Outside

It's a hard sell in wintertime to get Thomas to play outside for very long, but an even harder sell getting him to come back inside once the weather gets a little bit warmer in the other three seasons.  This year, nicer weather has taken a little longer to reach our neck of the woods, but now that it's here, Thomas is loving every minute of it.

This week, we took a few field trips to fun local places.  Thomas and I joined a few West Point friends at the Bear Mountain Zoo in Fort Montgomery on a gorgeous Monday.

"Oh!"

There is a pop-up book, Dinner Time, that has recently been added into our bedtime book rotation.  In it, various animals end up eating each other for dinner.  Don't worry, it's not as morbid as it sounds.  The vulture eats the frog on page two.  I didn't even think about that when we walked up to the bear's den, which strangely enough also houses the vultures.  It's a small zoo and it's free, so we don't question pairings like that.  I told Thomas to look for the bears and the vultures and he immediately said, "Bultures? I going eat my dinner!" which bears a strong resemblance to the recurring line from the book, "I'm going to eat you for my dinner."  Too cute.

"I eat my dinner..."

Snacking with the crew

After a nice time with some friends and animals ("em-u-uhls") and a nice nap, Thomas was ready to hit our backyard.  No rest for the weary!   We were off to take care of the yard.

Drag the blower out,

Add some gas,

And pull to start

Once the yard work is done, Thomas does allow us to take a little time to play and have a snack together.

Heading up to play hockey in the yard

This weekend, Dad joined us for some good playing and a picnic near the river at West Point.  The warmer weather was a little elusive, but what fun!

Breaking away from lunch for some time by the river

A fort?!?

Checking out the waterline with Mom

Upper-body strength training with Dad

On occasion, we do head inside, but (butt) we'll spare you most of those images.  Welcome Spring!