Week 7? 8? I'm not sure anymore and I'm too lazy to check :)

Hello all!  We're back after a bit of a hiatus.  Ryan and I spent a lot of time at Cards v Cubs games in the last 2 weeks, and that seriously cut into my blogging time.  So now its time for me to try to remember what the kids and I did for the last 2 1/2 weeks, and to dump a whole lot of photos on you! 

But first, a terribly lit pic of Ry and I at one of the games in St. Louis:

Gosh we're cool.  Our kids are definitely never going to be embarrassed by us.

Anywho, the last few weeks have been more of the same.  We didn't many new things in those weeks, just a lot of the old standbys: the library, children's museums, the mall, the park, the beach...you get the idea.  We did go to the Lake County Fair, which I'll write about more when we get to those pictures. 

But sadly, summer is winding down!  I have less than 3 weeks left until its back to the old grindstone, so its time to start checking off those last few items on the summer bucket list.  I figure if I publish the list here, it will make me more accountable!  Here's where I'd still like to go before the 2012-2013 school year begins:

The Shedd (probably happening this weekend)
One more zoo visit (although the bees are out in full effect this time of year, which makes me act like a crazy person)
Santa's Village
Great America (Gav only)
Make a Messterpiece
Grayslake Farmers Market
One last pool visit (Mundelein closes their pools ridiculously early in the summer and are only open weekends in August, so this could be a trick)

I will be super impressed with myself if that all happens in the next 2 weeks and 1 day.

So anyways, here are some of the 300+ pics we've taken since our last blog update.  I'll try to include a bit of a narrative for the ones that are from an outing I remember.  Others are just random pics where a kid was acting cute or something :)

The puzzles are still one of Gav's favorite library activities.  Here Gavin is playing stylist as he picks a coordinating outfit for the ballerina.

Dec was super excited to be at the library, although at this age, books are more of a food group for Dec than a source of knowledge or entertainment.

A series of funny faces from Deckers.

Dec has the same color blue eyes as Ry.  Gavin's blue eyes are starting to change color, and are currently a more blue-green.  Maybe his eyes are going to switch to green just like mine did at age 3?

Dec has had enough of the paparazzi.

A good library "action shot," if there is such a thing.

This is the first time Gav has sat and listened to an entire book on "tape" (CD).

These next few pictures are from bedtime.  Its funny how bedtime routines morph and change so often.  On bath nights, Gav waddles into his room with an adult towel wrapped around him, then lays on the floor with his blankie.  At that point, Mommy or Daddy lay the towel over him and dry him off and pat his back while Gav giggles and squeals "again!" if you stop too soon.  Its super cute and we have to get video of it before this routine changes again. 

Then its into jammies and into bed for books, or the newest routine, stories.  Stories are not books, but tales told by Mommy or Daddy that always start with the line "There once was a little boy named Gavin..."  Gavin then tells us what to make the story about (ie - a trip to the park, the zoo, going to Grandpas, etc). 

After Gavin has talked us into telling him several stories and reading a few books, its time for "snuggle wuggle buggle", which is basically being tucked in, and then kisses and (hopefully) sleep.

Parents always love to see a hyper, geared up toddler at bedtime!

Hugs for Rufus

Reading Llama Llama with Mommy

Gavin didn't help read this book, but he loves to read 8 Silly Monkeys or Brown Bear, Brown Bear to us.

Dec's bedtime routine is nearly as complex as Gavin's (yet).  For Dec, he needs his pacifier in his mouth, his lullabies playing, his blankie in his arms, and he likes to fall asleep on his side (which has been true basically since birth.  When Ryan and I figured that out (and were ok with it, they really drill the whole "back to sleep" thing into you at the hosptial) it made our lives a lot easier).  We've also recently started reading Declan a bedtime story or two once he is in his crib.

This is a pic from the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest (right across from the hospital that both Gav and Dec were born in).  This trip was kind of a bust, but only because of the heat that day.  I included the pic because I thought it was just so pretty.  I'd love to go back here on a nice fall day, because I'm sure we would have a lot more fun!

Gav's new favorite mall ride, the spaceship!

We always hit up Barnes and Noble when we go to the mall because they have a train table and little nooks to hang out and read in.  The last time we went, Gav found a stuffed Llama Llama and he was so attached to it, I didn't have the heart to tell him he had to leave it.

I love this pic.  One night, Ryan came upstairs to this sight.  That's Gav's foot propped up on the side of his bedroom wall.  Our thought was that he must be awake and hanging out waiting for us to come up, but...

He's sound asleep with his foot up on the wall!

Sometimes you gotta get the dishes done, so you entertain your 8 month old with tupperware and wooden spoons.

The next few pics are from a trip to Independence Grove.  This was the first time that I remembered to bring bread to feed to the fish (haha, I think the first piece of bread managed to get to a fish, after that it was all ducks, geese and seagulls).  Gavin thought this was maybe the most amazing thing ever.  He jumped up and down and squealed with delight and talked to the geese the whole time.  It was incredibly cute.  Here, Gav is pointing to the goose asking, "You want more goose?"

It was hard to get a pic of Gav's face because he was just way too into feeding the ducks/fish/geese.

I love this pic of Decker Joe.  This was a self portrait of Dec and I (he was in the baby bjorn) but I looked like an ogre so I promptly cropped myself right out of there. 

A good action shot, if you look closely, you can actually see the chunk of stale hot dog bun flying through the air.

Jubilant running

On the swings at the park at Independence Grove.  The playground here is different from most playgrounds, with lots of neat, nature based things to do.  Gav is still a bit too little for a lot of it, but he still enjoys it.

Dec ponders the meaning of life while Gav swings.

One of the unique features of the playground, a cave that todllers can walk or crawl through.

I was stunned that Gav went down this slide.  Its a 2 story tube slide, and really you're supposed to climb up the rock wall below to go down the slide, but I lifted Gav over the fencing to let him go down.  He loved it and wanted to go again, but lifting up a 3 year old while you're carrying your 8 month old in the bjorn is no easy feat!

Picnic time!  Gavin told me on this day that he loves picnics.

A good goofy face from Gav.

Dec is rolling all over the place these days (and showing the beginning signs of crawling).  Sometimes all that rolling lands him in some funny places, like trapped under his jumper.

This last batch of pics is from the Lake County Fair.  I personally love the fair...livestock, carnival rides, tractor races, 4-H exhibits, corn dogs, I mean really, what else are people looking for?!  Gav was really into the animals this year.  Here he is talking to a goat.

A happy Gav with a sheep.

Poor Decker Joe.  This is still how he spends most of our outings...stuck in his stroller.  Once he's toddling around, he'll be able to interact so much more.  But for now, we managed to get him some good views of the animals, like that sheep in the background.

Overjoyed at the sight of all those cows!

I'm happy to say that Gav loves carnival rides.  As an amusement park junkie myself, I'm excited to think that I'll have a roller coaster buddy in the future!

Waving to Daddy while his buggy bounces up and down.

Lovin it.

Our next ride.  While we were waiting for the ride to start, I told Gav that we should pet the bee and ask him for a nice ride.

You could control your height on this ride, and I'm surprised Ry managed to get a pic of us near the ground, because Gav just kept saying "higher Mommy!"

One of the exhibits in the 4H hall was this future farmers activity for little ones.  Kids got a bucket and then went to each station to pick an apple, potato, flower, egg, milk carton, carrot and pumpkin (how do I remember all that?  Because Gavin loved this activity and continues to tell us about it at least once a day!).  Here Gav is picking his 1 apple.  He did a great job of following directions and only collecting one of everything.

Searching for the best potato.

Picking a bouquet in the greenhouse.

Selecting an egg.

Our attempt at getting a Daddy and Gav pic...it wasn't happening, Gav just wanted to get back to being a farmer.

Grabbing a carrot.

Gavin describes this part of the activity as "squeezing the cow."

Dec and Daddy: the cute pose.

Dec and Daddy: the tough guy pose.

Teacups with Mommy.  Ever since having 2 kids, Mommy is not a big fan of spinning rides, so that combined with a recent corn dog lunch made this a very tame teacup ride.  Gavin loved it anyways.

Gav giving the peace sign to Daddy.

Riding the baby roller coaster with Daddy.  I'm a horrible picture taker, so these aren't great, but Gav loved the roller coaster!

My weak attempt at an action shot.

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!