Fun Times!

Friday night we headed to the beach for dinner. There is a place called "Whiskey Island" that is close to downtown and right on Lake Erie. We ordered dinner at the little outdoor restaurant and had a picnic on the grass. Then we headed to the beach to let Landon play and build a sand castle. We had ice cream before we left and watched the sun set over Lake Erie. It was a fun night!

Sitting on our blanket for the picnic

Building his sand castle

More playing in the sand

Walking by the water with Daddy

Playing some more

Ready to go get ice cream

On Monday I took Landon to the Avon Public Library to their Discovery Works Zone. We had heard wonderful things about this place so we decided to try it out. Landon played for about an hour straight until it was time to come home for lunch and he had a blast. The Discovery Works Zones were divided by age groups so Landon could do everything. There were a ton of things to do, as you will see in the pictures and he loved it all. We will definitely have to go back here.

Play Dates

Since it is our last full week of summer, we decided to have a couple play dates this week with Jack and Cooper. On Monday, we went to a place called "Playground World". We thought this would be kind of an oversized play area for the kids (like you would find at McDonald's), complete with tunnels and climbing and slides. It didn't turn out to be like that at all. It was literally about 10 big playground sets, trampolines, play houses, mini roller coasters, kitchens, etc. Everything was for sale and everything was available for the kids to play on. It was pretty fun and the kids had a blast! We went during "free play" so it didn't even cost us anything for the hour we were there. Jack and Landon took off running when we walked in so I don't have many pictures of the boys together.

Landon getting ready to slide

Climbing

Playing in a kitchen area

Mid-jump on the trampoline

Looking through a telescope

The only pics I have of the boys together is when they played on this airplane

Jack kept telling Landon that he was his co-pilot during this....too cute!

After playground world, we came back to our house to let the boys play a little more, ate lunch and then Jack and Cooper headed home and all the boys took naps!

Yesterday, we decided to head to the Cleveland zoo. Our zoo is really spread out so there is a lot of walking and it was exhausting for Rachel and I. She either held Cooper or had him in the Baby Bjorn or stroller, as well as pushed the stroller with all the bags and I pulled the boys in the wagon. All three boys were really good. We were there about 3 1/2 hours and the older boys never even got out of the wagon. They were really good and loved to see all the different animals. Since the boys didn't get out of the wagon, I just have a few pictures of them because they were the same pictures pretty much all day.

Looking at some monkeys (You can't see them in the pic, but the boys could!)

This is the only one I have where they were both facing me, although not smiling

Eating lunch in the wagon as we continued to walk

Thanks for hanging out with us Rachel, Jack and Cooper! We had a lot of fun this week!

Painting

On Monday night Matt had a softball game. It was too hot for us to go and too hot for Landon to play outside. Cara and I were thinking of something we could do with him inside and came up with painting. Landon had never painted before so we used water colors. He did great, had a blast and didn't even make a mess. His picture turned out great and we immediately put in on the fridge. He was so proud to show Matt when he got home. I took it to school yesterday to laminate it! What a big boy and growing up so fast! Enjoy the pics!

African Safari

On Sunday, Matt, Cara, Landon and I decided to head to the African Safari. It is near Sandusky, about an hour away from where we live. We had never been before, but heard it was a lot of fun. You get food for the animals, drive in your car, and the animals just come right up to your car and window and eat from you. Cara and I were a little intimidated by huge animals coming up to us and sticking their heads in the car. We also weren't sure if Landon would like it or not, so we decided to sit on both sides of him in the back seat. We saw HUGE animals at first. I really didn't like them being that close to me and Landon didn't like them at all. However, once we got past the big animals, he enjoyed the smaller ones better. I think if we would have seen the smaller animals first, it would have given Landon a chance to warm up to the bigger ones. Matt did the majority of the feeding to the animals, but Landon liked to throw carrots out the window to the zebras and giraffes. He would say, "I did it. They are happy now!" It was really cute and I'm glad we went to experience it all.

This was the first animal we saw and it literally stuck it's whole head in the backseat of the car right by me. I was trying to remain calm at this point but Landon was screaming. I just told Matt to drive and get us out of there!

This was the second animal that came up to us, still huge! Matt was the only one that fed this one, but they ate right out of your hand or cup.

Isn't it crazy how they just stick their heads in your car?

The smaller ones were much more fun for us!

Landon loved the stripes on the zebras and loved to throw them carrots out the window, as long as they didn't get too close!

The zebras and giraffes were behind fences, they weren't just roaming about like the other animals.

Landon also liked the giraffes and didn't mind when they stuck their heads in the sun roof to eat from Matt!

After we drove around, we got out to walk around and look at some more animals in cages. They also had pony rides and camel rides for the kids but Landon wasn't interested in either of those. Getting a ride on Daddy's shoulders to see more animals.

Playing on a rock with Mommy

We took lunch with us and had a picnic while we were there. Cara really did go with us, but we did not do a good job at all of taking pictures...Sorry Cara!

Landon enjoying his ice cream cone on the way home

All worn out after our fun trip

Playing in the Rain

One day when it was raining, Landon asked if he could put on his rain boots and play outside. Matt took him out for awhile and they had a great time! Landon loved splashing in the puddles, riding his bike and going down his "water" slide on the swing set. So much fun!