Summer Reading Celebration

Well Davis and I had a busy Saturday morning. We were planning to head to our local North Durham library when I realized that the Summer Reading Celebration was taking place today at the Main Durham Library. This celebration was the culmination of a program the local library sponsored to encourage parents to read to their children at least 15 minutes each day (We successfully completed the 40 day challenge). The more days, the more prizes.... So off we went for games, books, and fun.....

We got there just as it was starting which was nice. First, Davis visited this balloon artist and she was neat to watch as she quickly twisted all different shapes in sizes into neat animals and objects.

Here is Davis's balloon... what do you think it is???

It may be hard to tell from the picture but it is a fishing pole.. he thought it was very cool and was walking around with it. Needless to say he was bumping into people and dragging it along with him because it was a little awkward to carry.

Here is Davis showing off his fishing pole....

We headed outside and he found the water area with baby pools, sprinklers, and bubbles. He decided to go fishing. Then he tried to climb into the pool in his clothes and shoes. I quickly stopped him and thought .. hmmmm I don't have any extra clothes because I had no idea that there were going to be water activities. I decided to let him go for it and we took off his shoes and shirt and let him play... He played and played in this kiddie pool for at least an hour. I kept asking if he wanted to go see the fire engine, play games with balls, or do anything else and he said NO. He entertained himself with an inflatable ball and just splashing and playing. I thought man we need one of these at home. (Of course we have an old kiddie pool we bought for Hannah several years ago and she will not get into.)

Playtime

Davis wanted to go fishing again.... Unfortunately part of his balloon popped in the grass so you can tell it is shorter here... then it continued to get smaller after other balloons popped. All that is remaining is his little fish on the fishing line.

He started to lay down and lounge in the pool.

He would put his arms up so I could pull him back up and then he would lay down again and again. He finally got out after the sprinklers turned back on and were splashing him in his face. His diaper was so full of water it basically burst when I changed him......I put his shirt back on and a new diaper and let him go without pants for a short time. (Now I will try to remember to pack extra clothes in the car.)

We only spent a short time looking at the fire engine and talking with the fire fighters.

I took this picture to show you the balloons. Can you see the penguin balloon? It was amazing the things she made... cars, dinosaurs, bugs, etc.


Dunking booth


Wool E. Bull, the Durham Bulls mascot, showed up... Davis kept saying his name over and over and wanted to go look for him when he went inside. I had my camera out and ready to get a picture of Davis with Wool E. Well as soon as we got close enough to talk to him. Davis said, "No, No, No" and grabbed me tightly and leaned in close and his face turned red. We didn't get the picture.

Wool E. playing peek-a-book behind a book with Davis.

As you can tell we had a busy morning. Davis and I got a complimentary bag of chips as we left and after he finished off the bag he promptly feel asleep on the way home.

Poop.....

Ok so now that I have your attention. We wanted to share one of Davis's milestones. Chris and I were trying to get out the door for our church league softball game and were doing a lousy job when all of a sudden Davis looked at me and said, "Poop mommie". I ignored him briefly and then he repeated "poop" and so I asked "Did you poop or do you need to poop?". We headed upstairs for him to sit on the Big Potty. (basically this is his smaller toilet seat that sits right on top of the regular toilet seat. ) I got him on the toilet and said ok go ahead and thought here we go with the same routine. This is where I typically sit beside him and "coach" him or talk to him about going to the bathroom or read him books to distract him. BUT not today oh no... Today I quickly headed out of the bathroom to grab up several things for the game. Chris was also running around and then we heard Davis yeah "Hey!!!" and I yelled back and assured him we were coming back.

When I got back to wipe and wash hands I looked into the toilet and was shocked to see...... POOP. Davis has sat on the potty numerous times without ever peeing or pooping... even though he thinks he is. At this point I exclaimed something like "Davis you POOPED in the POTTY!!!" and clapped my hands, hugged him, and then Chris came in and also was excited and we made a big deal. He got to flush down his first poop. We quickly got a new diaper in place, washed our hands, and headed out to the game. We got in the car and decided to call Gran Newlin to tell her the big news and Davis was happy to share with her, "Poop in the potty". Yes he was proud of himself too. Who knows how long it will be until he goes to the bathroom again on the toilet. I am sure it will be when we least expect it.
(Thankfully for you we have no pictures to share. )

Boots

This morning Davis spotted his Daddy's boots sitting by the ottoman. He had just finished breakfast and we were on our way upstairs to get dressed for church. I could see him getting this curious look on his face as he said, "BOOTS". I knew it was coming so I grabbed the camera and this is what I captured. Davis loves his Daddy's boots.

He slipped his first foot (well leg really) right in but it was a bit harder to get both boots on.

Still checking out the boots.

He did it and was thrilled at his accomplishment.

Getting them off was pretty amusing... one foot out...

Falling down after getting both feet out.

All smiles.. saying "cheese" for the camera.
Now if we could get him to put on his other shoes this easily we would be set.

Fourth of July at the Bay!!

We didn't have any plans for July 4th until last week when we decided to head to the Chesapeake Bay to spend time with Uncle Mark, Aunt Stacey, and our cousins Natalie and Cody at the Glebe Point Campground. We headed to Burgess, VA on Friday night excited to see family and get to relax and go fishing!!! When we arrived at about 10PM Davis had been sound asleep BUT Hannah's big butt wag and tail hitting him caused him to wake up. I just remember turning around with Davis's eyes wide open, his hands clapping, and him squealing "yeahhhh". I guess he knew the fun that was coming.

We started off Saturday at the "beach" on the campground. The water was calm, warm, and inviting.... especially for Davis and Hannah. Davis was not dressed to get wet but that did not stop him. Here you see Hannah running and bounding through the water. She LOVED it...

Here Davis is busy splashing and touching the water.

Aunt Stacey got in the water with him and helped him splash water and also look for fish.

Smiling with delight!

Ok so some of the family thinks that Davis resembles my father, aka Pappy. When we get pictures like this it is hard to refute! We started to strip him down as he got wetter and wetter.

Davis and Hannah were very cooperative for a couple family pictures.

Finished with the first trip to the beach. Davis is down to his diaper.. (and hat).

Davis and Natalie getting ready for the first boat ride of the weekend. It was close to his naptime and as you see he fell asleep soon after starting out on the trip.

It is a little windy in the front so Davis moved behind Natalie's arm and snugged in and fell asleep... he kept pushing her further and further off the cooler seat so we had to move him before she feel off. Natalie was a good sport about sharing her seat.

Mark fearlessly leading us on the water... (this ride was not so bumpy).

Davis driving the golf cart. He enjoyed getting to "steer" and drive.

After our morning boat trip we headed into Reedville, a small coastal town with beautiful homes (like this one) lining the main street. We checked out the craft stands, saw the "critters" in the bay, and played on the local playground and left town right before the small town parade.

After our big campground potluck (fried chicken, baked beans, pasta salads, and much more.....) we headed out for an evening fishing adventure. We anchored ourselves to one of the pylon's under the bridge and started fishing. We did not catch any fish unfortunately but still had a great time on the water.

Mark and Davis looking out and seeing the Marine Police.... Davis pointed and said "po-po".

Natalie

Captain Davis.

Earlier on Saturday we set out 4 crab pots, baited with stinky fish called menhaden. On our way in from fishing on Saturday evening we were eager to see if we were any luckier with our crabbing. Bingo- We got about a dozen crabs which we enjoyed later that evening. Then Sunday evening we caught closer to two dozen crabs. Mark prepared them by steaming them in beer and seasoning with Old Bay yummy!!

Sunday we decided to take a longer boat trip to Maryland. We headed out at lunch time and our destination was this "target ship", the American Mariner. This is a ship the Navy used in World War II and then in the 1970's they decided to sink it to use for naval target practice. There are millions of bullet holes and snarled metal from bombs. We decided to fish around the ship but didn't get many bites or action. Our ride out was not too bumpy but it definitely is a bit rockier in the "Bay".

Cody

Davis decided to fall asleep right before reaching our destination so we let him sleep on the cooler. Thank goodness he was pretty easy going throughout the entire boat trip and did not get upset at all when it got a bit bumpy.

Chris had several bites but no fish ... here you can see proof of a bite and then seconds later you could see the fish jumping off the bait.... bummer.

Empty hook and defeated Chris.

Mark scooping one in ...

We ended up catching 4 blue fish in total which was a little low for the Roy clan but we still enjoyed the fishing. Our trip back was a bit more intense shall we say. I was sitting on the cooler seat with Davis and holding him most of the time. The water was much rockier and there were 1-3 foot caps which kept me very attentive and clutching him. The winds had picked up significantly since our trip out. Davis stayed calm and at times was laughing while Cody and Natalie were "surfing" at the front of the boat. We ended up moving to the back of the boat because it was not as bumpy and Chris held Davis while I got soaked in the back seat. Yes I looked like a drowned rat.. (sorry no pictures) as I was clutching two seats at this point and spitting salt water out of my mouth. Davis got the salt water on his lips and was licking them.

Here we are after our long boat trip... The road leading down to the pier is called "Davis Drive" so we couldn't resist.

Before leaving on Sunday night we headed to the beach for some more fun.

Splashing....

For all of you that think that Davis is always a happy little guy.. here is some proof he can cry and does at times. Poor thing was kicking and splashing and I think he hit his foot on something and started crying. Don't worry it was brief but this definitely captures the moment.
We had a great time this weekend.
Thank you Uncle Mark and Aunt Stacey for letting us come and spend the weekend with you!!

Firetrucks oh my!!

Ok so this our first blog posted without pictures.... and do we wish we had pictures. Today we decided to get Randy's Pizza for dinner because we were hungry and didn't want to fix dinner. So Chris, Davis and I met after work and when we pulled into the parking lot I noticed two firetrucks spread across the lot. (No lights and no sirens... yet) Of course we pointed to the trucks and Davis smiled and said "vroom vroom". We walked into Randy's and there were about 8 Durham firefighters eating dinner. We of course said hello and I told the men that we were admiring the trucks in the parking lot and that our son Davis was excited to see the trucks. Soon 3 firefighters quickly left the restaurant and another firefighter said they were responding to a call and encouraged us to go watch as they were going to turn on their sirens.

Davis and I quickly walked outside and eagerly awaited the "lights and sirens" but nothing happened. Our friendly firefighter came out and told me it a false alarm ---- bummer I was thinking until he said here bring him to the truck we will turn on the lights. As we got closer the lights came on and then he invited us to hop in for a closer look. Davis was scared at first and wanted Daddy to come in with him. We were standing in the back of the truck where all the bucket seats are for the firefighters and they were letting Davis look and explore the truck some. We only stayed inside for a minute or so but it was cool. We were invited to come to the Fire Station whenever we would like to have a tour of the trucks. We ate dinner at the same time as all the firefighters and when they left they waved goodnight and Davis said "bye bye". He made several friends tonight.

Thank you to the Durham Fire Station #1 Firemen!!! We will come to visit soon.

Memorial Day Visit

My parents were able to come to Durham for a quick two days earlier this week. They were staying in Williamsburg for the week so it was a little shorter of a drive for them (~3 hours). We were happy they could come spend time with us and Davis. On Memorial Day we headed to the pool for Davis's first swim of the season. He enjoyed the pool and preferred to stay in his float. Chris and Davis were the only ones to brave the water, even though Chris said it was not too bad.

Pool pictures

On Tuesday Davis played "hookie" from daycare and spent the day with his grandparents. They had a busy day from riding his bike, planting flowers in the front yard, going to the local library, and then to Costco for snacks. In true grandparent style they allowed him to drink raspberry iced tea and orange Sunkist and eat lots of different snacks. (Not sure exactly what transformation happens when parents become grandparents but I don't think they would have let us drink this when we young.) Needless to say it took some time to go through "grandparent detox" after they left. They actually witnessed a pretty impressive tantrum before they left on Tuesday. Davis is quickly approaching age 2 and has learned how to use the word "No" or "Nooooo" after basically every sentence. We are working on patience and praying for wisdom.

Gran and Pappy thanks for coming to visit !!!