Santa's Arrival

Botanical Garden and Mills Mall

Saturday, July 18th, we went to the Botanical Garden. They were having a Healthy You, Healthy Planet Festival.
At the Kid's Corner, Kaitlynn made some chex mix / trail mix, decorated a sock puppet and started on a bead bracelet.
We went through the Climatron and then to the Children's Garden. Before entering the Children's Garden, there was another kid's station set up with crafts. Kaitlynn made a caterpillar and a sail boat.
We went to the Children's Garden where Kaitlynn ran around and played until she saw Finn the frog. She does not like costumed characters at all. They totally freak her out.
Here is a video of Kaitlynn and daddy playing the xylophone.

She was very excited to feed the koi fish. Here's a video of Kaitlynn and daddy feeding them.


After the Garden, we picked up MawMaw and went to the Mills Mall. Kaitlynn is in the kid's club and they were having a Safe Summer Event. There was a firetruck outside the mall that the kids could climb in. Kaitlynn said she was scared of it. She met a few firemen, got a fire chief hat, stickers, and a sucker. She also got an ice cream bowl and spoon and a rubber duckie.
The kids's activity was making a bug jar. Kaitlynn was too interested in eating her sucker, so MawMaw put the stickers on the bug jar. It was a super cute idea. Kaitlynn is interested in lightning bugs now, but is afraid to hold them. So now she can examine them without holding them.
After eating lunch and walking around the mall, we went into Cabella's. We love going into that store because of the awesome displays. Kaitlynn loved the Albino Catfish. She kept saying "come here, baby."

Mini Chef

Saturday Dave, Kaitlynn and I went to the Mills Mall for a kidgits event called Mini Chefs. After checking in, Kaitlynn got to spin the wheel. She won a dolphin and got to choose between pink and purple. She chose pink. Then we started the activities. First Kaitlynn made a licorice bracelet.
Then she decorated a cookie, using white frosting and M&Ms.

Yummy!

Kaitlynn decorated an apron.

Lastly, she made a lollipop flower. We walked around the mall.

Kaitlynn had fun getting on and off of the rides.

We went into Tilt to get Kaitlynn's gift for being a kid's club member. She got a princess rubber ducky.

We finished the mall event by having a blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Kaitlynn took a nap in the car on the way home. We got things ready to go to Jill, Emil and Nick's.

Kaitlynn and Nick played in his kiddie pool and on his swing set. Kaitlynn had fun swinging him.

We ate dinner and enjoyed some great conversation.

Spending Time with MawMaw and MawMaw Tommie

My Aunt Tommie came in to stay with my mom for the weekend on Wednesday the 10th. Kaitlynn refers to her as MawMaw Tommie when she sees a picture of her or you ask her who she is.

Kaitlynn and I went to my mom's on Wednesday. My mom, Tommie, Kaitlynn and I went to the Mills Mall. We shopped at Children's Place, Gymboree and a few other stores. We ate dinner at Chevy's and Kaitlynn played at the play area.

Thursday Kaitlynn, my mom, Tommie, Auggie, Elliott and I went to the Zoo. We got there around lunch time, so we ate lunch first.

Then we went to pet the stingrays. They were splashing water all over the place. Kaitlynn got pretty scared about that and was ready to go. Of course, we couldn't leave Caribbean Cove without MawMaw buying Kaitlynn a stingray (or two)!

We saw the brown bears, prairie dogs, big cats, zebras, and giraffes.

Auggie and Elliott got in the mister, but Kaitlynn changed her mind.

While my mom, Auggie and Elliott went into the Herpetarium, Kaitlynn, Tommie and I stayed outside.

Kaitlynn loved posing for pictures.

We saw a mommy peacock and her baby.

We saw the sea lions and went through the Jungle of the Apes. My mom, Kaitlynn and Auggie rode the Carousel and then we called it a day.

Friday night my mom and Tommie watched Kaitlynn so that Dave and I could have a date night. We went to the Shakespeare Festival to see the play The Merry Wives of Windsor. We have gone almost every year since we started dating (June 16, 2002). In fact our first date was the Shakespeare Festival. The play was A Midsummer Night's Dream. The only year we missed besides the first year (in 2001) was last year because of my dad's passing away. We really look forward to going. It's a real experience. We got great seats (bring your own blanket or chairs). We were close to the stage and could really enjoy the play. It was so nice being out as a couple.