Fair Fun

I haven't been to the Monroe Fair in years but thought Keaton would be old enough this year to enjoy it.  He even dressed for the occasion wearing his John Deere tractor shirt.  I noticed right away that nothing changes at the fair from year to year (the same corn dog/cotton candy stand was in the same place as it was 20 years ago when I worked at it).

Brian came with us on Two Dollar Tuesday and good thing admission was only two dollars because we needed all our extra money for the fair rides.  I didn't think there would be more than one or two that Keaton could go on but he was just tall enough for quite a few.  He even went on his first roller coaster.  I thought the motorcycle would be the highlight but by that time in the day he was hot and tired and not looking too good..

 

I thought he would enjoy the animals since he tends to get more excited about domestic/common animals than he does the exotic ones at the zoo.  He thought the baby pigs were pretty great and fed them hay.  We saw a one day old goat which I thought was pretty cool.

 

 

The drive home turned out to not be very much fun....hot and over tired Keaton screamed the whole way from Monroe to Seattle.  I figured he would take a great nap but no nap.  Instead once we were home he got his second wind and was crazy for the rest of the day!  Two days later he told his dad about the animals and rides at the fair...not sure why it took him two days to bring it up...

 

Keaton's Funnest Week Ever

A few weeks ago it seemed it was one fun thing after another happening for this 2 year old.  He has been so into "playing trucks" on the car mat that Nana Tarr gave him that this was a nice change for me to do some different things :). 

We have been wanting to check out the Everett Children's museum for a long time and finally made the trek up there with Grandpa Morgan.  It was well worth it and better than the Seattle or Bellevue ones we have already visited.

 

We also went to the Pacific Science Center with "Uncle Brian."  Another place we have been wanting to check out and it also turned out to be a great place!  Keaton got to see his first movie, a 3-D IMAX show about butterflies. 

 

The same day we visited the Science Center I learned a very important lesson....open your child's mail before he does :).  When Keaton woke from his nap he opened his package and it was a really cool red car floaty for the pool from his Aunt Claudia (we walked by the Ferrari dealership earlier this summer and he was set on getting a White Ferrari so the note was that hopefully this will do until that Ferrari comes).  Of course he wanted to go swimming RIGHT NOW and mommy was tired from being at the Science Center all day...but we packed up our stuff and took the 2 minute drive down to the wading pool to try it out.  It was definitely the most fun he has had all summer at the wading pool.  He paddled around, filled it with water and even filled it with sand....and it still holds air and floats!

 

Then we got to go swimming at the Mount Lake Terrace pool with some cousins that were in town for the big birthday party.  I didn't get any pictures since I was too busy keeping an eye on this guy who thinks he knows how to swim.  The week ended with a birthday party for my Uncle Dennis. My dad's family has a tradition of having a big party when someone turns 65.  The 9th and last sibling turned 65 this summer.  Keaton never turns down a party...or cake!

 



Summer "Bucket List"

I created a summer "Bucket List" things I wanted to do this summer.  By mid-July I realized I hadn't accomplished much.  Luckily for Keaton (and Manny), they have a mommy who likes to stay busy and do lots of fun things...and a daddy who is usually willing to participate also :).

Not all these activities were on my initial summer bucket list but fun things are always popping up.  Here are a few of the things we've been up to the past few weeks:

SWIMMING!
We've learned that Keaton prefers real swimming pools to backyard plastic ones, community wading pools or spray parks.  Manny still hasn't been in the water yet this summer (he's been fighting some bodily rash issues...no need to go into detail).

GARDENING!
Our garden is growing...well sort of...we got a few green beans from it, which Keaton wouldn't eat.  My mom was definitely the gardener in the family, followed by Becky. 

 

ICE CREAM!

Keaton and I took the West Seattle Water Taxi downtown to get ice cream.  It's about a 10 minute ride, the perfect length for a 2 year old. 

SEAHAWK FANS!
We decided to jump on the band wagon and get Seahawk gear one morning.  I have no idea what inspired me to do this....probably one of those random/crazy things you do when you are pregnant.  Keaton wouldn't leave the store without a football.  Now he wants to play football all the time....and even has a huge football injury on his face (ran into wall and scraped his cheek) but that's not keeping him on the sidelines!

TRADITIONS!
We're keeping the tradition going of participating in the Swedish SummerRun each summer to honor Leah and Kay.  It feels so good to participate in this.  We got motivated and did t-shirts this year!

 

FUN IN THE SUN PART 2!

We made it to Jetty Island a second time.  This time we brought a kite and Aunt Claudia, which was a lot of fun.  Keaton and I are both getting some tan lines from all the fun in the sun.

 

ADVENTURE!

 Somewhere I read about this adventure playground they have at a park on Mercer Island.  Keaton is so into tools and building/fixing things that I thought it would be perfect.  But I didn't realize it was serious business at this place.  The only rule is no open toe shoes.  Otherwise anything goes and the woods are full of forts that kids have made.  Dad learned very quickly that things weren't built to his standards when the ladder he was climbing broke, leaving him with a big scrape on his arm. 

ART!
We spent a morning indoors at a kids art studio in West Seattle.  It was a great find!  Keaton made tons of projects that he got to bring home like painted rocks, decorated Cd's, a tree made from a paper bag, etc.  They also have a giant room where the kids can paint on the wall with all sorts of things.  It was a dream come true for a little kid....just need to make sure he doesn't try it at home.

 

CAMELS!
Oh, and we rode a camel at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

 

 

FRIENDS!

And spent a really fun afternoon with our buddy Camden and his awesome mom, Lynn!  Keaton's best friend is still probably his pup, Manny, though. At least for now.  And I think Manny is really starting to take a liking to him since he gives him food and plays fishing pole with him.

We've got some more stuff to do before the sun goes away....but we're also looking forward to Fall and getting a routine in place so we are a bit more predictable.  At least that's what I'm saying now (probably the whole "nesting" thing).