Binder Park Zoo

We ended last week with a trip to the zoo. It was a first time experience at Binder Park for all of us. Our good friends Missy and Ryan came along with their three kids so we were officially outnumbered by kids. It was definitely a warm day but we started early and made if a bit past lunch when the kids were starting to get ready for their nap times. All 5 kids did amazing and the highlight of the trip was the giraffes. We went there right away and were able to feed them and see them without swarms of people around. We did learn that it is a good idea to take the tram to the Africa exhibit. We thought it would be too difficult getting 3 strollers and 5 kids along with all of our diaper bags into the tram and the walk was only 1/2 a mile ... we like to run so no problem, right? WRONG! They weren't kidding that it was uphill but the worst part was it was in the woods and we were swarmed by mosquitoes. Lesson learned... take the time to get on the tram:)

9 Months Old

Our little guy has officially been out as long as he was in. Of all the months, this one seems to hit me the most. It's amazing how much our lives has changed in the 18 months that this child has been a part of our lives! God certainly has blessed us with an amazing little guy... although he's not so little anymore!

Brendan is all over the place right now! It's hard to leave the room without him because he will undoubtedly get into something that he shouldn't! Jackson used to get into a lot of things but Brendan is putting him to shame! I am going to have to go out and get more outlet covers as he has found each and every outlet in the house. It's quite fun to watch him scurry off when he thinks that nobody is looking.

His red-headed temper is also starting to come out. If he doesn't get something that he wants, he will start to cry but when he does that, he won't breath for several seconds. The doctor informed me that this may be the start of temper tantrums...yikes!

He still remains to be a really good baby though (although he's not really a baby anymore!). He sleeps like a champ and loves to smile and talk with us. I swear he's already saying "mom" too (even though I know it's just one of his beginning sounds).

Ottawa County Fair

I never thought that I would make an annual trip to the fair. I remember when I was little how my dad would try to convince us to come with him and it was the furthest thing that I considered fun.... now all has changed. Jackson and I have been looking forward to our trip there with Grandpa for awhile and it definitely turned out to be worth it.

This year we let the boys ride on some of the rides and it was hilarious to watch their two personalities. Cohen loves them and his face showed it the entire time! Jackson on the other hand looked petrified on every ride and wouldn't crack a smile or even look at us but when the ride was over, he would run out and say "that was awesome" or "that was so fun." Both boys, despite their differences in showing it, loved the rides.

And of course we visited the animals again and the boys had a great time touching them and talking to them (and yes we did use hand sanitizer A LOT!). Jackson was kind of timid at first but by the end was saying "hi" to each and every animal. We also were excited to have been able to see some of my second cousins there ... Jake, Luke and Jaden were there preparing to show their cows. As much as I hate to say this, I really think that it would be fun to have Jackson participate in that some day BUT we are never going to have animals here so instead we'll just look forward to our yearly trips there:)

Bath Time

We made the big transition from the "duck" tub to the big tub with Brendan this weekend. He still loved his Munchkin duck tub (one of our favorite things for babies!) but with two kids it was getting to be a long process when it was bath night. The first time I put Brendan in the bath seat he screamed so the bath lasted a whole 2 minutes. We tried it again and he cried. By this time I was getting discouraged thinking that it was not the wisest purchase. But after about 10 minutes of his crying he finally started laughing and splashing. It turned out to be such a fun bath time. However, the story doesn't end here. I thought we had overcome the dislike of the bath seat but then I put him in again last night and he screamed. This time the screaming only lasted a couple of minutes but we'll see if we can stop it all together. It sure is easier having both of them in at once and I would hate having to admit that it wasn't a worthwhile purchase:)

Tractors

Jackson is obsessed with tractors so on Friday while Luke had his baseball game we went to Plainwell Days with Christie and Trent because they had some tractors on display. It definitely wasn't a lot of tractors but looking at the boys, you would've thought that it was the best display ever. They had to crawl on each one and pretend they were driving it. I think that one of the best things about being a parent is seeing things through their eyes. I never thought that I'd be taking a kid to see tractors but it was quite the fun night.

Big Brother

Jackson is again all into the "big brother" name and would wear his big brother shirt every day if he could. One day he decided he needed to "hold" his brother (who really doesn't need holding much anymore) and he needed to feed his brother (who hasn't needed his bottle held for months now). But I couldn't resist because Jackson felt the need to take care of his "little brother" who will eventually be his big "little brother"

Family Day

Saturday was family day at the Pines. They had a carnival for the kids so we ventured out into the heat with the boys. Jackson loved riding the horse, playing all the games and eating all the food. Brendan did wonderful riding around in his stroller despite the heat. Pretty sure that he enjoyed watching all the people there!

It was our weekend of work though. Friday we decided to stay home and get some things done around the house (have I mentioned how much I LOVE having Luke home on Fridays during the summer!). Luke put up a clothesline in the backyard, we cleaned some of the stuff out of the garage (it's a big task with all that stuff yet!), made some more baby food and did a bit of yard work. It is nice knowing that we will get to enjoy all the work we do here - last summer we spent time working on a house that we really wanted to sell so we didn't get to enjoy all of it. Unfortunately while we were working we kept thinking of more things we needed to do ... always work to do:)