Location, Location, Location!

If you could build a tower anywhere you wanted, where would you want to build one?

Marching for Babies!

The rain held out for the March of Dimes today! Hip Hip Hooray!! Otherwise I'm not sure we would have made it. Thunderstorms were predicted but we didn't even get a sprinkle....until about ten minutes after we got home! Whew! That was close:) We debated a little bit this morning, but the weather looked safe when we left the house. The walk was in Maumee and started and ended at the Lucas County Fairgrounds. Only a hop, skip, and a jump from our house.

The March of Dimes is a cause that raises money to support programs in communities that help moms have healthy full-term pregnancies. Also 76 cents of every dollar you raise supports research and programs for babies to begin healthy lives. Our family was blessed with a little boy born 10 weeks early on Feb 4th, 2009. His name is Bennett and he is Gavin's cousin. His story is incredible and you can read about his amazing journey here. We finally had the pleasure of meeting the big guy at Christmas and you never would have known he was so very tiny at birth...a whopping 2 lbs 11 oz. He is an astonishing "not-so-little" boy now:) Here is the most recent picture I have of the Mills family. (I believe this is Bennett's 1st birthday)!!

I had to include this picture of B as well. Why? Because I can't help but smile every single time I see it!

I wish they didn't live in Oklahoma so we could see each other more often! Luckily, we have the Internet to share pictures and stories during the lapses between visits.

Alright, now back to this morning before I get teary telling stories....

This is Gavin refusing to wear the bracelet. Hand up over his head if you even leaned towards him with it. Which was completely fine. I was more or less curious what he would do with it then actually think he would wear it.

Mr. I-can-do-everything-myself figured out how to get out of his stroller, in motion, mind you, and demand to push it himself. Luckily this was all prior to the beginning of the walk. He did very well and enjoyed his 3.1 mile ride once we got moving.

 Hanging out before start time.

 I had to get a picture of daddy here, because this may be the first and last walk he goes on. He agrees with the cause..he just would rather go fishing than walk amongst hundreds and hundreds of people. Slowing down..speeding up..stopping...zig-zagging, etc. We were very happy he joined us this morning though. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going or how Gavin would behave so my wonderful husband was a trooper and accompanied us!

After we arrived back at the fairgrounds we were greeted by some ladies in makeup handing out some balloons. This is a coworker from downtown and her daughter that I was able to meet up with this morning. She is a miracle child herself:) She entertained during part of the walk with renditions of Twinkle Twinkle! What a doll!

Gavin accepted the balloon offer with his new shaking of the head "No." He was only interested in the Subway they were passing, but he did muster up a smile for the camera.

It turned out to be a great morning, a great walk, and for a great cause!

Bowling Green City Park

There really isn't a whole lot you can elaborate about for a simple afternoon in the park. So I'm not going to say much. I'm just going to post some pictures.

This picture is my favorite of the day.

It just looks like a great day at the park!!

Daddy tried this little bouncy thing out with him for a minute. But interest was short lived here.

We have yet to learn the correct way to go up a slide.....

What goes up...

must slide down!

The slides are definitely the favorite in my little boys eyes!

We did wander around a little bit to check out other things to play with and ride.

But naturally returned to the slides. We made an attempt for the bigger ones, but he couldn't get up them.

Unsure of this one.

He kept getting stuck for lack of better explanation.

Maybe he is too big (size-wise) for it.

So we were back at his favorite! And this time he went down them the correct way! Yay!

We hope to check a whole bunch of different parks this summer!!

Bubble Mania!

 A gloomy day outside kept us indoors most of the afternoon. So we brought a little outdoor fun inside. Some bubbles aren't going to hurt anything, right?? We had bubbles blowing all over the living room. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave Gavin a spill-proof bubble "thingie" for his birthday so he can actually hold his own bubble stuff without my hand being mere inches away. Nice!

 We had a bubble stomp....

 Gavin's turn to blow some bubbles. He would get so excited and his whole body would get into the blowing process! It took a few times, but we finally saw bubbles!!

 See his little bubble below. He blew a big one on his own too.

Alright guys, I got the hang of it, now I want to do it ALL by myself!

I didn't know any bubble songs or activities to try and do today. I know, I know...who doesn't know a million bubble songs??

There are tons.

I know.

I googled them later during his nap.

One link that had several songs, books, and activities for children about bubbles is here.

While he couldn't manage to blow bubbles through the wand on his own, it sure wasn't for lack of trying...Tim and I about died when he went to talk and a big bubble came out! Why don't I ever have a video going for these moments......

Guess the old fashioned method of "washing your mouth out with soap" is not going to be too deterring to this kid...what do ya think?

There was a little curl....

This boy I love to kiss,

He has a little twist,

Right in the middle of his forehead.

It is perfectly placed,

to disguise a big bruise.

For this little man loves to cruise!

Who needs Cedar Point??!!!

Super Saturday!

What a nice weekend it turned out to be!! A little windy at times, but we can make do with that. As long as we can run around outdoors, we will be just fine! We finally broke out the Roller Coaster again this year! And this year is even better because Gavin can push the cart up the slide, get on it, and push himself off all by himself! (with supervision of course). We had a few mishaps going up the hill and climbing on the first few tries.....but he is a champ now!

Next we played with some sidewalk chalk!

Did you know that lawn mowers blew bubbles??!! It's AMAZING!

This is when mommy was trying to get me to go inside for dinner...but I was too busy playing!

I finally gave in....

Check out that dirty door from two big doggies!
It's hopeless to clean. Unless we are expecting company ;)

Of course Gavin had to run back out after a measly few bites to play with the puppies!! Who needs food when the weather is beautiful?!

The backyard has no limits to this kid.

So we went to visit our good buddies at the quarry!

Hi Pressly!

We had another wonderful evening with them (we visited them last night too).

What a nice day :)