The Accidental Boilermaker

What a busy weekend!  My parents and grandparents arrived Thursday. And then Meredith and Pat and Paul came Friday for Jameson's dedication at church. Friday was also my mom's birthday so after church we had cake, as decorated by Evelyn. Jameson doesn't seem to love party hats as much as his sister.  Or maybe he knew he wasn't getting any cake and was not happy about it. Evelyn had fun blowing bubbles outside. And helping Mimi snap green beans.  Didn't mean she was any more interested in eating them for dinner unfortunately. We also went to the splash pad on Saturday. Jameson had fun getting wet. Time to dry off and go home. So thankful that so many people were able to be present for Jameson's dedication.  It was a great weekend.

Our big camping trip with Ben, Amanda, Isaac, and Joshua was this weekend.  It was mostly a lot of fun, but at times very stressful too.  It was incredibly hot and Jameson did not sleep well at night. But Evelyn did great and seemed to have a wonderful time playing with her cousins.  So despite some rough patches, I'm not ready to give up on family camping. Evelyn and Jameson taking a little break after setting up camp. Pat and Paul came out to visit everyone Friday night. The campground was very family friendly.  There was a pool, a playground, and the jumping pillow.  Evelyn was afraid of the pillow at first, but after a few more tries, she conquered her fear. The water table was a lifesaver for kids.  They could play but still stay cool in the hot weather. I think Jameson had fun too and he handled the heat well.  If he only had slept better. Everyone was really excited to go on the barrel train ride. ...

Jameson is 6 months old!  He has not been sleeping real great the last week; staying up late and then waking up in the middle of the night.  Maybe it's a growth spurt. He can roll over both ways and pivot around on his stomach to reach toys.  He also sits up unassisted pretty well.   Jameson seems to love everyone, but he saves his best laughs for Evelyn.   This morning Jameson tried some sweet potatoes.  He was much more receptive to solid food than Evelyn ever was. At lunch, I'd put a little sweet potato on the spoon and just hand it to Jameson and he would "feed" himself. Yesterday I got a new-to-me (we found it on craigs list) double jogger.  It can also be used as a bike trailer.  We tested it out this morning and it was a success.  Evelyn was only pretending to be asleep.

Nate is in Dayton for a time trial so we went to the zoo to help the afternoon go faster and to tire everyone out.  Today Evelyn asked to see the tigers first but they weren't as active as they were last time. It was very hot this afternoon so I let Evelyn play in the Australian Outback water stream.  Of course she loved it.  Poor Jameson, stuck in the stroller.  While I know it will make my life more challenging, I am excited for him to be more mobile and able to play more during these outings. A peacock!  With its feathers displayed Evelyn seemed less afraid and more interested.  It may have helped that a nice older couple gave her a handful of food to feed the peacock and ducks.  I've had a string of people doing nice things for me.  Yesterday, the woman behind me in the checkout lane at Kroger helped me unload my cart and then the checkout employee gave Evelyn three free balloons.  I'll have to remember to pay it forw...

Meredith's bridal shower was Saturday.  Evelyn, Jameson, and I drove first to South Bend to pick up Meredith and then we all went to my parents' church for the shower. The week before the shower, out of the blue, Evelyn requested party hats.  I told my mom because I thought it was funny, but Oma delivered. Evelyn made fast friends with Sydney, Allison, and Alexis, her cousins three times (?) removed. Sydney and Evelyn really hit it off.  Sydney taught Evelyn how to play ring around the rosy. Jameson though was everyone's favorite. This is one of the few times I held him.  Otherwise he was just passed around the party. Jameson with Aunt Gloria. Jameson and my cousin Elena. Jameson with Alexis. My Mimi with her sisters, my Aunt Gloria and Aunt Martha. I found these mint favors on pinterest and wanted to make them for the shower.  I think they turned out really nice.  After the shower we dr...

Tonight we went to a Jim Gill concert at the library. I didn't realize this but apparently many of the songs we do at story time come from Jim Gill.  I just thought the concert sounded like something Evelyn would like.  And she really did.  His songs are very interactive and silly but also educational.  Plus he had this amazing accordion player accompanying him. Jameson was a little unsure of everything at the beginning and the music was a bit loud.  But once we moved to the back of the crowd, he relaxed and enjoyed the show.

We went back to the zoo today.  This time Nate met us after work. It was hot, but not very crowded.  We saw the animals we missed last time and then showed Nate the fishes and sting rays.  Those exhibits are new and weren't open last summer.  Evelyn is still afraid of the peacocks.  Her first words when we arrived at the zoo were "No peacocks."

Nate and Evelyn camped out in the backyard last night.  It was practice for when we go camping later in the month.  It's hard to describe how excited Evelyn was; she'd been looking forward to sleeping in the tent all week. We came home from church and while I put Jameson to bed, Evelyn and Nate set up the tent.  Then Evelyn got to enjoy some trail mix before she helped Nate catch fireflies.  She also got to play with a few sparklers.  But really, she seemed most excited to just have her very own flashlight.