This week started off with a bang! I was home on Monday and was able to take Griffin to his swim lesson, which is in the morning at 9:00 am. He did great and I enjoyed seeing his progress as I haven’t taken him to swim since March! When I met his coach at the end of class Griffin was carrying a sign that read “I graduated today!”. He has completed the necessary skills and is moving on to Level 5! Later that morning we met our friend Claire and her three boys at the Powell Pool, as her guest. We haven’t been before and while I didn’t get more than two photos the boys had a great time!
Lemonade anyone? I loved how color coordinated and organized they were this time!
We spent July 4th at Zoombeezi Bay. It was surprisingly not super crowded and we had a Cabana which allowed us to get out of the sun from time to time and Reid also was able to nap. We had a great time. We left at 8 pm, hurried home and showered and changed while Kevin packed up a quick picnic dinner. We then loaded back into the car and headed toward Dublin so we could see the fireworks. We parked in a park off Emerald Parkway which happened to be a great spot that filled quickly upon our arrival near dusk.
Oh, the many faces and temperaments of Reid. He’s a silly one. He’s full of sass, he can be bossy, he knows what he wants and where he wants it, but he’s also very loving and an awesome snuggler.
We went blueberry picking on the 5th at a new-to-us farm in Fredericktown. It seemed more like a side yard to a family’s home and the bushes were really big! They were pretty overgrown and could use a serious pruning, but the berries were nice and tasty and we picked a full bucket.
Our garden is beginning to bear fruit – we’ve harvested carrots and cucumbers this week. The picture of Griffin holding carrots just reminds me of a similar one I took when he was probably Reid’s age!
Our neighbors had a summer party complete with a kids water slide and pool. There were so many kids in there and they had a blast as it was a really hot afternoon.
On Sunday we went to our friends Chad and Nicole’s for a Hazy IPA Tasting. Really just a fun reason to gather. The kids played with middle school and high school aged boys and rather than participate in the tasting I chased Reid around and tried to shoo him away from opening and closing the doors.
On Monday, Vacation Bible School began! It’s one of our most favorite weeks of summer. This year we went all in for Crazy Hair Day! And character Day Griffin was a SWAT officer. A lot of fun was had and great memories made.
Reid likes to participate in whatever activity Griffin is doing so one evening after dinner while we were out playing baseball, Reid wanted to suit up and get in some batting practice. It’s pretty comical but he has fun. On Saturday, Amy, Andy, Graham, Greta, Rowan, Mom, and Dad all came to Griffin’s baseball game. This week Griffin was awarded the game medal for Courage.
Our crazy weekend continued after baseball with our annual Bartholomew Lakes Block Party. This year I mostly organized the advertising/food sign up/etc and with the help of Kevin and Brian we setup tables and chairs in Brian’s driveway, shade tents, the bounce in our yard, a huge cooler of drinks, and Kevin moved the grill to our driveway where he was the head cook grilling up burgers, brats, and hot dogs. Brian had smoked ribs and chicken that Carlene had prepared. We even sang a surprise Happy Birthday to Jane Martin, whose birthday was the following day. We met neighbors we’d not met before, new neighbors who just moved in came down – it was a lot of fun! We had so-much-food and stayed up way-too-late! A small number of us stayed up until 1:30 in the morning just hanging out under the lights. Griffin had his first ever sleep over at the Dennie’s where Griffin, Cole, Cooper, and Miles slept on the floor. They went to bed at about 11 and once they hit the floor they were out! About 7:30 the next morning Brian sent me a picture of the boys having a pancake breakfast! The joy on Griffin’s face made me so happy.
On Sunday Griffin and Kevin went with Chad and Will to see the Arena Football Team game at Nationwide Arena. Afterwards they went to Pins and then had dinner at Dirty Franks. Reid and I stayed home and after his afternoon nap took a trip to the grocery, dropped our goods at home, and went on a date to Graeter’s. He had a blast eating his cone – he truly loves the cone part – and actually in these pictures he’s basically eating MY cone!
Griffin had his dental check up (he has 2 cavities, 🙁 ) and Reid got a chair ride too, which basically indicates that he is ready for his appointment. The hygienist counted his teeth (8 on top and 8 on bottom – just waiting on his 2 year molars) and he did really well.
Mom came down to Columbus and treated us to our annual girls pre-vacation pedicure. This year we tried out Posh in Dublin, then had dinner at Fado in Bridge Park and then had ice cream at Kilwin’s. It was great, thanks Mom!
And here are some videos:
And here is the latest at Millcreek – the concrete has been finished on the inside and all of the dock aprons are now complete as well. We also poured an additional area at our production building which had been on the request list for quite some time.
Finn loves being a helper, so he and Kevin each bring up a rolling bin after the trash man has taken away our waste!
Powell’s Touch a Truck was this week too, so it was a perfect fit for learning all about policeman, firemen, doctors, and such. 
And a fun trip to the zoo where Finn saw a playful kangaroo up close and personal!
I was able to break away from work to go to Finn’s Mommy and Me day at pre-school. He was so excited to have me there with him. He took me around to all of the toys he likes to play with and we shared a quick little muffin together. It was a short time, but it was so nice to go!
Our beans started out like this early in the week and by Sunday we were ready to plant! 
Mother’s Day was a beautiful day. We spent the morning taking all of our plants outside and planting many of them in the garden. Finn loves to dig the holes and play in the dirt. We planted pumpkins, mini pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, and watermelon. 
Later that morning we headed to Mansfield for an early afternoon visit and brunch with my Mom for Mother’s day. The Bethune’s were there too and we had a fun-filled afternoon of adventure throughout Grandma and Grandpa’s gardens, a trip to the Gorman Nature Center, and the finale at Dairy Queen – of course!
This week we got our hands dirty as we planted our yearly crop of seeds that we will transplant later outside in our patio garden. We also planted Finn’s Root Vue Farm (from grandma and grandpa Beilstein) this week too. Finn went back and forth between loving the messiness (“mom, it’s fun to get dirty sometimes”) to not being a big fan (insert whining and fussiness to get his hands cleaned off). I got everything all prepped while Finn was taking a nap and after he woke up and made it through his cuddle time (he’s been big into cuddling when he first wakes up, he just wants to be held) we started our project. He wasn’t as interested in it this year as after about 15 minutes he just wanted to go play! But, in the end we had 4 trays of seeds including quite the variety of veggies (cucumber, zucchini, tomato, pepper, butternut squash), herbs (green onion, cilantro, basil seedlings), and fruits (watermelon, cantaloupe), flowers and ornamentals (cosmos, zinnia, snapdragon, pumpkins, mini pumpkins). Our counters have been overtaken by seedling trays!
This week Finn also ventured to the pet store with Debbie and Sam. He loves animals, check out his grins! And of course one pic with his Lily girl and blue dog blanket. It’s become part of the routine that he cuddles with Lily at bedtime while we sing songs. And the blue blanket – he doesn’t like to sleep without it, and the soft, blue side always has to be the side that is against him :). 
