Sunday, January 17, 2010

Weekend Highlights

The next 3 pictures probably look familiar if you follow our blog. Grady loves trains and train tracks so much it has become his 2nd favorite thing to say. Maybe even his favorite. Dad or Daddy is usually followed by Choo Choo. He also can say Ma or Mommy, Doggy, and Kitty.
On Saturday we spent the morning playing with trains. Thanks to Keith and Nan Wagner for the bibs! They are perfect for our little engineer.
He is getting better at being able to put his trains on the track. Although I am finding it kind of hard to build the track when he is "helping".
On Sunday we awoke to a bit of frost outside. A perfect day to go visit Grandpa and Grandma Lobenstein...
...and to take the boys sledding. It was pretty neat to be able to set up a sledding run in the backyard. The same backyard that I went sledding in when I was kid.
Michelle gives Luke a push.
Away he goes!
Even Grady got into the action. Here Hillary pulls him down the hill while Grandpa waits at the bottom.
Luke goes for another ride while Grandma wishes him luck.
The saucer didn't quite work as well.
Grady waits in his sled for Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Michelle and Cousin Luke to come back up the hill.
Grady and Luke take a break for picture. Cheese!
Grady was a trooper. This was the first time we took him sledding. He seemed to enjoy it. Although he wasn't able to walk much in the deep and crunchy snow. I am looking forward to getting him back out soon.
Before the boys came outside I was able to wear down a path that worked pretty well for the boys. Here I recorded part of a movie while sliding with Grady.
When your a kid you could run up those hills and sled down for hours. But as an adult...not so much. But it was worth it. Having the chance to go home and share this with my sister and parents was very special.
I am also pretty sure my parents enjoyed it very much! Grandma and her grandsons get a push from Hillary.
Still making a movie.
Hillary and the baby go for a ride. We find out Wednesday if baby will be a boy or a girl.
Grady explains how close he came to hitting a tree. (For those truly concerned about the trees, I wore a path that curved away from the trees to prevent just an accident. No trees were harmed in today's events.)
I am not sure who tuckered out first, Grandpa Gary or Grady?
Back inside, Grady enjoyed his first taste of Hot (Mildly Warm) Chocolate.
Luke found a new way to sled with the assistance of Grandpa.
Meanwhile, Grady was playing in the toilet with the dogs. I could not be prouder.

Due to Tech issues the Movie will be posted at a later time.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Out for Dinner

Tonight we decided to try something different for supper. Our neighbors and friends Emily and Caleb joined us for dinner at La Tolteca the Mexican restaurant in town.

Caleb and Grady are strapped in ready to roll.
Caleb enjoys some smiley fries with cheerios.
Grady wasn't as big of a fan of the tacos as his mom was.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Choo Choo Time


Grady Lobenstein, Engineer

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Choo Choo Time

This afternoon Grady wanted to play with the Geotrax Train set. He knows where they are stored and for lack of a better term, throws a fit unless I get them out for him.

He is pretty good about patiently waiting while I get the track, train and cars set up.
He is also starting to figure out how to control the cars.
Brooks even gets in on watching the train.
My favorite thing is to listen to him say Woo Woo as the train goes round and round. He even says Woo Woo when waiting for me to get the trains out of their box.
Since he is only 13 1/2 months old, he doesn't quite have the skills to put the cars on the tracks correctly.
As this picture shows after a couple unsuccessful tries he gets a tad frustrated.
But once I help him out and get them all set up again, he goes back to being happy.
Woo Woo! Oh and by the way, the Badgers WIN!

Another Winter Weekend

Yep it's still cold here in Wisconsin. So what to do when it is freezing outside? Why not go ice fishing? Well, I didn't actually get out fishing but I did take some pictures of a couple people who did. I am looking forward to getting out in a couple weeks with the guys.
Monona Bay, Madison
Monona Bay, from North Shore Drive
Monona Bay, facing North
The Capitol Dome, if you look closely you can see someone built an ice shanty on the dome.
More shanties on a very busy Saturday in Madison on the ice.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Winter Weekend

Saturday we took a drive downtown to take some pictures before running some errands. The below zero wind chill factor didn't produce many opportunities. Here are a couple random pictures from a bitterly cold day in Madison, Wisconsin.

This is looking East near the Memorial Union on lake Mendota. Hillary had suggested having Grady lick the flag pole for the token kid stuck to a flag pole picture. Just Kidding.
You know it is cold when you only see one ice fishing shanty on a lake that is 217 square miles.
The sun shines through a turret atop the Red Gym on UW's Campus.
Looking South at Lake Monona. For those keeping score at home, it is 258 square miles.

Sunday it was still super cold so we spent most of the day inside. Hillary worked on school work while Grady did some of his own studying.
When Grady isn't pulling his toys out of the toy box or the tupperware out of the kitchen drawer, he can usually be found in his room "reading".
Today it is Umbrellas and Vegetables, tomorrow it will be the works of Sir William Shakespeare.
Who you looking at?


Another Movie by Dad.

Yet, Another Movie by Dad.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year

For New Year's Eve we got together with some friends in Madison. Kids were invited. In this picture Grady is playing with our friends Pat and Missy's son Quinn. The boys got a kick out of watching bubbles, playing with trains and chasing Abby and Hunter around. Thanks to Karen and Duane for having us over.