The Paralympics

The Paralympics started last night.  Chris and I decided that we should support these games as well, because we felt kind of bad that so much focus is on the Olympics and then everyone just kind of forgets about the Paralympics.  And, the tickets are really inexpensive, so we thought it would be a good thing to take Nathan to.  We bought tickets to the equestrian event, because we thought Nathan would really enjoy seeing the horses - he loves animals!  Unfortunately, we didn't pick a very good day for an outdoor event.  It poured on us today!  Oh, and just in case anyone ever decides to go to an equestrian event in the future, not all equestrian events involve jumping horses, which is what we thought we were going to see.  Apparently "Dressage" is simply showing off what your horse can do (trot, stop and salute, turn, etc.) (yeah - boring).  But, we still had a great day and Nathan did love seeing the horses.  He was very intrigued by the fact that one of the horses that was standing off to the side had a blanket on his back.  He won't stop talking about the horse with the blue "night night" (that's what he calls his blankie).  We even got to see the Paralympic torch today and take a picture with it.

After we left the equestrian event (because of the rain, we only ended up staying to watch a couple of the horses compete), we stopped by the Maritime Museum (the entrance was right outside the venue, so it was a good place to stop to get out of the rain).  This was a good find because Nathan loves boats!  I know - such a boy - he loves sports, boats, trains, and planes.

Such a fun day, despite the miserable weather!

Heading to the bus.

Nathan was in heaven.  We took the bus and two trains to get to the venue!

Paralympic Dressage Arena

No, I don't wear sunglasses in the rain, there were actually about 10 minutes of sun before the heavens opened up on us.

Watching horses in the rain.

The Paralympic Torch

The Maritime Museum

Our little fruit lover.  We stopped by Daddy's office and this is what he brought home with him - an apple and a pear.  And, yes, he was eating both of them.

Rainy Day Fun

After a streak of pretty nice weather, the last two days have been cold and rainy.  On top of that, Nathan has a cold :(  Because I knew we were going to be braving the rain today to go to the Paralympics equestrian event, we decided to stay in yesterday and have some rainy day fun at home.  That meant mom had to get creative, because an almost 2-year old stuck inside an 800 square foot flat all day is not exactly ideal.  But, we found some things to do and we actually had a fun day.  We made home-made play dough and played with it.  This actually kept Nathan's attention for quite a long time.  He liked playing with it, but he found it even more entertaining to throw out requests to mom and make me build things for him.  And, I have to say, that ceramics class I took in high school must have paid off.  I was actually able to make convincing versions of everything he requested - a ball, a snowman, a train, a bus, an airplane, a duck, a turtle...

We also played indoor smash ball.  We set up a "net" with Nathan's little desk chairs.  Nathan loved it!  He played all afternoon and as soon as he woke up this morning, he set up his "net" and requested that I come to his room to play smash ball. I think this one is going to be a new regular - he is seriously obsessed with it.  

Our home-made green play dough.

A rainy day snack - hot chocolate and a zucchini  carrot muffin.

Such a boy - he loves all sports!

This one was actually from this weekend.  Daddy and Nathan watching You Tube videos on the IPad.  Nathan loves to watch the "Row Row Row Your Boat" video.  He sings that song non-stop - I need to get it on video one of these days.  

Bank Holiday Weekend

Here are some more pictures from our Bank Holiday weekend.  It was a very mellow weekend, but it was perfect!  We took lots of walks around our neighborhood exploring little bits of it that we had not really seen before and we just took some time to enjoy being home.

Chris and I even got to have a nice little date day on Sunday.  We found a great yoga studio nearby and took a yoga class together and then we went to see a movie (The Bourne Legacy) - I don't even know how long it had been since we had gone to see a movie together.

Walking Sook.  This is the dog Casey walks for some extra money.  Such a sweet dog - we feel like he's kind of part of our family now.

Yum - breakfast!

He is obsessed with smash ball right now!

Just watching a movie.

Eating some noodles.

Harrod's Toy Kingdom

Monday was a bank holiday, so Chris had a long weekend this weekend.  We haven't quite been able to figure out what the "holiday" was, but a day off is a day off, so we'll take it :)  We had a really nice and relaxing weekend.  We took Nathan to the new Toy Kingdom at Harrod's.  I think he now has a wish list a mile long for Santa this year and at the top of it is the motorized baby Lamborghini :)  Oh, and maybe a life-size rocking horse too!

Barcelona - Part II

More pictures and videos from our great trip!

Tapas!!

He loved the mini hot dogs :)

This may have been Nathan's favorite part of the trip - a man making giant bubbles!  We had to literally carry him away from this to go eat dinner.

Cool guy :)

Loving the beach! 

Chris and Casey at the FC Barcelona vs. Sampdoria match.  Nathan and I were supposed to go too, but then we found out it was a 10:00 pm game, so Chris and Casey had to go without us.

Chris and Barry

Our family :)

The Gaudi Museum

Nathan struggling to get Daddy's arm off of him :)

Nathan loved these little rides outside the mall - he went on them every day.