Day Out with Thomas

Last weekend, we took the kids to Crossroads Village for a Day Out with Thomas.

Cousins (minus Oliver who stayed home for some grandma time).

Waiting for Thomas to arrive at the station.

Ready for our ride.

Thomas pulling our train.

Tired boy.

Thomas

Hannah helping (pulling) down the slide.

Hannah almost chickened out at the top of this slide but finally let go and slid down.  Of course, once at the bottom she immediately wanted to go again.

Hannah and Grandma riding the boat swing.

Papa, Grandma, and the grandkids.

The engineer is out.

Splash Pad

15 Months Old

Wow, this summer has flown by.  Jack is now 15 months old.  Here's what he's up to:

*He is starting to say more words.  Lately, we hear a lot of d-og, always pointing to or tugging on JJ at the time.  We've also heard Hannah, Papa, ball, and book.

*He loves books.

*He is walking full speed ahead.  It is rare to see him one place for long.

*He is into EVERYTHING!  His favorites includes splashing in the toilet (yuck!!!), removing the register and playing in the vent in the dining room, and opening and sitting on the dishwasher - none of which we encourage.

*He is transitioning out of his morning nap.  Although I'm a bit sad about this, it is nice to get a good 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

*He is entering the toddlerhood dramatics.  Turn him around from where he wants to go or tell him no, and we quite often get quite a tantrum.

*We have started giving him a spoon to feed himself.  He seems to enjoy it even though he gets more on the high chair, hands, and face than in his mouth.  He is also getting a bit pickier.  However, instead of not eating something, he chucks it over the side of his high chair to JJ or puts it on his head.

*He loves music and will dance on demand.

*He loves to push things around, including his lawn mower outside and the "vacuum" inside.

Birthdays Up North

A couple of weeks ago, we headed up north the weekend of my dad's and sister-in-law Courtney's birthdays.  We arrived Friday night.  Needless to say, we had 2 very excited little girls.  Since all of the kids sleep in the same room, it took quite awhile to quiet them down.  In fact, at one point, Hannah and Kara snuck out of the bedroom holding hands and tip toed down the hall to make their escape!  I think they finally fell asleep around 11:00!

Cousins playing in the sand box.

I hope these 2 little guys will be great friends like their sisters.

Hanging out around the campfire getting ready for cake and ice cream.

Papa and the girls blowing out the candles on his cake.  Good thing he had helpers b/c my mom used the candles that never want to go out!

All of the grandkids getting ready to go for a ride with Papa.

Our handsome little man.

Church Band

Jack has recently taken to the piano. He's figured out that he can climb on his car and be at the perfect height for playing.  (Yes, Jack has Hannah's sunglasses on his head, and yes, he put them there himself.)

Of course, Hannah has to get in on it, too.  Recently, she got out a bowl and some spoons, and told me she was the drummer and Jack was the piano player for the church band and then proceeded to belt out Jesus Loves Me with their "music."  (Melt my heart!!)  I was the congregation and had to sing along as well.  I can only hope they continue their love of music and more importantly love for Jesus.  Who knows, maybe they will be the next big church band :-)

Zoo

I've been promising Hannah that I'd take her to the zoo, so we finally made it last week.

We arrived just after the zoo opened, which was great.  We had the place practically to ourselves, and the animals were all active and wide awake.

Jack got to stretch his legs in the aquarium.  Unfortunately, once he had a taste of freedom, he was not too happy about going back in the stroller.

Hannah made sure to "write" her name on the chalk board like all the big kids were doing at zoo school.

Jack was running out of steam toward the end of our visit.

We've really enjoyed our zoo memberhsip this summer.  It's the perfect morning outing while still getting back home in time for morning naptime.

Jack's Latest Obsession

Jack's latest craze is putting things on his head.  His favorites are Hannah's headbands, hats, sunglasses, and we've even caught him with Hannah's underwear. 

A ride on Sandy

Hannah's reward for being a good helper at the grocery store is a ride on Sandy the pony.  She was kind enough to share her last ride with Jack.

To say he liked it is an understatement.

A normal day at our house

Boats on the Boardwalk

We headed to Traverse City this weekend for the Boats on the Boardwalk boat show.  Jason has wanted to make it to this show all year, and the boats didn't disappoint.

Unfortunately, the weather did, at least for a short time.  Jason giving me a "you are crazy" look while Hannah and I hid out under a tent to stay out of the rain.  Hmmm.... who's the crazy one standing IN the rain?!?

One tired little guy.

Tailgating in downtown TC while we waited for Jason's parents to arrive.

Finally crashed.

We checked into our hotel later in the day and took the kids out to the beach.  Unfortunately, the rain started up again, but the kids didn't mind.

Loving the water!  It was so warm.

Little fish.

The sand man.

Playing with Grandpa.

Jason buried both kids in the sand.

The view from our room - just beautiful, even with cloudy skies.

We all took the kids for a ride on the train, pulled by a mini steam engine.  I think Jason was the most excited of all!  We were sad to learn that this is the last year the train will be there.  The city is moving it out to put in a splash pad.

Again, Jack maxed out and crashed in the stroller.

Taking a rest after lots of walking and shopping.  It was a quick, activity filled couple of a days.  Needless to say, it was a quiet ride home.