Spoiled Labrador Games, or, How Jones and the Spoiled Labradors Play Fetch

I have stated repeatedly on this blog that Jones and the spoiled labradors are bestest buds.  He's now trying to play with them more.  He's learning how to throw things, and he likes to try and throw their tennis balls and their toys, and they love this game.  I tried to take pictures of their latest game:

Look at Layla!  She's really focused on the tennis ball in Jones' hands, while he is just excited to have gotten it away from her!



Augie had managed to get the ball away from Jones and Layla, and took it back to his command post.  Jones is trying to sneak up on him and take it back (he just wants to throw it).

Layla is trying to help Jones get the ball back!

Jones is trying to hide the ball from the spoiled labradors.  Layla is not fooled.

Trying to sneak up on the spoiled labradors again:

"I love playing with Aw-ie and Yay-yah!"

Jones Goes to the Zoo, or, The Ward Family Visits Broken Arrow

We went up to Oklahoma last weekend to visit my parents. 

Jones did great on the ride up!



My dad's bank had a family day for the bank employees, and it took place at the Tulsa Zoo.  Now, Jones had yet to visit a zoo.  He was too little last year, and it has just been too dang hot this year, so far.  Which, obviously, hasn't changed, but since there was an occasion, we thought we'd go and said we wouldn't stay that long if it was too hot.  I liked the zoo, but frankly, it was just too hot to really enjoy it, although we did as best we could.  All of the animals were in hiding because of the heat.  We got to see the chimpanzees up close because of the way that the exhibit was made, but all of the other animals were far away from any of our vantage points because, again, it was just too hot for man or beast outside, so they were either inside, or scrunched up underneath whatever shade they could find.  Even the sea lions looked hot and they have a huge exhibit full of water.  But we had a nice time on our quick run through the zoo.

He enjoyed riding the carousel with Mommy!

We had a good lunch - hot dogs and chicken and burgers, oh my! And then Jones won this huge monkey as a door prize. He likes it, but the spoiled labradors love it more (they have a hard time distinguishing between Jones' stuffed animals and their own stuffed toys).

Afterward, we went back to my parents' apartment (they are in the middle of building a house out there, and in the meantime are living in a little apartment which, much to everyone's delight, has a nice pool) and hit the pool to cool off. 

I think Jones preferred Bass Pro Shop to the zoo (a preference that makes Alan and my dad happy - any excuse for Bass Pro, right?).  He loved the fish, especially.

Waving to the fish!



It was a good weekend.  I am looking forward to more trips to the zoo, including the Little Rock Zoo, where my aunt works (so we have an "in" and will hopefully be able to get up close and personal with some of the animals there), but definitely in the fall, when the weather is more tolerable.

Grammy and Papa's 60th Wedding Anniversary, or, a Party in the Country!

My grandparents had their 60th wedding anniversary in June (June 17, 2012, to be exact).  Can you imagine?  60 years ... I mean, Alan and I have been together for more than 10 years, married for over 5, but to fathom 60 years together ... it's sort of mind-boggling.  Because, you know, marriage is work (anybody who says otherwise, in my opinion, is not being honest with themselves), so imagine working at something for 60 years - longer than any job or career, longer than the job of raising a child ... I mean, wow, right?

My grandparents are fabulous people (I know I'm biased, but it's true). They are the best - wonderful examples of what I want to be like: honest, faithful, hard-working, loving people. They live in Scotland, in Van Buren County, "in the country", as we always say in my family (as in, "We're going up to the country to see Grammy and Papa."). It is still one of my favorite places to be - the air is cleaner up there, and it's very picturesque and quiet. I spent a lot of time up there when I was young, especially in the summer. There is a well-known family story of my requesting, at a fairly young age, to be allowed to go up to the country and spend 18 days (why 18? Who knows ... I guess that sounded like a really long time to me when I was little, and I knew I wanted to go up to Grammy and Papa's for a really long time.).

Scotland was the setting for their 60th wedding anniversary party, which my mom and I helped to hostess (I am an only child, and my mom is an only child, in case you were wondering). My mom, being a sort of Martha Stewart-esque type person, gets most of the credit for making it happen, but I helped out where I could (mostly by giving my opinion on what she was doing - "Great!", and helping shop for food). Almost 150 people attended, which should be a testament to what I said before about how my grandparents are fabulous people - people came in from all over to celebrate with them, because of their fabulousness. There was good food (Chick-Fil-A! Italian creme cake!), good people, good music, good times. Jones had a blast, and was probably the most honored guest there, except, of course, for my grandparents.

The beginning of the party, before cutting the cake:

The first dance:

My grandparents are very close to being professional dancers, in my opinion :o).  A few years ago they really got into ballroom-dancing-type stuff:  you know, like Cotillion:  the waltz, the cha-cha, the swing ... they know how to two step and all of that too, and are really good at it. They go dancing probably 3-4 times a week in all different places around Arkansas (I mean, close to Scotland, but all around the area), and they go out of state at least once a year to a big to-do in Oklahoma.  They love it.  I, myself, love that they love it and am constantly amazed by their energy - I mean, these two are 80 years old and they go and do more than I can manage and I'm 30 (I use the excuse that I have a stressful full-time job and a 15-month old child, but that's a lame excuse at best ....)!  The band that played at the party is their favorite band that they travel around to listen to and dance to, Don Nunnally and the Good-Timers.

Don Nunnally and the Good-Timers Band:

Jones loved the music.  My dad carried him around to all of the different musicians to see if he had a preference - apparently, he's going to be a pianist :o)



Jones got carried around and shown off a lot ... he liked the attention, but he really did like that music.  He was so happy when he was in the room with the band, kicking his feet and grinning and just loving life in general.

Dancing!

My family!

Richard and Betty made it to the party, and it was so great that they were there, and they were a big help with Jones (this picture was taken right before Jones spilled an entire cup of punch on Richard), and I think they enjoyed themselves too!

Four generations:

I can only hope that Alan and I have a wonderful marriage and make it to 60 years and still enjoy each other just like Grammy and Papa ... and that genetics hold true and I look this good and have this much life and energy when I'm their age!

 



Jones' First Visit to Chuck E. Cheese, or, Alan and I Have a Brilliant Idea for a New Website

Our nephew, Jonah, turned five a couple of weeks ago and we went to his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Jones enjoyed it, but it kind wore me and Alan out - it's been a long time since I've been to a Chuck E. Cheese (since his hostile takeover of Showbiz), and I had really just forgotten how noisy and kind of dirty and just, overall, how overwhelming it is.  Alan made the truest observation:  "Forget 'People of Walmart' - we need to start a website called 'People of Chuck E. Cheese'".  Anyway, again, Jones had a good time, and we did enjoy seeing him taking it all in:

This was his favorite ride - the Bob the Builder front end loader:

We tried to shoot some hoops, but Jones doesn't really like to let go of the ball - he wants to keep it and, maybe, maybe, maybe, if he feels like it, roll it towards you.  He is currently learning to throw, but it's with balls that are much, much smaller than a basketball.

Slide!

Pizza!

The party was Star Wars themed (we got Jonah a Darth Vader light saber - I'm sure Kim and Rick were thrilled by the idea of him running around whacking people and objects with it, and I'm sure they'll reciprocate with their gifts to Jones in a few years ... come to think of it, Alan and I have really been asking for it with our gifts to Jonah; over the years we've been the gifters of the light saber, a scooter, a three wheeler which Jonah used to roll into the kitchen and stand on to get things off of the counter, golf clubs (very handy for whacking people and objects, probably even more so than a light saber), and a drum that I can think of off the top of my head).  The cake was Star-Wars themed and they had "Yoda Soda" to drink - too cute (I don't have any pictures because I was busy wrangling Jones).  These were the light-saber parting gifts (I thought this was so cute, and all of the boys (Alan included) loved them - Jones wanted the entire box!):

Is there anything that screams, "I am an adult with a child and I do adult-with-child activities on the weekend!" more than a trip to Chuck E. Cheese?  I think not.

A Love Story, or, Jones Has His First Ice Cream Cone and it Does Not Get Eaten by a Spoiled Labrador

Jones makes the funniest faces when he eats something that is hot or cold.  The first time I gave him a Popsicle, he welled up a little bit because the coldness of it threw him off.  He got over that pretty quickly and wanted more Popsicle, but every time he would take a bite or a lick, he would scrunch up his face really quickly and look kind of startled.  And if he gets a bite of something that is hotter than he expected (this generally happens with his oatmeal on oatmeal mornings, because although I try to blow on it to cool it off, occasionally it's still kind of hot when he eats it) - he will open his mouth and eyes up wide as if to say, "Whoa!  Hot!"  He is fast getting over the aversion to cold things though - I present to you the story of Jones and the ice cream cone:

Daddy gives Jones his first taste of ice cream - we went with classic chocolate, to ensure that there wouldn't be any issues:

Jones decides he would definitely like more of that:

A father/son moment of total understanding:  ice cream cones are delicious!

"I think this might be better than Oreos." (We had to stop him from trying to grab the ice cream and eat it with his hands - he loved him some ice cream cone!)