VBS & Blueberries

This week was Vacation Bible School at our church, and Dawson and I had a great time!  Last year I volunteered in nursery age (2 and under) arts and crafts, and this year I (along with my friend Stephanie) was a director of nursery arts and crafts.  We had been having planning meetings since before Easters, so I was excited that VBS week had finally arrived.  We did some cute crafts, and had fun playing with all the kids. 

Dawson was in a classroom with 11 other younger two year olds.  His good friend, Matthew (that he calls Mattie), was in his room along with other friends Dawson knows.  Even though Dawson still has separation issues when I leave him, he did AWESOME this week for VBS!  He wore undies every day, and he only had an accident one day.  I think that's great considering all the distractions!  He also participated in music.  Two of Dawson's friend's moms did music, so I was able to get a report on how well he participated!  :)  He did well, I heard.  The theme was A Great Big Jungle Adventure, and some of the hand motions to the songs were like monkeys.  Now Dawson talks about Bible school and says monkey and does the little motion.  So cute!  In addition to hand motions they also had instruments and did a parade, all of which was right up Dawson's alley!  Dawson also loved arts and crafts time which didn't surprise me since he loves doing stamps, stickers, and paints at home. 

I can tell Dawson has been at church all week because the other night I asked him if he knew where some food came from.  I was going to tell him it was from the garden, and he said, "GOD!"  Another evening I asked him who he played with in his class at Bible school and his answer was "GOD!"  I love it so sweet!  He did eventually talk about playing with his friend Matthew and Autumn (Mattie and Aummum, as Dawson pronounces them).  Dawson and I had a great week doing VBS every morning, but now we will enjoy a little more time at home!

On Thursday afternoon we took Dawson to pick blueberries.  I wanted to do this last summer, but we never got around to it.  Harvest Farm opened last weekend for blueberries, so we made sure to get there early this year!  Dawson had a blast picking (and eating) blueberries, but his very favorite thing was the tractor that was cutting the grass while we were there.  He has not stopped talking about the tractor yet!  He did help us pick berries, and had fun putting them in the bucket.  The farm was about 10 minutes from our house, so we plan to go back...when we finally run out of berries!

That wraps it up for now, enjoy the pictures below...

Dawson and Mama picking blueberries at

Harvest Farm.

Dawson with his bucket picking

blueberries.

Blueberry picking.

Dawson picking blueberries.

Dawson looking for some yummy

blueberries.

Dawson picking berries.

Dawson's new favorite thing is to ask

to call people and talk to them.  He

actually talks, and he would talk forever

if you would let him!  On the way home from

picking berries he said, "Call Nana."  So we

did and he sat there chatting.  The other morning

on the way to VBS he wanted to call Lolly,

so we did.  He loves talking on the phone.

Dawson and Mama before

leaving the house the 1st

day of VBS. 

The kids decorated a bag with a cross and shield

to keep all their crafts from VBS in for the week.

I told Dawson to smile with his crafts, so this

is what I got!  Haha!

Dawson's VBS Crafts:  Hand prints making

a butterfly, drum with a hand print, Let your

light shine photo frame, crown decorated with

foam stickers.  I love his sweet hand prints!

Dawson in his crown from VBS.

One night after Dawson went to bed

and John was at work, I decided to sew

a case for my straightener that it could

go in while still warm.  It was the fastest

project I've done so far.  I lined the cute fabric

with the same material used to make an

ironing board cover.  So far I'm very pleased

with how it's working out...now I'm ready to sew

something else!!

Here you can see silver lining!

Our 4 Year Wedding Anniversary

On Thursday, June 16th, John and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!  This year we decided to go to Chattanooga to celebrate, and the best part...we took Dawson with us!  :)

On Thursday we visited the Tennessee Aquarium, and had a blast.  We spent hours looking at fish, river otters, snakes, lizards, penguins, sting rays, and Dawson's favorite...TURTLES!  John and I liked the penguin exhibit (which was new since the last time we went in 2006) the best, but Dawson loved any tank or exhibit that had a turtle.  The aquarium was perfect for Dawson because almost all of the tanks were at his level so he could easily see all the animals and fish.  We got to touch a gecko lizard, sturgeons (big fish!), and sting rays.  Dawson said the sturgeons were "ewie" and "slimy!"  Silly boy.   We had such a fun time at the aquarium.  John and I agreed that it was much more fun this time taking Dawson than when we went in 2006 because Dawson was so excited about every animal and had so much fun!

After spending the entire day (minus a nap at our hotel between touring the River building and the Ocean building), we played in the fun water features outside the aquarium.  Then we went out to eat our anniversary dinner.  Although Dawson does not normally have the attention span for sit-down restaurants anymore, his anniversary gift to us was being well-behaved at dinner.  After dinner we spent time walking around downtown which was surprisingly busy due to the fact that the Riverbend Music Festival was going on.  It was nice to walk around downtown with music in the background.

We spent Thursday night in Chattanooga, and Dawson even slept in a queen size bed in our hotel all by himself.  We made him a "nest" of pillows and blankets so he wouldn't fall out.  Now every time he goes to bed at home, he asks us to make a nest for him!

After getting a good night's rest, on Friday morning we headed to the Children's Museum which was right next to our hotel.  This children's museum was AWESOME!  We spent the entire morning there, and probably could have stayed longer if Dawson had not gotten hungry for lunch.  They had a three story high climbing area with slides, an eagle's nest, and all other kinds of cool tunnels and features.  This was one of Dawson's favorite things there.  Another favorite was the big bubble area they had on the roof top.  Dawson had fun blowing bubbles bigger than his head and popping them.  The temporary exhibit that is open now at the museum is a Bob the Builder theme, and Dawson LOVED it.  They had dump trucks, scoopers, diggers, cement mixers, and more all made like Bob's.  Dawson now likes to talk about "Bob Bob."  There were so many fun things at the children's museum that it would be impossible to talk about each one, but Dawson had a blast!  We will try to go back in the future for sure!

After leaving the museum and getting lunch, we walked across the Tennessee River on the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge which is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world!  The bridge is about a half a mile long.  It was nice and breezy, and Dawson enjoyed relaxing in his stroller looking at birds on the bridge and dogs being walked.  He was worn out from the morning's activities, so he was happy to stroll!  We walked by the waterfront a little longer enjoying our time in Chattanooga, and then loaded up to head back home.

We had a fun time in Chattanooga.  This was a wonderful trip because we got to celebrate our anniversary by traveling without having to leave Dawson!!

Our 4th anniversary was a great one.  Now enjoy a few of the pictures from our trip...

Dawson outside of the aquarium

in Chattanooga.

This was a really long tank,

and Dawson was chasing a turtle

back and forth!  He was so excited.

Telling the turtle, "Come back,

come back here, turtle!"

Checking out the fish and sting

rays in this tank.

John asked him what he thought

about the water, and he said "cold

water!" and kept shurgging his shoulders

when he would look at the fish.

Dawson had to read all the information

about the fish too of course.

Dawson looked at this tihng and

said, "be nice!"  I agree, it did

look kind of mean.  :)

Although John and I liked the penguin

exhibit the best, Dawson liked the

penguin statues outside of the exhibit

the best.  He kept hugging them.

And then one got a kiss!

Dawson and Daddy in the big crab tank.

Look at those huge crabs!

Dawson said they looked scary and gross!

Checking out the sharks.

Taking some time to play in the

water features outside of the aquarium.

Dawson has a wonderful sense of direction,

and any time we were remotely close

to the water when we were walking

downtown he would ask to play in the

water more.

Dawson absolutely loved the huge

slide at the children's museum.

Exploring the children's museum.

Another favorite was the huge

play kitchen area at the children's

museum.  Dawson made pancakes

and cupcakes, he told us.  He was so

funny in the kitchen.  He loved it so much

and was going from one thing to the next

using collinders, spatulas, whisks, and all

the kitchen gadgets.  He helps me a lot

in the kitchen now, but I think he will

continue to enjoy this.

More cooking.

Using the microwave.

Dawson in the kitchen.

Dawson and Daddy climbing

up the BIG tower at the children's

museum to look out the windows.

Having fun in the "Bob Bob" exhibit.

Daddy and Dawson playing on the

rooftop.

In the doctor's office area of the

children's museum.

Dawson got a balloon animal as

we were leaving.

Daddy and Dawson after a fun

morning at the children's museum.

Mommy and Dawson after a fun morning at

the children's museum.

Daddy and Dawson strolling

on the Walnut Street Pedestrian

Bridge.

One more, but not so excited about

taking yet another picture!

Haha!

The Not-So-Childproof Doorknobs

The most exciting thing about this post is that I now know how to upload a video!!  It's only taken me two years of having having our video camera to finally get around to figuring it out!  So there should be many more videos to come your way!  :)

Now, on to the actual post...So you may remember back in January when I posted about how we had to resort to putting the big plastic childproof doorknobs on several doors in the house for Dawson.  Never did I imagine that only a few months later he would be able to open them, but, of course, he has figured it out.  Here is a video of how fast he can open the one in his room.

The bad news is that now Dawson can open all of the doors we didn't want him to be able to open like the door to the garage, the door out of his room, etc.  BUT there is good news...I uploaded the video to facebook, and the company who makes the product contacted me.  Within 5 days we are supposed to have a different kind of Safety 1st brand childproof door item to try.  It is still disappointing that now we have childproof doorknobs that my child can open faster than me (seriously!), but we're going to give the new one a try as soon as it gets here!

This wasn't a very exciting post, so I promise the next one will have more pictures...or maybe even a video of Dawson talking (now that I know how to upload the videos!).

It's Begining to Look A Lot Like Summer...

 Although it's not summer yet, it's beginning to look like summer since we have attended a wedding, enjoyed squash from our garden, attended a summer kids movie at the Monacco, and made a splash in the pool all this week!  And even if it's not summer yet, it feels like it here in Alabama.  It has been in the upper 90's with high humidity every day...but I wouldn't trade it for cold weather any day!  John, Dawson, and I have spent a great deal of time outside enjoying the sunshine!

On Friday evening we loaded the Jeep and headed up to Maryville, Tennessee (again).  Our reason for going back again so soon was to attend the wedding of my friend, Kristin.  Kristin and I have been friends since we were 2 or 3 years old.  We lived across the street from each other for a few years, attended the same church, took dance classes together for many years, and went to the same elementary and middle schools.  We also both went to UT, and our moms work together.  Needless to say, we have known each other the majority of our lives, so off to Tennessee we went to attend her wedding!

After spending the day visiting with family, Saturday evening we left Dawson with his Grandad, Nana, Aunt Emmie, and Cousin Drew while we attended the wedding.  I think Dawson had a wonderful evening, and John and I had a good time too! 

The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun.  They had a photo booth set up for guests to visit during the reception.  I had never seen this at a reception before, but I think it's a fun idea!  Each guest got a copy of their pictures and got to place a copy in a scrapbook for the bride and groom.  We enjoyed taking a few silly pictures in the photo booth, enjoyed the food and drinks, and did a little dancing.  I wish I had a picture of my brother and I dancing to Teach Me how to Dougie, but I think the only photo of that is on someone's phone.  :)  Logan was better at the Dougie than me, for sure!  Overall, we had a fun evening at the wedding!

Also, while we were in Tennessee John got to play a round of golf at Egwani Farms with his Dad.  Dawson loved being the center of attention while spending time with Lolly, Pop, Logan (he calls him Gogan), Grandad, Nana (he calls her Nainie), Aunt Emmie, Cousin Drew (he calls him Dew), and Mamaw. 

After a fun weekend visiting with family, on Monday afternoon we came back home to Alabama...writing that reminds me that if you ask Dawson where he lives he now answers "bama."  Don't worry though because he still loves reading his Smokey book, says "go vols!," and loves for us to sing Rocky Top! :)

On Wednesday morning John and I took Dawson to his first movie of the summer.  As you may remember last summer we took Dawson to a number of free movies the Monacco Theater at Bridgestreet offers for kids two mornings a week during the summer months.  The theaters is doing this again!  Today's movie was Babe which Dawson loved.  I knew he would because he's so into animals.  Last year we were lucky if we got through 15-20 minutes of each movie before having to leave, but today we got to stay an entire hour!  For the first 30 minutes, Dawson watched intently.  The last 30, he squirmed and walked in front of his seat a little, but he was still watching.  We obviously didn't get to see the whole movie, but Dawson still had fun! 

Then Wednesday evening I decided to take Dawson swimming.  As I have mentioned, the past 3 times we went swimming he was slowly warming up to the water.  This time, though, Dawson showed me what a big boy he was!  He now LOVES the pool.  He would put his face in the water, and he even decided he wanted to jump off the side (with me catching him, of course).  After he realized what fun it was, he probably jumped off the side of the pool 40 times in an hour and a half!   I am so happy that he loves the water now after only a few visits to the pool!!  Now that he enjoys it, it will be a nice way to cool off and have fun while still being outside this summer!

In other news, our garden has been producing veggies!  Yesterday we ate the first of the yellow squash, and it was delicious!  We will have a few more ready to pick by the weekend, and the zucchini are not too far behind.  We can also see little green peppers growing, but they still have a little while, as do the carrots.  I am excited about all of the squash and zucchini it looks like we will have. 

That wraps it up for now.  Enjoy the pictures below...

John and I before the wedding.

One more picture of John and I before the wedding.

Our pictures from the photo booth.

Some of the yummy squash from our

garden.  (The one little squash would have

gotten bigger, but overly helpful little hands

picked it...so we ate it too!)

Zucchini growing, but not ready yet.

The biggest green pepper we have so far.

Most of them are about this size,

and no where near ready.

Not a great picture, but the only one we have

from Dawson's first movie of the summer.

This was taken in the theater after the movie

had started so it was hard to get Dawson's attention.

Dawson learning to jump in the pool!

Jumping!

Making a splash and loving it!