so very happy to see the farmers market again

we are so very happy to see the farmers market again!

fresh squeezed lemonade,

apple cider doughnuts,

and veggies for days.

makai even enjoyed the splash pad today.

after taking him there at least 4 times in his swimsuit,

he decided that the one day he was in street clothes he would give it a try!

momma's hand

someone wanted to hold momma's hand this morning while watching their morning cartoons.

i have been having all kinds of crazy emotions lately, at the thought of makai growing up. 

i just can't hold on to these little moments tight enough!

today

the smell of fresh laundry.

the sound of rain and cartoons.

hanging out in bed

with lots of snuggles and "pillow crashing".

every now and then a rainy day just feels good!

**makai likes to stack up all the bed pillows and body slam into them for what we call
"pillow crashing"

frisbee at the beach

memorial weekend with the bestie

my bestie came for a visit this weekend.

we can have fun doing just about anything 

but between paddle boating, a crazy game of scattergories, beaching and exploring the city

it turned out to be a really great weekend!

thanks for the visit friend, i forgot how much fun it is having you around.

costco

who doesn't love samples?!

this is the happiest i have ever seen him in a grocery store. 

the horsey and the doll

every. single. time

we are at meijer

we ride the horsey

over and over and over agian.

i had this doll when i was little

( his name was patrick)

 so i stuck it the toy box

with all of makai's other toys.

i'm thinking someone might be ready

for a playmate.

although, i'm certain

that he drowned the baby 

in the backyard with the hose.

this morning

there is nothing better than ...

relaxing in the sun,

on the back patio,

 in your pajamas.

while cooling your toes 

in a bucket of water,

and eating strawberries.

my toes were in the big green bucket next to the little man....

ps. relaxing with a toddler lasts about 5 minutes, tops. :)

a walk

today, we walked around the nature preserve

and watched the elk and the cars.

i'm looking forward to a lot more of these walks this summer.

next time i will wear tennis shoes, not flip flops,

so we can walk a bit longer.

we brought the mower too, of course.

him and i

most of the time,

its just

him and i

and i wouldn't trade it 

for anything in the world. 

makai,

you are my best buddy.

i love you.

nature

one of my favorite things about where we live, 

the nature preserves.

such a breath of fresh air.

makai and his mower

makai loves his lawn mower.  

lately , "mow da grass"

is all he wants to do. 

after countless trips with the mower around our neighborhood

i took him and his mower to the park,

for a change of scenery.

he mowed for an entire hour, 

only stopping twice

to ride the twisty slide of course.

even then, he had his mower parked right next to the steps.

i love this kid.

mom's day

we took a trip back to michigan,

to celebrate our moms.

it was a great weekend.

filled with lots of family, friends,

baseball, good food, kite flying, tractor riding and bocce ball.

we couldn't have asked for a better couple of days.

we also took weston to meet his new family.

i am so happy our friends got one last family photo of us all together.

when makai is away mommy and daddy will play

children consume you.

when you are at the movies 

and you see a sweet little boy,

it makes you miss yours.

when you are getting dressed

and a little toddler sock

falls out of your sleeve,

it makes you miss him even more.

it's a great thing to be consumed. 

don't worry makai,

mommy and daddy saved all their arcade tickets

and even signed you up for the arcade birthday club.

you are on our mind. always.

through my little one

seeing the world

through my little one

is a fascinating thing.

 "blow flowers", big trees, water, rain storms, bubbles, animals, big rocks, grassy fields...

never in my life have these things captured my attention like they do now. 

thank you makai.

 

little moments and picking flowers

I'm sitting here at nap time reading page after page after page of our blog and can't hold back the tears, the songs that are playing while I read isn't really helping either. There are just so many memories and special little moments and the time seems to be passing so quickly. Some days can be really hard and there are times I catch myself wishing the day away. Then there are those moments where you wish time could just stand still so you can soak it all in. I haven't been recording a lot of of family moments lately and looking back and reading the blog I realize that I need to find the balance of being in the moment while still taking the time to snap pictures. Some of the smallest moments are easily forgotten but looking back at the pictures and reading about our days makes me feel so happy!

on that note....

Makai loves walking around the block and picking weeds flowers.
He yells flower,
marches over to it,
pops it's little top off,
and shoves it into his chubby little hand.
The other day on our walk
 he picked EVERY flower he could see,
until his little hand was stained yellow
and smelt like sour dandelions.
By the end of the walk
my hands were full of the pretty weeds too...
because he had to make room for some pine cones!