Dragonfly Landing

Lisle, the town just east of us, installed a splash pad and playground earlier this summer. It's called Dragonfly Landing and it's free! We made it over there last week with our buddies Lindsey, Maya, and Brandon.

Time for a snack break! Brandon showed Gavin the right way to eat a Lightning MacQueen cinnamon graham cracker:

As you can see, all the kids had a great time. One of Gavin's favorite things was the ride to the park - in our friends' van! They have an extra car seat, so they picked us up. Gavin has never ridden in anyone's car so he was pretty excited. We will definitely be going back!

Playdate with Gabe

Last week we had a playdate with my good friend Kim and her son Gabe. First the boys chased each other around the house.




Then they played on the swingset:

You can't see it in this picture, but Gabe has a big boy bed with Lightning McQueen sheets, which Gavin LOVED! They played with trains and transformers:







Then they played Star Wars - Clone Wars on the Wii. Well, Gavin didn't actually play. He has played with our Wii controllers a million times (not playing a game - he just likes to pretend the controllers are phones) but when he got a chance to play a game and use the controllers for real, he didn't want to. He held this toy walkie-talkie and pretended IT was a Wii controller. Who can understand the mind of a three-year-old?




Kim played Gavin's part in the game while Gavin jumped up and down:



Gabe was really good at this game!




Gabe's sister Kathy and her friend Katie were there as well, playing Truth or Dare and checking up on the boys every once and awhile. Gavin had a great time and we hope to get together again soon at our house!

Playdate With Our Cousins

Last Friday we went to Cedarburg, WI to visit our cousins Susan, Sean, and Erin. Gavin had a great time riding Erin's tricycle around the house. Surprisingly, this was the first time he has successfully used pedals! (He always just scoots with his feet.) He was determined to ride that trike.




Gavin put on ALL of the Mardi Gras beads, and wore them for about an hour:




Dancing in the kitchen:








Hmm, what's for lunch?




On the neighbors' swingset:




Gavin had so much fun playing with Erin. Unfortunately, Sean was feeling a bit under the weather so we didn't play with him very much. Hope you are better by the time you read this, Sean!

Gavin had woken up at 5:30 that morning (that means so did I - grr!) so he was exhausted when we left:

No nap for me! I think I will catch up on sleep in 10 years or so!

Birthday Party

On Saturday we attended the birthday party of our triplet friends, Lindsey, Maya, and Brandon. They turned five and had an awesome party at Naperville Gymnastic Center. Of course, anything that invloves running, jumping, and climbing is right up Gavin's alley.

There were gym staff members with our group the whole time, directing the kids and making sure no one got hurt or lost in the foam block pit. They had the kids sit in a line periodically to listen to directions. Below, Gavin (next to Maya) would rather just start running:



And...into the block pit!








Next the kids played games with the parachute:






Gavin and Brandon decided to make silly faces:









Bouncing on the trampoline:



He wasn't down for very long!

The gym had a big inflatable thing (like at Airtastic), and the staff helped the kids climb up the big ramp:

Gavin loved every minute of it, and his friends had a great birthday!

Brookfield Zoo

Part 2 of our Fourth of July weekend involved going to Brookfield Zoo. This time we made a successful effort to see animals we had not seen on our previous trips.

It was a hot day, and wouldn't you know it - Gavin found another sprayer/mister thingy. It's the blue thing in the background of this photo, and it's next to where the elephants used to be. I don't know if Brookfield will get any more elephants; we love to see them, but it has become politically incorrect to have them in zoos. One time (I think it was two summers ago) we even saw protesters by the zoo gate.




Gavin was fascinated by the rhinos and then by the ostrich, of all things. He kept asking if it could fly.

Gavin by the wolf exhibit.

Here is my tired boy! I carried him from the bears back to the gate. After the Arboretum the day before, then waking up at 5:30 am, then running around the zoo, he was exhausted!

Morton Arboretum

This was Part 1 of our Fourth of July weekend, and we spent it at Morton Arboretum with Nana and Grandpa Cermak. We started out with our usual route through the Children's Garden.

Gavin thought it was so neat that he is still small enough to fit in this doghouse:






He made a friend and got soaked, as usual, at the Frog Pond:







Exploring the big flowers with Grandpa:

Can you find Gavin?

Here's a close-up to help you out:

There is a ladder by the slides where it's supposed to look like you're climbing up through roots. Here's the view from the bottom:

And from the top:

Just in case Gavin wasn't wet enough from the Frog Pond, these water pumps finished the job:








Running at full speed!





We went to the Adventure Woods area, which I had thought that Gavin was too young for last year. He loved everything in there, including this rope-net thing:

This is part of "Evergreen Lookout," which is just like it sounds. There is an enclosed bridge for kids to run around in, which goes around the trees. You're up high so you can see the rest of the Children's Garden.

There is a sign that says, "Not recommended for toddlers." So true! The preschoolers and elementary school kids run through this at top speeds - so of course Gavin loved it! There was another climbing area that was enclosed with ropes and nets and went in and out of the trees. Gavin loved that too, and I think we were at that one for half an hour. We just never run out of things to do at the Arboretum!

Two Wheel Scooter!

Gavin long ago mastered zipping around on his three wheeled scooter. He recently made friends with two boys on our block, and they have two wheeled scooters. Gavin was quite upset that he couldn't keep up with them on his slower three wheeler, so we took him to Target and he picked out this new Lightning McQueen one.

I make him wear his helmet (most of the time) since this scooter goes faster. He didn't really have any trouble adjusting to it. He is such a big boy!

Friday Cuteness

Here's Gavin, chillin' with Daddy's Starbucks iced tea:




Lately, Gavin has wanted Uncle David to find car crash-test videos on the iPhone. I'm not sure how it all started, but trains are out, and crashes are in!