Father's Day Part Two

We went over to Grandpa and Grandma Cordes' house for a cookout on Fathers Day.  Don't they look great?

Gavin decided to hide behind me (not sure why)!

Playing with a racetrack (that stays at Grandma's house)

Playing croquet outside:

We surprised Grandpa with a new grill.  He's hard to surprise, and his old grill was on its last legs.  Here he is with Uncle Brad, waiting for the "big reveal:"

The grill was under this tarp in Uncle Kevin's truck.  Auntie Di got the honor of pulling it off:

The old grill (foreground) and the new one!

Grandma had also just had a birthday, so Uncle David got us some yummy cupcakes.  I won't reveal her age, because she DOES NOT look it, so you won't believe me anyway! (But the cupcakes will clue you in.)

Fathers Day Part One

For Father's Day, Gavin and I picked out a frame for a Batman picture that Francis bought in 2009.  It has Batman in a courtroom, in handcuffs, surrounded by the villians he has fought:

Here is the card Gavin chose for Francis:

Francis also got a couple of Lego sets.  Hmm, not sure if that is really for him or for Gavin...

A Lego pirate ship:

There was a Ghost Train, too.  Gavin loves the little ghosts. 

Putting it all together....

Birthday Party!

Gavin's friend Emerson had his birthday party at Seven Bridges Fitness Center, where I used to do Stroller Fitness when the twins were small, but we'd never been there for a party.  There were about ten kids (which is a good number of five-year-olds) and the center had a "party helper" to facilitate things.

All the kids loved this punching thingy:

The party helper set up an obstacle course.  Here are the kids waiting patiently as the course gets explained. Gavin is clearly interested in some part of it:

The parachute is a hit every time!

Luckily, these party favors didn't make any noise.  And the kids loved them!

Then the kids got to swim.  We had a section of the pool all to ourselves, and the depth was only 2 feet 6 inches.  Gavin had a great time!!

Hopscotch

Fun times at the Library and Riverwalk last week:

Gavin loves the library's hopscotch rug.  I started asking him to count in Spanish and French when he does it.  Unfortunately, I goofed up my French in this video!  But there's always next time!

Golf

A few weeks ago (yes, I'm behind on my posting) we went to a driving range with Grandpa and Nana Cermak.  (Nana didn't hit any balls. ) :)

It was good practice!

Grandpa gave Gavin some pointers:

Gavin loved the club washer:

Gymnastics

Gavin told us that he wanted to do gymnastics again this summer (he did it last spring).  I made sure to ask him several times over the course of a month, to make sure he wanted to.

His first day was last Monday and he had a great time!  His coach seems wonderful, too.

Ready to go:

They spend a lot of time stretching out first:

On the bar:

Look at him hang on!

They tried cartwheels. The videos may give you a better idea of this :

They have a Pac-Man / Galaga arcade game and we always pretend to play when we're done:

Evie's Garden

Last spring, the teachers at the preschool came up with the idea to plant a garden right outside the Bluebird room, which was Evie's classroom.  Her teacher, Mrs. Richardson, got a little bird bath and a stone with Evie's name on it.

This year, the Cat class planted new flowers in Evie's garden.  Each child got to put in two flowers.  The kids were SO excited!  

Here is the angel with the bird that Gavin painted blue:

Not only was Gavin's teacher involved, but so were the principal, Evie's physical therapist, and her (and Gavin's) speech therapist:

I got right in and dug around with the kids.  I loved it!

Mrs. Kelleher, the speech therapist. next to Grandpa Cermak's "Evie banner" that he brings to his softball games:

One of the kids' FAVORITE parts of the morning was finding worms and rolly-pollys from the dug-up dirt.  Here they are peering at one.  Simply fascinating!

The Cat class.  Mrs Seppa is their awesome teacher!

Gavin with his friends Gia and Erica, and Mrs. Seppa: