A Day with Max and Mama

I uploaded a bunch of pictures yesterday...hence

the two posts in one day. But I wanted to get some

thoughts down about my special day with Max :)

I decided to take last Thursday off to hang out 

with Max. I had some extra time and not a lot 

of Zoo obligations on this particular day...so 

I told Max all week long that we were going to

have a "Max and Mommy" day.  He was all in. 

Since I feel like about 96% of being home falls under

the "ordinary" category - when these magical Max 

and Mommy days happen, I try to plan something fun. 

In this case, I had planned on the pool.

But since my little rooster, woke up at 6:30 - we had

to fill our time before the pool opened with

some puzzles (always puzzles), art projects, 

and trains. 

I also decided last minute to swing by the donut store. 

Anyone who reads this blog knows that we 

are no strangers to the Krispy Kreme. 

However, Max surprised me by 

wanting the powdered cinnamon donut. 

I think this is because there were no

strawberry donuts...but none

the less, he ate the whole thing. 

Max's new favorite thing to do at the donut

shop is watch all the donuts go down the 

conveyor belt and point to the ones that

don't come out right or don't turn over. 

He stares and points until some kind 

worker takes pity on him and pulls

the faulty donuts. I was afraid that we

would never make it out of there but

alas, after about 45 minutes no more

donuts came down the line. 

We left there and headed to the Worthington 

Community Center. It was the perfect time

to go because it was relatively early and not 

crowded. This place is awesome because

it has a plastic slide, lots of spray stuff, and 

fountains etc. We had a blast! Until....Max

practically ran up the slide steps and jumped 

(picture a gymnastics dismount) and caught his

foot on a wet spot. He banged his head and eventually made

it down to the bottom. He was, as you can imagine,

bawling. So hard. It was so sad.  I calmed him

down and even though he told me he wanted to go 

home...I made us stay and play some more. 

We ended up staying for almost two hours.
He crash landed on his head one more time...
and cried some more...but we powered through
and ultimately had SO MUCH FUN.
It was one of those days where he listened
really, really well. He was kind and well mannered.
He made me smile from ear to ear.

After leaving, we headed to McDonald's....the one

with the play place (of course). He ate his entire

happy meal - the nuggets, fries, yogurt, and

apple sauce pouch. I guess all the pool time

increased his appetite.

The play place was hopping and it made me

so nervous every time he went up through the chutes

and I would lose track of him. But then, a few

minutes later he would come barreling down

the slide. How does he have so much energy?

Our afternoon ended with a trip to Target...

Max requested his favorite cart - the one that

feels like you're driving a bus.

We cruised through all the aisles

and ended up picking a new blanket for

mommy and daddy's bed.

Finally, on the way home, he

zonked out!  I drove around a few extra minutes

just to be sure and was able to

transfer him to his bed!  All the praise hands!

It was certainly a fun filled day!

I loved being out on the town with my little buddy.

Hoping we can do it again soon :)

xoxo

Easter Weekend

Happy Thursday, Friends!  Getting back to reality after a long

weekend with Mims and Gramps is made easier with

copious amounts of "just born" jellybeans and coffee. 

(Have you tried the just born brand of jelly beans? They

are so, SO good!) I thought I would hit you 

with a super larger Easter weekend recap...it has a lot

of Max pictures (I'm assuming that's what you come 

here for anyway!)...so withouth further ado we will 

proceed. 

I left work early on Friday and cleaned up the house a bit. 

I also packed everyone up with every single thing we might 

need for our little weekend jaunt. We headed to Dayton a little earlier

than expected on Friday...which ended up working out

well because I got to have some delicious egg salad

with my mama! I was a little salty she got rid

of her vintage skillet thing that she used to 

cook grilled cheese in...because grilled cheese is what I really wanted. 

But,,, the egg salad made up for it. 

 

On Saturday morning we actually got out the door early for an Easter 

egg hunt at Forest Field Park. I was expecting mass chaos (like the 

Hunger Games meme I had seen floating around) but alas it was

actually really chill and fun. Max was definitely not feeling

the "wait till it starts part" but we distracted him with 

running around on the tennis courts, eating snacks, and 

holding him. 

I appreciated that there were dedicated areas

for hunting eggs based on the child's age. 

Max held his own in the "2-4" age group area. 

Funny story - as we were waiting for it to begin, 

Max spotted an egg hidden on the lip of a trash can. 

The egg was yellow. I didn't think much of it but 

as the lady called for the egg hunt to begin...Max

took off. Past all of the eggs RIGHT IN FRONT HIM

and he kept running. I was like, what the heck is

he doing? And then I figured out that he was 

charging past all of the other eggs to get 

to the egg on the trashcan. He grabbed it and then 

proclaimed himself "done". 

I told him he could keep collecting eggs if he wanted

so he looked around and gathered up quite a few more. 

The eggs were hidden in the grass, around the trees, 

and even on the playground area. He did super great!

Once in the car, he was delighted to find the eggs

had tootsie rolls and gold coins in them too! 

We have also played with the Easter eggs non-stop

since that day. 

After the egg hunt concluded, we went to one of my

favorite Metro Parks - Cox Arboretum. 

In the spring time this place is full of the most

gorgeous daffodils!

Max loved running (and trampling) through the flowers. 

He could barely be convinced to stop for pictures. 

We hiked the tree tower, climbed over the bridges, 

looked for ducks and geese, and did a lot of bribing

for pictures. He did a little bit of walking, but 

mostly enjoyed riding on people's shoulders. 

Every year after vising this place, I'm convinced

I need to plant more bulbs in the fall. 

My mom is quick to point out that it takes a long

time for the bulbs to spread out and grow

in the mass quantities they have at the arboretum. 

Why is she always trying to dream crush me?

We had a quick lunch at McDonald's and then Max 

fell asleep on the way home. We were able to transfer him

to the pack and play (this feels like a major parent

victory every time it happens). After his nap, Auntie

Stacy (and Penny) arrived and we got down to the 

business of dying eggs!

This was the most fun year yet for egg dying!

Max loved dropping the eggs into each 

dye container - both using the whisk 

and tongs.  He was quick to take off his 

shirt to avoid it getting wet :)

We dyed 3 dozen eggs!  So basically I will 

be having egg salad every day for the next month

probably. We did one dozen that were brown eggs...

and even though everyone mocked me...I think 

they turned out so pretty! (though sadly, I have

no picture of them). 

The rest of the evening was spent playing 

with Penny at the tennis courts, strolling around 

the neighborhood, and convincing my parents that

take out food is kind of the greatest thing ever. 

They literally NEVER order take out. 

And Auntie Stacy and I were like - um....

take out is really just a win win. You don't have

to cook, there is no dishes to clean, you 

usually have left overs, and in my case, 

you don't have to entertain your toddler at a table

for a bajillion years. Once we had won them 

over with our arguments, we got 

take out from China Cottage (sadly - they messed

up Papa Rob's order and he got sweet and sour chicken

instead of Sesame...but he rolled with it!). 

Easter morning dawned and the Bunny did 

in fact hop over to our house! He left Max a 

carefully curated basket including Paw Patrol sunglasses, 

Paw Patrol socks, bubbles, chalk in the shape of eggs, 

a vehicle coloring pad, and some pretzels in the 

shape of bunnies. Max seemed pretty happy with all of it. 

He was bribed into wearing his church shirt and then 

we headed off to mass. 

After mass, we had brunch at the Station House. 

Usually we eat at my parents house, but at 

the end of our fabulous buffet experience

(complete with bloody mary's and mimosas!)

we all agreed we would definitely go this route again. 

Also, this place had amazing coffee. 

So good that I had to take some in a to-go cup. 

We had another egg hunt at Poppy's house. 

Max was really funny during this hunt because

he would shake each egg. If it didn't jingle (with the

sound of sweet sweet coins) he would throw it aside. 

Mims had to remind him that "dollars" don't always

make a sound. Meanwhile, Auntie Stacy was

going on about how much generous the Easter

bunny was this year. #truth

Once he collected his eggs (twice over) - we

went inside to count his spoils. 

At Poppy's house there is also a "nature trail" that 

leads to a nice pond...so since the weather was

outstanding - we also went on a walk. 

This time, Max walked the whole

way (pushing the stroller I assumed he would 

want to sit in). We stopped to see a small

garter snake, admire some spring wild flowers, 

and play around with my selfie stick. 

Once at the pond, we fed the fish two loaves

of bread. Max loves to throw whole pieces in the 

pond and watch the carp go to town. 

They went through the food fast and then we 

headed back. 

There was no nap to be had on Easter Sunday....

we just continued to play with chalk, new puzzles, 

and eat some ham sandwiches! 

One last picture of Poppy and me. We were out 

on the patio after dinner watching Max go down 

the slide. 

So thankful for our family and the chance to spend

such a sunny, fun day together. 

Hope your Easter was wonderful!

xoxo

Max, Mama, and Papa - March 2016

If I didn't already feel like super woman because I

successfully transferred Max from the car seat to his

bed ALL BY MYSELF today....having this month's favorites

done in a timely fashion certainly helps too!

March has been a fun month for the Hauck's...

St.Patrick's day...floor puzzles,

practice Easter egg hunts...endless swing sessions,

and sidewalk chalk galore.

 

Here is what Mama, Max (34 months), and Papa were into during March  2016.

(From left to right - Papa, Max, and Mama)

DRINKING:// almond milk, chocolate frosties, and iced coffee

*I originally bought the almond milk for a healthy

recipe I was preparing and then Rob used most of it

and continued to buy it at the grocery store.

*Max loves himself a frosty at Wendy's

*Cold brew coffee is delish!

EATING:// Protein bars, dum dum suckers, and mini ice cream cones

*I think Papa Rob might be trying to turn over a

new (healthy?) leaf

*Max is still feasting on all his candy from the St.Patty's parade

*I know the ice cream cones probably seem in

direct opposition of the cleanse I completed not long ago...

but they are just a special treat I allow myself from time to time

GROWING:// his kitchen skills, his floor puzzle collection, lettuce

*Can I just brag on Rob for a moment? He cooks

almost every dinner for us and he is so good at it!

I usually do the actual meal planning but then he

prepares every recipe and we've had some

delicious dinners as of late.

*Max is puzzling every day

*Mims helped us plant lettuce seeds about

two weeks and they finally sprouted! They

are currently inside because the temperature

dipped pretty low last weekend.

LOVING:// Star Wars Commander, vitamins, and Capri Volcano lotion

*Rob loves this app - I have no idea what it involves

*Max LOVES taking his vitamins and has

been known to tell one adult that he did not get

them just to get some more.

*The lotion is from Anthropologie.

The smell is just SO good.

MAKING:// sure our house is clean, mail deliveries, and Max's

birthday invites

*On top of all the cooking - Rob also vacuums our house

every weekend!

*Max has been super into making mail deliveries

lately - we play post man a lot

*We decided to go with an animal theme

(after changing our minds like five times) for

Max's birthday party and I

downloaded  these free animals in bow ties

invitations.  They are super cute!

READING:// the IKEA catalogue, various Easter books, and Keepsake

*Rob has been pouring over this since our

visit back in January

*Curious George's Easter, Paw Patrol Saves the Bunnies,

and Peppa Pig's Easter Egg Hunt are in pretty heavy

rotation in the nightly book reading.

*I finished that book in two days! 

WATCHING:// Diesel Brothers, Dino Trux, and Bachelor

 

WEARING:// his NRTHWST tee, a light weight jacket, and Zoo gear

*I got Papa Rob (and Grandpa Jim) this super trendy

NRTHWST tee for Christmas. It's so soft and I know that

Rob secretly likes repping his home town area :)

*Due to the warmer temps...Max can finally

wear a more springy jacket!

*I can usually be found in some variation

of this Zoo logo attire most week days.

 

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter!

We are getting ready to head to Dayton...

so I'm sure there will be egg hunt pictures a plenty :)

 And about five hundred rounds of Max's favorite

song, "Here comes peter cottontail"

xoxo

4 Things on a Wednesday

Just wanted to pop in on this lovely Wednesday

and share some things Max has been loving lately. 

I always feel a little bit silly posting such seemingly

mundane photos of life around the Haucks' nest. 

But, as I mentioned not too long ago (and hopefully

I don't sound like a broken record) those little 

snapshots are things I would probably normally forget. 

So- here is Max's present love list:  

1.) The SWING! Previous summers he could take 

or leave (and mostly leave) the swing. We would go

through the whole process of cleaning it up and

getting him strapped in...only to have him say 

"I'm all done" like three seconds later. I don't know

what changed...but he can't get enough of it now. 

He loves to swing. Rob and I have each individually

pushed him for like 30 minutes at a time. 

There's a good chance when you see me next time, 

your eyes will be drawn to my super huge arm muscles. 

There's also a good chance he will fling off his shoe

mid swing...so don't say I didn't warn you!

2.) the Snap and Sort - it was a gift at Christmas. 

He loves to pull it out and pick a picture.

Then, he dictates which color he will be putting in

and what color you his apparent servant will be

working on. He also always says, we don't have purple

so we just use blue mommy. (For some reason

the pictures are all a glossy purple color but they 

only provided blue, red, yellow, and green pegs). 

So, we are learning to be flexible and creative. 

 

3.) PUZZLES - if you come over to my house 

on any given weekend day - our entire carpet might

be covered in puzzles. We are puzzling (is that even 

a word?) every night. He particularly loves

the number train and the fire truck one. 

He also has an alphabet one and will ask "what's your

favorite piece" to anyone around. Just for the 

record - his current favorite piece is the zebra. 

(Mine's the x-ray and daddy's is the octopus). 

The Easter Bunny is hopefully bringing some

new puzzles!

4.) in an effort to clear some clutter from the family

room, we pushed these wooden blocks under the *new* couches.

Well, out they came this past week and we have been 

building ever since. We have built donut shops, our house, 

a castle, and various other architectural sights over 

the last few days. Max would give these two thumbs up!

Honorable mention would also go to his tricycle...

which he has gotten quite good at riding. 

xoxo