Summer 2013 weeks 2 and 3

We've been having a very fun summer these last few weeks!  2 weeks ago Ryan and I took the boys on their first trip to the movie theater to see Monsters University! (Gav has been to the movies a few times with Miss Jeanne, but this was our first trip as a family).  The boys were so good at the movies!  The boys loved watching the previews (Declan would turn to me after each preview and say "watch that!") and they sat quietly and watched the entire movie!  Neither of them wanted any popcorn, so I ate enough for the both of them :)

 

3 cute boys waiting for the movie to begin!

 Booster seats and blankies are all you need for a successful movie watching experience!

The next day the boys and I headed down to the Exploritorium at the Skokie Park District.  This was a new place for all three of us, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a total hit!  Gavin told me as we were leaving that the Exploritorium is his new favorite place!  It's basically another small children's museum, but it's gated off so the kids can't escape (major plus!) and small enough that I can let Gav run around and do what he wants while Dec and I play together. 



Dec using his net to try to catch a fish.

 Gav loved the water play area, especially catching marine life with his net.

 Picasso at work.

 "All praise the giant Lite Brite!"

 I was amazed at how well Declan traversed this net bridge.  I would have had all my appendages tangled up in no time flat.

 Building some 3-D shapes with magnetic blocks on a light up table.

We've had some crazy weather this summer.  Sweatshirts one minute, tank tops the next.  Downpours in the morning and sunny, cloudless skies in the afternoon.  Still, I'll take it over the oppressive heat of last summer!  On one of the hotter days in the last few weeks, I got our inflatable pool set up in the backyard while Gav was at camp, and we enjoyed a post-lunch swimming session. 

This was Declan's first time as a walker in the blow-up pool.  I think he overestimated his mobility because he almost immediately tripped and fell face first into the water, completely soaking himself.  Luckily he was stunned for a second but shook it off and still had fun!  It's clear that Gavin is still skittish in the water, as he wouldn't even sit down in the pool, but at least he gets in!

A happy Declan right after his big splash down!

 Playing with the beach ball.  I set out all our new pool toys to entice the boys to get in the pool...it worked! :)

 My cute little crabby

 Gav picked out his swim suit and rash guard himself this year, I think he did a great job!

 When I was taking pictures of the boys, Gavin politely suggested that I set the timer on the camera so that I could be in the pictures with them!  I was stunned that I hadn't thought of that myself and that Gav even knew that the timer was an option!

Swimming lesson buddies!

 

Another one of our outings in the last few weeks was strawberry picking at Stades Farm.  This was another first for our family, but I had heard great things about Stades and I love me some strawberries, so it seemed like a great idea.  "Train" grandma and grandpa joined us on this excursion.

Gavin was really into picking strawberries for about 1 minute.  He then decided it was too much work.  Declan was never really into it, so it was looking like a bust of a trip.  Luckily Grandpa loved picking strawberries and picked enough for both of our families!

 Two pouty boys who wanted nothing to do with picking strawberries.  After this we paid for our strawberries and bought some apple cider donuts for snack.  That seemed to cheer up everyone, so then we decided to check out the rides and attractions at the farm as well.

 Gavin loved this ride and Declan did too until his hat fell off.  Then he had to be rescued from the ride!

 I could not get my timing right to catch Gavin coming down the slide.  This is a fun tractor that the kids can climb up to and sit in the cab, or slide down the side.

 Giant slides in the background (we didn't try those, although I think they would be a blast).  In the foreground is Gavin jumping on this giant inflatable thing they have there.  Gav loved this thing and grandma and grandpa had to drag him off.

 Dec and I got bored of watching Gav jump so we went to check out the petting farm.  Here Declan is quacking at the ducks.

Mommy had a wonderful girls weekend with her friends in Milwaukee, and while I was gone, the boys had a fun trip to the mall that Ryan documented:

Daddy and Dec hit the road (Gav too!)

 No trip to the mall is complete without a food court meal!

 Checking out the fish at Bass Pro Shop.

 Dec getting up close and personal with some kind of fish.  Every time I take the kids to Bass Pro Shop, for a second I think, I'll bet camping and fishing is really fun.  And then I change my mind when I look at the all the stuff you need to do it!

 I wonder what his wish was!

Before heading out of town for the Fourth, the boys and I hit up Lambs Farm.  This is a summer tradition for us, and this was the first year Declan could really enjoy it.  Lambs Farm has a farmyard, petting area, and a few rides/attractions.  It's low key, local, and easy to keep track of the kids, so that's a win for me.

Riding the carousel.  Gavin loved it, Dec wasn't so sure.

 Brushing the goats and sheep.  Gavin and Declan both enjoyed this activity, although Declan spends most of his time working up the courage to reach out and pet the goats, and by the time he's decided to go for it, the goat has moved on!

 Gavin probably spent a good 15 minutes playing on this old wooden cart that is just sitting out by itself.  It baffles me because there isn't really anything to do on here, but whatever works!

 Dec trying to escape!

 Declan wasn't nearly as interested in the old cart as Gav was, so he and I spent a lot of time visiting with the horses next door.

 Dec especially loved this horse, Hunny.  Here he is trying to give Hunny a kiss!

 My attempt at a "selfie" with Dec.

 We seem to take this pic every year.  This year Gavin specifically asked me to get a pic of him with Paul Bunyan.

 Waiting patiently to start our game of mini-golf.  Mini-golf is included with the package we bought, so I decided to go for it.  It was the first time golfing for both boys.  Declan wasn't into it at all and I carried him the whole course, but Gavin LOVED it.  He played all 18 holes and never once got frustrated (which is huge for a 3-4 year old).  Gav is already talking about going to play golf with Daddy soon!

 Lining up his putt.

 Using the tried and true "drag it to the hole" method.

 Since Gav also likes to play golf on the Wii, I had to quickly remind Gavin that this wasn't that type of golf when he started to wind up into a swing that is normally reserved for a 250 yd shot with a driver!

 I couldn't believe how patient Gavin was.  There was a family of four in front of us so we had to wait on every hole.  Here we are waiting it out at a picnic table.

Summertime!

Well, it's been quite a break from blogging.  I know that our family is busy during the school year, but I never realize just how busy until summer rolls along and all of a sudden I have time for all these other things like catching up on Mad Men, making a meal that doesn't involve chicken nuggets, and blogging!

Last week was our first week of summer vacation, and we did it up right!  This summer Gavin is attending summer camp two days a week with his best bud Olivia, and so far it seems like he is having a blast (it's hard to get a good read on an almost 4 year old...I'm taking the fact that he willingly goes to camp every time and leaves camp looking happy to mean that he likes it!). 

With Gavin at camp, that leaves Declan and I with some one-on-one time.  Declan and I are signed up gymnastics and swimming lessons.  Swimming didn't go very well for the first 10 minutes or so (he screamed bloody murder) but Dec finally got the hang of it and didn't want to get out of the water by the end of the lesson!  Hopefully he remembers next week that he really does like the water...

Gymnastics went pretty well.  Declan loved the ball pits, and is already trying to jump in.  But he doesn't know how to jump yet, so he pretty much takes a big step into the pit.  He wasn't crazy about circle time because it took precious seconds away from playing in the ball pit, but he tolerated it.  Dec really didn't like it though when it came to practicing "skills" (in the 18-24 month class, the "skill" this week was rolling back and forth on a log to get ready to try somersaults).

In between all the camps and classes, we found the time to get out and enjoy summer as a group of 3 as well (poor Daddy has to work!).  Last week we went to the children's museum, and it's the first time we've been there since Declan learned to walk on his own.  Dec loved it and Gavin pretty much played on his own.  Gavin is becoming more and more independent these days, and it's both exciting and a little bittersweet.

We've also spent plenty of time outside.  We play a lot in our front and backyard, whether it's splashing around in the water table or hitting tennis balls hit into the air and running after them (basically glorified catch, but the kids love it).  Both Gav and Dec love going in the wagon to the park, feeding the ducks and fish at the pond, and walking down to the library.  And Declan's favorite outdoor activity by far is "watching cars."  This means that Declan wants you to walk up and down the busy road on the edge of our neighborhood while he rides in the wagon and watches the cars go by.  He does not tire of this activity, so I get a good 2-3 miles in each time we go out!

At the end of last week we went to Libertyville Days for the kids party.  Dec and Gav got to play free games and win prizes, as well as eat their fill of donuts and suckers, all while playing with their buddies on the playground and having a picnic with friends!

Earlier this week we went to the Treehouse at Gavin's request and had a great time.  Declan loved exploring this place in more detail now that he's an avid walker and climber, but he still needs my help on most things.  Which means I got to ride down the giant slides quite a few times!

We also took another walk to the library to sign up for the summer reading program.  Gavin was really excited about signing up this summer, and spent a good 20 minutes reading by himself under the big fake tree inside the library.  Gavin has really gotten into reading on his own lately, mainly because he doesn't want to take a nap so instead he has quiet time where he sits quietly in his room and reads to himself.  He usually ends up falling asleep anyways, but either way its a win for me.

Here's some pics from our adventures so far!

Dec having a blast at the children's museum.

 Ta-da!  Gavin loves performing.  Today he would come out from behind the curtain and tell a knock-knock joke.  Gavin's idea of a knock-knock joke is to start with "why does" and then he just lists off a bunch of things he is thinking about, then he says "because" and again just rambles away.  Then he laughs and you know the "joke" is over :)

 Mmm, beans.

 Gav loves fishing in the pretend pond.

 Dec loves trucks and fire trucks are no exception.

 Not sure when fire trucks included a 90's land line phone, but it's a hit with the kiddos!

 Gavin told me that these were his robot arms.

 Gavin was very excited about his first day of camp (and his first time using a backpack!)

 Backyard fun!

 After months of only going down slides head first, Declan has finally figured out the more orthodox way to do it.

 Dec not only loves to watch cars, he also loves riding in cars, playing with cars, watching the movie Cars....

 Declan exploring a tunnel at the Treehouse.

 I love this pic of Gav coming down the twisty tube slide at the Treehouse.

Happy 3rd Birthday Gavin!

It's hard to believe it, but our first born is 3 years old!  Gavin turned 3 a few weeks ago, and had quite the birthday bash to celebrate.  We rented a bouncy house and all of Gav's toddler friends came over to help him jump and play!  Even the adults got in on the bouncing action!

But before Gav's party, he opened his present from Mommy and Daddy and had a whole day of birthday fun (Gav's birthday was my last day of summer break, so I took Declan to Miss Jeanne's so that Gavin could have a day of Mommy all to himself.  We will do the same thing for Declan on his birthdays.)

Below are a LOT of pics from Gavin's birthday fun!

Gav's birthday present from Mommy and Daddy: Tornado Golf.  A stream of air lifts the special golf balls in the air, giving Gavin a much better chance of lofting the balls into the air.  Here's a great action shot of Gav making contact.  He played with this toy for a good hour and a half in the morning, and took the golf balls with him everywhere we went for the next week.  Now he's over it of course :)  But Declan loves it (he crawls over and presses the button that lofts the balls, and then swats at the floating balls.

 Gavin and Mommy's day of birthday fun began at Panera for birthday lunch, which was followed by a trip to a new place: Make a Messterpiece.  Basically, its a big art studio for kids with lots of different art activities to do, some open ended, some more structured.  Here Gav is trying to glue foam pieces onto the paper.

 Painting.

 Embracing the artistic process.

 This was definitely the coolest activity in my opinion.  Toddlers get decked out in raincoats, pants, boots and goggles.  Then they select two drumsticks and go inside a glass room filled with instruments that are covered in paint.  So as Gav bangs on the drum, paint goes flying everywhere!  Gavin was totally against it at first (only because of all the clothes he had to wear) but he ended up going in two separate times and loved it!

 Action shot.

 My attempt to get a good pic of the crazy outfit.  Gav just wanted to get back to making a mess.

 The glass was practically sound proof, so Gavin would drum on the door when he wanted me to let him out.

 Super excited about the tin foil "alien" that Mommy helped him make.

 Gavin's Shrek birthday cake.  Gavin is still obsessed with the Shrek and Donkey cake toppers, so obsessed that we had to make a bed for them to sleep in so that Gav would stop taking them to bed and then losing them in the sheets at 3 am (meaning a 3am rescue mission by Mommy or Daddy)

 Enjoying some pre-bouncing eats.

 Mommy and Gavin give the bouncy house a test run.

 Gav and his buddy Eli growling at the parents like bears.

 I have no idea why Gav was making this face while we sang Happy Birthday to him.

 A great pic of a smiling Gav and most of his toddler friends.

 Grandpa Gillespie bounces with Gavin.

 Such a cute pic, even if the netting makes it hard to see clearly.

 Deckers and Grandma chilling on the grass.

 With a bouncy house in the backyard, it was hard to convince Gav to open his presents, but he loved them once he finally got into it!

 One tuckered out birthday boy!

 Kids are asleep, time for the "adults" to have some fun!

 The company we rented the bounce house from didn't pick it up until 1030 the next morning, so we got in some early morning bouncing before then!  Here's Grandma Gillespie and Gavin bouncing (Gav was asking Grandma to bounce for the past 24 hours, so she finally gave in!)

Sir Gavin and Sir Declan

So, we're obviously behind on our blogging.  The beginning of the school year combined with a packed social calendar means that we're back to a busy but fun schedule!

Gav's birthday was a few weeks ago (and that blog is next on the list of to-dos), and one of the presents he received was a pretty awesome cardboard castle from Aunt Shari and Uncle Andy.  Here's some pics of Gavin and Declan checking out their new royal digs:

Sir Gavin and his royal subject Blankie ruling over the kingdom.

 Sir Declan approaches the castle gate

 Dec about to sneak in while the guard is taking a nap...

 ...oh, so close!

 Aerial view of the knights

 Declan keeps a close eye on those outside the castle

 Lovin living like a royal!

 Castle window or drive thru?