Whirlwind Summer

The Bride & her partner in crime!

Happy Bride & Groom, just married

Froelich's...of course!

I barely remember what happened this summer since it was so jam packed with work and travel, but we sure did have fun. We started off with a trip to Utah in June, followed by a trip to St. Louis for work in July, and then a girl's weekend in Minneapolis that was capped with Joe and Gavin picking me up so we could stay with family in the Twin Cities for a couple of days. At the end of July we headed for Starved Rock State Park where we met up with some of our dearest friends who were visiting from California.

August found me traveling to Anaheim for the annual Southern California Harvest Crusade, and then Joe and I turned around three days later and flew to Portland, Oregon for another close friend's wedding in Hood River (and yes, I was a bridesmaid).

It was all amazing, and we haven't had a summer like this since we were married. Maybe that's because my husband usually has a job during the summer, but still, we were grateful for the time to be together as we traveled the U.S.

Fun with Nicole

Yes, Nicole, you made my blog! :)

We miss Nicole now that she's moved to Nashvegas, but it sure was fun seeing her when she was in town over Labor Day. Gavs particularly delighted in seeing her very special "fishy face."

By the way, can you guess where we are in this photo?

Precocious

My little toddler boy is a big talker. He may be somewhat reserved, but he is not shy, and he'll speak up when spoken to. If he's comfortable around you, he'll talk for a very long time. In fact, he's been known to talk non-stop for an hour in the car. At 10 p .m. when he should be sleeping. What does he like to talk about, you may wonder. Here's a random sampling:

His current passion is for all things Veggie Tales. He has seen a couple of the television episodes, but more importantly, he owns the "Church Songs" CD and listens to it every day. The little guy even sleeps with the Veggie Tales CD cover and movie jacket. Every night. And he talks about Veggie Tales non-stop. In fact, he has asked us to call him Larry the Cucumber, and at least a dozen times a day he says to me, "Mommy, my names is Larry."

He asks a lot of questions. Tonight was a good example. As Joe tucked him into bed (for the third time), Gavs rattled off a litany of questions: "Daddy, are you funny? I'm funny." "Is sheepie a nickname for my sheep?" "Is Mucho here? I don't like Mucho (his imaginary arch nemesis)."

He talks to his stuffed animals about what he did during the day. I love eavesdropping on these conversations that Gavin has with his friends since I often hear him telling them things that I'm sure he learned by watching us and the Wonder Pets. Things about going to sleep, reading books, not hitting, and the importance of team work.

Those phrases from the Wonder Pets pop up during dinner conversation, as well. Tonight I told him he could choose two animal crackers from the tub after he ate his dinner and with hand poised over the open bin he said, "Here's my chance!"

He has an opinion about everything. Yesterday I asked him if I could have a hug and he told me, no. I then asked him if I could have a kiss and he said, "Maybe tomorrow." You have to respect that he knows what he wants.

He's a funny little kid.

Catching Up

What happened to the summer? It always disappears so quickly and this year I don't even have the photos posted to prove we had one. But don't dispair, my five blog readers! Photos are coming soon, as soon as I get them all downloaded from my husband's computer.

I feel like I should be documenting Gavin a little more carefully on my blog so I remember these funny, annoying, tiring, exasperating two-year-old toddler days. I liken this age to a dealing with a woman with severe PMS, every day, all day. One moment the boy is cuddly and saying things like, "I love you, Mommy. I want to rub your back." (cute, right?) to, "Don't LOOK at me! No, Mommy--you don't sing my songs!" Oy. The changes are constant.

We are really getting a kick out of all this new interaction, though. I'm trying to write down the funny little phrases like, "A memory is where the people live." This kid is either very deep or is picking up some sort of subliminal message from watching too many episodes of Wonder Pets.

Gavs also speaks very "formally." When I ask him, for instance, if that is milk he is holding he replies, "Why yes, it is." If I ask him if he would like to go outside he says, "Yes. I would." All very cute and charming.

I could blather on all day about how funny this little guy is.