Adventureland

First, a picture that I totally did not set up. This was on Thursday, and Zach was laying on the couch with his new beach towel, and Drew climbed up on top of him and just made himself comfortable. It was sweet.

We had a great weekend. Friday night we went over to our friends' house to grill and hang out. BJ and Susan have 2 daughters, Anna and Lucy, and they used to live next to us. Just about a year ago they moved, and now they live 5 or 6 blocks away. Not far, but far enough that we don't get to see them nearly as often as we did when they lived next door. Our friends/neighbors Brad, Molly, and Cooper went, too. The 6 of us adults have always had fun together and we used to hang out a lot more. It was a really great time hanging out. Everybody had a blast. Zach was happy to see his friend Anna again, and Drew loved playing with Anna's toys. I didn't have my camera along, but thankfully Susan got some good pictures!

Here's Cooper cracking up his mom.

Here are the little buddies- Zach and Anna. Anna is about 2 and a half. When we got to Anna's house, Zach and Anna disappeared down in the playroom. We didn't hear from them until we told them it was time to eat.

Saturday morning the boys were very cooperative when I asked them to sit on the stairs for a picture. Lately Zach's into this thing where he wants to be like Drew. If Drew's wearing his dog pajamas, Zach wants to wear his dog pajamas. If Drew is done eating, then so is Zach, even if he has lots of food left on his plate. It's very interesting to me. I imagine this will change over the next year or so, and Drew will be the one wanting to be exactly like Zach, though I've definitely started to notice some of that already, too. I really love this picture.

After I took the first picture, I asked Drew if he could snuggle Zach, and this is what he did. This is the same thing he does in the shopping cart when we're getting groceries on Mondays. He is really starting to want to snuggle Zach a lot, and thankfully, Zach lets him, and even seems to enjoy it.

Late Saturday morning, after Mike finished a conference call he had to do, we packed up the boys, dropped Drew off at Grandma Cynthia and Grandpa Kevin's house, and Mike, Zach, and I headed over to Adventureland. I have never been to Adventureland before, and it's been a long time since I've been to any amusement park, so I was excited. It was a gorgeous day- upper 70's and not humid- not the typical end of July day in the midwest. Apparently the a/c in the back of the car was too cool, though, because Zach said en route, "It feels like winter back here!"

Zach is big enough now that he can go on many rides with a parent, which makes it fun. We started the day on the Galleon, which is a big boat that sweeps from side to side. I like to call it the Sea Dragon, because that's what it is at the amusement park in Denver where I grew up. Anyway, Zach liked it right away because of the pirate theme, but then it got going, and we weren't so sure. He had kind of an unsure look on his face and said afterwards, "I'm never going on this ride again. It makes my tummy go too fast!" But then he said he would go on it again.

We did not take our camera, so I had to take pictures on my phone. Please excuse the quality. Here's Zach enjoying one of the kiddie rides- boats going around in a circle. Funny how fun those rides are for kids, even though they're all the same- they go around and around and around, and that's about it.

And another ride where he went around and around and around. Big surprise he chose the fire engine!


Here are Zach and Mike enjoying the bumper cars. I've hated bumper cars since I was little, so I was more than happy to let the boys do this one on their own. Even though the picture is blurry, you can see they still had a great time.

We ended the day on the log ride, which was a lot of fun. We put Mike in the front, and he got a nice load of cold water right in his lap. I was glad it wasn't me. We didn't make it to the water park portion of Adventureland because it was just getting to be a long day for Zach (and me!), and being just in the upper 70's with a slight breeze, I didn't really want to go on a bunch of water slides anyway. As we walked out of the park, I said something about how much fun it was being there. Zach said, "Yeah, it's always fun when I'm around." Humility is something we need to work on, apparently.

We then went and met Drew, Grandpa Kevin, and Grandma Cynthia at their house, and then went out for pizza with them, Aunt Katherine, and Katherine's friend Sam. It was a great Saturday!

Sunday was nice, too. We had a lazy morning and then I went for a run, which felt pretty good. Mike and the boys rode their bikes to Walgreen's and then to the park for some play time. After nap time, Zach and Mike went out to the golf course and Drew and I played around in the water table out back. Drew kept trying to put his face in the water, and he was successful much of the time.

Then the thought he'd try to stand in the bucket and lay on/in the water table. One time he sort of succeeded in laying in/on the table. The kid was drenched.

Zach had a blast at the golf course. He got to hit a ball into the water (someday he'll realize that's not a good thing), and some other golfer gave him a Mickey Mouse ball. He also enjoyed helping drive the golf cart.

This is something new the boys started doing during baths. Drew is pretty fearless in the water, which probably isn't a good thing. He loves laying on his tummy and putting his face in the water.

Monday morning Zach came into my room while I was still getting ready, and since he was still waking up, I told him to climb into my bed. He called Foudy up there, and they started snuggling. This totally reminds me of myself as a kid- I always wanted to snuggle our dogs on the bed, whether they wanted to or not. I don't think Foudy minded this, though.

And finally, two funny quotes from Zach today:

-I was telling Mike about a restaurant gift certificate I won from our library for turning in a sheet that said I read to Drew for 15 minutes every day from mid-June through August 1. Zach overheard me saying I won and asked me, "You won?! Where is your new pot that you won?" I said, "What? A pot?" Zach said, "Yeah, did you win your challenge and win a pot?" I've also been involved in a challenge this summer through the place where I work out, and Zach must have heard me say at one point that the winner "gets the pot."

-Today my friend Tyra stopped by to drop off a book she had borrowed. I was in the middle of getting the boys dressed and ready when she got here, so the boys were upstairs for a bit while she and I talked on the front porch. Zach had come down to see Tyra at one point, but he didn't have any pants on, so I sent him back upstairs. When I got back upstairs, they were just playing on my bed nicely, which was great. During dinner I was telling Mike this story, and I said how the boys were so good upstairs while I talked to Tyra. Zach happily chimed in, "Yeah, I was letting Drew play with my penis." Shocked, I said, "You what?!" as this was the first I'd heard of this. Zach giggled and said it was funny. I was glad I wasn't sitting at the table with him, because I was trying to stifle my own laughter. I guess I learned my lesson about leaving the boys alone for a few minutes. Next time I'll make sure they're both fully dressed!