Random July Shenanigans

I know I'm ridiculously behind in my blogging. Here's a bunch of random stuff we did in July. We spent lots of time at parks, pools, doing short day trips to see friends and family and I spent much of July training...but ended up hospitalized instead. Fun times!

Ty got a great baby pool from his Grams and we used it a ton this summer.
BBQin' on his new grill from the Laskey fam...thanks guys!

Zoo adventures. We have season passes so Ty and I have taken quite a few trips to check out the Cincinnati Zoo. Checking out the Monkeys with MimiIn being home with Ty full time this summer, I got creative with what we did with our time. We discovered countless parks and pools. On rainy days, we went here...Shanon and I took a trip to Dayton for Kelly's baby shower. She has since had her baby, Ethan Christopher.Tball with Papa - he's batting Left :)I also competed in the Columbus International Triathlon in late July. It started out being a practice for my upcoming half ironman, but ended my triathlon summer career instead. I was taken in an ambulance and admitted for Pneumonia for two days 10 days before my half ironman. Four months of training down the drain...great! I did finish this one though...even though it was a pitiful finish, my worst performance ever!

July 4th ~ Sister Lakes

We had another incredible weekend in Michigan at the Burkle lake house over the 4th. Ty loved the fireworks this year, and did a lot of swimming! Anything was a step up from last year's debacle...when we had Tyler AND our dog Cincy in the hospital on the 4th (The 4th from hell we call it!). Last year we didn't even see fireworks or parades, so seeing both was quite an improvement! We got to do some relaxing and I also got to check out the site of my big half ironman coming up on August 1st. Mike and I took a trip to the location while Ty was napping one day. It made me feel so much better to see where I'd be doing this crazy race, and I even got in the water and swam.

The Rodriguez/Gustafson family came up for the day on Sunday. It was wonderful to spend some quality time with Muma and Poopie, and have Ty and Hendrix play. Selfishly, it was also great to have my friend to chat and relax with. We are hoping to convince them to get a home up in Sister Lakes so we can make this a tradition :) Otherwise...they are always welcome up at the Burkle digs, as always!

Me in front of the site of the swim portion of the half ironman (and yes...that's Lake Michigan) Ty Jumping off the seawall...made me so nervousTy floating/swimming with Mommy & Daddy

Our cutie in his baby poolHendrix and Ty playingHD and his Daddy checking out the lakeOld friends catching up and relaxing

Father's Day 2009

Yes I'm a bit on the late side...but what can I say...I'm having far too much fun with Ty at home to update my blog! Since it was still Tyler birthday party weekend on Father's Day, and my fam was still in town, we celebrated a day later with just the three of us. Since I'm home with Ty for the summer, I thought it would be fun to make a project out of it (plus it was a great reason to have him outside and active). I had Tyler paint and draw on the wrapping paper for Mike's gifts and then wrapped his new bike seat and tool box up in it. It was adorable (if I do say so myself), and made it very special for Mike. Then Mike and Ty tried out his new wadding pool (Thanks Grams and Granddad...it's awesome!) We just love our Daddy and think he's the best Daddy in the whole world, so we wanted to be sure we did something special for him, even if it was a day late!

Ty putting his artistic touches on the wrapping paper!
Mike opening his tool boxTy and his hero with the wrapping paper Hanging with his Daddy in the new pool on a very hot day

Truck-Themed 2nd Birthday Party

This is going to be a long post...so hang in there! On the 20th of June, we hosted a 2nd birthday party for Tyler in our backyard. It was a truck-themed event, as Ty is pretty much obsessed with all things trucks! I went with more of a construction theme and made the black tablecloths roads and the centerpieces trucks of all sorts. I also decided that instead of doing BBQ I would make something Tyler really loved, so I went with Italian (or noo-noo's as he calls them). It seemed to be a hit. It was also fun this year because Tyler could play and run around with all of his friends. Last year he was just beginning to walk. The kids blew bubbles, played with their pails and shovels (that was their "goody bag") in the sand, ran through the sprinkler, and had a blast on our new swingset. I was pleased with the party...and glad the stress was over. Ty seemed to have a blast too...which melted my heart! Now we have to figure out what to do with all this plastic. I think it's time to box up some of his baby toys and call amvets:) Here are some pictures of the party for those of you that couldn't make the trip. His cute truck cake and my attempt at a dirt cake in a truck!Some of the decorOpening gifts with his buddies Connor and Logan (and Daddy too)Mimi and Auntie Cindy looking onHis cute Miami backpack from Mimi and Papa DaveSprinkler fun with his friends (thanks Uncle Brian and T for the cool gift!)Bubbles with TA tired, wet boy after his party...getting ready for a LONG nap!My fam, who were an incredible help during the partyAs far as Ty goes...he's just the most amazing and loving little boy! It's incredible how much he has changed, and how blessed I feel to see it all first-hand since I'm home over the summer. His vocabulary has gone into overdrive in the past few weeks. It's amazing! He is also the king of repeating every word, no matter how hard...so I have to be very careful these days with my road rage:) Here are a few new things he does/says that I find funny or entertaining:

"oh my" or "oh geez" or "oh boy" or "oh yeah", he kisses my boo-boos (and his own) often, gives the biggest hugs, sings twinkle twinkle little star in the grocery store...loudly, sings spongebob square pants theme song in his toddler language and it's hilarious, he says "whee" every time we push him on a swing, when I come into a room he says "hi mom" like a teenage boy (hilarous!), kisses the dog and hugs her everyday, he tries to whistle for cincy (it's more of a screech but it's adorable), "hi Cinc" or "good girl" or "go potty Cincy" because he loves his doggie, he has to go into the bathroom with us and say "bye bye poo-poo bye bye pee-pee" and flush (it's really fun when we're in public bathrooms and he's announcing to whoever is listening that Mommy is going pee-pee and poo-poo even when I'm not), Ty can count to 10 but never says the number 1...so his counting starts with 2. When he counts to 3...he says "two, three, two", Ty is swimming and jumping in the pool/lake without any adult help (he has no fear!), says "thank you mom" without being prompted, he's obsessed with shoes and is very particular with which pair he wears everyday, Ty lines up everything...his cars, books, whatever, in perfect lines (thanks to his OCD mom...oops), when he has poop he backs his butt up to us and says "oh poo-poo mommy, yeah poo-poo" then he grabs is diaper caddy and brings it to us (now if only he would sit on the darn potty!), he can throw his dirty diapers and anything else we ask him in the trash (handy!), he'll randomly come up to me and say "I wuve ooo" and gives me a kiss (heart melting!), when he farts he says "oohh" then whispers "I toot ma-ma", calls milk "mop" and it's too cute to try to correct just yet, when we take his shoes and socks off for the day he smells his feet and says "oh pee-ewww, stinky feet", he washes himself in the shower and follows the prompts we give him on what body part to wash (he knows every...I mean every...part), when he can't find me he says "oh mama, where are you?".

There are so many more great things...a million...but I am sure I have bored you thusfar, if you are even still with me. I just can't believe he's 2! Time truly flies when you're having fun, and we certainly are having a blast with our little man! We love him more than words...and can't believe he's not our baby anymore.

Random June

June has been a busy month for us, full of random laughs, big events, and firsts. Tyler is a classic toddler. He's constantly on the go, climbing everywhere, and talking and doing things that make us laugh constantly. Here are a few pictures that correspond to some of those randoms.

Tyler's last day at daycare for the summer
Our little fish loves bubble baths and swimming pools. He's now jumping off the side of the pool by himself and thinks he can swim. He wants no help from Mommy...even though he still needs it. He even practices his strokes in the bath frequently.This was priceless! After one of my evening runs, I was doing my abs on the family room floor and look over and Ty was doing them with me...hilarious!

Trying on all my bike gear and sippin' on my camelback.

When I was at Home Depot ordering our new fridge, I turned around for a second and Ty was climbing in the display sinks...so cute!

Hours of fun with one of his new toys...a sand and water table. Thanks Kimmy for this idea! Ty loved Eleanor's when we were in LA!

His "cheese" face