Tag Archives: playtime

Daddy-Daughter Flipping Fun in Slow Motion

06/18/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Tropical Storm Bill might keep us inside, but it’s not keeping us from a little daddy-daughter fun! Who’s raining on whose parade now, Bill? I thought it was funny, except that there’s no parade…..*sigh*

In lieu of spending time writing out a blog post, I thought it would be fun to record Avery and her Daddy (that’s me) running around the house and me flipping her on a pallet I made in the living room. She gets high and sometimes I let her land a little too hard, but she keeps coming back for more.

I figured slowing down some of the flipping action would make for a fun video to watch for everyone. Make sure you have your audio on as that should make for a good laugh.

If you’re wondering, yes, I will do sound effects for your audio or video project. I know, it’s just a gift. 😉

But seriously, is it just programmed in everyone’s head to make sound effects when playing with kids? I can’t think of a time I don’t make stupid noises when chasing/throwing/tickling Avery, or any kid really.

Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did making it. For the record, this helped wear her out for a much better nap time than the day before…..

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What kind of sound effects do you make when you play with kids?

Are you being affected by Tropical Storm Bill?

Life, Parenting

Cold Water Swimming and A Psychedelic Moose

04/14/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

After taking our obligatory bluebonnet pictures of Avery in a stranger’s front yard, our small family made it to our destination; Nana and Papa’s. We hadn’t seen Kelley’s parents in a while, and they had plenty of hugs and kisses and gifts for Avery.

Steve and Kathy, my wonderful and loving in-laws, had us over for a delicious, healthy lunch of grilled chicken, spaghetti squash, and spring mix salad. Per our request, Kathy left ours unseasoned/marinated and let us add herbs, spices, and other flavorings as we saw fit. Everything was great, and I could’ve had 3 more helpings!

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But right before sitting down to lunch, I had to do some form of quick workout for my mental well-being. Crazy, I know, but it’s me. At first I thought I’d do a quick session of hill sprints since Kelley’s parents have several awesome hills in their neighborhood, but wanted something different since I can do that at home too. Then I got the perfect idea; a cold water swim in their pool!

It’s not quite ideal swim weather in Texas yet, but that was part of the allure. I’ve heard a lot about cold thermogenesis lately, and wanted to give it a shot. I’ve already taken cold showers which suck at first, but you feel ah-mazing afterward. So I borrowed some of Steve’s shorts (thank you, Steve!), and went outside for a quick swim before lunch. I just had to psych myself into jumping first…..

After contemplating, I took the plunge and felt an instant stream of goosebumps flow across my entire body.

Brrrrr! But I acclimated rather quickly and went about doing around 11 back and forth sprints. Not by preference, I had a trio of the family dogs there to ~~cheer me on~~ bark at me, and one of them, Harry, decided to photo “bomb” the picture Kelley took of me during a rest break.

See the bomber there in the background? Yeah, you’re welcome, I enjoy sharing everything with you guys. 🙂

Meanwhile, Avery getting lots of love with gifts from Nana and Papa and tickles from Aunt Steph and Cousin Taylor.

Avery immediately started reading one of the books many books by Sandra Boynton after taking it out of the giant gift bag from her Nana and Papa. Doesn’t she look like she’s really getting into the plot?

But reading material wasn’t the only thing Avery received, she got a few clothing items from boutique shops in Colorado, where Nana and Papa live most of the time now, and even the most psychedelic (Going Mom and I both used this word at different times) stuffed animal moose ever!

It’s hard to see in the pic, but Avery’s face shows just how psychedelic the moose is. With peace signs and flowers all over, I was half-way expecting a guitar and a joint to go along with it, but they never did. Probably for the best! After opening her gifts, it was playtime with her Aunt Stephanie and Cousin Taylor.

Avery took interest in a toy car (yes!!!) and proceeded to venture on her own a little.

She even used the remotes to somehow turn the TV directly on to The Walking Dead. Guess she’s hooked just like Mommy and Daddy!

The weather was cooler than it has been, and clouds kept the sun from harshly beaming down on us, so we took things outside for a while. Taylor worked with Avery on her soccer skills, but Avery made sure to hold on to that toy car.

Before we took off back home, Stephanie snuck in more cuddle time with the car-holding Avery as she adored her cute hat.

The hat didn’t last long, but they had a nice hand-holding walk around the yard with car still in hand.

It was a busy, fun-filled day at Nana and Papa’s, beginning with the bluebonnet photo session. On the way home, Avery took a short nap and then we did a few chores as she ran around like a wild child/any toddler before going to bed.

We had to leave the car with Nana and Papa, but Avery seems to have forgotten the vehicle and is now giving rowing lessons to her psychedelic moose.

I don’t think hippies and rowing mix well, but guess Avery will do her best; she’s a determined kid, that’s for sure!

Have you ever tried subjecting yourself to cold water or air? Ever hear of cold thermogenesis?

Do you have any Sandra Boynton books? We had “The Going to Bed Book” and enjoy reading it every night, so we’re glad to have more in our book arsenal!

Life, Parenting

Friends and Strangers at the Bounce House

03/05/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Have you ever been to a bounce house? Think of those giant inflatables that fill the backyards of homes for a kids’ birthday party, only it’s all indoors and filled with 10+ giant inflatables! In other words, a kids’ (and most adults’) wonderland!

As part of our Dallas Dads Group, I scheduled a Meetup at a local bounce house called Jump For Fun (fitting name I’d say) for us dads to gather and have fun with our kids. We had 4 dads attend, including me, and we each had one kid. It was hard to sit and talk with the other guys since I had to keep my eyes on Avery. She was all over the place!

Okay, so not first, but she started moving after warming up to her surroundings.

Until I put her inside one of the inflatables……

Yeah, that was her first and last time in that one. Not sure what made her so upset, but I blame her current teething issue as the main culprit. Once back out on the floor though, her mood changed back to happy status.

But we obviously didn’t go to a bounce house to run around the floor, so grabbed Avery and we went through several of the fun-filled obstacles together. She was confused at times, but I could tell she enjoyed it overall. But man, it was difficult trying to traverse some of the slippery inflatable steps with Avery in one arm! Regardless, we did it plenty of times, and even took on Batman!

He was all talk. One of our neighborhood dads and friends, Jason, was there with his daughter, Zoey, and we took turns taking our girls down a giant slide.

Avery, with her cutting teeth, had her hand in her mouth most of the time we were there. Nothing a little tickling can’t do to fix the hand-in-mouth issue.

Jason and Zoey were able to go up and down several times in the time it took us to go once.

Zoey is older and she was having a blast running all over the place. Notice, no hands in mouth for her since she has all her teeth!

While wondering around, Avery made a new, older, friend who seemed to like picking her up.

Seemed sweet and innocent enough, until she dropped her like a hot potato!

I guess they made up though, and the girl was more careful afterward.

I don’t know if it was the trauma of being dropped, her cutting teeth, or just because she’s a sweetheart, but Avery went up to a lady sitting on a bench, took the magazine sitting next to her, and held it up as if asking her to read it. The kind mom of two boys, Katie, kindly held Avery in her lap and read a little. Avery seemed to enjoy.

Everyone had a great time and we’re hoping to make the place a regular meetup for our Dallas Dads Group soon. Maybe next time Avery won’t be in the middle of teething and actually smile for a picture.

Eh, it wasn’t crying, so I’ll consider it a win in my book. Whatever book that is, I don’t know. I’m happy with the group of dads that met up and hope to be able to talk with them more next time. Which, thanks to our awesome group, we’ll have the chance plenty of times in the near and distant future!