Warning! Longest Post Ever

These last few weeks have really been a whirlwind for us. We have been quite busy and adventurous! I feel as though I have been neglecting the blog. Life is just getting so busy, a great kind of busy. We have just been having fun and spending lots of family time together!

Here are some pictures of our recent outings.

This is Gavin's new sand table. My sister bought one for Gavin and one for my nephew Jonas. It is the coolest table. Gavin LOVES it. When we go somewhere, we can get Gavin ready first and send him outside to play with it and wait for us. He absolutely loves it. It is one of the best gifts he ever got! My sister always spoils him and gets him the coolest stuff!

Yesterday we drove all the way out to my parents house to go to the Oakland County 4H Fair. I was so glad that we made the drive. We had the best time! I even took the two kids that I babysit. They all had a blast. It was toddler day there and they had some great deals. We were able to get the kids a wristband to ride all the rides. We just kept on running from ride to ride. My mom was able to take a lot more pictures than I did, so I am sure that I will post more later. I got to go on all the rides for free b/c Gavin was too small for most of them and needed a parent with him! I was surprised that he was so brave and rode all the rides. There was this little roller coaster that he went on and DID NOT have a good time. They actually stopped the ride for him because he was crying. I took a little video of it and will post it later, but it is really sad. I had to stop videoing (is that a word) it b/c I had to go and get him off. They wouldn't let me go on that one with him so he had to go it alone. It was not a good experience. He loved the Farris wheel, though and didn't seem scared at all of that one. Anyway, here are some pictures of our day.

Here is Gavin showing off the painting on his hand. He did not want his face painted so they just did it on his hand. He wiped it off with a wet wipe shortly after. He was a little creep ed out by it.

Here is Jonas on the John Deere. They had a huge tent full of John Deere tractors. Gavin is obsessed with them. He has this little video all about John Deere. I got him a little John Deere toy at Target the other week. He just thinks they are so cool. He about flipped out when he spotted them all. He likes to call them Jonny Poppers, because that is a nick name for them b/c of the sound they make. This was the highlight of Gavin's day. If you ask him about the fair, this is what he talks about. It is so cute.

" Look mom, JOHN DEERE!" (okay, so I totally make him point to it)

We had a fun fourth of July. We headed out to my parents house on Friday night. We got out there late because we stopped at Great Lakes Crossing and had some dinner. But we arrived just in time for some little fireworks at home. My dad and brother, well, really all the men in my family, are pyromaniacs. They LOVE fireworks and blowing things up. Gavin really got into it too. He was a little startled at first, but he was holding some sparklers after a few minutes and loving it! The next day we went to my sisters house and swam for a couple of hours. It turned out to be a really fun day. We were so tired, especially me, so we had to leave earlier than we would have liked. We were sitting at the pool and I felt like i could barely keep my head up. I think that I slept most of the way home.

I love the above picture. Gavin looks so goofy!
The pyro trait being passed down to yet another generation . . .



He was very excited to be holding a fire cracker!


We were amazed at Gavin the other day when he woke up from his nap and seemed to be three inches taller than before he layed down! We decided that it was time to start tracking his growth on the molding of his door. We will probably do it every year on his birthday. It will be so fun to see him grow up ( literally ) over the years!

Last Friday we drove into downtown Detroit. It is only about a 15 minute drive from where we are. They have this new thing called the River Walk. You can walk along the Detroit river and see the boats and they have fountains and fun stuff to do. They have a carousal, but we actually never found it. It was very busy down there. We didn't know it, but every Friday they have a free concert and it was packed out. We had a lot of fun though and Gavin loved running around and playing in the fountain.

The only place that wasn't super crowded was Hard Rock Cafe. So, we decided to eat there. We were a little nervous because it was so loud, but it actually worked out really well. We didn't have to worry about our noisy toddler disturbing other people around us!

notice the skyline of Canada in the reflection of the building behind us

Well, that is some of the things that we have been doing. We have had lots of play dates with family and friends too. One day my sister Laura and I had eight kids between the two of us! It was crazy, but he had so much fun. We went to the park and we were even able to give six of the kids baths! We thought it was a very successful day!

I hope that you are all enjoying your summer! It is hard to believe it is half over already! I have to say though, I am looking forward to the Fall!