Pool Party

Drew had a blast swimming at a pool party playdate today!

He LOVES the water!!

Stop Wording!

Well, we made it home. We had to leave a little earlier than planned to get home to watch DEA dog. But we had a great trip! We even brought Aunt Alyssa back with us, so I am sure we will have a great time this week!

I do apologize that we didn't get to see everyone. It was a busy week and we didn't stay in town the whole time so it was hard to get around to everyone.

As usual, it was a long ride home, but Drew watched a few movies and slept just a Little bit.

When Drew wants quiet, sometimes he says "Stop singing!" Of course with his southern accent, he says 'stop sangin'. Yes, my boy has a southern accent, not so sure how, but he does. It's kind of funny sometimes.

On the car ride home, apparently Daddy was talking too much and Drew held his hand out and said "STOP WORDING!" It was so funny and he was so serious. We decided he meant Stop Talking.

Thursday at the Fair

We didn't spend too long at the fair on Thursday. We spent part of the day with Grandma and saw a little bit of the tractor pull, but after watching a few tractors, Drew was more interested in reading all of the seat numbers on the bleachers, so we headed for a last lunch at the fair and a quick walk around before we headed back for naps.

Walking to the fair with Grandma and Daddy.

Before bedtime, Drew went on a stroll through the backyard with Grandma and Great Grandma. He found a golf ball in the backyard with the letter J on it.

Hugs to Grandma.

Drew heading to check out the pelican (statue).

Drew was very intrigued with Great Grandma's hiding place for her gardening tools!

One of Drew's favorite things about staying at Great Grandma's House was picking little tomatoes every night! That boy LOVES tomatoes!

Wednesday at the Fair

Wednesday at the Fair was Kids Day and full of great activities for the little ones. I didn't do such a good job taking pictures today, but here are a few.

Kids Day also means $1 Ride Day! Drew was able to ride the carousel with Daddy. He had such a good time riding his zebra!

Drew exceeded the 42" minimum to ride rides by himself! Can you believe it! He is such a big boy! He rode this car ride 3 times Wednesday. He had such a big smile on his face the whole time he was "driving!"

Riding the Helicopter with Aunt Alyssa. He told her every time the went "up" and "down"

We spent some time at the fair in the evening with Tony's Dad. Apparently I didn't take any pictures (bad mommy), but I must say that Grandpa is a sucker! He carried Drew around and let him drink his pop. He just can't say no to our little sweetie! :-)

After the Fair we headed to Great Grandma's House to stay for a couple nights. He loved walking through the backyard and checking out the flowers with Grandma!

Checking out the Goose on the back porch at Great Grandma's House. He talked to the goose (honk honk) and tried to ride it.

Checking out the Golf Ball in the Gator's mouth under the bench.

(just a statue....don't panic)

Monday at the Fair

Monday, Drew got to spend part of the day at the fair with my friend Bethany's boys. The boys are so close in age and make great playmates. We walked through most of the animal barns. I say MOST. I did not walk through the pig barn. I have always had a fear of that barn....I don't know why. Bethany stepped up and took Drew through and he even fed a pig an animal cracker! My boy is so brave!

This year the fair had a tiger show. We never had a chance to see the actual show, but the boys had fun watching the tigers exercise and stroll around in between shows.

Drew LOVED "milking" this cow. Of course he really studied it and had to figure out how it worked, but he thought it was so neat!

Checking out the sheep.

Drew loved petting the baby chicks

Toddler Driving School - This was such a blast! We were lucky that there wasn't a huge crowd and Drew was able to play on the course for a while. I was SO PROUD of him! He stayed on the "road" so well, followed the signs and watched out for oncoming traffic. They even gave him a little "drivers license" certificate.

A little boy's wonderland.... Taking an evening stroll through the tractors with his popcorn and a sucker.

Finished off the day by watching Uncle Matt pitch horseshoes. Drew loved watching right from the fence.

Sunday at the Fair

Tony is still waiting on the access road to be paved for his new store so we decided to hit the road and head to Indiana for Fair week! So far it has been awesome to share the fair with Drew. He has loved every minute of it.

There is nothing like the Fair in Elkhart County anywhere else. The "fairs" where we live are more like a little carnival and do not even come close to the same experience.

Today we went to the fair with Uncle Matt. Here are a few pictures from today.

Drew and Uncle Matt checking out the sheep

Uncle Matt, Drew, and Daddy as wild animals.

Drew loved watching the baby chicks at Young McDonald's Farm

Drew was serious about checking out this tractor!

My Little Fire Fighter

Today our mommy's group headed to the fire station. Drew absolutely loved it last year, so I knew it would be a hit again this year!

This time they let him try on the fireman clothes! How cool is that! They were so heavy that the fireman was basically holding Drew up and when he put the hat on him, they were actually holding it.

Once again Drew did love the BIG wheels on the trucks. He is still obsessed with the wheels, but this year he also spent a lot of time checking out all of the gadgets on the truck. He even managed to turn a gear on the side of the truck and accidently made water come out. He even did this under the supervision of TWO firemen. I was right there and luckily caught it before he made a big mess. The firemen were completely surprised that he was able to figure it out. Don't underestimate my kid!

LOOK - TWO WHEELS!!!

Drew was so funny. We made cookies this morning to take to the firemen. He was fine handing them the cookies, but when we got in the car to leave he said "I can't find it" "I can't find the cookies" He was so upset that we didn't take the cookies back home with us. Poor guy, he loves his cookies.

And YES, he is wearing his truck outfit for the third day in a row. It was washed yesterday though. The first thing he did when he got up this morning was look for his "truck clothes"

Mommy Made It

It started with this pirate outfit. Last week, I made Drew this pair of shorts and appliqued the shirt while he was taking his nap. He has worn it 3 times this week. I think mainly because it was a little big and he can put it on himself, plus he likes to count all of the pirates and stars. If it was dirty he would go dig it out of the dirty clothes and put it on anyways.

This week I made him this backpack. He had one backpack that I had made about 2 years ago, but he LOVED this fabric when it came in, so I thought he needed a new bag. He has hardly taken it off all week.

I had some extra fabric from the bag and the lining so I thought I could make him shorts and a shirt from it. I appliqued trucks from the truck fabric on pockets on the back and side of the shorts. He loves his Truck Shorts and Truck Shirt!

I have decided that I should really make him some more shorts and matching shirts while he will still wear them! It is hard enough to sew for boys and he won't want mommy made clothes forever!

Fun in the Sun - at the Waterpark

This morning we headed to the waterpark at the Y when it opened to try to beat the crowd. Drew had a blast! He sat down with me after lunch and immediately fell asleep for his nap.

Drew was NOT happy when it was time to go!

Handsome Fella!

Well, it was time for another hair cut. Let's just say, poor Drew has to feel A LOT better! I knew he needed a haircut but didn't realize how "fluffy" it had gotten. I took Drew back to Big Leage Cuts, which is where I took him last time. They have TV screens at every station and they are GREAT with kids. They change the television to Noggin or something appropriate and it has gone so well both times we have gone there. The worst part is always just getting that cape around his neck! Drew even loves waiting there. He loves to read the numbers on all of the chairs, which are actual stadium seats.

I used to always cut Drew's hair myself, but it usually takes more than one day to finish the cut because he is so antsy. If I have a few extra bucks it sure is easier to just have it done in one quick sitting and it be GOOD. Maybe when he can sit still a little better and not freak out by the sound of my cheap clippers, then I can cut it again, but for now....I will stick with this place!

Oh - and by the way, it is a men's place, but they told me that they cut little girl's hair too...

The word game

Back when Drew first started reading, I thought that surely I was imagining it. That he had just memorized books and pictures. So I bought these flash cards without pictures to see if he really did know how to read the words. Sure enough he knew them, he has known most of them for quite a while now, but last night he wanted to play "the word game" as he calls it so I thought I should get it on video. He also has several books that he can read by himself now too! He knows all of the letter sounds and is really good at sounding out words too.

I love the fact that he truly LOVES letters, words, and reading. We don't push him at all. He is constantly trying to read new words and sound them out. We can't go anywhwere in public without him trying to read every sign. We can't walk past door mats in stores and restaurants without reading the door mat. You probably didn't realize that there are so many door mat's with store names on them, I didn't either until Drew started reading! We are always holding people up at entries because Drew has to read the door mat!

Here's a video of "the word game" last night. Excuse the sloppy editing, While the video is over a minute long, I still chopped out quite a bit so it wouldn't too long for you!

Playin in the sand

Well Tony is working out of town this week so Drew and I are staying at Grandma and Grandpa's. Here are some pictures of Drew playing outside in the sandbox after his nap. He's still a little sleepy here, but I am just thankful that he has decided to start taking naps again!

Drew focusing on the truck. Playing at eye level is Drew's favorite way to play!

tools of the trade

playing in the sand

still not quite awake from his nap

I was messing with the settings on my camera and got this close up of this lady bug.