Hales Corners Park

I know why we still haven't finished the New Berlin Park Series...because we keep going to parks that are not in New Berlin!! Hales Corners Park was a good detour as it is all in shade in the afternoons! Miss V loved it. It was the perfect size for her and she could do all the steps/slides to her hearts content. 

Cutie!

There were some fun moving bridges and other things to explore too.

obligatory (messy) hair pic

She always is so excited to do the swings and we usually do them first. But she only lasts a minute or two now before she wants to climb climb climb and slide slide slide!

Miss V dislikes anything sticking to her feet so wood chips are not her favorite. Usually she whines and says "my foot" if she needs help wiping off her foot. This day however, she just plopped down, took off her shoe and did it all on her own. Hallelujah! 

And of course, we have to end with the strange animal rides. At least these were a little more enclosed. She actually did enjoy rocking back and forth for about 10 seconds on each LOL

Silly girl

A warm start to fall has been so awesome! Hoping we have another month of good afternoon park weather to go!

Elmo (And Curious Miss V) Visit the Trampoline Park

Our plans of visiting the apple orchard this weekend feel through because of the rain so we decided to check out Sesame Street Toddler Time at Sky Zone Trampoline Park! Miss V does not quite have the hang of jumping off the ground with two feet so she was a little unsure at first but absolutely loved sitting and getting bounced by Grandma or I and holding hands with Grandma to jump.

She also thought crawling around the perimeter was lots of fun as well as the cool new orange socks.

There were crafts to do and photo-ops galore. V thoroughly enjoyed getting to use markers and was not at all afraid of the characters. Hopefully that bodes well for Santa pictures this year ;)

She actually knows what "say cheese" means now!

And she certainly has a good set of lungs!

hair pic :)

Look Mom! It's Elmo and Cookie Monster!

When we went back to jumping the second time, she was all in. She went exploring and was dancing and doing her hopping with one foot at a time method. 

slam dunk!

Thanks Grandma Diane for coming with! We had a blast!!

New Berlin Park Series: Valley View Park

We have crossed another New Berlin Park off our list! We visited Valley View Park which actually has two playgrounds. Curious Miss V loved the extra space to explore as well as a fun bridge!

When she says "bridge" it sounds like "fridge" LOL

I don't really want to stop and say cheese Mom but ok...

Curious about what is under there!

Hmmm, I'm curious about this too, Mom.

We enjoyed the big fields and wooded areas at this park. On the playgrounds, Miss V of course loved the swings but was very interested in climbing everything she possibly could; even if her legs weren't quite long enough!

It's not that big Mom!

Ok... now what?

I did stand behind her for this one and she got all the way up!

Best thing to climb on...stairs leading to slides!

No more obligatory diaper butt pic...so I think I'll call it a hair pic! Super light-colored in the sun with maybe a hint of red?!

This slide was actually a step down from the main stairs so after getting all the way up, she then had to figure out how to go down one to get to the slide. She has not quite mastered walking down stairs yet, so she resorted to the sitting method- ha!

Finally made it! Ready set go!

Hi at the bottom! This whole sequence literally took 5 minutes!

It wouldn't be a park series post without some strange animals to sit on. Curious Miss V was not overly impressed with the selections ;)

A horse-zebra?

Can turtles really even be ridden?!

Last but not least, V had to check out the steering wheel section and the big curvy slide. She definitely requested that I hold her hand for that one but she did make it down!

It was another beautiful park visit...looking forward to more this fall!

Little Miss Independent

Well, that time has officially come: The Terrible Twos.  So far, Curious Miss V is testing out the 2's through her stubbornness and independence. Yes, we have instituted a timeout chair in our dining room and yes Miss V has used it. For the most part, as long as we let her attempt whatever it is that she wants to do "all by self" she is happy if we then help complete the task. This way, we don't take a million years getting things done!

One task Miss V LOVES to try all be herself is taking lids on and off containers. Milk gallons, water bottles, her pretend laundry soap, and bubbles!

Once she finally gets that lid off the bubbles, then she of course wants to get the wand out all by herself. She has some good concentration and stubbornness!

Got it!

It's way more fun to bend and hit this stick thing on the ground, Mom.

Ok, let's try actually making bubbles

I can get this back in here ALL BY 'SELF!

She must have done this same sequence of: lid off, wand out, smack on ground, blow, wand back in, lid back on a dozen times without even looking up at me once- haha! AND I truly don't think an actual bubble was ever blown :) Here is a look back at some of Miss V's first times exploring outdoors/bubbles. She has changed so much! I am starting to reread previous posts and the whole point of doing this blog has been achieved! I love seeing her growth: I think it is the teacher in me (or parent in general!). 

Lastly, enjoy a throwback to V thoroughly enjoying the bubble machine at Kids in Motion. The toothless smile is the best!

Ice Cream Shoppe

As mentioned in this blog post, Curious Miss V has a bit of a sweet tooth. That's why I knew this little ice cream shoppe toy (garage sale find!) would be perfect!

Taste Test

She loves the songs and it also gives directions that she can now follow like "1 scoop of chocolate."  The ice cream scoop is magnetic and the little orange handle releases the scoops onto the cones and just today she figured out how to push and hold it!

Stacking fun

She kept saying "build tower!" and got a little sidetracked on the actual cone serving. But, who can blame her for wanting to attempt a septuple (just made that word up!) scoop cone?!

OMGoodness so big! Can I get this on a cone without it tipping?

What could bring more joy to a 2 year old?! Her Grandpa Rob would be so proud ;)

This is obviously not an ad lol but if you are interested here is what the whole toy looks like.

Happy Eating!!