Summer Break - Week 6

It makes me a little sad to write the title of this post.  I had to think twice about it...has it really been 6 weeks of summer break already?!  School begins August 20th (and setting up my classroom, lesson plans, copies, etc. will begin long before that), which means we have just over a month left to soak up all the fun summer has to offer! 

I have to say, I think we've done a great job thus far of taking full advantage of my time off.  I have a Summer Bucket List on my phone of all the things I'd like to do with the boys at least once during summer break, and we've checked a lot of things off that list.  But there's more fun to be had!

I'm having a hard time remembering what we did last week, I think in part because a lot of our activities were repeats of things we've done earlier this summer (which also means not as many pictures, since I didn't feel the need to continue taking similar pics all summer!).  We went to the Round Lake Children's Museum again, and spent another morning bowling with Gav's toddler friends.  Gavin did much better with the whole turn-taking thing this time, but he clearly inherited the competitiveness that Ryan and I share.  If Gavin was unable to knock down any pins on his second throw, he would yell "No!" and run and throw himself on one of the couches!

We went to the library a few times this week, including Saturday when they had a model train display set up.  Gavin went to the see the model trains this winter with Grandma and Grandpa Mayner, so he was very excited to go back and see them again.

Most of the pics in this blog are from our trip to Lamb's Farm last week.  Lamb's Farm is a place for differently abled adults to live and work.  It has a farmyard, a few kiddie rides (carousel, train, bounce house), a playground, picnic areas, a restaurant and a few shops.  It's a little run down, but honestly, that makes it a great option for us because it's not very crowded.  And since the farmyard/kiddie ride area is all fenced in, it means I can let Gavin run free, which is always a plus!

Gav and his buddy Jonah checking out the cows.

 Side view of the cuties.

 Although he was a little intimidated at first, Gav loved seeing the cows up close.  As a girl that has spent the majority of her life living in the burbs, I always forget just how big cows really are!

 Last year Gavin was terrified every time we tried to put him in some kind of petting zoo situation (and the year before that, he loved it).  So apparently in keeping with the on/off schedule, Gavin is back to loving close encounters with animals.  I was really happy to see him jump right in and start petting and brushing the goats.

 Every time Gavin brushed a goat, he would turn to me and say, "Mommy, that made the goat happy!"

 Excited that he found more goats to brush!

 Declan was such a trooper on this little excursion.  There isn't much for an 8 month old to do here (or anywhere we go, really) but he chilled in his stroller or hung out on my hip very happily (despite the perma-pout he is sporting here!)

 I asked Gavin to take a picture with the pig, so I snapped a different one than the one you see below.  But then he kept standing by the pig, and when I said it was time to move on, he said, "Mommy, take my picture, I'm posing!"  So this is the pose that Gav wanted with the pig :)

 Gav and Jonah check out the giant lumberjack (I think its supposed to be Paul Bunyan?  Not sure...)

 We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, and all the toddlers wanted to get up close and personal with Declan when he decided to join us on the blanket!

This picture perfectly captures Declan's favorite facial expression, the bitter beer face!  Declan loves to make this super pouty face (usually when he's in a good mood, strangely enough).  In fact, he was making this face the day he was born, because all the nurses kept commenting to us on his perfect little pout!

Summer Break - Week 5

The heat followed us home from Geneseo, so much of this week was spent doing indoors activities.  On Thursday, the boys and I drove out to my parents house for a visit.  We went to Monkey Joe's, where Gavin spent about 5 minutes bouncing and about an hour playing arcade games.  I tried to fight it at first, but it was too hot for me to deal with the tantrums, so I gave into the fact that we just paid $5 for Gavin to watch me play skee-ball and arcade basketball.  Gavin doesn't even want to play the games, he just likes collecting the tickets afterwards.  Although they did have a golf game there that Gavin loved playing (and it didn't even reward tickets!).  But it was so sweaty hot in MJ's, we didn't last long. 

Friday we had a playdate with Gavin's toddler friends at Stay 2 Play.  No pictures from that day, but Gav had a great time playing with his buds, and Declan liked sitting on the ground and banging the fake peas can and fake carrots can together.  We also went to the library on Friday, because I thought it would be a nice escape from the heat.  But after about 5 minutes in there, we realized the A/C was broken!  So we checked out a few DVDs and quickly left.  I did manage to rent a few awesome classics: Mary Poppins and Robin Hood (the Disney cartoon version).  Gavin loves Mary Poppins, and it makes me so happy that he enjoys a movie that I loved as well when I was a kid.  We have lots of fun dancing to "Step in Time" and "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious" (<--- no idea if that's spelled right, and no way I'm taking the time to Google it and check :)

Saturday was gymnastics class and laying low.  Sunday, we took a family trip to the zoo.  We were so happy for a break from the heat (and by a break, I mean the high was 85 instead of 105) that we felt required to get out of the house.  As usual, the zoo was fun times for all.   Gavin pretty much has a set itinerary for the zoo now.  We always have to see the monkeys first, followed by the fish, the frogs and snakes, then the bears, and then we kind of make it up from there.  This time, we also went to the Dolphin Show.  We haven't seen the dolphin show since Gavin was about 9 months and didn't give a hoot.  Gavin loved the show, as you'll see in the pictures below.  Gavin also told us that dolphins are Declan's favorite animal :)

Appropriately enough, jumping with a monkey at Monkey Joe's.

Gavin is getting braver and braver about what obstacles he is willing to tackle.

The mini-golf game we discovered.  As you can see, Gavin's form is a little unorthodox.

Grandpa tries to give Gavin a few pointers.

Declan and Grandma watching Gavin go for the green jacket of arcade mini-golf.

Shooting some hoops

Working the trains with Grandpa.

 "Pool Balls" is a popular game at both grandpa's houses.

 I LOVE this pic of Dec and Grandpa!

 The boys were stinky after a fun day of playing at Grandma and Grandpa's, so before we headed home, the boys took their first tandem bath, and they both loved it!  Because of the way my parents' tub is set up, I had to climb in there with them fully clothed so that I could keep Dec sitting up, but we all had a good time!

 Every time we get to the zoo, Gavin tells us "Monkeys first."  So here we are checking out the chimps.

 I included this pic because of my pure craziness, especially those eyes.  If you could hear my thoughts, I think they were "If you throw that poop at me monkey, I will end you."

 A super cute pic of Daddy and Declan.

 Between our noggins is a gorilla enjoying a snack.

 Gav waving hi to the buffalo (bison? whatever)

 A rare chance to get an upclose encounter with the buffalo.  This is actually right next to the picnic table where we ate lunch. 

 Gav looks so old to me in this picture.

 I couldn't decide if this picture was cuter than the one above this, so since its my blog and I get to do what I want, I just put them both in! :)

 Daddy and Deckers checking out the buffalo.

 Dolphin show!

 I really enjoy our awkward family pics.  I especially like the funny face that the woman behind me is making.

 Warning:  The next two pictures contain captions that were all Ryan's idea.  The caption for this pic: Gavin farted.

 Ryan smelled it.

 I know Gav, I can't believe Daddy called you out on that fart either.

 Loving the dolphin show.  Based on his reaction, I'm sure Gav will be adding this to his zoo itinerary.

 Trying to capture some of the dolphin moves with Gav watching.

 And back home, a cute brother moment.  Gavin loves to play with Declan and always encourages him.  Here, Gavin was helping Declan press the buttons, and telling him "good job" every time Declan pressed one.

Summer Break - 4th of July

As we have done for the last few years, we headed back to Geneseo for the 4th of July break this year.  Besides just getting in some R&R, we wanted to meet our new niece Kailyn before she and her family headed back to Detroit.

Anyone who lives in the midwest knows that the 4th of July was hot, so we spent more time indoors than we would have liked.  We normally spend a lot of time at the parks, checking out the flag display, eating some pork in the park, but we couldn't do any of that this year.  Gavin and I went to the park at 7:30 am and it was already 85 degrees!  But we still had a great time hanging out with family and enjoying the fireworks.  Here's our pics from our trip back home:

Declan meeting Kailyn for the first time.  Dec is the "baby" at daycare, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't aware that humans could be this teeny and cute.  He spent a good few minutes staring at her and figuring her out.  

 Dec and Bryce playing with the rings.  Now that Declan can sit up, he's getting some good cousin fun time in.

 Cousins on the couch.

 Who needs toys when you have Grandpa and a wheelbarrow?

 Cheese!

 Gav and Brycers enjoying some breakfast.

 Declan kept trying to sleep with his head propped on the bar of his Elmo walker.

 But he didn't trust us so he kept one eye open!

 Prepare yourself for extreme cuteness.  Faithful blog readers will know that Gavin refers to Larry as "HH Pee Pa" because Grandpa always wears Hazelwood Homes t-shirts with the HH logo on them.  So Larry and Mary had shirts made for them and all the grandkids, and its super adorable!

 These were the best two pics we got, with 4 kids under 3, it was hard to find one where everyone was looking at the camera!

 A little blurry, but a cute pic of the three of us waiting for the fireworks!

 The fireworks went off pretty late this year (like 9:50!), so Gavin spent a lot of time looking like this while waiting for the fireworks.

 The boys check out an impressive firework display.

 Mommy is out of the loop when she is the only one with the "oooh" face.

 Best buds.

 The driveway firework crew.

 Ryan always manages to take WAY better pictures than I do, and this is a great example.

Kyle makes an exciting discovery...another firework!  My beer and I are less impressed.

 Gavin is a man of so many facial expressions.  The new few pics are just some funny faces we caught him making.  Lately Gavin likes to start his sentences with the phrase "Well, I have a great idea..." and this is totally what he looks like when he says it.

 "Oh my gawd mom, you're soo embarrassing!"

 "FIREWORKS!!!!"

 (In our heads): Gavin: "I cannot believe how awesome fireworks are!"  Erin:  "Hmm, I wonder if there are any interesting updates on Facebook."

 Funny face competition: Ryan and Gavin's entry.

 Funny face competition:  Erin and Declan's entry.

 More Declan daredevil-ness.  Here he is doing backbends over and over!