Weekend Recap - Mendy's Birthday and Great Wolf Lodge

Whew!
We had a busy and totally fun weekend.
 Ben and I got to go to the lake for our first night away without kids this weekend! We got to celebrate my SIL, Mendy's, birthday with all her amazing, sweet friends...that I totally love and also claim as my own friends. It was just so much fun to be there! They are all so beautiful and smart and engaging and just a blast to be around! Since they are all like 5 years younger than me and don't have kids...we definitely decided to leave kids at home! We left Kinley in Ty in the wonderful hands of Pops and Gram and were off for the lake!
   

We definitely enjoyed our day off with lots of fun in the sun.  

Mendy was a fantastic boat driver.  

Did I mention I love my SIL?? Happy Birthday Sister!  

 Meanwhile....Kinley got to go with Pops to see Madagascar 3. What a fun date!  

Does she look cool or what?!  

Have you seen a cuter kid in a bathtub?...I think not!  

There was also some reading time.  

I just missed them tons and was so thankful for the picture text updates! 

 THEN, as soon as Ben and I got home on Sunday, Kinley and I jetted out to Great Wolf Lodge for another mommy-daughter day! AAHHH...so fun.  

We were invited by our sweet church friends Geri & Addie during their mommy-daughter weekend. They had a couple extra wristbands and we were the lucky ones to get to go with them! Kinley and Addie had so much fun swimming...and hugging.  

We took some breaks for drinks and snacks.  

This is Kinley only eating the big pieces of sea salt off of her pretzel. (Takes after her Aunt Mendy)  

After more swimming, we got dried off and had some dinner where the girls got their wolf ears and Kinley could not help but howl!

I just love busy summer weekends like these!  It was so much fun!  

What were ya'll up to this weekend!?

Summer Water Day

Monday we decided to try to beat the heat and have a summer water day. We busted out the slip & slide and a baby pool, water hose, and all kinds of water toys down at Leslie's. We ended up pretty much making a mud puddle in her backyard but, it was a blast.

Kinley, Maverick and Annabelle Grace had so much fun slipping and sliding. Leslie and I took a go at the slip & slide....fortunately, pregnant Lindsey decided against it. Here is Leslie, 8 weeks postpartum like a total champ. No pics of me since I was the picture-taker.

We decided it needed a little more slip...so we put baby shampoo and vegetable oil on it to slide a little faster. It was way fun and we were soaked head to toe by the time it was over. Ty loved sitting in the pool part at the end of the slip and slide to splash away and have everyone come to him.

The "swimming" in the baby pool was a hit too.

It is so funny because Kinley has been so scared of the pool so far this summer and going under water and getting her head under. But, apparently that fear only applies to actual swimming pools where she can't touch the ground because she was all about going under and being crazy in the baby pool.

Then they all decided it was a good idea to jump off the slide in the baby pool into 2 feet of water. Of course, this happened after they had been sliding all over vegetable oil and were so slippery that we were a little scared they might all fall over and hit their heads. We offered a little assistance at first..but, two and three year olds tend to be a little bossy about wanting to do it "all by myself."

Ty cheered from the sidelines during this activity. So fun.

After all the water activities we all jumped in the stroller and headed down to our house for lunch. Who says the double bob is just for 2 kids?!?

Isn't this just what summer is all about!? I can't wait for more days like these!

Ty - 9 months

Today Ty is 9 months old!

   

3 quarters of a year. It truly is unbelievable. It feels like forever and no time at all in the same breath.

We went to the doctor for his check-up today and he is a big boy! 

 Weight: 20.4lbs; 50th percentile 

Height: 29.75inches; 85th percentile 

Head size: 18inches; 90th percentile 

 He has grown so much lately. He feels really heavy to me when I am carrying him around. It is amazing that he is not in the 100th percentile the way this boy eats! The doctor continues to say he is a big, healthy, growing boy! 

 Some things about this last month: 

 Ty has learned to clap. He loves to clap when someone else claps and does it with a big smile. 

 He has learned to wave goodbye. He kinda waves his entire arm and not just his hand so it really looks like he is about to take flight but, it is cute anyway. He really loves to try to mimmick hand motions. I really think now is the time to start some baby sign language because you really might get it. 

He loves to shake his head side-to-side when we say "No."  It is so cute.

He loves to stand! He is crazy about it. If you just barely let him grab your fingers he will pull himself up. It is pretty much his favorite position. He also likes to stand against the coffee table or couch or the back of a chair.

   

He learned to eat puffs. This is one of his favorite activities. He just is giddy about getting them into his mouth. I can't say it enough...this boy loves to EAT! Praise God! Sleeping however, is not his fave. Poor baby just can't do it. I am tempted to do cry-it-out pretty much everyday. BUT, we just can't make a baby that is getting SIX...yes SIX teeth all at one time cry-it-out! That would just be cruel! Really, I can't decide if later teething is a blessing or a curse. Kinley never slept early on because of teething and it was so hard to help her feel better during the day because she couldn't hold anything herself to chew on so she was fussy during the day. Ty is a happy, drooling, chewing fool during the day...but, not a sleeper at night. Who knows? I will just be glad when he has a toothy, painless smile. Oh, and mobility...I don't know how I feel about that either. Ty is still not crawling, in the traditional sense of the word. He is seat scooting, tummy scooting, sitting and turning in a complete 360 degree circle, leaning, reaching, rolling...but, not crawling. I can't decide if I need to worry about this or just thank God for another month of not chasing two crazies around the whole house. I do have a feeling that once he starts...he will be all over the place. But, for now, I think it is a little frustrating to my sweet angel to know he should be moving around..but, can't quite do it yet. You are a talk, talk, talker also! You are saying ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ooh...ahh, tons of things. It is fantastic. And laughing....oh I can't get enough of your laugh baby boy. You just giggle and it is so cute. You just laugh up when you are tickled and it is so cute. You laugh when we play peek-a-boo or make any funny noise. It is so fun. 

 You are still NOT into TV at all. It was pretty much my saving grace with Kinley and you just won't even glance at the thing for more than 10 seconds. 

 You are LOVING the water so far this summer. You love being in the pool or the bath. Not so much the lake on the sandy beach part. You are not really into getting too dirty...but, you love some clean water and are a daredevil and want to leap off the steps into our arms. (try taking a little of that water courage to the streets won't you dude? You would be crawling like a fool by now.)  

Really Son, you are the apple of my eye. You are a constant source of smiles and joy and fun. You keep me on my toes and on my knees. I think you always will. I absolutely love you more than I can say. And I dare you guys...just try not to smile when you watch this angel when he was in his high chair with my mom the other day.