VBS

Grant spent this past week at vacation Bible school "Operation Overboard" at our church. It was a little overwhelming for him at drop off, as several hundred kids all meet in the morning in the worship center for songs and prayer. But by today there was lots of snuggling me, but no tears. He enjoyed music, crafts, story time, sandbox time, etc. Today he ended VBS with a pizza party with friends. He had fun because on the way to the car this afternoon he said "maybe we can come to vacation Bible study again some time".

Happy Father's Day!

The boys had not been to Ben Hill Griffin stadium (home of the Florida Gator football team) yet, so we spent Father's Day morning checking it out. A summer football camp was going on and Grant enjoyed watching. It really is an incredible place to visit, especially game day. Hopefully someday Jake and the boys will get a chance to catch a game. Go gators!

Happy Father's Day to my husband. Thank you for all you do everyday for our family. You are an incredible provider, mentor, and role model for our boys! We love you so very much!

Car Wash (Part 2)

Grant truly is obsessed with car washes. He has been wanting a hot wheels car wash, so bad. This week we told him that if he started going on the potty all the time we would buy him one. Well wouldn't you know it, I think he just might be trained. He hasn't had an accident in 3 days, has been dry after naps and was dry when he got up this morning. Hooray! Looks like we will be buying him that car wash.

In the mean time, we have been letting him wash his cars with soapy water. He is content for at least an hour and his cars are nice and clean! :)

Summer

We are loving summer! Jake and I have been living in Florida for 10 years. The more time that goes by, the more I fall in love with Florida (even the summer heat). A few pictures below of the boys and I enjoying an evening outside.

3 Day Walk: training and fundraising report

I think I finally have a pretty good work out routine going again. It has taken awhile to get back in the swing of things. Gavin really hates going to the gym and since we don't have a double jogging stroller, that pretty much means I have to work out at night when Jake is home. The other night I walked 3 miles in the neighborhood and pushed Grant in the stroller. He was so fun to have with and kept me entertained and out of breath! :) He melted my heart when he said "good job walking Mommy as we rounded the corner home". My sweet boy!

A good friend had a fundraiser party for Christine and I last week. The finally numbers aren't in, but I am pretty sure both of us will have a couple hundred dollars. We have a long ways to go yet, but a huge step in the right direction.

T-19 weeks!

Happy 10 month birthday Gavin

Gavin's first year is flying by. It is hard to believe he is 10 months old already. He has started to take a few steps and I suspect in the next month he will be walking. He is getting good at feeding himself and loves cantaloupe. Je absolutely dislikes Kids Club at the gym, which is a little challenging for me since I am in training for the 3 Day wall again. O' yeah and he "talks"...non-stop!

Santa Fe Zoo

Last week when we were playing at Sun Country, Grant wanted to play with an older little boy so bad. The kid wanted nothing to do with him though. Poor Grant, his feelings were so hurt and I felt so bad. Grant was suppose to have a big brother to play with. This was not the "plan".

Today we went to the Santa Fe Zoo. Grant had a great time looking at the turtles, monkeys, snakes, leopard, and peacock "with lots of eye". It was a great morning. The best came when an older little boy (about 5) came up to him while he was playing on the playground and said "My name is Ethan. Do you want to play with me?" Took my breath away.

Mater and McQueen

We are so blessed to live 2 hours from Disney! When I saw that Lightning McQueen and Mater were going to be at downtown Disney for a car show this weekend, I knew we had to go. We surprised Grant this morning when he woke up and piled in the car and headed to Disney. As always Disney never disappoints and all of us had a blast. Of course the highlight was Mater and McQueen, but we couldn't complain about seeing "a real monster truck", Herbie the Lovebug and the General Lee either. Lots of cool cars and one happy boy made for a great day!

Flowers for E

I was negligent in getting flowers out to the cemetery before Memorial Day, so yesterday Grant and I planted some flowers for E. This is our "normal". Miss that kid.

Car Wash

One of Grant's newest loves is car washes. We have spent countless hours watching YouTube videos of car washes. The other day he requested to make a car wash. Gavin was sleeping so I got out my crafting things and we made a car wash. It took all of Gavin's nap to get it done. I was feeling a tinge of guilt that I had not gotten anything done until later that day when Grant said to me "Thanks for making a car wash with me, Mommy. It was super fun". Any guilt I had was gone. Love this kid!

And keeping with the car wash theme Grant got to help wash Mommy and Daddy's cars. We have some clean cars in the Tillmann house!

Jared

We were blessed to have one of our best friends from the Des Moines days visit us for a week. We shared a lot of laughs looking through old pictures and reliving some great stories. And had a wonderful time making new memories. Our boys loved spending time with their "Uncle Jared" (most especially Grant).

We ended up having a tropical storm while Jared was here unfortunately so that put a damper on a lot of activities, but we ended up being able to sneak a quick trip in to St Augustine. We took Jared to visit the Alligator Farm and then over to see the fort.

It was a good week. A quick week. Blessed to have friendships that no matter how long you are apart, you pick up right where you left off.

Gavin's Favorite Things

The first year after having a baby is so incredible. It seems like yesterday that we came home from the hospital with this "tiny" (or not so tiny in Gavin's case), curled up baby and today he is a cruising machine. I am enjoying getting to know him. A few of his favorite things are playing the piano, books, making a mess, and playing in Visken's water. He loves watermelon and sweet potatoes. And he adores his big brother! We are totally in love with him!