Weekend at CharRoy

So as I said before I've gotten to meet a lot of great friends from Jack's May 08 birth board from Pregnancy Weekly. Melissa is one of the girls whom I have grown close to and love spending time with. Her sister's family lived in Muncie for a year or two working as volleyball coaches for Ball State, so we got to see each other more often than we otherwise would have. Melissa lives in Wisconsin with two of THE MOST adorable little girls on the face of the Earth and her husband Joe whom I also adore.Mel (as she's known on the board) has posted pictures of her girls playing at her parent's lake house on Facebook. Shannon (another May 08'er) and I fell in love with the beautiful scenery and decided to invite ourselves and our families to visit for a weekend. So after about 6 months of planning, Jason and I headed north with the boys to stay at Charlotte and Roy Everett's place on a lake in a little town whose name I cannot spell or even pronounce! It was a fabulous weekend with good friends, good weather and good food.

Jack spent hours playing with his bath trains in the sand...busting buffers and chuffing on the rails.

Jason and I got a good lesson in relaxing on our parenting and allowing Jack to have fun. The first day we made Jack wear his life vest and Jason pretty much held his hand the entire time he was in the water. After watching the other kids play, we decided it was time to lighten up a little and let Jack be a kid with the others. Him and Lily and Layla (Melissa's girls) enjoyed playing together in the warm shallow water. Amazingly all of the kids got along terrifically. There wasn't any fighting or arguing....everyone just had a really good time.

There was lots of fishing going on off that dock. Shannon's little boy Kyle caught the biggest fish all weekend. Melissa was able to hook a big'un too! And Jack was just happy to practice his casting...which I have to say he got pretty good at while we were there.

Graham (being a big 7 weeks now) enjoyed just relaxing in Momma's arms or in his swing by the lake.Shannon's husband, Wade, took their kids, Kyle and Kaitlin, out for a ride in the paddle boat. Kyle did an awesome job showing off his mad skills learned at swimming lessons. Kaitlin preferred to sit with dad in the boat.

Mr. Graham

The beautiful Miss Lily Harper

My big boy...he looks so grown here

The last night we were staying we had a bonfire for the kids and roasted some s'mores. Wade can sure roast a mean marshmellow...and Melissa does a great job putting the s'mores together. The only thing that could have made the night any better was if we were able to get rid of the mosquitoes. They were so horrible we couldn't leave the house at dusk. The last night poor Joe's legs got eaten up. He must have had no less than 100 bites on each of his legs. Good thing he's a bad mo' fo. A lesser man would have been curdled up in a corner crying.

Layla getting to hold Mr. Graham

Jack's "happy face"

Joe enjoying some delicous candee fluff...that had totally flattened out

Three magnificent May Moms

Shannon, Melissa and Mandee

All fifteen of us that stayed at Charlotte and Roy's house.

Meeting Emily and Barrett

So now sure if you've heard me mention anything about Jack's birth board before or not. But when I was pregnant with Jack I joined Pregnancy Weekly which is an online forum for women who are pregnant. It connects people due in the same month so they can offer support and commiserate being pregnant with people going through the same things.

I've had the good fortune of meeting and getting to know many great ladies from that May 08 board and even had the wonderful opportunities to get to meet many of them in life. Krystal, Melissa, Shannon, Stephanie, Bethanne, Mickey and Amy are all girls I've met and grown close to over the three years since joining "the board".

Stephanie having grown up in Indiana and living in Illinois is probably the one I see the most often. The last time we met up, we had a chance to meet another girl from the board who has relatives in Anderson. So we made plans to meet Emily and her son Barrett at the mall, have dinner and hang out. It was a great time! Jack and Barrett hit it off really well with their common love for all things Thomas. Emily is one hip toy packer so Barrett was well equipped to keep the kids entertained during dinner. It's always nice getting to meet the person on the other side of the computer. I hope that Emily and I can continue to get to know one another better and have similar meet ups in the future.

Emily and Barrett...who is all sweaty from running around before dinner

Sami loved her dinner so much, she licked the plate clean!

Addi really enjoyed helping feed baby Graham (6 weeks old!)

Jack discussing trains with Barrett...he looks thrilled huh?

What could be cuter?

Trader's Point Creamery

In keeping with the Great Summer of 2010...Julie, Stacy and I took the kids to Trader's Point Creamery. None of us had been there before so we thought it would be fun to take the kids and expose them to a little country life. We met at the creamery with picnic lunches and ate outside before hitting the grounds to check out the animals, barns and pastures.

The kids really enjoyed looking at the cows and pigs and ducks. They even got a little lesson in life from the cow who had just given birth. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly the most "beautiful" thing we saw...as we missed the actual birth of the calf. Instead we got a great view of the mother cow delivering and eating the placenta. Mmmm. Of course we encouraged Julie that she should consider taking after the cow and doing the same with hers with this baby due in October. Maybe she should look into encapsulating it! SIKE!

The kids really did enjoy themselves and us moms did get a pretty good laugh at the cow. The kids loved chasing the chickens around the barn and their coop. Charlotte tried to help a stray egg under the coop, but the momma chickens didn't take too kindly to that and Charlotte got chased herself!

It was super hot out, but other than that we had a really nice time. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals and chasing each other around in a big empty barn. Jack pushed Graham around in his stroller and ran him into some things...so even the little almost 4 week old got in on the action. I love these girls and our kids.

THOMAS!

Today was the big day we've been waiting for all summer...today was the day Jack got to meet Thomas the Tank Engine! We drove two hours to Connersville, IN to meet the Number One Blue Engine himself. My parents, Ashley and Kelcee met us there so we had quite the troop. I was afraid it was going to be super crowded and that we wouldn't be able to enjoy all the day's activities, but the time we picked to go on the train was perfect. We go there at 9:00 am and were able to walk around and take in the sights before riding the 11:15 train. We got to play at train tables, get tatoos of Thomas and James and listen to story tellers. We saw "Bertie the Bus" and met Sir Topham Hatt. We shopped for new trains. Once on the train we got to see where Sir Topham Hatt lived...which Kelcee really thought was his house...so that gave us a good laugh! After riding the train we found a nice shady spot and had a picnic lunch before heading home. Other than the heat, it really was a great day.

Jack and Jason checking out "Bertie the Bus"

A little steamie

It's THOMAS!!!

Hello Sir Tomham Hatt!

Daddy and Jack riding on Thomas' coaches...but not Annie or Clarabelle

Riding on a real hand cart

Lazy Lake Days

Jason and I took the boys up to the lake cottage this weekend to visit with his parents and celebrate Father's Day with his dad. This has been the first Father's Day Jason has actually got to spend with his dad in a long time. It was nice to just enjoy some good weather and lazy days at the lake.

Picture of John and Karen's lake cottage from the boat

View of the lake from the boat

Practicing safe boating...both kids in their life vests

Don't let Graham fool you, he actually hates his!

Sweet brothers

"Kayak Jack"

At 3 weeks, Graham already knows how to enjoy the lake, catching some zzz's while swinging in the cool shade

We were able to catch the Silver Days Festival in the little town of Silver Lake. This was the first time Jack has ever been on carnival rides. It was soo hot, so we didn't stay long and he only rode a few, but I think he totally had a great time. He's such a funny kid. You can see him process every new experience and mentally judge it. When he first started riding, he kept such a serious face, but after a couple laps on one, he was smiling ear to ear.

Jason had to ride this one with him. Jason said it was so hot inside he thought he was going to pass out. He was also having trouble turning the wheel that spins the bear. Jack ever the helper told Jason, "Use your muscles Daddy!"

The four wheeler was his favorite ride. He had some big smiles after going around a few times. He really didn't want to get off of it and we ended up going back and riding it one more time. The kid is all boy...loves anything with wheels or that is car/train related. But that's great! I'll take trains and trucks over pink and frilly any day!

PBS in the Park

Today we took Jack and Graham out to Military Park for "Let's Meet PBS Kids in the Park". Julie met us there with Charlotte and Lincoln. It was super hot and muggy after raining in the morning so we were hoping some people would be deterred, but no such luck. There were lots of games for the kids to play, booths set up to do coloring activities and a few PBS characters for the kids to meet. Jack is a huge Super Why fan and he (okay...I) was looking forward to meeting him. We stood in a SUPER long line and got up to the very front and they told us that Super Why had to leave! WHAT?! They weren't going to let Jack meet him?! I talked to the super nice man to the left in the picture and convinced him to quickly let Jack sit on Super Why's lap. Jack (okay, okay...I) was very happy, but we felt a little bad for the long line of kids behind us that did not get to meet him.

I went to nurse Graham in the shade while Jason and Jack went to a concert put on by Mr. Steve. That's the one and only in the top right of this picture! Can you tell by the red shirt? Jack was pretty mesmerized and stood watching him in rapture most of the time. That is until the little girl in the white shirt and pink shorts took his hand and started dancing with him...then he just looked pretty confused.

Then of course Elmo was there. But after the Super Why incident, no way were we going to stand in another long line just to be turned away at the end. So we just by passed him and mom snuck over to take his picture. He's a lot taller in person.

Martha the talking dog was there too...but for some reason, no one was in line to meet her. (Hmmm...could it be because it's one of the DUMBEST shows on PBS?) So Jack gladly stepped up to give her a hug and get his picture taken.

It was super hot and I was a little worried about Graham being out in the heat so we left a little earlier than we would have liked, but all in all today was a pretty fun day. I think this might be something we do each year. I just love this age with Jack and doing fun new things. I can't wait until he and Graham can enjoy things like this together.

Big Guy

Happy Two Weeks Graham!

Bowling with Toddlers

So I mentioned earlier that we signed up for free bowling for Jack this summer. His two best friends, Lincoln and Bowen, also signed up at www.freebowlingforkids.com so we decided to take the boys (and Miss Charlotte too of course) bowling today. Bowling with three toddlers is a very interesting...um...sport. I think that we made it through one entire game and that was pushing it. But the kids were able to keep busy and had a good time.

The boys made sure the table was sturdy

And that no one mistakenly threw their ball in the trash

Of course when you're not bowling, you should patiently wait your turn on the couch

Then quickly make your approach

And get right back to the couch

Today Jason and I were also getting new windows installed, so I had to leave the house with both boys very early in the morning. This was my first outing with the boys sans Jason. What a feat to get showered, dressed and both boys out of the house and at breakfast by 8:00 am! I think we did fairly well though and met Stacy and Bowen at Bob Evans before bowling. Even though the bowling alley was right next door to where we ate breakfast, the boys and I were 30 minutes late. Jack and I were able to have a great conversation about cars going in and out of a gas station though while I nursed Graham. Ahhh...just the beginning of lots of new experiences.

Good Morning

Every morning the first thing Jack does is run into our room to tell Graham good morning.