Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Hop Hop Hop!

Guess who visited the Easter Bunny today!

We sat back and watched a little girl get her picture taken, I was worried that Gavin would be scared and turn into “that screaming kid” you can hear all the way at the other end of the mall…

Yea right. Should have known better, he’s about as social as they come. He walked right up to him/her…it? With a huge grin on his face.

He’s grown just a tad in the course of a year….don’t you think?!?!

2009

easter

2010

bunny 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

Why we…

did swimming lessons.

I’ve gotten several comments from moms saying that they now are wanting to sign up their kids for classes…love that!

Why did we sign up? First off, Minnesota is the land of 10,000 (plus) lakes. And we have a cabin. On a lake. Obvious need of swimming lessons.

Second, I never want him to panic around the water. Whether it’s jumping off the dock into the lake, jumping off the deck of a pool, or jumping into the ocean, I want him to see the enjoyment of being in the water. And I most definitely do not want him to be that kid in swimming lessons who screams bloody murder when the teacher coaxes them into the water.

Third, it was great interaction with other kids his age. We saw them once a week…for six weeks. Just often enough to remember his little buddies. Hopefully we’ll see the same kids in future classes.

Lastly, and most importantly, it was a great “adventure” for the two of us. It taught Gavin to trust me and it showed me that he is capable of much more than I had previously thought.

The biggest problem? Realizing that I had to get into a swimsuit…in the winter. The Minnesota winter is meant for hotdishes (definition: casseroles) filled with cream of something soups, and sweatpants. Not swimsuits! :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Flashback Friday?

We’re flashing back…wayyyy back….

to yesterday. Ha!

Guess who earned their first ever certificate of achievement yesterday evening?

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I’m attempting to upload/edit a video clip of his last class…but it’s a work in progress… :)

Enjoy the weekend!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

My kind of boring

We haven’t done anything exciting in the last week. We’ve been spending A LOT of time outside…coloring with chalk, racing toy cars down the driveway, watching the dogs that walk by and going on walks ourselves.

Now, that is my kind of boring!

And while Gav has rocked the shorts a few times this season already, I haven’t braved them myself :)

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You may have noticed that Gavin always seems to have at least one piece of chalk in his hands…that’s not a coincidence. Once he finds his stash in the garage, it’s impossible to get him to put it down. And, if you decide you want to doodle on the driveway, he almost immediately decides that you have the exact piece he needs to have in his hand :)

Today we’re going to run some errands, possibly look for some new outdoor toys, and head to our last swimming lesson. Once again, pretty boring, but we like it that way!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Warmer Weather

equal fewer blog posts…sorry!

But we’ve been having so much fun playing outside that it is harder to find the time to sit down and post anything lately.

This past weekend was Owen’s first birthday bash! They had bunnies, guinea pigs, chickens and puppies!

And guess who went home with one of those puppies? Nope, not us…but my mom did! Oliver is a Maltese & Chihuahua mix who is seven weeks old and weighs just 2 pounds.

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Gavin really enjoyed playing with all of the animals, and got lots of kisses from Oliver once we got back to my mom’s house.

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It was really fun watching Owen and Gavin “play” together. Only problem? Gavin was not aware that it wasn’t his birthday party this time around…

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And attempted to be the center of attention…even while O opened his gifts…must get that from his daddy? :)

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My kid never sits still…

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But they did “attempt” to share toys…

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And Gavin got to work on his b-ball skills 

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All of the pictures posted above of Owen’s birthday were taken by Rachel, Owen’s auntie :)

It was a wonderful party Ashley, thank you for inviting us to Owen’s special day!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Warm enough…

to go barefoot today…and the wonderful weatherman said to expect snow showers on Saturday. Gotta love the Minnesota weather!

Last night on the news, the weatherman reminded us that last year at this time, it reached a whooping 67 degrees…then 3 days later it snowed and we had 3 inches of snow on the ground until APRIL.

Please, oh please don’t let that be the case this year!

But for today, we definitely enjoyed the weather

Chalk? Check.

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Jeans covered in chalk? Check.

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He loved picking grass and handing each individual blade to Mama to hold
(mental note – do not throw these “gifts” back into the yard, this will result in tears…)

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Hmm…this is new…
Where did all that white stuff go?!?

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How do you think this turned out???
(not so well…)

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We were finally able to bring out his toy car from Christmas!

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If you know our family, you won’t be surprised that his sticks of chalk quickly became drum sticks.

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We just had to “pet” the neighbors tacky lovely rabbit yard ornaments

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No matter how many times he heard,  “stay out of the street Gavin!” he still had to test his boundaries…literally!

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Like any good CFer, he made sure to stay hydrated!

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And As Rachel says…”Richness is being able to walk the world barefoot

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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

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does something smell buddy?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

“New” Discoveries

Thought the similarities in these pictures were too cute to not to post!

September 23rd, 2009

     

March 15th, 2010

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Nearly six months have gone by, but the majority of that time the playground sand was covered by snow…so it was a whole “new” discovery yesterday.

Can’t wait until it’s warm enough to go barefoot again!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Cabin Fever….

might finally be coming to an end. Today the temps hit 60 (heat wave!) and we got to spend several hours outside.

The day o’ fun included…

Insisting on wearing his shades for the majority of the day, what a stud!

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Playing “ba!” on a dead end street

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look at that kick!

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Helped Mama out by pushing his wagon by himself

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giggled at the signs along the trail
…definitely not something we saw in the Twin Cities!

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Walked around the sand at the playground

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Sat in the sand at the playground :)

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Spent some time on the swings

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Relaxed on the walk back home

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Collected some sticks

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Along with some rocks treasures

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I realized today that Gavin probably has little, if any, memory of “warm weather” that doesn’t include piles of snow. He spent a lot of time touching the grass, sand & dirt.

It definitely was a day o’ fun!

**click on an image to see it in a larger format