a day at the park (lots of pictures)

Last weekend was family-filled adventure weekend.  We went to the Greek Festival, apple picking and to a great park John found outside of Statesville (this was spread throughout the weekend-not all in one day of course!).  I'm going to tell you about our adventure at the park.

Dan Nicholas Park was a great find!  It has a huge playground, a petting zoo, a lake, a small train to ride and a carousel.  We got there early (because someone was up before the sun...) and headed right for the playground.

 

 Next we made our way over to the train.  Quinn LOVES Thomas (Ton-om is how he pronounces it) and we thought for sure he'd be excited about riding this little train.  He was scared when it pulled in, but we all climbed aboard and he seemed to have a good time, though we didn't push our luck and only rode it once!

 Next we made our way to the petting zoo.  Scared at first, he warmed up to the goats, sheep and the birdies.

Hi Goat!

Birdie - tweet tweet!

Finally, we headed to the carousel. He had seen it as we walked to the train and was very excited to see the "horsey's." Daddy bought a ticket for Quinn and I to ride and he stood on the side to take pictures.  

We waited in line and he was excited.  They opened the gate and he was excited.  We got on the carousel and he was petting the horses and was excited.  We sat in the seat and...

GET ME OFF THIS THING!!!!

He was not excited.  But it was too late, the ride had started.  So, I did my best to reign him in and calm him down.  Thankfully, he started to enjoy it. 

So much so that he rode it again with Daddy.

We spent the rest of the day walking around, checking out the lake and watching the ducks.  

Quinn was asleep before we left the park parking lot.  All in all, it was a wonderful day.  There are tons more photos on our Shutterfly website.  Please check them out!

We leave this Friday for our vacation in Emerald Isle.  I'll be sure to update the blog soon with fun stories about our trip!

I did it!!

Grandma and Uncle Glen came to visit this past weekend.  We had a great time!!  Quinn kept us going all weekend long-as usual! We colored, danced, played outside, went out to eat-they even watched him while "Momma" went to work on Sunday.  I'm sure they took some nice long naps when they got back to Virginia!! It was great having them here and the visit, as usual, ended too soon.

While they were here Grandma was helping Quinn do something (I believe he put his shoe on the correct foot) and she congratulated him on his accomplishment and said, "You did it!! You did it!".  As I have mentioned, he has become quite the little mimic and picked up what she said and has been saying it ever since!

Here is a video of him celebrating buckling the straps on his high chair. Watch and you will see what he has learned. He's so proud!

chatting with a new friend

On Saturday Quinn and I went to Target to exchange some diapers.  I know, exciting stuff right?  While we were there I thought I would do a little shopping for clothes.  I grabbed some shirts and we headed to the dressing rooms.  Quinn had been feisty all morning and decided that he would yell while we were in there.  I don't think he expected a response from the little girl a few rooms over. I hurriedly grabbed my phone to capture the conversation:

This went on for a few more minutes then the other woman left.  When we walked out the attendants were grinning and said that their little exchange made their day!

grocery shopping

Quinn loves going to the grocery store.  He loves the whole experience - the cart, the sights, the sounds, the samples, and most importantly all the people to interact with!!!  He loves waiving at people, saying, "Hi!" and of course his favorite conversation starter, "How are you??"

Here are some photos from our shopping trips:

I love the race car cart!!

 

 

Yep, I'm turned the wrong way...

Tonight Mommy, Daddy and Quinn went to the grocery store to get some food for this weekend.  As we were checking out, Quinn decided he would help out the cashier and began reaching into the cart and handing our items to him.  "Here go, here go, here go!" he said, with each item he picked up and handed to the gentleman.  People in line and in the next check-out lane were laughing and looking at him.  He really is such a little ham!!!

On another shopping adventure last week, Quinn decided to break into dance.  There was no music, he just "felt it" I guess :)  The dance he's doing is the Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  

If you're wondering what he's saying in the video, it's John.  Yep, he's heard me talking to Daddy using his name and has picked it up! The best part is it was just Quinn and I at the store. Guess he really wanted Daddy to see his moves!!! 

Just to give you a point of reference, for those of you who don't watch the Disney Channel 24/7, this is the Hot Dog Dance. Try playing both videos at the same time, so you can see him with the music.  Pretty funny:

Corn!!

We were eating dinner on the 4th of July - corn on the cob, grilled chicken, hot dogs (for the dude), peas and pasta (also on the dude's menu) and Quinn asked for a, "bite!" of my corn.  So I happily obliged, thinking that he would do his normal taste and spit.  I was wrong.  He took a big bite and said, "Mmm!" and continued to eat.  He must have really been watching Mommy & Daddy because without any assistance he grabbed onto the corn holders on the sides and dug right in ;)  Yippee - another vegetable that he will eat!

Mmm!!

 

Summer Camp

Quinn started summer camp two weeks at Dilworth United Methodist, where he will be attending Weekday School starting in September.  We thought it would be a good idea to get him familiar with the surroundings and teachers and give him a chance to be away from Mommy...OK, and give Mommy a chance to get use to being away from Quinn ;)
Mommy packed his lunch (which she and Daddy KNEW he wouldn't eat - and they were right), put on the sunscreen and we were on our way!

Where are you all going? Can I come??

Daddy carried Quinn into the school and I snapped a few shots on the way.  Hey, this was a big day!!

When we got into the classroom Quinn was instantly at ease and loved all the new toys!

I love to vacuum!

So, since he was so happy Mommy and Daddy decided to make a break for it!

He had a wonderful week and is back there again this week.  He LOVES the teachers and blows them kisses each day when I pick him up - and takes loooong naps when we get home!!  They said he has quite the personality and asks everyone, "How are you??"  They also said he has the cutest laugh ever - which I must agree with!
I'm so happy he likes them because they will be his teachers this fall when he starts Weekday School.
Today I put him down and he went right over to the activity table to play and turned around and said, "Bye!" So I guess this was a great idea after all!

Hi!

I broke down and bought the iPhone last week.  What can I say, I LOVE IT!  It just has so many cool things!!  Fun things for Mommy and for Quinn!

On Thursday we set out for Virginia to see Grandma and family and decided to stop halfway because some little guy was super-cranky!! We were out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant next to our hotel and while we were waiting for our food I took out the phone to keep Quinn occupied.  He loves one app that Daddy found on his iPad called Doodle Buddy.  So I downloaded it too.  It lets him "draw" on the screen and has stamps that make noise, like a frog that ribbits, and as John found, one that makes a throw-up noise. Fantastic.  Here is one of his creations:

He grew tired of drawing so I turned on the front-facing camera and showed it to him.  He really wanted to be friends with the cute little guy looking back at him I think!