Today we went to OMSI or as Ethan says “Omseum”. He and I drove over to spend the day having fun there. When we got there we played with a few things in the “big kid” area. I was a little worried because it didn’t seem that there was a lot to hold Ethan’s interest. We saw the toilet and sink there though. It was so cute. They had some bugs in the sink with some sort of plastic encasement over them so you couldn’t get them out. Ethan really wanted them out of the sink. He wanted to alligator out of the toilet too.

We walked a little bit more and found the play area for toddlers Ethan’s size. We went in and Ethan ran for the grocery area. Man that kid loves to shop. He went all over the place looking for food things to put in his cart and buy.

He also found a car to drive to the store. He climbed in and took off for all kinds of places. He went to the store. He went to “aska” to visit mommy and daddy and he went to his house to see Bubby. It was so cute. He’s got a great imagination. He found these cool little houses and climbed in one but didn’t like it much, he liked the one bubby made him better.

He played in the water tub too. He had all sorts of fishes in his hand and was replaying the Nemo movie for everyone. The other parents thought he was so cute and remarked that he must really love the movie Nemo.

After Ethan took his nap we went back to house for the night. Ethan wanted to go in his pool so we stripped him to the bone and he went in his pool to play. After a while Ethan wanted to play with Bubby. He and Bubby played in the pool and had lots of fun. Eventually Ethan was running all over the backyard naked and Justin would throw water at him and get Ethan all wet. He’d laugh so hard at it. He was having such a great time.

Ethan with Grandma Dottie
Ethan was with his Grandma Dottie today until about 5pm when I went over to Ross’ house to start watching Ethan again. I packed some clothes and things for him so he could spend the night at my house. We also packed his bike so that he had that too. We went over to my house and played phones for a while. Ethan kept calling his mommy and daddy to tell them he loved them. It wasn’t long then that he headed off to bed.

Today we went to the zoo. This morning Ethan and I got up about 8am and played a little bit while I got breakfast made. It was another morning of French toast. Ethan ate like a trooper. Once we were done and got dressed we headed to my house. Ethan and Eric hung out while I took a shower and got ready for the day. The three of us took the dogs to the Doggie Daycare so they could have fun while we were all gone to the zoo today. We went up to Greg and Hollie’s and picked up Miles at 10am. Hollie was nice enough to let us borrow the dual stroller and make and extra sandwich for Ethan for lunch. We took the boys and got on the train. They loved being on the train. We parked the stroller/jogger right up to the window so they could see out the whole way to the zoo. They played with their cars and chatted with each other while we waited for our stop. Occasionally a person would get on and Ethan would say hello to them and ask them their name. Once they responded he’d tell them his name too. What a social little boy. We got off at the zoo stop and got in line to go into the zoo. The line was pretty long but the boys handled it really well. They played with each other and chatted about who knows what. We got in and looked at a whole bunch of the animals. We saw sea lions, giraffes, zebras and more. The boys loved it. Every once in a while we’d have to take them out of the jogger so that they could see the animals. We got quite a workout lifting the kids up and down. I really shouldn’t have been doing it but I did anyway. We even had a picnic at the zoo out in the open space. The kids were so cute sitting there drinking their milk, having their sandwiches and just chatting. After lunch Eric ran then around in the open space for fun. He’s so great with kids. I just sat there and watched all three boys having fun.

After lunch we finished our tour of the zoo. The boys wanted to see the lions and tigers. We went looking for them but it was too hot for them so they didn’t come out of their caves. We found the elephants though and the mere cats. When we’d seen just about everything we headed out of the zoo and back on the train to head home for a nap. The boys were great on the train, you could tell they were a little tired because their eyes were looking pretty heavy. We dropped Miles off back at his house and headed to Ross’ to put Ethan down for a nap. As soon as we got in the house I put Ethan down. He didn’t even really resist which lead me to believe he was really tired. I woke Ethan up about 4pm so that he didn’t stay up too late. He had a hard time waking up. While Eric and Justin were upstairs checking out Justin’s game I took Ethan outside and he played in his pool. He loved his pool and playing with the water with Tabitha. I let him play for a an hour or so and then we headed in so that he was all cleaned and dressed and ready for Grandma Dottie when she came. He got all dressed and then started hiding from me, Eric and Justin. I found him upstairs in his room and then in Justin’s room. I was trying to coax him down when I heard Justin say that Dottie was there. Ethan jumped up with excitement and headed downstairs. He was so happy to see his grandma. We hung out for a little while and then Eric and I headed home so that Dottie could spend time with Ethan. I don’t know who’s idea it was for Dottie to come up for a few days and be with Ethan but it was a great idea. It gave me the weekend off and some time to recuperate. We a nice surprise.

Today Ethan woke up at 7:30am. He’s so cute. He won’t get out of his bed in the morning until a person comes in and gets him. Once I got him up we played downstairs. He played a lot in his cardboard house that Justin made him. I made him French toast and he just devoured them. He loved them so much, it’s his favorite.

After breakfast we played a little more. He comes up with so many ideas and we just play. Early in the morning we went to my house to see Eric and the dogs. We played in the backyard. The sprinklers came on and Ethan called them “showers” so he played with the water. He got one whole side of himself wet.

We took him on a wagon ride up to Starbucks so we could get a treat and watch trains. One the way we stopped at Greg and Hollie’s and saw Miles. We decided that tomorrow we’d take the boys to the zoo and have fun together. We walked all the way to Starbucks while Ethan enjoyed the ride in the wagon. While there, we saw several police men and Ethan was sure to tell them all hello.

We came back home and sat by the Max and watched trains come by. We would waive to them and tell the drivers hello. Ethan loved it. After we watched the trains we came back and Ethan took a great nap. It was a bit hard to get him to nap. He would be happy one minute and then crying the next. It was like dealing with someone bi-polar. I found out later from Justin that he does that with new people.

After his nap we played. Ethan went in the backyard and so did Baylee. Baylee drank the water out of the water park toy I bought and of course Ethan did the same. It was so funny and cute. We left to Ross’s house for dinner and finished the night. We go it to the house and Ethan played in the backyard for a while and Justin played with him a while as I made dinner. We had pizza. We took Justin to the theatre to watch a movie, came back and Ethan was off to bed.

Today was the first day of several that I’m watching Ethan. This afternoon I took Ross and Joanna to the airport to fly to Alaska for an 11 day vacation. We were pretty packed in the car with Jo, Ross, Ethan, luggage and three fish boxes. We got to the airport and without thinking I just went to the departures to drop Ross and Jo off. Ross jumped out and got everything together while Jo said goodbye to Ethan. I just about cried when Ross said goodbye to Ethan because you could hear his voice crack and I knew this was going to be hard for him. We drove away and parked by the end of the runway and watched planes come and go. At one point I pointed to a plane leaving and told Ethan mommy and daddy were on that plane and would be home in a few days. We blew the plane kisses and then Ethan said, “Mommy, Daddy, I love you so much. Come back soon!”. He’s such a cutie. On the drive home he pointed out every bus and train. We drove by this building that has a huge billboard on one side. This time is was a well endowed woman holding a beer. Ethan saw it and remarked, “the cookie store, she has cookies for me”. All I could do was laugh at that because it was so darn funny.

We got back to the house and changes pull ups and played in Ethan’s cardboard house that Justin made. Ethan loves that little house. Justin made it out of the box his new TV came in. It’s so cool. It’s got a door handle on the front and a light inside. He’s very creative.

Later on in the afternoon we headed over to my house to see Eric, Baylee and Kelly. Ethan did great with the new dog. We played in the garage in the pseudo playroom for a while then Ethan went upstairs with me and played in the office while I got some things done. Eric made us a great dinner of mac & cheese (aka. Ronies) and we watched a little TV before heading back to Ross’s house. I thought Ethan would go to sleep early since he didn’t take a nap but he held out until 8pm when I took him to bed. It’s about 10pm right now and I’m in bed writing this getting ready to crash. I think this will go OK. I just don’t know how it’s going to work with Eric and I since he has to stay at out house with the dogs and cats and I have to stay here.