Boring Weekend

We were a bit under the weather this weekend so we have very little to report. Will has decided that he and Phil are best friends. They also like to have "boy parties" with just the three of them ("Mom - you are not allowed!").

I was finally able to get a picture of Alex's tooth. It is on the bottom and is the white/grey spot on his gums.

Alex is also doing some cruising along furniture and the hearth of the fireplace.  I was able to get video of him pulling himself up.  He cruises a little - but he keeps getting distracted by his reflection in the fireplace. 

Watching the Lions

Check out my tooth

Better shot of the tooth

Best Friends

Visit with Uncle Andrew

This weekend was the annual Renaissance Festival trip for Phil and Andrew. This year, they met up in Detroit and then Andrew came to GR for a day and half after the fest. Will was so excited to see Uncle Andrew. They immediately bonded and spent the day and half listening to music, dancing, and chasing each other around. Alex was happy to meet Andrew for the first time - he reached out and grabbed his hand with a big smile on his face when he walked in the door. It was a short visit but we crammed a lot of fun in. We are already looking forward to next year!

Meeting of the Minds

Lunch at Founders

Outside the GRAM

So cute!  Will wanted a picture in bed with his brother.

More Labor Day Weekend Fun

We crammed a lot of fun into our three day weekend. (We are conveniently blocking out a 4 hour period of time on Saturday night...) We decided one more trip to the Botanical Gardens was in order. Will ran around and had fun as usual and Alex actually got to put his hands in the fountain as well. He was a little unsure at first but it grew on him. He really liked playing with the boats. After the gardens, Phil left for Detroit and the boys and I went home for naps. When they woke up, we played with water balloons in the front yard and then spent a decent amount of time playing with play dough (while Alex crawled around the kitchen).

On Monday morning, we walked/rode bikes into town and did our usual: D&W, pennies in the fountain, races on top of the parking garage, and a quick run on the football field.  After we got home, Alex went down for his nap and Will helped me bake a batch of muffins with zucchini from our garden.  After their afternoon naps, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.  They bought Will a slip and slide which we tried out.  Will is terrified of sprinklers for some reason and I don't think he fully grasped the concept of the slip and slide.  And mom conveniently did not bring her suit along so she couldn't do a demo :)  He ended up crawling down it a few times and jumped in the little pool at the end.  It was a short lived activity but maybe next time he'll be more adventurous!  

In other news, Alex is now pulling himself up on furniture.  He pulled himself up to play at the train table and also in his crib so the mattress has been lowered all the way down.  He also likes to stand up by the fireplace because he can see his reflection which cracks him up. 
 

Playing with trains



Fun in the tunnel

Playing at the Gardens

Not too sure about the fountains

Pumping water at the farm

Slip and Crawl

Not all fun... we had to run some errands, too!

8 Months Old!

Alex is 8 months old today! Here are some milestones from this month:

- He has learned how to crawl
- He can climb up the step between the family room and the kitchen
- He can pull himself up to standing (in the crib, at the train table, etc)
- He got his first tooth (bottom, left middle)
- He stayed at Grann's for the first time
- He went to the beach for the first time
- He continues to eat more solid foods: puffs, yogurt melts, tiny pasta, and tiny banana pieces
- He had his first bottle of formula (today)

Alex is constantly on the go - we had a rough photo shoot today!  He would either crawl away before I could take a picture (when sitting on the floor) or would try to stand up (when sitting on the frog). So the pictures aren't the best...  He also kept laughing at the camera and would put his hands in his mouth. 

Day at the Beach

It's halftime of the Michigan game so I decided to do something productive with my time...

Today we took the boys to the beach. Will went earlier this summer with Grandpa and had a great time but Alex hadn't been yet. We got to the cottage around 10:30 or so and pretty much had the beach to ourselves. It was very calm when we got there but the water was a little on the cool side. Will immediately started playing with his sand toys and put his toes in the water. Alex sat down and ate some sand. I thought it would discourage him from trying it again... but it did not. We had to keep our eyes on him.

Phil and Will played tennis on the beach and built a cool sand castle with a river in the middle. We took a nice walk down the beach and had a picnic lunch. Alex liked watching the waves. By noon, there were several other families down on the beach and the water felt much warmer. We played for a bit more before packing up and heading home.

We walked up to town and Will had a picnic dinner.  Then we all got some frozen yogurt.  Now we are suffering through the football game. 

First time in the sand

I like the beach!

Happy boys

About as good of a family photo as you can expect with two little ones...

Tennis on the beach

The beach was deserted in the morning

Great Train Adventure

Will and Grandpa had a great adventure yesterday - they took the train to Holland! We woke the boys up at 6:15 and were out of the house by 6:45. We arrived at the AMTRAK station in downtown GR a little after 7am for a 7:30 departure. It was a chilly morning, but Will was in good spirits. Unfortunately, the train was delayed so we had quite a wait. The train finally pulled up around 8:15am and Will was all smiles as he boarded the train. Then Grandma, Alex and I got in the car and drove to Holland to meet them at the train station there. We beat them by about 10 minutes and then got to hear all about the ride. We had breakfast in downtown Holland and then did a little shopping before heading home. It was a really fun day!

Early morning... waiting for the train

Where is the train?

Alex got up early, too

Boarding the Train

All smiles

After the ride

Birthday Party Fun

We had an action packed weekend... as usual. On Friday night, we went over to our friends' house for dinner. There were 9 little kids and 8 adults. It was a beautiful night and the big kids had a great time playing in the yard: water table, cozy coupe, hammock, and relay races. The real little ones had fun sitting on the grass and staring at each other.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Farmer's Market and then played around the house.  After nap time, we got to go to Charlie's 1st birthday party.  Ben and Hilary went all out.  They rented a tent for the backyard and hired someone to grill chicken, ribs and hot dogs.  They also rented a petting zoo complete with pony rides.  Will had so much fun feeding the animals and enjoyed his pony ride.  They also had an apple bobbing station, a pinata and other games set up in the backyard.  Everyone had a great time!

On Sunday, we went for a walk/bike ride in the morning and actually got a bunch of yard work done during Alex's morning nap.  He's been taking some good naps - all that crawling wears him out.  That and the fact that he hasn't slept well the past few nights (swollen gums... finally a tooth?).  Alex is a pretty fast crawler now and is even trying to figure out the step into the kitchen. 

I also included some video of Will at the playground last week.  He has gotten very adventurous! 

Garrett, Alex, and Evan (with Claire and Caroline in the background)

Cowboy Will

He loved the pony ride!

Feeding the animals

Backyard Set-up

Pinata

Birthday Cake

Bobbing for apples

Alex had fun, too

Splashing