End of Summer

The last month or so of the summer was so fun!

We went to Red Robbin with Kim and Darrell and had the yummiest burgers!  Jake DEVOURED a ton of all of our plates, including the fries.

We had a lot of fun at parks around Columbus.

Jake went to his first birthday party at a fire department.  I think Andrew I found the fire truck tour as interesting as he did!

Jake is getting more interested in all his toys, playing with them by himself for quite awhile.  He especially loves anything that lights up and makes lots of noise.

We played on the porch- Jake's favorite.

We visited the library a lot.

Jake is getting much better at block stacking- and destroying.  He can even say "blocks" now.

He can officially color without eating the crayons!  I thought that day would never come!

We fed the missionaries A LOT.  About weekly.  We got to know Elder Strong and Elder Mallory pretty well.

Our little grouch loves the trash can we got for baby girl's room.

And Jake's favorite thing the past week or two has been blowing dandelion seeds.  We've been going on lots of walks and he grins and does the goofiest excited laugh when we pick them for him.

We also got to go to Dayton to see Kim finish her marathon.  Actually, she ran faster than we had anticipated, so we waited .2 miles from the finish line for about 50 minutes before realizing she had already finished. The poor girl was just sitting and waiting for us to find her :(  But we were SO proud of her!

Jake was NOT excited for Andrew to start back to school, but his schedule this semester is awesome, especially for welcoming a baby home soon (hopefully tomorrowish :) )  He isn't taking any courses, so he spends his time mostly researching for his dissertation and teaching.  We get to see a lot more of him, which Jake and I both love.  Life is going great, and I can't wait for our family of 3 to meet the 4th member!

Columbus Zoo

Aside from our king-sized bed with a great mattress, I think our best purchase has been zoo passes.  Ohh how we love going to the zoo.  We spend so many mornings there!

We have passes that allow us into the water park as well as the zoo, which also have a few extra perks- the ones we use the most are touching the sting rays and riding the rides.  Jake is just barely tall enough to ride the kiddie rides, so late this summer he experienced "carnival" type rides for the first time.  We weren't sure if he liked them or not during the rides, but he cried when we pulled him off, so he must have enjoyed it.

We do know, however, that Jake does NOT like the merry-go-round.  I'm not sure why, but every time we pass it, he points and gets excited.  However, every time we drag him on, the poor kid is as nervous as can be.

For how much Jake loves running around, he does GREAT in his stroller for up to 3 hours or so at the zoo!  It's fun that this summer he started noticing the animals, and even knows what noises a handful of them make.  It is so fun to watch him learn, grow, and discover new things!

We typically go to the zoo about weekly, but now that I'm trying to get this baby girl to come, it's been more like 3 times a week!  We speed-see a lot of it, stopping only when the animals are active.  Lots and lots of walking, but unfortunately still no baby!

Jake's absolute favorite area of the zoo is the playground.  It really is quite impressive.  And unlike most other playgrounds, there's an area that's the perfect size for him.

We love the zoo- hopefully one of these days my water will break or contractions will start as we hurry through the exhibits!  Either way, it's a great way to spend our mornings.

Water Fun

We definitely got our money's worth this summer with our season passes to Zoombeezi Bay, the water park attached to the Columbus Zoo.  Jake and I spent countless hours going around and around the lazy river.  We also spent a lot of time in the kids area, letting Jake go down slides and splash around.

Jake hated swimming at the beginning of the summer.  It was a chore to keep him anywhere even close to the water.  However, by the end of the season, he was running in by himself, putting his face in the water, and crying when we left rather than when we arrived at the water park.

We had a lot of fun on days that Andrew was able to come, as well as my mom, who also bought a season pass.  One day at the end of the summer, we even had my sister Kim, brother-in-law Darrell, and both my parents with us.  That was definitely Andrew's favorite day because he had people to ride the slides with.  It's no fun being pregnant and stricken to the "boring" areas where you can't get hurt.  And it's no fun being married to someone who can't ride the slides either!  Next summer :)

We also had fun visiting splash pads when the water park closed for the summer.

Jake made an AWFUL "water park face" at the beginning of the summer when we'd drag him on the lazy river.  Ohhh how we loved laughing as he looked like he swallowed a lemon.  The splash pad brought it out as well, and I actually caught it on camera.  Silly kid!

I'm so glad we were able to spend so much time in the sun this summer!

Baby Girl Craft

I completed my first Pinterest project that I found on my own.  I had done a couple of wreaths with my mom and sister before, but this time I actually logged in and looked for something on my own!  I'm not huge into Pinterest, but I wanted to do something cute and fun to decorate our little girl's room before she makes her grand appearance.

All I can say is NEVER AGAIN.  The instructions said it took a long weekend to work on, but it took me SO many hours.  Like 25+.  However, we're not rich by any means, and I bought the materials, so I HAD to finish.  She better appreciate these hanging pom-poms!

Goodbye to Pinterest for me.  And hot glue guns.  I might always have a mark on my thumb to remind me of the stupidity of taking on huge Pinterest projects.  Seriously, remind me to say no if I come across something else that looks like a "good" idea :)

Jake's Haircut Trauma

Jake hates getting haircuts.  I take him to Cookie Cutters, a children's haircutting place pretty close by that is super fun and friendly.  But he still FREAKS out.  From the second he gets put in that chair (it's even shaped like an airplane with a steering wheel) until the second he gets down, he screams and cries like we're torturing him.  I'm talking tears with hair chunks sticking to them running all down his face, along with snot all over the smock.  That means he ends up with the fastest haircut possible- a buzz.  I actually think the short buzz is cute because it makes him look more like Andrew, plus it leaves the most amount of time before we torture him again.