The Saturday after the boys returned from Muncie, we did some shopping and took them out for a special lunch. We ate at Bravo and then took them to Melting Pot for chocolate fondue. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun.
Our waitress gave the boys pizza dough to play with.
Ready for fondue!
They were covered in chocolate by the time we left! LOL
My grandfather and dad with the great/grandkids while they were in Muncie.
Mom and dad scheduled a trip to Muncie in August at a time that neither Mike nor I could get off from work. As a result, they took the boys with them for the week. Translation: Mike and I got a week off! LOL
Before getting in the car and starting their road trip:
We decided to make the most of our time and booked an overnight in Cleveland. We did a little shopping, went to an Indians game, and then visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It was a nice weekend and fun to have one-on-one time with each other.
Every trip to Cleveland requires a stop a Chick-Fil-A in Erie, PA. It was so good that Mike had a hard time putting his drink down. LOL
Our seats at the game were really good.
Indians’ Hall of Famer Rocky Colavito threw out the first pitch.
I got a helmet full of nachos for dinner and ate hardly any of it. That was about 10lbs of nachos. Not the best decision but the boys loved the helmet we brought home. LOL
The Indians game had a “Rock n Blast Spectacular” scheduled after it. It was fireworks-laser-light show coordinated to music and video on the scoreboard in honor of the Rolling Stones’ 50 year career. I’m not a huge Rolling Stones fan but this show was seriously impressive. The finale was INSANE. I think seeing this show alone made the trip to Cleveland worthwhile. The fireworks were better than the ball game by a long shot. LOL
My video:
http://youtu.be/erV-r_2dG8w
http://youtu.be/1YEK8Lz35HM
http://youtu.be/YNEPTSrP-tw
http://youtu.be/4vR-t7C9P-A
http://youtu.be/DDko0DfI09I
Here are a couple of full length videos of the show that I found on Youtube. It was about 25 minutes long.
I got a quick snap of the sign on the outside of the stadium before heading to the car.
The next morning started bright and early. We were pretty tired since we didn’t get to our hotel and in bed until after 1am!
The hotel had goofed our room up on check in and gave us vouchers for a free breakfast in their restaurant. It was nice to have a good meal before heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He thought wearing the nacho helmet was a good idea. I made him take it off before we got out of the car. LOL
The Hall of Fame is right in downtown Cleveland and next to Lake Erie.
Right next door is the Great Lakes Science Center and Cleveland Browns Stadium:
We were at the museum for a few hours then got in the car to head home. It was a nice little get-away!
On a dark, dreary, rainy morning in August, Ian and Matthew had their last swimming lessons of the season.
Due to timing of classes this summer, we signed the boys up for lessons at Clearfield Pool. It’s a little bit of a longer drive for mom and dad but the timing of classes is much better. I think the boys liked having lessons there because on the last day of each session, they got to go on the water park at the zero entry pool next to the big pool. LOL
Both boys improved this year but Matthew’s growth blew me away. At the end of last summer, Matthew was still afraid to jump in the water. At the end of this summer, he was pretty much swimming (doggie paddling) unassisted. I was so, so, so impressed!
http://youtu.be/3XdgwTI3Uno
http://youtu.be/ry230Y96rY8
Ian still struggles with not wanting water in his eyes. He’ll swim a few strokes, stop, stand up, wipe his eyes, rinse and repeat. It’s kind of hard to avoid water in your eyes when you’re swimming but it is something he’s struggled with since birth (via baths/showers). We’ve tried goggles in the past but he doesn’t like wearing them. Hopefully it is something he outgrows. He’s doing a great job of learning the various swimming strokes though. I love that kid.
http://youtu.be/xZtH8tGYu_A
http://youtu.be/PD5KoQGZT8c
Holy cow, can you believe this kid jumping in the water?!?!?!?!
http://youtu.be/RgT6I9GsayA
I’m really proud of those boys!
It grew very well this year. I’m thinking about switching things up next year and doing one bed of veggies and having flowers in the other beds. I don’t know. We’ll see.