Quarry fun!

Gavin and Pressly LOVED running in and out of the tent as they were being set up. Unfortunately, we weren't able to set ours up and camp this time around. I had to work later this evening. But we made the most of the afternoon and returned in the morning for some more fun.

The Sand Box Pool.

No, Gavin is NOT playing on the steps here. We were walking back up as I took him down to watch daddy fishing. I let him get a few steps ahead for a picture. Otherwise, Gavin knows not to go near the rock steps/ledge.

Hey guys!! I found some perfect sticks....where's the marshmallows?

Let's find Pressly a stick too.

Good job buddy!

Such big helpers.

They love each other:)

Say cheese everybody!!

Now everybody point to the stars.....

Ok, everyone but you Pressly, you just smile and look cute. Thanks for having us over as always! But now it's time to head home.

Starlight Starbright!

Starlight, Starbright,

First star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have this wish I wish tonight.

A lazy Sunday cookout

This past Sunday was my birthday! Yippee skippy, I'm a year older. To celebrate another year lived, I wanted nothing more than to do...well, absolutely NOTHING! So my wonderful husband who luckily was home this weekend, allowed me to sleep in til 10!! He took charge of getting Gavin up, dressed, fed and entertained all morning:) Nice. We then headed over to his brother's house for an afternoon cookout. I, relaxed on the porch, while the boys all played in the yard and burned up some energy.

Here are some pictures of the afternoon in absolutely no order or fashion. Just some shots I took from my chair. I LOVED it. It's been 3 weeks since I think I sat and didn't worry about a thing.

Doesn't it look like a football should be inserted into his arm here?

Wedding time!!

C'mon P, forget this dinner stuff....let's eat and get to moving and shaking!!

Making the way to the dance floor. Check out the spinning lights!!

Let's rock and roll P!!

Check out my moves!!

This kid can break dance!

His gorgeous partner is getting her dance moves on shortly:)

Let's bring in some stroller action here....

These kids had a great time running (dancing) all evening! :)

Congratulations Brian and Jaime!!

Monkey Bread

It's been a busy couple weeks around our house. Mostly due to adjusting to new schedules and routines, but we are finally "getting the hang of it." I became a "fan" of amazingmoms.com and periodically get updates and ideas sent to me from the site. The other day I actually clicked and read the page and was enticed to try to make this recipe at home with Gavin. Only 3 ingredients and very simple to make. I had never thought to try   Monkey Bread....pizza style!

Gavin was a helpful with rolling out the dough.

 

He was so focused at doing a good job. I love that he is becoming so independent and wanting to help out in 

so many ways....usually;)

 

The next step was for mommy. Cut the dough up into small pieces. I just ran a pizza slicer through it quick. Next we are going to dip each piece individually into a bowl of spaghetti sauce
 and lay it into the pan.

Gavin did well at this step. Some pieces had more sauce than others and some didn't have any at all. There was an extra ingredient on a few pieces...straight from Gavin's mouth. Disgusting I know, but he likes to dip things, and on a few pieces, he attempted to eat them...or at least taste the sauce. I know...gross. But we 

weren't serving to anyone but ourselves, so who cares?! I don't mind.

Occasionally a few pieces went straight into the center of the pan. I suppose it looked like a good place to slide a few piece. Kids, I tell ya:) I simply threw them on top at the end. I don't discourage my "help" in any 

way. It's so fun to see what he will do next.

After half the dough was dipped and put in the pan I sprinkled mozzarella cheese over it. Next we would put the next round of dough on top, dipped of course, to end the concoction 

with a nice saucy cover.

Patience is a virtue we haven't quite mastered yet.

So to pass the cooking time, we played in the sink. His choice, not mine. As moms, we pick our battles. If a few towels need to be thrown on the floor to have a good time...I can think of worse things. So in the sink we played.

He figured out he can now bend over far enough to stick his head under the faucet. Super. Believe it or not, we didn't make as big a mess as some other times. I've had a soaked boy from dripping head to sloshing shoes...and several beach towels on the floor before, but today was relatively easy. Only took a dish towel to the floor to wipe up a little water. (I think my dogs have left more water on the floor after coming in on a hot 

day and drinking from their dish)

His shirt didn't even need rung out as the timer went off on the oven. That really is super.

Pizza Monkey Bread....made with love by Gavin and mommy.

Cedar Point!

We finally made it! Let's just say that the morning didn't go as planned "to get up and go." We all slept a little too long, then had to eat breakfast, run the dogs a bit, fill the gas tank, banking..you know, the things you do before going on a trip, whether it be a day trip or longer vacation. Did I say pack a tiny diaper bag that would fit under an umbrella stroller? Who knew that was possible, because you must have the essentials such as the sippy cup, bananas, snacks, favorite blanket square, oh..and diapers, wipes and back-up clothes too. Yes, my friends, that tiny bag is possible...and it fit perfect under the umbrella stroller. Not that we don't have a Big Jeep stroller, I just didn't want to load that beast up for the Point.

Ok, so we are on our way. Finally. Of course it starts raining! I also start to have an emotional meltdown (that's another blog story sometime), Gavin is getting hungry in the back, because it's near lunchtime due to the late departure and we haven't even made it to the park yet. Sounds fun, doesn't it?!

So we stop at Cracker Barrel in Sandusky to eat and make a "plan." Do we, or do we not continue this, what has turned into a fabulous morning, trip into the park??

After some grub, we all seemed to feel a bit better and decided, hey, we are already here, we should go. The rain has stopped, we have family in town already inside. Let's go for it!

I'M SO GLAD WE DID!!

Figured the Carousel would be a nice and easy first ride. He wasn't old enough to ride the horses that go up and down. Dang rules.

He liked watching everything around him on this little fun number. Again, we needed to ease into things. Ah, we see the fear. Not so much the ride, it's that mommy wasn't riding with him. He isn't ready for solo rides yet. That is absolutely ok being he is only 22 months!

So we went and found some cars we could ride together:) Then we headed to Camp Snoopy!First ride here was the swings. He loved them! He didn't flinch when they went up and down either. He giggled and smiled the whole time. We rode this a few times. Yay!..and the we found the bus! Camp Bus to be correct.This became the favorite!! :)We recruited cousin Kylie to join after several rides.Since he was feeling so brave and loving the motions, I took him on the tilt-a-whirl. He LOVED it...at first. After several passes around the circle and twists and spins, he was ready to get off.We saw the balloon race ride next. Seemed smooth and easy enough. Again, he loved it at first. I didn't even care for this ride. It was super jerky and uncomfortable. Unlike the operator at the tilt-a-whirl that noticed a child crying and stopped the ride, this operator wasn't even looking. I had both my arms locked on Gavin's to keep him for jerking back and forth as I sat across the basket from him. The ride kept swinging higher and spinning faster. 

 I wanted to say something as we were let out of the basket by the operator and she asked "Did you have fun little guy?" Really, did you not see the discomfort, did you not hear him cry...he had a blast. Well, he was until it took off. Back to the bus we go!

By this time we had run into some family. Gavin is waaaaaay past his nap time, but doing very well, so mom let me go ride some big kid rides. She pushed him around and chatted with her sister while I took advantage of riding the Mantis, Maverick and the Top Thrill Dragster! Thank you Uncle Steve for riding with me!!! We had a fun afternoon after what started out a little rough. One more time, I'M SO GLAD WE WENT!!