Busy, Busy, Busy

Our church, St. Joseph the Provider, had its annual festival last weekend. Since we were heading to South Bend for the weekend, we hit up the festival Thursday night for some good food and now games and rides. Here is a picture of Colten and Grandma fishing. Colten didn't have much luck but Grandma caught a fish and won Colten a new ball! Thanks Grandma!
And then we were off to South Bend to see the ND and SMC campuses since we hadn't been up there in about two years. Luckily the Belschner Family made the trip on Saturday too so we all were able to enjoy the day together and the kids were able to play! Colten had so much fun that weekend! In fact, every morning he slept until about 9am! And that is saying a lot because he was normally up by 6am at home : >

Since we were going to start our swim lessons at the YMCA when we returned from our trip, I decided to take Colten in the hotel pool just to familiarize him a bit with the water. Here we are getting in, and Colten LOVED it from that moment. Needless to say, Colten has been enjoying his swim lessons too (you'll see pics of that a little further on).Colten on the hotel bed.Colten and Mommy at SMC.

Avery and Colten at ND. Avery was too cute with Colten; she gave him kisses and wanted to hold his hand. I just loved watching them together!

Steph and I with the kids - boy is it difficult getting them all to sit for a moment let alone getting them to look at the camera at the same time. This is the best picture I got; maybe Steph had better luck ; >Tom and Colten admiring ND's greatest.

During our trip, we also stopped by the UP Mall to hit up the Disney Store (and of course Avery had a go at the bungee jump; I have seen video, but there is nothing like seeing Avery flying high in person!!! She has so much fun to say the least!) Anyway, while at the Disney Store, Colten reached out and grabbed a stuffed dog, Buster, from the display as I was pushing him by. He instantly cuddled it and started 'talking' to it so we had to buy it. And I am so glad that I did. Up until now, he hasn't been attached to any object, but Buster is his new sleeping companion. Here he is cuddling Buster before bed.
After our busy weekend, Colten started his swim lessons as I mentioned. Here are a few pictures. In one, he has a water weight. There is a water aerobics class after ours and one of the women, let him play with her weight. He loved it and did not want to turn it loose : >

And we finally got around to setting up Colten's swing set and his sand and water table that he got as birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Mike respectively. Colten LOVES them both, especially the slide and making a mess with the sand ; >Colten helping Grandma and Grandpa build the swing set.Going down the slide for the first time! Weeeeeeeee!

He can't decide - sand? or water? or sand? or water? Oh the choices!

Kayleigh came over to check it out too!And Colten got the chance to hang out with Kayleigh in her pool.

Since Colten loves the water so much, we bought him a small pool for the backyard too (and luckily it is big enough for Mommy too! Colten and I are trying to convince Tom to put in a pool for next summer and I think it just might be a go!) For now Colten is enjoying this one.

Papa visited and played with us too.

Colten's favorite thing was when I squeezed a water-filled ball over his head. Here are a few of his priceless expressions, but I wish you could hear his squeals of delight too. We have them on video, but I'm not so sure as to how to upload them.
Last week we also headed to the doctors for Colten's 15-month appointment. And I'm shocked to say that he is 35lbs! and 33 1/2 inches! He is in the 97% for height and 50% for weight because of his height. Yay Colten! Keep growing big and strong!

And of course we celebrated Father's Day on Sunday! Happy Dad's Day to all you fathers out there. And a special wish to Tom who continues to be such a great role model for Colten and to Grandpa and Papa who help us out so much and who spoil Colten : >
We started off the day with a homemade breakfast, complete with the doughnut man from the tv show The Middle!
Later in the day, we had Grandpa and Papa and Uncle Howard over for dinner. Unfortunately I somewhat burnt the chicken but all turned out well in the end and we had a blast. For some reason I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of Tom and Victor with their pride and joys as we ended the night. Happy 1st Father's Day to you too Vic!
I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! I know I am loving my time off with Colten!!!

A Haircut, the Zoo, and Trucks - Oh My!

The day after Colten turned 14 months old, we took him to get his first haircut! I was loving the curls on the back of his head, but I knew that it was time. So off we went to Diva's (that's where Tom gets his haircut; it's a small neighborhood place). I was expecting lots of tears and squirming and I even came equipped this a new matchbox car just in case. But Colten surprised us all; he sat happily on my lap the whole time! He looks like such a big boy now! And as a reward, we headed to Toys R Us. Believe it or not, that was Colten's first time in an official toy store too - and he loved every second of it : >

Say bye bye to those curls!

Playing with Kayleigh after his haircut.

For Memorial Day weekend, we headed to Columbus to visit Uncle Mike and to take Colten to the Columbus Zoo and to celebrate Tom's 33rd birthday. We had so much fun at the zoo; in fact, Colten loved watching all of the other kids as much as he loved checking out the animals. The polar bears were by far the coolest. The exhibit just opened in May, and they were SO active when we were they, wrestling with one another, jumping in the water, and playing with their water toys - it was really cool! While we were their, Colten also enjoyed the touch tank; he felt a starfish, a lobster, and some other sea creature. We tried riding the carousel but ended up in one of the seats instead of on a horse. He still enjoyed the ride and music though; we'll try again next time : > To end the day at the zoo, we took a small boat ride through a few of the exhibits. Colten loved this - or perhaps he was just too tired to protest at this point : >

Colten sleeping in the car on the way to Columbus.

Colten and Uncle Mike on a Manatee.I couldn't get this photo to rotate for some reason,
but it is Colten touching some sea creature in the touch tank.Colten checking out the goats in the petting portion of the zoo.
My two guys looking too cute in their hats!

I taught Colten to stand on one foot so we could be just like the flamingos!

On Sunday we headed to Schmidt's to celebrate Tom's birthday. He had been wanting to eat there since he saw the Man v. Food episode over a year ago and we finally made it. The food was delicious, especially the cream puffs - or so I'm told. Schmidt's is known for their cream puffs; in fact, they are 83rd on the list of the most delicious desserts in America. In this picture, they sang to Tom for his birthday while holding a wooden cutout in front of him, and check out the cream puff too - I believe that one was a peanut butter and chocolate one.

Yesterday we took Colten to Boardman Park for Touch a Truck. The kids were able to run around and explore ambulances, firetrucks, police cars, golf carts, tractors, semi-trucks, limos, a school bus, and so much more. Since Colten is obsessed with all vehicles, we couldn't wait to take him. He loved looking at everything but wasn't too interesting in sitting in them yet. I'm sure next year he'll be running and climbing all over. Regardless, he was so excited to see all the the vehicles up close!Driving the school bus!

Sitting with Mommy in a flatbed tow truck.

Checking out the ambulance with Daddy.

And here are just a few more random pictures from the weeks.

Hugging Lady!

Climbing on his bean bag chair!

Colten LOVES mowers!

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!