A Second Attempt at the Zoo

Payton looking at the ducks Joey brushing the goats
Mia playing with the goats

Mia & Michael

Michael, Mia, Joey & Payton

Eating lunch

Today we took our second trip to the zoo and I have to say that it went much better than the first. Payton still didn't like the petting zoo or the animals in the Children's zoo because they were too close but he did enjoy the bears, monkeys, elephant and rhinos that were in the outside exhibits. I think maybe next time I might try the inside exhibits again:) We had a great time with Melissa, Joey, Michael, Becky and Mia.

Busy...Busy...Busy

The family after running the 5K race! Payton & Mommy
Payton & a friend at Hailey's party

Hailey and Payton

Chillin' at Aunt Jen's

We have managed to keep ourselves very busy over here:) Over the weekend we participated in the annual Heart For Life 5K with our ISU friends, thanks to Becky who organizes it every year. This year we walked for Becky's dad and some of our friends even had special t-shirts made for us all in honor of him and what a wonderful man he was.

After the run Payton, my mom & I headed out to Indiana for Hailey's 6th birthday party. We had a great time but poor Payton wanted to go into the pool so badly and his mean mommy didn't want to be the only adult parading around in her bathing suit. Where are the dads and grandpas when you need them?

On Monday I got to experience life with three kids for a couple of hours while my sister worked a summer camp. It went very smoothly and thank God the kids were on their best behavior. I think I could do that, well...maybe!

Tomorrow we have our last music class of the summer and on Thursday we head out to the zoo with Becky, Melissa and their kids.

Friends

Future bride and groom (Payton and Francesca) Stealing a kiss
Playgroup

Sorry these blogs are getting rather boring but here are a few pictures of Payton with his many friends. We spent Tuesday afternoon with Francesca and Emily and then on Wednesday we had music class and the playgroup came over for some pool time!

Father's Day!

Papa with the Grandchildren! The stone we made for Papa with the kids' handprints

We had a great Father's Day! We spent the first half of the day at Nana and Papa's house playing with Jolie and Emmett then we came home and relaxed before going for a bike ride out to Oberweis. Payton of course loved his ice cream and managed to eat it ALL! Sorry for all of the posts! Payton is taking a nap which is going on three hours so I finally have some time to do this:)

Fun with friends!

Emily and FrancescaPayton and Hayden playing in the pool

On Wednesday we had some friends over. Kerri and Austin, Emily and Francesca and Megan and Hayden came over to play. Payton and Hayden are the same age and it was funny to watch them enter into a new stage when playing, fighting over toys! I eventually had to take a toy away from both of them in order to stop the cyring! Here are some pictures. I didn't get one of Austin and Kerri so I will post one of those soon:)

Emmett's Dedication

Payton riding on Jolie's bike through the sprinklers!
Playing with his cousin Nora in the kitchen

Emmett getting dedicated

Both sets of Grandparents with Emmett

We had Emmett's dedication ceremony and party on Saturday. It was a VERY hot day but we had a great time. Payton was having so much fun he wouldn't take a nap! Poor Graham had to deal with his rath that evening while I spent an enjoyable night out to dinner with my high school friends:)

Another HOT day!

Jolie giving Payton a kiss (which she loves to do:) Drinking the water from the water table
Saying "cheese" to Aunt Jen

Yelling "wa-wa", which means water!

Splashing in the water

We have had a busy week so far! We started music class with Emily and Francesca on Wednesday mornings. Payton was a bit shy and stood by the door most of the time. He did, however, participate when musical instruments were involved. I am hoping that next week he will join in some more:) Today we went to Jen's to visit Jolie and Emmett. Payton is in the middle of transitioning to one nap so he was pretty crabby by the end of the day but we still had a blast. Jolie and Payton played in the water table and Payton ended up soaked from head to toes! It is so much fun to watch Jolie and Payton interact and actually play together. Emmett will be there soon! Tomorrow we are getting together with some friends and their kids at our house. We plan on putting the pool out and trying to stay cool on another one of our 90 degree days!

Schoooooool's out for the summer!

Today was my last day at work. It was a short half day and it couldn't come quick enough! After I picked up Payton we played in the pool for most of the afternoon. It was hard to say goodbye to our babysitter, Donna because she has been so good to us this year. We really got lucky when we found her and Payton just adores her! He will be so much bigger in a couple of months when he goes back:) We have a busy week planned so there will be many posts I am sure!

Payton with Donna

Jumping, jumping and more jumping!

This weekend we went to Francesca's first birthday party and they had a really cool jumping toy that Payton just loved!! He would cry every time we would take him out of it:) Here are a few pics of him in the jumpy and a few random ones from today!