Sonny Acres

We've made a tradition of visiting Sonny Acres each fall.  They always have extra stuff in September and October (rides for kids, plus haunted houses and hayrides). 

Gavin loves this huge slide. Somehow, I was the one who ended up going down it with him. 

I screamed the whole time. I think Gavin wondered what was wrong with me.

Here's the sequence of our ride down:

Next he jumped into the ball pit:

The "Spook Shed" was the haunted house for kids (Gavin wasn't scared, but wanted to go in about ten times):

This was on the hayride. It gets scarier after dark, but Gavin was all eyes as he pointed out all the stuff hidden in the forest:

If the weather holds out, we'll go back again!

Danada Fall Festival

Last weekend we went to the Danada Fall festival. It was a gorgeous fall day and Gavin had a great time watching the horse show.

His favorite thing of all was this horse, Shadow. We stood and petted him for at least 309 minutes, if not 45. His owner was very sweet and understanding as kids flocked over and petted her horse.  Shadow loved the attention, and Gavin liked being close enough to pet him. Also, Shadow was an amazingly gentle animal. No matter what the kids did, he just kept munching grass.

We eventually went into the barn to see the other horses. I loved the big draft horse, Gus, and Gavin loved that there was a mother and son in side by side stalls. (Crystal and Aidan)  Aidan is all grown up, but is available for trail rides at Danada, and his stall is next to his mom, Crystal. There is a little window inside, where they can see each other, and I told Gavin that Crystal watches Aidan to make sure he eats his dinner!

Gavin is already looking forward to next year's Fall Festival!

Swim Class

Gavin  moved up a level in his swim lessons, to level three.  He will be working on the breaststroke and freestyle (which he knows the basics of), but now he will he learn to add the skill of "flip to breathe."

He loves this chart with all the different levels - he is pointing out his new color:

Birthday Party

Gavin had his birthday party last weekend at Airtastic, and he had a great time! He and his friends bounced for 90 minutes. They actually all sat down ad took a water break at one point!

Gavin wanted the cake to be like a sword from a video game that Francis plays. (It's "Skyrim" and the sword is named "Chillrend.")  He also wanted a small pink sword cake for Evie.

Lego Bird

After watching Francis assemble Lego toys all summer, Gavin felt like giving it a try.

He started with this "scarlet macaw."  He followed the instruction book and did it all by himself!

Francis was there for guidance:

Ta-da!

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to our babies!

Golfing

We took advantage of the still-warm weather and went to the driving range with Grandpa over the weekend.

Gavin LOVES to clean the clubs:

Grandpa has lots of helpful tips:

Inspecting my driver for dirt (I may have kicked up a divot... or two)

We made sure to practice putting as well:

Grandpa's New Hip

Grandpa came home yesterday from the Marion Joy Rehab.  He's getting faster at walking with his new hip, but still gets tired easily.

Gavin and I squeezed in one last visit, and the worked on the United States puzzle. Gavin is learning all the state names. And soon (I can't wait) I will teach him all the capitals!