate ship, so we had to get him back.  

Colin spotted a crocodile.  Watch out!!

Finally before we left, we went to the "Library" and practiced doing some puzzles.  We had to drag Colin out of there, he probably would've stayed all day.  He is still talking about how much fun he had there.  

And, the personal time with Colin was great for us as parents.  We think he's a pretty cool kid!