Home toddler tennis court - sort of $@&?"!;

So, Hayden always asks to "ploay tenus" which means "play tennis". Whenever he is at the park and sees a tennis courts. So we looked up to see how to properly train a toddler. It said,

1. Buy bigger level 2 tennis balls that is easier to hit and less bouncy
2. Play on 1/4 a tennis court size
3. Get a lower net ( we made ours instead Bc it was too easy to make for the price they were charging ($60)
4. Hit the ball on the ground and rally by rolling it before you get it to fly
5. Make it fun ( we added sprinkling water)

Hahaha... As it turned out, he had us look silly playing while he watched us... It did beat the heat thou

Right after swim - now gotta play some ball

He loves this type of stuff... and I love it that he loves it.

Our make shift pitcher's mound.

His home plate drawn in. (do not know if you can see it, but I had to draw in two little feet so that he would stand and face the pitch sideways or else he would face us directly which is not very fundamentally sound)

As I ran in to post this blog, saw him peeing and practicing his swing at the same time - thats multitasking for you! - silly kid ;)
(than I heard my wife yelling at me bc he was out there with wet clothes and his pants down- understandably so- she was looking for a sander to sand a door down on our door project) haha - thats my life :)

Hayden does not go anywhere without his bat ( 2 to 1 odds, something is gonna break soon)

thats my wife who never rests! In her scrubs just barely out of work Saturday today working on her door project-

Portable Water Heater!

So, it started to warm up yesterday before it cooled down again today. The temperature was actually 80 degrees and sunny, so I decided to let Hayden play in his portable pool again. This is after a recent ski trip which had a little indoor pool in the hotel. He always has so much fun in the pool that I said to myself that I would take him to an indoor pool when I get back to Houston. I decided to take him to a 24hr fitness with an indoor pool yesterday, but found out that the 24 hr on post oak and San Felipe has permanantly closed for good. When did that happen? Guess I wouldn't know- ain't like I pump much iron anymore. Anyhow, i just whipped out that little pool we had in our garage and started to fill it with water. But.... The water is so freaking cold- so I filled up a tub of water and carried it out to the backyard and mixed it with the cold water. I repeated this step at least 10x... Tubs and tubs of hot water in and out. That's way way too much work... An excuse for another usable gadget/toy? So today, I am in the market for a portable water heater... I have always wanted one for Hayden because even in the summer sometimes the water is way too cold- I wanna make sure Hayden is not too cold, but prolly just as much that I love gadgets that make sense- I read somewhere too that one may be able to attach a hose to the pre-existing house water heater- or maybe I'll funnel water from inside the house's sink through a tube from Home Depot or something and funnel it outside... It may work...this may work and save some good money.... But I kinda hope it doesn't- hehe



part 2

Yes!!! A $10 solution. Right next to the garage and backyard is our washer and dryer, and the hot water line to the washer requires a standard $10 water hose. So no portable water heater- for now- hehe. ( Times are tough and saving money is pretty damn fun too.

Hayden in his ski class just after a run

As Hayden always is, he is timid at a new place. He went to ski school last year already and got used to the slopes but barely went down it - more like getting used to snow and just getting into skis in general. This year at a new ski school, he was not happy the first day. But as persistent parents, we knew it was good for him to continue and conquer his fear of new places and surroundings on day two of ski school. We expected him to hate it and mostly hang out inside the lodge and play in the warm daycare center. But behold!!!! It was not so, he was out on the slopes all day! He loved it and went again and again and again. The school was very good in that they understood him and kept pushing him in a fun way. He loved it! We saw him clap and laugh after each run. We hid ourselves in our helmets, goggles and ski masks so he could not recognize us (funny thing is, that he kinda did recognize us - but he wondered why the heck did we not respond to him as he said our names? We did not talk to him as we got closer because we wanted him to continue). Nevertheless, he looked over to us, but kept going on with his lessons. We were able to see him go run after run after run. What excitement it was for us. In case the video was not available on the other blog I posted, there are two videos on my facebook that did post. Hayden had a blast! Great trip.

Slopes

do not know if this video posted - either way... its a video of Hayden racing down the slopes vs his other ski classmate. They sort of crashed but it all was in fun and a minor crash for a minor race.

ICE SKATES FOR ALL

For a few reasons, we bought the whole family ice skates. Hayden needs occupational therapy and we figured this is a fun way to do it. He really enjoys ice skating at our local rink (the Galleria). And by the way... its for hockey, not figure skating... (coughing) - another reason is that the prices we got on e-bay will save us money from rentals each time. But the main reason is that it fun to skate with Hayden but just so painful and intolerable with the rental skates. There is a burning sensation on the underside of the foot within a couple minutes (kinda like a plantar fasciitis feeling). The rentals at are so freakin painful to wear for Michelle and myself and probably for Hayden too (if he could tell us)... I didn't ever remember it being that painful before when i went here and there way back when.