Outdoor Fun

We have done our best to soak of the rest of the summer weather. We've spent several afternoons watching Linc splash around in his kiddie pool, and gone to just about every park within a 10 mile radius of where we live.

 This is the Children's Garden located on Campus! It has a bridge and pond and all kinds of flowers!

 This is one of our favorite Garden's to walk to. It's about 10 minutes away and absolutely beautiful. Lincoln especially loves the big Coy fish!

 Last of all these are pictures from our own backyard!

It's amazing to see the difference a few weeks makes. The start of this post looks like the middle of summer and by the end you can see the leaves have already started changing and fall is about to begin.

Nature Center

The weather has been so beautiful we decided to spend a morning at the nature center and venture on a hike. It was a lot of fun and the backpack Devin's parents gave to us was perfect. It made it really nice to get out and hit the trails.  Lincoln loved being outside exploring everything there was to see!

So we've been working with Lincoln getting his routines down so when the baby comes it will be easier on all of us.  So Lincoln's bedtime routine consists of reading books with Mom or Dad saying prayers and goodnights and then we put him in bed where he usually reads or plays for a few minutes before he goes to sleep. He has been going to bed on his own for a few months now and it makes it really nice. Well Lincoln's newest thing is he has to have every blanket and stuffed animal on the bed with him. It's absolutely adorable. We go in and every night he's surrounded or cuddling with one of his stuffed animals. He's also started bringing all his bedding into the living room and pretending to sleep or piling it all on Dad as he tries to read him stories. It's so much fun. Lincoln is getting so big and it's fun to see him love his big boy bed!

We've also decided to start introducing Lincoln to the potty to see if maybe we can get him potty trained before Baby Girl Kenney comes. He has done a really good job so far. He quickly learned that when he uses the potty he get's either a little treat or a few minutes on the I-Pad. He now asked for a treat or I-pad then tells us he has to go and runs to his little potty. Which is great except he has completely learned how to game the system. He will tell us he needs to go to the bathroom 3 or 4 times in a hour and each time go just a little bit just to get a treat or the I-pad. What a smart little stinker he is! Last night he even used it as a last ditch attempt to get out of bed at bedtime calling us in and telling us he needed to go. I can't believe how smart he's gotten and he's not even two yet!

Look at these my Two Handsome Boys!

I'm sure Lincoln won't appreciate that I put this picture up for everyone to see but I couldn't resist when I walked in and he was reading a book on the potty.
 

 

Slip N Slide

 We set up a huge slip n' slide for the welcome back BBQ at the apartment building.  Lincoln loved running up and down splashing in the puddles. Then our friend David, took Lincoln down for a ride and lets just say Lincoln absolutely loved it. I'm sure when David started he didn't realize Lincoln would want to go down again and again and again and again.  Lincoln was in heaven and I think David was too nice to say no. It was so much to watch. We have been so blessed with wonderful friends and neighbors.

 It actually took quite a bit of skill to run and jump down the slide while still making it smooth for Lincoln. I hope you can hear Lincoln in the video he just laughed and giggled the entire time!

Independence and Nauvoo

On our way back to Michigan we thought it would be fun to make some stops and see some of the sites. Our first stop was in Independence at the Truman Museum. It is the first presidential library I had ever gone to and I found it absolutely fascinating. Lincoln did pretty good and let us look for quite awhile. He did get a little silly at the end.

After Independence, we travelled to Liberty where we visited the Liberty Jail. It was really neat to feel the spirit of the place and amazing to think of all the revelation that was received in that very room.

The next day started with Carthage. As you can see, it was a very wet day, but no amount of rain could dampen the Spirit we felt both in and around the jail.

 

 

 Nauvoo... was wet but we had a blast. The temple, the town, the brickkiln, everywhere we went we had fun.

We walked all around town, but Linc liked the interactive family center the best (or at least the blocks at the family center)

 The blacksmith shop was our personal favorite: they made us rings made from nails and a miniature horseshoe.