Ramblings: Knitting, Bike Riding and a Bouncy Blue Horse

Tipton and his friend, Aaron, play hockey in the back yard. Tipton has just hit the ball past Aaron to score a goal.

And now, for some knitting. Really, I have been knitting. In fact, the other day I knit this scarf

In just one day! Gotta love those size 19 (US) needles! It's a very pretty scarf. I haven't decided what I'm going to to with it yet, though. If I'll keep it for myself to give it away. But I wanted to do something that would knit up fast and look pretty. Because I am stuck on Lilli's Grow With Me tank top. I have reached the point where I need to start the pattern for the bodice. Only for the life of me I cannot figure out what the pattern is. I need to write the pattern author and ask for help. This is how far I've gotten.

Have I mentioned that Dave took the training wheels off of Tipton's bike? He's getting pretty good at riding it by himself.

And he goes really, really fast. Much faster than when he had training wheels. This evening Dave had Tipton practice riding his bike - starting by himself (without Dave holding onto the handle.) Tipton did really well. He's still a little wobbly when he starts off, but he doesn't fall over and that's what counts. Now he just needs to work on stopping without the bike falling over.

This is one of the kids favorite things to do. They take all of their "bedtime animals*" and pile them on the couch. Then they climb into the middle of them and pretend to sleep. Much giggling and arguing over the blanket ensues. *Note - yes, all of these animals are on their beds when they go to sleep. They are lined up against the wall to prevent the kiddos from getting stuck between the mattress and the wall. The bedframes are from the US, but we bought the mattresses here. The mattresses here are longer and skinnier, so they don't exactly fit the frames. Hence the need for all the stuffed animal protection.

Over the weekend Lilli's HOP ball got a hole in it. This was just the opportunity I was looking for. The kids each got a HOP ball from Grama Kay and Papa for Christmas. And they love them. We (I helped to pick them out) got Lilli the smallest HOP ball available. I thought Lilli would be big enough for it. I was wrong. So whenever the kids want to play with the HOP balls, I always end up having to hold Lilli on hers and bounce her (and the ball) up and down. Not exactly easy on the old back. Anyway, so I have been wanting to get her one of the bouncy horses. They have them at her daycare and she LOVES them. Most of the time when I pick her up she is bouncing on a horse. So first thing this morning (or rather, around 10:00 when the stores over here open) we hopped in the car (I had planned to walk with the kids in the wagon, but it was raining) and went to the toy store. They had one bouncy horse left. A blue one.

I think she likes it.

Lilli and Tipton played a game together this afternoon! I love that Lilli is getting big/old enough to play games with Tipton. The name of the game is Monkey Business.

You spin a dial and have to hang the number/color of monkeys on the tree. You don't want to make the tree fall (the green leaves are held up by a magnet) so you have to place the monkeys strategically.