Helping Daddy

Jack has become very helpful lately. He is always reminding me to vacuum by bringing me every crumb he can find off of the floor. He always grabs his vacuum when one of us is vacuuming. He also helps us move furniture (we often move our sectional when vacuuming). He has also found out where most things are supposed to go, and I can hand him something and ask him to put it away....and he actually WILL! It is awesome. 

He also got hold of my brush yesterday and was walking around brushing his hair. This is a definite sign to us that he is watching and learning. What a smart kid!

Awesome Spray Park

We heard about this spray park at the beginning of the summer, but for one reason or another, just never made it out there. It's last day for the year is on Monday, so we decided we should probably try it out before it closed. It was super awesome. It is free (you just have to bring water shoes, and they start turning people away after they have more than 250 people or so). It was a warm day, so it was perfect! They even have a toddler section.

It had lots of different kinds of sprayers, and buckets that dump, and decorative ships. 

Jack liked getting wet, but only if one of us was close. If we held his hand, then he would just run in circles under different fountains.

This was one of the water tables. Jack loved spinning these stars.

Hi Ho Hi Ho!

The doctor has finally decided to send Tony back to work. (He said that if he was in a daycare situation, or a similar one, he still wouldn't, but where he is at a desk job, he should be ok). It is also good timing as far as viruses go, for going back to work. There aren't too many going around in September. His official back to work day is Sept 4th. He says it is bitter sweet. He is excited to begin work again, but he will miss being able to be home with Jack and me. But yeah, we figure if he is well enough to play at the beach, he is well enough to go back to work. His work is going to let him work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays to save him from the tiring commute. They have been so wonderful through all of this. I don't think we would have made it without them. They sure removed a lot of the stress. Thanks Ernst & Young!

Bethany Beach (Picture Overload)

We got to head to the beach with the Gibbs this week. (Bethany Beach is in Deleware. It is one of the closest beaches to where we live and they have family with a house close to the beach there). We headed out Wednesday morning. 

This was a very cool bridge that we got to cross. It is interesting (and smart). They only have the toll going one way. I guess they just double the toll and assume you have to come back at some point. So they only make you pay to cross the one way. That way, they only have to make one booth, and only need half the amount of employees. 

And this is Tony, so excited to be able to drive again!

 Jack got a little taste of the beach back in Utah, but this was his first (walking) experience at the ocean. Here he is posing with his new shades. (Thanks Colin for giving Jack the sunglasses).

 I think Jack was very surprised to find out that the water would come to him. He loved it!

Here are the Gibbs, getting their first taste of the water.  It was chilly at first, but then it wasn't too bad once you got used to it.

My brave little man!

 He was so fascinated by the water, the boats, and the ad planes flying overhead. It was really hard to get him to look at the camera.

And here are the Gibbs going farther out in the water. 

It was a very sunny day, so Tony did his best to stay out of the sun. Jack had refused a nap on the way up, so you can kind of see in these pictures how tired he was after playing on the beach. And below, you can see how he took his late cat nap on my lap. The sound of the waves put him right to sleep.

 The girls loved playing in the sand. 

And then we ended the day with some awesome card games (which I of course won) :) We taught the Gibbs how to play a family favorite: Hand and Foot.

We spent the next day playing games, and shopping. We also got to go to a very delicious Chinese restaurant that strongly reminded me of Mandarin Garden (where I worked in College). I was able to have Moo Shu Pork. Very exciting!

And Jack came along with us to the outlet malls. He liked climbing up on all the quarter rides. This one was his favorite. We were able to get a star trek board game and some awesome mario pull back racing cars. (we got Yoshi, Toad, and Donkey Kong). 

While we were waiting for a table at the restaurant, we went into a General Dollar store. We got Jack his first skateboard, which was followed directly by his first skateboard injury. (Probably not the last). He loves his skateboard. (He found one in walmart that was 30 dollars and was heartbroken when we had to leave, then he found one at one of the outlet malls that was 70 dollars, and we had the same scenario. So when we found this one for $7.50, we decided it was a keeper.

The next day was another beach day. It was super overcast and a little cold. We didn't make it out until almost 4, so the UV rays weren't quite so strong. That way, Tony was able to play with us more. 

 Jack loved playing in the waves with his Daddy. Sorry about the picture overload, but I just love my boys. Aren't they awesome! It was amazing how much more Jack wanted to do since he was well rested (we left for the beach pretty quickly after his nap).

 Everyone had fun even though the weather was a little chilly in comparison to our previous beach day. 

Jack was playing in the sand and we kept saying his name to try and make him look up at the camera. This was the face he gave us. "Leave me alone. Can't you see I am playing?"

The Gibbs were awesome and kept an eye on Jack so that Tony and I could boogie board together. We haven't done that since 2009.

And then I switched back to camera man! Eliza got really good at surfing the waves on her board.

And Tony enjoyed finally being able to play in the water. He has missed the water a lot this past year and a half.

At some point while boogie boarding Eliza and Tony collided and he got a battle wound on his elbow. 

 The Gibbs know how to have fun playing in the waves! Everyone had a good time.

 Jack and tony playing in the sand. It took Jack a little while to get used to the sand, but he learned pretty quickly that he could play in it.

 Daddy burying Jack in the sand.






Below: Jack saw a plane, and I was in his way, so he was trying to lean over to get a better view.

Such a cutie, and such a good sport.

 Warming up!

And when the boogie boards were all being used, I discovered that you can technically surf the waves in an inner tube. 

Tony wanted to be just like Bourne, running on the beach.  He is such a stud!

And here is Jack showing us how to "Use the force!" His is already a Star Wars fan and he doesn't even know it.

On our final day, we packed up and celebrated Sylvia's birthday! She got to go to the beach early with her grandpa and find shells. 

Then we ate some deliciously colorful cake and set out on the road. Thanks for the fun trip guys!

(Jack was a super good boy and slept a lot of the drive home)