He's Growing!

Someone got a big boy bed today!

A Weekend in Jersey

*Josh and Tyler during our stop midway*

This past weekend, Josh and I went on a road trip. All by ourselves. I will admit to being slightly apprehensive about making the 5 1/2 hour drive to Philadelphia all by myself. But I put on my adventurous face and we left home just the two of us. Thankfully I have a friend who lives in between here and there, so we were able to break the trip into two chunks, stopping for lunch and a quick visit. (Thanks Steph!)

My friend Ashleigh and her family moved back to New Jersey right after we had graduated, about seven years ago. She's been back to NY a couple times to visit, but the only time I have ever been there was when she got married about 2 1/2 years ago. And although it was so nice to see her and her family then, it didn't make for a very good time to visit. So after seven years, I finally was able to get myself together enough to visit. And now that I've done it, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. After all, it really only cost me a tank of gas to get there and back, and since I had someone to stay with, I didn't have the extra expense of a hotel. I'm already thinking of going back next year...

The original purpose of going to visit Ashleigh and her family was the annual Duffers for Davin golf tournament, which was to be held on Monday. That was the incentive for me to go. But Sunday was also Ashleigh's sister Bethany's birthday. Which was a total blast and a half. They made a slip n' slide which we spent most of the afternoon on. Josh's nap went out the window and he went down the slip n' slide instead of down to sleep. How could he sleep when we were having so much fun?!? And I think I am much too old to be sliding down a slip n' slide. My stomach hurts and I have bruises everywhere. Sticks and bumpy ground didn't help to much, but still, I am 24 not 14...

The golf tournament was fun too, but I was nervous that Josh would misbehave, especially since it would be such a long day. He surprised me though and was so well behaved. He played nicely with all the cousins and greeted the golfers when they came by the Putting Contest, where we were camped out. Josh loved all the golf carts and wanted to ride them, until he was actually offered a ride, then he chickened out. He's so funny. I really was so proud of him, because he was so well behaved.

Anywho, enjoy the following photos of our slippery day... Don't get too jealous. You could make one of your own, you know!*Kevin (Ashleigh's husband) trying the slip n' slide out*

*Josh giving it a go!*

*This is called a "people train", where we all hold hands and go down at once.*

*Bethany H., Myself, and Ashleigh~ Yeah, it was fun.**The whole lot of us. Are we too old for this stuff?*

Cuttin' the Grass

Our neighbor has this old lawn mower parked next to his garage. It's Josh's new favorite place to play. He calls it the "broken tractor". Our neighbor gave Josh permission to ride it and the little guy is out there every chance he can get. I wouldn't blame him, really. After all, the tractor has enough knobs and levers to keep any boy occupied "mowing the grass" for hours. "Hey Josh! I think you missed a spot!"

Holding Still... Or Not

He squirmed, he wriggled, he ran, he giggled. He tried his best to get away. Do you know how hard it is to get a small boys' photograph? He won't look at the camera. He closes his eyes. He slouches over. His sweatshirt covers his face. He turns around. You get the idea, right? Maybe you don't really. Then you need some pictures as a demonstration.
But I finally grabbed him and squeezed him close. He couldn't get away this time. Can you tell by the looks of my hair that I had had quite a time of getting him to hold still? He's a funny kid.

A Delicious Proposition

What do you say? Strawberry shortcake anyone? The berries are fresh from my garden. I planted them last year and this year get to reap the rewards. Deliciousness.

Reminds me of how sometimes we have to wait on the Lord, but He always has our best interests in mind. *sigh* What a good God we serve.

Summer Pasttimes

I've been a bit distracted this week... by facebook. It's such a shame.

Last weekend we had such a blast. We decided rather last-minute that we were going to have a "bon" fire and invite some friends over. It was the most relaxing way to have company. We provided the s'mores and some chairs. The turnout was great (unlike our last party). There were just enough little people to keep each other occupied, though there was a "designated" babysitter. Em brought the ladder ball, which we (mostly I) broke. Though with a bit of electrical tape, it still had some life it in. Maybe I'll find her a new one at a garage sale... One friend brought some sparklers, which brought back memories from my childhood. We used to have them every July 4th at Grandma's house. They were so much fun. Josh thought they were fun too, though we had to remind him that it didn't go near his face... I wish I had gotten a picture, he was so fun to watch. He and his friend Jane played late into the night while we talked around the fire. Good times. I think it should be a monthly summer occurrence.

Toronto: Day #2

Adam and I had only planned to go to two different places while in Toronto. The rest we were just going to "wing it". We had planned to go to the CN Tower and the Toronto Zoo. We thought Josh would really enjoy all the animals at the zoo. We left our hotel early, paid for parking, and drove off to find somewhere to eat breakfast before heading to the zoo. Hotel breakfast was just too expensive. We have this handy GPS, but let me reiterate lesson #1: Do not rely on a GPS when looking for a restaurant. The restaurant we were looking for was nonexistent but thankfully just around the corner was a hopeful looking place. The George Street Diner was just the spot for breakfast. It was small and quaint and reminded me of someplace from the 50's. There were maybe 6-7 booths and a counter lined with bar stools. The cook was cooking right behind the counter and the place was filled with patrons except for two stools at the counter. We stood awkwardly at the door for a few seconds before a thin, black man with a heavy accent started waving us in and calling us to come in, sit down, and relax. We weren't sure what to make of it because he was sitting at the counter next to the two empty stools, but Josh didn't hesitate as long as we did. He went right up to the man with the accent, climbed up onto the stool and sat there as is they had been friends for a long time. I would've been nervous, except that we were right there... Adam and I eventually decided that we'd go sit down with Josh and the very friendly guy at the counter proceeded to tell us how he was a sailor and had traveled the world, but Canada was the most beautiful country he'd ever seen. Then he bid us farewell, picked up his coffee and was gone. He was the most colorful character we met while in Toronto... literally. :) Anyway, our breakfast there was delicious enough to recommend the place to anyone who is going to or lives in Toronto. Don't you think it's cute too?

On to the Zoo... Sunday was a good day for free parking. Twice actually. Toronto has free parking from 9am to 1pm on Sunday mornings, so we parked for free at breakfast time. AND we found a spot to park for free at the Toronto Zoo too! We had to walk a bit farther, but it was well worth the $10 savings. While the zoo was fun, we weren't sure if we really loved it. The grounds were sprawled out over 700 acres and there were over 1,000 animals. There were miles of paths and even a mini water park at the Kidzoo. One has to ride the Zoo mobile to even see half of the animals and I think it was well worth spending the extra money on the Zoo mobile passes. It was a hot, sunny day and we had forgotten to bring sunscreen. A kind family let us use some of their sunscreen for Josh, who is so pale that he was sure to be a lobster by the end of the day, had it not been for their kindness. Though I am pretty sure I turned into a lobster instead... Being at such a large, expansive zoo made Adam and I appreciate our smaller city zoo. We may not have every animal possible in our zoo, but it's compact size makes it good for walking with smaller children and you don't feel like you're missing out on half of the exhibits. We have decided that we should take Josh to The Seneca Park Zoo sometime this summer and then he could actually see the monkeys.

The last thing we managed to see before dusk settled upon us was the Eaton Centre, where we once again paid for parking. The Eaton Centre is a large, multi-leveled shopping "centre", right it the middle of Toronto. Adam thought maybe he'd buy some sunglasses, but seeing as he is still wearing mine, I guess he didn't find any to suit him... The mall really was just that. A really big mall. With a three-story H & M inside...

Just two more things about our trip home. We booked out of the hotel, only to find out that the parking rate and more than doubled over-night when the weekend turned into the weekday. Adam nearly blew a sprocket when he was charged $26 for using the parking lot over night. Lesson #2: Next time we go to a big city, get acquainted with the public transportation system. Or ride a bike. And I nearly blew a sprocket when we waited an hour and a half in line to get back over the border, when I knew we could've crossed at Fort Erie with little to no wait. But all in all, it was a very fun weekend. We should travel again sometime.

A Weekend Excersion: Part 1

We spent this last weekend in Toronto, just me, Josh, and Adam. Though this internationally-known city is just over four hours away, I had never before visited it. I had mentioned visiting Toronto a few different times to Adam and he finally decided that we could go. We only had two days to see all that we could see, but I think it was enough with a

The very first thing we did in Toronto (besides pay for parking) was to see the CN tower. We went up to the main floor and checked out the view... Pretty cool! Sad thing was that I thought I had forgotten my camera at home, as I couldn't find it in our suitcase. Thankfully my cell phone has a camera, so I was still able to get a few pictures. We stood on the glass floor and felt the wind whip around our bodies when we peered out over the city, but we did not eat at the fancy revolving restaurant. The view was magnificent.

After the CN Tower, we happened upon a train exhibit right across the street at The Steamwhistle Brewery. It was at the original train station, which had a real round-about. Everything was free and we were able to get inside a real steam engine and a caboose, and check out some other engines and train cars. There was a mini train chugging around the grounds that we were able to ride. Josh insisted that we ride it twice, which of course we did, because it was free. Josh had a marvelous time and thoroughly enjoyed everything about the trains. He was even given a train whistle by one of the guys on the train. He very promptly put that to use on our mini-train ride. Great fun. It's funny, cause I looked up The Steamwhistle's website, but it's all about beer and we were totally not there for beer! We were there because something really cool was going on with all these trains!

I'm amazed at how much we fit into the day on Saturday, because our day didn't stop there!
We also managed to get over to the St. Lawrence Market before it reached 3pm. After paying for more parking, we tucked our now-snoozing boy into his stroller and roamed the market. I always enjoy the public market in Rochester and this one was even more enjoyable, except for the fact that I really couldn't buy much. Adam and I shared the most delicious homemade cheese ravioli with tri-colored sauce (highly recommended!) and found a couple goodies at a bakery for our lunch. We also purchased some delicious honey from New Zealand. Josh slept marvelously the whole time, though we made sure to get him something to eat for when he woke up.

We then found our hotel, paid for more parking, and then proceeded to The Distillery District, where we paid for even more parking. The Distillery District is an artsy area with galleries, shops, restaurants, studios, and more stuff good for browsing. Unfortunately, a lot of the shops were closed by the time we arrived, though we did get to take a peek in a few places. By now, Josh was cranky, Adam was hungry, and I wanted homemade ice cream. We did manage to find somewhere to eat on location, though Josh was the most restless he has ever been while out to eat. He was pretty horrible. It was embarrassing...

We spent the rest of our evening trying to find someplace to eat ice cream. Lesson learned #1: Do not rely on a G.P.S. when it comes to finding a Dairy Queen or any other restaurant. After two+ hours, we finally landed in China Town, where we saw a Dairy Queen and satisfied our ice cream craving.

In order to keep from boring you, I leave you here. More to come shortly.