So sweet

Some mornings I really hate to wake him.

Camping, swimming and a sweet steam engine!

Third weekend off work and we had yet another great time!
We headed out to the quarry on Friday night and didn't come back until Sunday afternoon.
(Thank you, Ron and Mitchell for taking care of the dogs all weekend!)

Believe it or not, I have VERY few pictures this year. I was busy playing with kids... AND chasing Gavin around trying to keep pants on him. Every time I turned around, the boy was naked from the waist down!
Here's a few pics from the quarry. It was a smaller crowd this year...but it was just as much fun as always.

It did rain a little bit on Friday night.
It wouldn't be a quarry party weekend without some drizzle.

Fortunately, it blew over and we had a beautiful weekend outside.

Seriously, every single time I turned around!
Eventually, he didn't even find a tree or a fence. He just stopped wherever he was!
No worries, I did get it under control.

Getting touched up throughout the day

Outdoor nap? Why the heck not.
I don't even care if you don't sleep.
Just relax a few minutes.

Inseparable.

Another big deal... Gavin finally can hold his nose (the right way) and dive under water!

A movie before bedtime while we set up the tent and got everything ready for sleep.

Sunday morning, we did wake up and swim for a little bit, but then we headed home at lunch time.
We were tired and I was ready to get home.

About an hour after getting home though, my neighbor called to see if we were coming to see the train.

What train, I asked???

Uncle Ronny was on a train that was going to be doing a turnaround in Maumee.
(Thanks for telling us about it, Uncle Ronny!)

Sooo, we hopped in the car and drove over the bridge. It's only about 4-5 miles away.
Did I mention how quickly our plans change??
I don't even think we make plans...we just do things.

And he wasn't just on any train, it was a steam engine built in Lima, OH back in 1946!!

How sweet is that!

There were people everywhere watching, taking pictures, and waving.

Uncle Ron is right in the middle of this car here. 

Car #4.

We didn't see him either. But he saw all of us :)

Dinner, movie and dancing on a cat

I thought we were going swimming after work/daycare today, but our plans change on a dime sometimes.

Dinner and a movie it was.

Literally. 

We went and saw Brave & that IS his dinner. 

Don't worry, I got the large for him. He ate down to about the V on that bucket.

(and he didn't get sick, thank you very much.)

I'll be waiting for my mom of the year award in the mail.

 Afterwards, we went for a stroll...

 

and fed some fish...

 and some ducks.

 Then we topped off the evening with a little chess (he won)

 and dancing on a cat. (he's got moves like Jagger)

It was a good old Tuesday evening!

Just keep swimming...

That's what we are doing. We just keep swimming along...

And enjoying the great weather allowing us to do so.

Look at him go. 

HIGHLY recommend the puddle jumpers.

Catching sun

Our picture window has been seriously slacking the last few months. We have just been busy playing outside and doing other things. I'm sure we will get back into it once the weather starts to turn colder in a few months.

The neighbors have even begun to comment we haven't been changing it up lately ;)

(PS, thanks for noticing--makes me happy you all pay attention to our creativity)

So to capture the last few weeks/months of sun, I came across this fun idea.

AND I had a coupon at Hobby Lobby. 

All I had to pick up were some pony beads.

While this had the window in mind for decorating, it was a fun activity.

Gavin was very helpful sorting colors and single layering his beads into the pan.

Yep, that's all there is to this. Put the pony beads into a cake/cupcake/mini cupcake pan in a single layer. Then you bake them in the oven at 450 for about 10 min or so. Just keep an eye on it. You'll know when it's done. Oh...and open all your windows and doors. It will smell like melting plastic. If you have an electric grill...do it outside. I don't. My non-thinking self, did turn my gas grill on and set the cupcake pan on it. Then quickly realized....oh no, my pan is going to BURN. So I took it inside. 

Honestly, the first two "batches" didn't overpower the place.
At first they start to melt slightly....

 When they look like this they are done.
Not that long.
Next I did the cake pan size.

After about 5-7 min

Done---about 10-12 min

But the third set, sent us outside to walk for ice cream.
We walked to Hershey's with some friends!
Gavin learned how to push the crosswalk button.

And wait for the white man to light up that says you can walk.

Superman ice cream!

 Yah....he took two bites and was done. Typical.
 
 There were many toys to play with there.

Afterwards we walked over to Once Upon A Child to check a few things out.

We didn't buy anything, but we had a few laughs before walking home.
 When we got back, the smell was gone. I'm sure some febreeze would have done the trick quickly as well.

Grandpa picked up Gavin from school on Monday and brought his drill and some fishing line.
Because you know...the suncatchers need a hole through them, and fishing line to hang them up. Neither of which I have.

The drill was apparently loud, so Gavin put on his earphones.

(It wasn't loud--seriously--but I love that he did. He also puts them on when I use my hairdryer in the morning)

Strung and hung.

I tried several times...there isn't a way to get a nice picture of suncatchers hanging in a window.
They look pretty sweet though.