Ella's Birthday Party

One of Gavin's friends from school, Ella, had a birthday party.  She and Gavin had so much fun together (read: they were so silly together) in the Cat Room that they sometimes had to be separated!

Ella's party had a Hawaiian theme - hence, the lei's and palm tree decorations

They took turns pushing each other on this tractor:

Playing on the neighbor's play-set:

Gavin helped get gifts ready for Ella to open:

A new Bolt dog:

And, when all else fails, hit an inflatable tree.  This is typical silliness for these two:

Birthday Party

Gavin has had a busy social calendar this month!  We went to the first of three friends' birthday parties the other weekend.  It was Wilderness Falls mini-golf, to celebrate our twins buddies Felix and Pierres' 5th birthday!

Gavin had a great time zipping through the course, and wants to go again.

My favorite blue-eyed boy:

After golf, the kids played in the arcade.  Gavin's favorite was Dance Dance Revolution.  I didn't even put tokens in - he just jumped and danced like a pro:

Spinning the wheel to see how many tokens you'd get (really, all the kids got the same, but they all wanted to take a spin):

Here's Gavin in action:

I didn't get any pictures of the birthday boys, but we had a great time!

County Fair

We knew that the DuPage County Fair has a demolition derby every summer, but we never went before because it conflicted with naps.

Now that Gavin is long done with napping, we decided to go this year.  We figured he would LOVE to see cars crashing.

When we first arrived, he and Francis rode on the merry-go-round:

Then we got to the derby track.  Gavin surveyed the scene:

And this is the position he quickly adopted!

When the cars started revving their engines, he covered his ears and said he wanted to leave. I tried to tell him we weren't leaving until we saw some crashes, but he was in tears before they even got started.

I took him out of the track area and we waited for Francis and Nana and Grandpa.  He didn't want to do anything else at the fair - once he heard all that noise, he was done.

Splash Pad

Last week we played at the Hobson Park Splash Pad with Aisling.  It's hard to believe it is a splash pad now. David and I spent hours there every summer, when it was a pool!

The kids had a blast, as usual.  All you need is a little water on a hot day, and they're set!

Gavin and Nana are prepared for rain!

Here are some pictures from one of Grandpa Cermak's softball games a few weeks ago. It was close by and  Gavin got to go and watch Grandpa coach.  Also, Auntie Clare was in town that weekend!

Our friend Katy came with her three girls.  Gavin shared his umbrella with Paige:

Time for a snack!

Clare, a Cubs fan, borrowed a White Sox T-shirt from Katy.  Isn't she cute?

Uncle David's Birthday

For Uncle David's birthday, we met up at Charlie's Restaurant at Clow Airport.  It's a cute. basic diner-type place, and it's right on the runway.  

There was one pilot getting flying lessons.  He took off and landed about four times, so that was exciting.  We also walked around a bit and looked at some of the planes.

Since we were so close to David and Brad's house, we stopped by to see this very special planting in their backyard.  Some of you have seen this on Facebook, but for the rest of you, it all started with a small stone.

David and Brad's friends gave them this, and they wanted to have it set in the ground by a tree.  Well, their landscape architect came up with a beautiful idea for this heart-shaped area of shrubs, flowers, and a tree.

It is lovely now, and we will continue to post pictures as all the plants grow up around it!

Stormy Sky

We had some severe storms blow through the Chicago area yesterday.  No tornado watches or warning, thank goodness - but we had one very scary cloud!

Weekend Fun

Looking at videos with Grandpa:

Gavin, Nana, and Grandpa all go along with Francis to the grocery store each week.  When the store set up this patio table and chairs, they started having "tea parties" there while Francis shopped:

Talking on the phone is an essential part of a tea party!

Softball

Grandpa Cermak coached some softball games that weren't too far away last weekend, and Gavin got to go along.

He helped Grandpa hang up the "Evie banner"

Gavin and Nana:

Grandpa in action.  Gavin was fascinated by all the hand signals!

Time for a story with Grandpa afterward: