We’re enjoying summer around here and keeping busy with fun trips and activities. This week Griffin, Reid, and Jenn headed to the zoo on World Giraffe Day (celebrating the longest necked animal on the longest day of the year). Finn fed the giraffe’s and they had a few hours of fun exploring the zoo. Giraffe’s are Jenn’s favorite animal (she even has a lovey on her dashboard!) and she wore a cute giraffe shirt for their adventure :). 
Each year the Powell Festival seems to be up against summer storms! This year is no different and we didn’t think we were going to venture out. Even though the skies were looking iffy we decided to go for it and had a blast! It had rained so much during the week the kids activities area where they have numerous inflatables and fun things for kids was an absolute mess! Deep tire ruts in the grass from where the entertainment trucks drove in to get their activities setup. We didn’t even venture off the path back there but rather Finn had a go at the trampoline for a few minutes which he seemed to enjoy just as much. It turned out to be a beautiful night and we were glad to have gone. 
Baseball games continue on Saturday morning. It’s nice to get up and have some time at our house in the morning and then head out to the ball field for some fun. 
I put this picture in, even though it is blurry, as it perfectly captures Reid’s expression when he is getting tired and wants his paci. He takes his finger and puts it up to his lip and just babbles a bit, all while making his sad eyes and scrunching his forehead. 
And here is a picture of Rowan from when he was 10 months old. He and Reid definitely share many similarities!
June 24, 2018
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Look at those blue-eyed babes! Here we are enjoying a quick dinner at Panera after swim lessons this week. Reid ate really well – he had lots of the grilled cheese sandwich and some fruit, and Finn re-fueled all the energy he burned from being in the water.
My snuggle bud Brutes. This boy just wants to be sure he’s loved!
Friday marked the third anniversary of Nathan’s birth and death. Each year when June rolls around, actually more like May 15th, all kinds of thoughts and memories become more vivid as the date is a constant reminder of losing our little boy. Each year we visit the cemetery together, say a prayer, and then have dinner together after as a family. Even though three years have passed it so often still seems surreal and the emotions can be overwhelming. We don’t yet have a headstone or a family plot stone at the cemetery – hoping we will be able to make that complete by next year. Thanks to my parents for the thoughtful arrangement to remember all of our boys, the red roses for Griffin and Reid and the white calla lily for Nathan.
Saturday began the summer baseball season for Finn. This year it is coach-pitch so it’s a step up! Griffin is enjoying it and gets so excited during the week and counts down the days until he has a game. 
After his game we were home and Reid and Kevin were napping. I had asked Finn to play on his own for awhile so I could get some bills paid and work in the office for awhile. As I was working I thought, forget this – let’s have some fun! So we headed to the zoo only to find out they closed early for Zoofari! So we quickly switched it up and went to Zoombeezi instead – thankfully Finn was wearing his dri-fit OSU gear (basically like a suit!) and I had on yoga pants, flip flops, and a dri-fit shirt too! He had a blast in the tiny tides area for a couple of hours. 
I love these smiles!
Sunday was Father’s Day, and Kevin was excited to take Finn fishing for the first time ever. They headed out (in the crazy heat!) to Liberty Park for an afternoon adventure. As it turns out, Finn caught a fish really quickly (not very realistic first fishing experience – but they clearly stock the pond from this area where they were fishing!) and he was pretty happy about it. He held the fish and then they threw him back in! My favorite part is his outfit. He had asked, “so guys, what do you wear when you go fishing?.” We told him just comfortable shorts and shirt. He was asking about getting wet and such. And then he came down in this outfit, complete with his boots to keep his feet dry. Love this boy and his attention to detail – camo for fishing 🙂
I’ve realized I don’t have too many recent pictures of Kevin with both of the boys so during our dinner at Rooster’s I wanted to snap a pic. That went as well as I thought it would, as in not well, but here are a few for memory sake. 
And this week we received Finn’s Kindergarten information from Tyler Run! He has Mrs. Menary and will be going to school on Tuesday/Friday and every other Wednesday. He is in the same class as our neighbor, Cole, so he is super excited!
We’re just moving on from on birthday to the next as our highlight this week was having my parents in town on my Dad’s birthday! Perhaps not the birthday he’d envisioned? I requested their help to watch the boys on Thursday or Friday this week as we knew when we hired Jenn she wasn’t available on these days. Turns out they chose Thursday which is my Dad’s birthday so he spent his day watching the kiddos AND making a delicious dinner of cheese and mushroom stuffed chicken breasts, steamed cauliflower with a homemade cheese sauce, and a tasty salad. Poor guy didn’t get a break on his birthday! And the peace sign actually indicates a “2”, as in 72, hahahaha. 
You aren’t going to believe this, but on Friday I took the day off to be home with the boys. In the early afternoon we decided to head to the zoo for a brief visit and walkabout. We no sooner arrived in the parking lot and it started to downpour. As in torrential downpour. We waited 10-15 minutes in the car and after looking at the radar decided to bail and head home to start packing for our weekend adventure to Mansfield to celebrate Dad’s birthday with the rest of my family. So, we stopped at Graeter’s on our way home to pack up. Ugh. All of these posts is making me realize I’ve got a problem with Graeter’s. But at least I got some pics of the crazy rain. 
I pulled the van in to begin loading up and as I was walking to put some things in the back I nearly wiped out on the floor. I’d seen a puddle pooling on the floor and in my head just through it was water from the air conditioning system. As it turns out, the van is leaking oil, which led to a complete change of plans. Griffin thought it was so neat that his bike wheels were making rainbows in the driveway :(. Kevin was working as this was a huge weekend for his work project so I texted him and he said I shouldn’t drive it and needed to take the Jeep. Hmmm..well that was an interesting feat to pack two dogs, tons of baby gear including the stroller, suitcases, two kids, and me into the little mini-jeep. Whew. I made it work but it was not easy, and probably not the safest, as Brutus is so big he could easily decide to just hop into the back seat from the back of the car. Thankfully after we got going they laid down together in the back for most of the trip. They did, however, completely remove the blanket I’d laid down so my black back is now Lily-white. 🙁
We arrived at Mom and Dad’s and not long after the Bethune’s arrived too and all of the kids began having all sorts of fun. They built a car that they all rode in together.
On Saturday we ventured to Kingwood, we thought we’d beat the rain but as it turns out we didn’t! But we still enjoyed walking all around and looking at the Big Bug exhibit and feeding the ducks. After a brief rest at home we then headed to the Infield in Lexington for Dad’s birthday shenanigans including racing in the go-karts and a round of putt-putt. We had a tasty pizza dinner along with cake and presents too. It was a great weekend!
Each of the older kiddos also gave a concert on the piano. It was quite entertaining to listen to each of their styles. Well, I guess Brutus might have thought otherwise.
On Sunday the crew went to Bob Evans for a tasty lunch. To speed things along we sat at two separate tables. For some entertainment Amy was showing me how to use the filters in Instagram and I happened to get a couple of cute pics of Finn and Reid.
And one night at home Finn put all of his animals on his bed (they are normally hidden behind his chair where they are safe from Brutus) and it seems he’s got quite the collection these days!
And thanks to Aunt Amy for capturing some awesome photos of Finn, Reid, and all of the cousins! She took these on Sunday morning, right inside our parents front door with her background setup. It was about 100 degrees and 90% humidity and we were all sweaty in about the first minute. I was doing jumping jacks, leg kicks, screaming giggling, flailing, pretty much anything you can think of to get Reid to look at the camera and remain still for more than 2 seconds. It was quite the challenge but as always Amy captured so many great ones! I’m thankful to have these awesome photos! And these are just the highlights. I need to get the rest and add them here in the near future. One of my favorites is Finn’s fierce football face – so you’ll have to re-visit the blog at some point to see more. 
