Last Saturday, Eli and I headed up to Grandpa Strauss’s house to swim while Ben stayed back and got some stuff done around the house.  Eli had a great time “mowing” Grandpa’s lawn and worked up a sweat.  Grandma and Derek came over to visit Eli and thankfully Derek got in the pool with Eli so I didn’t have to deal with the really cold water!  We then had a wonderful lunch at a little BBQ spot by Grandpa’s house. Saturday night, we headed out to downtown Plymouth for some dinner and Eli’s first experience with Superman ice cream.  You can’t tell from the picture, but he LOVED it!

Sunday, we headed down to the Toledo Zoo and got there at the perfect time! The animal’s were just being fed so they were really active!  We finished out the day at home making roads in the sandbox:)

A few funny quotes from my child over the last few weeks:

“Actually, I want to stand up” - He said this when changing into his swim suit at day care

“That’s a great picture” - He said this after pretending to take his photo (see video below)

What's Eli doing?

• Counting to 20
• Singing his ABC’s
• Acting out lines to The Lion King
• Singing songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Take me out to the Ballgame
• Speaking full sentences
• Galloping
•  Jumping
• Climbing up all the “big boy” toys at the park
• Drinking out of a cup like a big boy
• Eats just about anything you can think of
•  When he needs to take a nap in the car, we ask him to put his blanket over his head and sleep and he listens
•  When we go to sleep at night, he has his favorite books he likes to read, but then when it’s time to go to sleep he puts his head on his pillow and falls asleep (after a bit of talking to himself)

Great Friendships will last Forever!

I will try not try cry as I make my way through this post.  Our very dear friends, the Wiacek’s, have sold their house in the Village and are moving to Virginia.  Last Friday the big truck was being packed up, so Lea and I decided to take the boys to the Michigan Botanical Gardens for a bit and then have some lunch.  It was such a wonderful day filled with making so many memories.  Eli and Grant had a great time walking through the Children’s Garden and picking tomatoes from the vines.  In the evening, we went to the O’Neal’s house for some bouncing and pizza.  The three amigo’s were together one last time and it broke my heart to think that Grant won’t be here to play with Eli.  They are such good little buddies.  It’s not every day that you find friends who share your values and opinions on most things and connect with in such an unspeakable way, but I owe so much to Lea and the Wiacek’s.  From some very dark days to days where we couldn't stop laughing, I have Lea to thank for introducing me to so many amazing people (including Sally).  I can’t write anymore without busting into tears, but please enjoy these great photo’s from some amazing memories we made this last weekend.

Last weekend was a complete blast filled with tons of fun.  Friday, Eli and I went to swim at Sally’s parents house.  I thought for sure Eli would get in for a minute and immediately want out and be done with it.  While he was timid at first, this kid turned into a little fish!  He had a blast swimming around the pool in his new age water wings (AKA puddle jumpers).  I was shocked at how quickly he felt comfortable in the water, even venturing into the deep end without me!  He did befriend a watering can in which he simply called “can can”.  He help on tight to it most of the time!

Saturday, we headed to Bowling Green to visit the “Great One’s” (AKA Tom and Anne Stubbs).  It’s always fun to visit with them, but it was really nice to also see Nana and D and to have the 4 generations together again.  Eli had such a great time and was an amazing kiddo.  Saturday night, Eli and I headed back to play with Ellie in the bounce house while Ben went to the Tiger game with Nana and D.

Sunday started out great with a walk to the Farmer’s Market with Nana and Ben.  They had a big bounce house set up that Eli played in for a bit and then we headed to the barn to play on the John Deer tractors, mini version.  We had a wonderful time, followed by a trip downtown to the Tiger game.  We know we are lucky to have amazing seats for one of the best teams in baseball, but having a ball handed to your child by the pitching coach himself is pretty awesome.  I’d lie and say Sunday was the first time Eli got a ball, but it’s not, it’s the third time this season.  However, the first two were Justin Verlander warm-up balls, Sunday’s was Max Scherzer’s warm-up ball for a game where he went 18 and 1.  It’s pretty awesome!  And, this time, I was ready with the camera and snapped a quick picture! 

Forgot this great picture from last week's farmer's market!

Lunch with Miggy (his stuffed monkey)

Riley even likes the train table

Swimming!  Sending a message to daddy while we played.

Little Fishy

Bozo's!  Having a little snack pool-side.

Great Grandpa Tom's coaching chair from his BGSU Falcon days

Playing with the calculator......future CEO right here!

I love that when Eli picked the phone up, he said "what's that?"  He was talking about the dial tone on the land line phone.  

 Bouncing!

Sunday morning Farmer's Market

Sunday afternoon baseball game (Tigers vs. Royals)

Max Scherzer coming out of the bull pen

GO MAX!

Jeff Jones (pitching coach) coming Eli's way!

This is the 18-1 Max Scherzer warm up ball.  For those that don't understand, just know that that is AWESOME!

Last night, Eli woke up at was crying.  When Ben went in and asked him what was wrong he said (and I quote Ben who quoted Eli) "I want to go downstairs and watch the Tigers".  Really?  It's 2:16am in the morning, if the Tigers are still playing a game that started at 7:05, then no one in our house is watching it.  Ok, I retract, maybe Ben, but not me!

On the flip side, this morning he's been the happiest kid ever!  He loves playing with my bracelets and this morning and filling his arms up with them he said, "I am going to work".  If he only knew what you had to do at work, he'd want to stay a kid forever!  All too cute:)  I love this kid!

8/10/2013: South Haven, Lake Michigan

Last Saturday, the forecast for South Haven was beautiful, so.....we hopped in the car and drove to South Haven.  Little did we know that the Blueberry Festival was going on and this was the place to be.  We had so much fun.  We walked around the festival, tasted blueberry cake roll, bought sunglasses, had lunch at Clementine's and then went to the beach!  A few weeks ago, we were going to the beach and it turned out to not be the best weekend, so we called the trip off. Well, Eli was geeked to go to the beach ever since we talked about it, so the beach is where we went.  He had such an awesome time running back and forth between playing in the sand and on the shore.  He ventured out pretty far at points in time.  I love that when the waves were crashing in and he was running from them, he said "too fast, the waves are too fast!"  After a long day in the sun, we stopped in Battle Creek for some dinner at Arcadia and all came home and crashed.  This was a wonderful quick day trip that I can't wait to do again.  Sunday morning Eli did ask to go back tot the beach, but next time, I think we'll try St. Joe!

Eli made a friend, Delaney.

Waiting for our table for lunch at Clementine's

Ben and Eli waiting for our table for lunch

Tasting blueberry cake roll (he didn't like it, that smile is before he took a bite)

LUNCH!

Silly kid!

Dinner in Battle Creek at Arcadia Brewery