Mini-Golf for a VERY Big Boy! Oh...and some Baseball too!

It will come as no surprise that we had a wonderful weekend at home. Unless the Little Children are sick, every weekend at home is a wonderful weekend. We thought we would hone Henry's innate golf skills by exposing him to miniature golf. Conceptually, mini-golf was the most absurd thing he's ever seen. I mean, why can't you just SET your ball down 10 inches from the hole and hit it in the hole? Why, in the name of all that is holy, would you start all the way back there, when it isn't possible to even see the hole from there? Therefore, this is how we played the game:

1. Henry forges ahead to the next hole (I will say, for the most part, he did go in order) and sets his ball down a few inches from the hole and just starts putting away.
2. Meanwhile, Daddy starts where you are supposed to. Waits patiently for Henry to make his putt, or at least move far enough away that Daddy's ball has a chance.
3. After Daddy hits the ball (which I swear every time he would say, watch this, its gonna be a hole in one) the offense in Henry's blood is just too strong to fight...so he blocks Daddy's ball with his foot and kicks it back toward the tee, picks up his ball and quick steps to the next hole.
4. Meanwhile, Mommy is following Charlie around trying to avoid what seems to be an inevitable disaster as Charlie-Baby has a strong fascination with any and all water features and bridges. I am absurdly strapped down with a diaper bag crossed one way over my body and a camera strapped the opposite way, which obviously means I cannot bend over to pick up my little child, who is staring danger in the face, because it upsets the balance of my baggage and sends everything hurling forward. I am sure we were quite a sight for others.
And so it goes...just like that....18 holes...in less than 30 minutes. Impressive.

And a short pit stop for a photo on the 9th hole: And then on to the batting cages. Let me set this stage for you. Nathan just couldn't help himself. He needed to hit a few balls. It was cold. It was misting. We were T minus 2 hours past our normal naptime (really? need I continue?) and Henry was still getting over the fact that his ball disappeared when he put it in the cup at the 18th.

And then Henry saw the helmet. He loves helmets and hats and headlights of any sort. I was certain his neck was going to crack as he held this bowling ball atop his little neck. As you can see, he worked hard to hold it up strong. But he had trouble walking, or seeing for that matter.

So, Daddy got him an XS red helmet and a little tiny adorable bat.

Henry watching Daddy hit balls and just waiting for his turn to be like Daddy.

It fits! Sort of.
It balances a little better if I tilt my a head a little to the right just like this...now...don't move!
A very proud, sweet moment below. Of course, it took me a while to get to my "moment" seeing how Nate had no hesitations of bringing our first-born into a batting cage with rogue softballs flying toward him at 80+ miles per hour. Ok, it was slow pitch, but still. And Nate, where is your helmet? You don't have much room for error buddy.

Together, they won the game.

And when the balls stopped coming, and the red light turned dark, Henry turned to Daddy and sweetly whispered "Daddy, can I take the helmet home?" to which Daddy had to say "No, Henry. We need to leave the helmet here. We just borrowed it to play the game." To which Henry responded:
And then, we headed home for naptime.

Love, B