Birthday

Gabe's birthday fell on Friday so after he got done with work we packed up and headed to the lake for a 10 vacation. 

Happy Birthday to the best husband & father - we are so lucky! Time for presents, some cake & then hitting the well traveled road.

Bringing a trailer full of stuff to the cabin. Including our green living room couches and a double bed from Dede. We're going to have real furniture there!

There's always time for a tractor ride from Grant.

Kids keeping themselves entertained on the long drive by smelling feet. They thought it was absolutely hilarious.

I almost forgot the fun surprise. Gabe mentioned he was going to Pizza Luce with his coworkers for lunch so the kids and I went there, placed a take out order & then hid out and waited in a booth for Gabe to arrive. When Blake caught sight of him out the window, he yelled "SURPRISE!" so loud that Gabe heard him outside. IT WAS SO LOUD. And so cute to see how excited little Blake was about surprising his Daddy. I didn't dare look around to see if all the other restaurant patrons thought it was as cute as his adoring Mommy.

Beach Picnic

Gabe had a work event and wouldn't be home until late, so I picked up a pizza and headed to the beach for the first time this year. I wasn't sure how long we could play in the water because it was only about 75 degrees, but the kids had a blast playing for a solid 90 minutes before getting cold. The kids were exhausted and bedtime was a snap.

The kids love Pizza Luce.

Blake brought his loader and rarely put it down the whole time.

Exploring.

Blake picked up sand from the beach (often from sand castles that people had made during the day) and drop it into the water for a good 30 minutes straight.

Then for the next 30 minutes he did this....he would rub sand on his belly and then flop down and rinse off and say 'clean!' and laugh.

Campbell 'practicing' her swimming. She would go into the water and then come back into shore crawling on the bottom.

Beach babies

Big Truck

I very rarely buy the kids toys. I guess that's why it gets its very own blog post when I do.

We biked to Target to get some contact solution and we came back with this. Couldn't even close the trailer screen because it was too big.

 This is what Blake did the rest of the day....

Blake saw the truck when we first got to Target. He pushed my stuff in it around the entire store because I didn't have a cart. Remember I just needed contact solution, but somehow he ended up hauling a big load for me. I had no intention of buying it, but in the end didn't have the heart to take it away from him. It didn't hurt that a lady said to me that her sons have the same truck and play with it all the time and she was going to buy another one. 

Weekend 4

A ton of boards got put on the walls again this weekend. Jim came again for the entire 3 days and Tez & Weef put in a long day of work on Saturday.  Deb & Paul watched Blake for the 4th weekend in a row, and we can't thank them enough! They say he's a little angel boy for them, probably because he is basking in all the attention. Nana & Papa have taught him tons of things during his Weekend Retreats, like counting into the teens in English and Spanish, the ABC's have been fine tuned. And they taught him a bunch of new songs, like Old McDonald & Mary had a Little Lamb. Campbell was amazing again this weekend. We barely saw her as she played happily in the loft and in her secret fort for hours on end.

Weef & Tez working their way up the front wall.

And up.

And up.

And done!

I've been promoted to power tool operator. I finally got the courage to use the nail gun, doing a good job if I do say so myself! Jim & I almost got another wall done in the master bedroom, so there is only 1 wall and the ceiling left in there.

Steak dinner after a L.O.N.G day of paneling.

Dining room wall before.

And after. Pictures don't really do it justice, it all looks amazing!

Living room side wall finished too.

The only wall left in the kitchen/living room area is the wall behind the appliances.

This spring, it was overwhelming to think about how many boards we had left to put up. Thanks to a lot of help from many people, we're getting there. I never thought we'd be this far by now. It's so exciting to see the progress! Now next weekend we're going to stay home and rest.

Weekend 3

Another weekend at the cabin getting stuff done. My parents watched Blake AGAIN! Gabe worked on getting stuff (wiring, plumbing, insulating) ready for the big paneling weekend that we have planned for next weekend, paneled the master bedroom closet & hung a pocket door for the pantry & also one in the guest bedroom.

Campbell & I took organizing to a whole new level in the shet. We got all the random boxes, bags, and containers laying everywhere of screws/nails organized and labeled.

How can a closet look so nice? But, it does! It looks great, Gabe even set up some shelves and I quickly filled them up with towels, bedding, etc.

Cousin Sean came over to help for a few hours. The wall beneath the steps had gotten crooked by about 1.5 inches & it was driving Gabe nuts. Sean pulled several boards off & got it all straightened out.

Random Pictures

Papa John came for a visit because he had a job in town. 

Blake helping Papa John put training wheels on Campbell's new bike.

Blake loves his new fireman rain boots. As in, he won't take them off.

My babies with their babies.

Potty Talk

Blake went on the potty for the first time on the first try sitting on the little potty....don't want to jinx this whole process, but maybe this will go easier this time? He was dry after his nap, so I set him on the potty and he sat for a long while. Then Campbell came and showed him how she does it. He still hadn't gone, so I left them in the bathroom for a bit and heard Campbell yell, "he went!" Campbell was so excited for him that she kept giving him presents - her Blue's Clue's blanket, a calculator & a book of hers. It was really exciting for Blake and he was very proud of himself, but also it was really neat to see how Campbell was so happy for him. We even called Papa and told him the good news. Campbell told Gabe later that evening "it's not every day you see a baby go pee on the potty for the first time."

Update 6.13: I've been putting him on the potty before/after nap and he hasn't gone again. He's interested in keeping on trying. To be continued!