Fairbury Fair 2013

We are always excited when the fair comes to town but a little sad because it means that summer is officially coming to a close.  We had a great time at the fair again this year.  Each year the boys ride a little more of the rides and want to do a little more of the activities.  Griffin knew exactly when he saw they were giving horsey rides that he definitely wanted to go on one without a question.  After all, he is a cowboy.  :) 

 He loved it.

 While Gavin and Griffin were off with our good friends riding big rides, Garrett, Kerry, and I decided to take a little Farris wheel ride.  He was a little unsure of it. 

 We were at the fair every day doing so sort of something.  The last day was really hot but it was one ticket per ride day so we had to take advantage of the beautiful day. 

Griffin isn't real big on riding the bigger rides so he convinced Gavin to ride with him. 

 And Papa 4 Wheeler and Garrett waved as they went around and around and around. 

 I love this picture.  They are always racing and this was just like anything else, they were racing down the slide.  I won't say who won.

 Garrett didn't really care for this ride but he was a good trooper and went down.  He held his breathe the whole way. 

 For the first time ever, Gavin was tall enough to drive the bummer cars by himself.  He kept going on this ride time after time after time.  He loved it.

 They were all nice and rode the train with Garrett.

 And of course the scrambler is a must have....

The fair is fun while it last!!!

First Day of School 2013

Today was our first day of school for the 2013-2014 year.  Wow!  I can't believe how quickly the summer went.  Truly it just felt like school just got out.  Griffin was extremely excited to start and Gavin was a little unsure of starting back up.  He wanted summer to last longer.  I started their day off with a little message to them on their "proud" boards and made them monkey bread.  Griffin was too excited to eat and Gavin ate like he wasn't going to eat until supper time. 

 Gavin (2nd grade) and Griffin (Kindergarden) and Garrett (in training)  :)

I love these boys more than I could ever image.  They both had great first days at school.  Gavin ended up really enjoying his day as well.  It was really cute Gavin was trying to pack all his school knowledge into Griffin before the bus got there.  Griffin was absorbing it all.  They both like their teachers so far.  I'm hoping for a really great year for the both of them.

Beach

 We found a beach at the lake and the boys loved it.  My cousin asked us to join her and her son a couple of Sundays again to go boating and we had an absolutely blast.  Garrett loved the beach and being able to walk on the sand.

 He also loved to throw the sand which got everywhere.

 Yes if you look you can see Griffin out there in the water all by himself.  He loved it that he could walk out on his own pace and got completely in all on his own.

 He did it!!!  He loves the beach and the water.

 All the boys, except for Garrett, the blonde that belongs in California is Brady (my cousins son).  I've never seen hair so blonde.  Super cute boy.

My cousin offered to pull my good friend and I behind her speed boat with a tube.  I love to tube and so does my friend so off we went. We had the time of our lives but we didn't realize that was the first time my cousin had ever pulled anyone behind the boat.  She is new to boating, needless to say she went a little fast and wiped us around like you couldn't image.  We didn't fall off though.  A fish went down my friends suit but we just laughed it off when it popped back out.  We were both bruised the next day on our legs but had so so much fun.  My cousin quickly figured she can't go that fast and slowed way down with the boys.  So much fun and great memories made.

Walking Beans

 Papa 4 Wheeler had the older two boys walking beans yesterday.  Although it is some what difficult to walk beans when the beans are the same size as you are.  Can you see them?

 Now you can a little more....

Oh there they are....  Of course striking a pose.

The Zoo

This past Wednesday my aunt took the boys and I to the Peoria Zoo.  We had a ton of fun.  The animals were really active so it was really neat to see.  In the past when we have gone to the zoo usually all of the animals are sleeping and you can barely see them but we were fortunate this time around.

 Our first stop was to measure how long we compare to the birds.  Both the older boys were pretty much the same size wing span.

We stop to sit on the lion king before we saw the lion.

They both needed a break apparently.

The monkeys were very active and very colorful.  Of course, the highlight for Gavin and Griffin was "why is his butt red and rainbow looking."  Nice....

Love this picture of the three of them looking at the animals.

It was so cool the male lion jumped up on top of this rock while we were watching.  Gavin says, "it is just like Lion King".  Garrett said, "Meow." 

We went inside this bird cage.  You could feed them off of a stick.  Gavin and Garrett were all about it.  One bird landed on Garrett's head, it was hilarious.  He screamed, "STOP!".

My aunt took this awesome picture.  Griffin was a little afraid of the birds so he didn't go in.

Fake ant hills...  yes the boys climbed up there all on their own.

This little guy right behind Garrett was so interested in these boys, he just stayed up there like it was nothing to be watched.

Look Mom I fit in the Lion.

After the zoo, we headed to the Burger Barge.  Perfect place for adults and kids.... the boys played in the sand and we enjoy a chat along with some really great burgers.  It was an absolute amazing day.  We will be headed back again.

 

More boating...

 Griffin begged me to take a picture of him as he progresses into the water.  So here he is on the first step....

 The second step...

 And now on the third step....  He is gradually getting better and better about getting in the water.  We are so proud.  Mom and Gavin always seem to be having a good time together. 

 They just swim, talk, and hang out.

 Gavin started ski tubing again for a long while.  He is doing really well on it.

 Papa 4 wheeler was turning and trying to get him to do stunts and he just laughed.

 Doesn't it look like fun...

 Doing a little turning and stunting around.

 Guess where Garrett was... yep on Papa 4 wheeler's lap.

Although, not as hot as last week, it was still another great day of boating.

Boating

As an older child, my fondest memories were out on the lake in a boat with my family during the summer.  We went every Sunday.  My brother and I loved the water, loved skiing, loved tubing, and just loved the boating thing.  Well, my brother and I moved out, went to college, started jobs, one of us moved several states away, the other one of us got married, and then started a family.  So boating went by the waste side and Dad decided to sell the boat.  Now our boys are a little bit older, I have missed having a boat again.  Well much to my surprise while Gavin and Griffin were with Papa 4 Wheeler last Friday, they went to pick up a new boat Papa had bought.  We were all thrilled and excited.  It is a pontoon boat and it is tons of fun.  We made her very first voyage this past Sunday.  The boys really enjoyed it.  They had only been on Lake of the Ozarks so they were thinking this lake was the same size but they were still excited how "big" it was.  To them it was big.

 This was Garrett's place most all the ride.  He loves his Papa 4 Wheeler.

 If he wasn't on Papa's lap, watching Gavin, or swimming, he was sleeping.  I was so impressed how well he did with his life vest.  He did so well with it. 

 Grandma bought this tube thing to help you learn how to ski.  Gavin loved it and really took off on it.  Garrett and Daddy watching...

 We have a little work to do with Griffin.  He didn't get in the water and he won't even dream of doing what Gavin was doing but that's okay.  We will take baby steps with him.  He likes to warm up to things first and takes a while to do so but eventually he does warm up to them. 

 He still liked riding in the boat.

 We got a lot of people watching Gavin stand on this thing.  I think he will get right up on real skis.  He did this for about an hour.  And no I'm not stretching the truth on that.  It was about 6:00 p.m. and we asked Gavin if he wanted to go home or go out in the ski tube thing again.  He picked go on the ski tube thing again.  He loved it.  We are so proud of him.

  I can't wait to get on a tube with the boys and try that out.  I think they will have a ball with that.  I'm loving that we get to share the boating thing with our boys and I'm loving that they love it.  Next time I won't leave my camera in the vehicle.  These were all taken by my phone.