Pretty good week for a kid

So much fun has been had already and it's only Wednesday.

First up, swimming.

Then, dinner with Aunt Christy and Uncle Josh which included a gift! Gus got a new book that Christy brought back from her trip to Boston. It is the most precious book ever. Josh and Christy took a well-known children's book called Goodnight Boston and personalized it. The un-personalized version features kids saying goodnight to all the sights and famous folk from Boston. Gus' version has an extra page and photo/caption - it's a picture of Hava that reads Goodnight Hava. Gus nailed it right away. He said "goodnight baby Hava!".

It is a wonderful gift.

A cookie from the Skunbergs which doubled as face paint.

Ross added the football stripes.

And finally, a little carnival with all sorts of interesting games. Gus marched right over to the duck pond and stepped in. We had to pull him out and explain the rules. He finally got it right and won a prize.

This train ride was totally awesome even though you can't tell by the look on his face. He really did like it.

Gus' other GF

Mike, Michelle, and Gabby were in town this weekend for our monthly visitation. Ever since we moved, we agreed to try to get together at least once a month. So far we're doing pretty good on that promise. This post includes all the shots and videos that they will hate us for someday.


Band practice.



We went for a walk on Saturday morning and it only took Gabby about 5 minutes to fall asleep on Gus' shoulder. Gus tolerated but wasn't impressed. Of course Michelle and I thought it was the cutest thing on the planet and we were begging Gus to put his arm around Gabby but he wouldn't.

Here's a blurry family photo, minus the dads.

We are mean, we know, but at least this dress-up session ended here and didn't include makeup or girly stuff on Gus.


How come the kids look scared? They like Skunny, they really do.

Bath time was fun. Again, doesn't every kid have a pic of them in the tub with someone else? A photo that they will hate later in life? Yes, they do, and to make it even worse...we have video too!



Halfway through Gabby clearly says, "no." So Gus, being the gentleman he is, decided he would not splash Gabby anymore, until we begged him to again.

All-Star

Last week, ND held the annual Lion's All-star basketball week. It included many days of practice, ending with 2 games. One in Bismarck and one in Fargo. Lucas, Ross' cousin, was asked to be part of this prestigious team and he did great! We met everyone at the game. Thanks to Patty for sending to me the photos that I missed.

Holly and Gus.

Holly, Lucas, and Alex: all-star and all-star siblings.

Gus made the rounds. Next up was uncle Paul. But wait, there's something in the distance...

Ah yes, Andy Armadillo.

Pretzels with cheese are delicious.

Slowly Gus began to get tired.

The nice thing about him getting sleepy is that he would cuddle with us.

It was definitely time to head out when he didn't even have interest in running up and down the stairs.

Lucas' team ended up losing in a nail-biter. Darn!

Gus' GF

GF = girlfriend.

Ava and her parents, Mike & Rachel, were in town this weekend and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner together at the Skunberg's. I've probably mentioned it before but Mike & Rachel were formerly residents of Fargo but moved to Omaha, NE last summer. We wish they were still here! So does Gus. He is growing more and more fond of Ava every time he sees her. Today's mission: bubbles and hugs. Sounds girly, I know, but it was cute.

Hmm, this thing is broken.

Gus tried to fix it.

Ava finally figured it out!

BUBBLLESSS! That's what we heard for a good 15-mins once this thing started pumping out the bubbles. It was very cool.

And now for the hugging portion of this post:

I'm not sure what they were looking at but it's cute.

There are more pics of Ava to come after I take them off my other cameras. I shot her 2-yr photos and she was a perfect model. What a difference it makes taking photos of a little girl vs a little boy! I was doing much less chasing than I'm used it. It was nice.

Park and picnic

We took a neighborhood stroll to the nearest park to get some exercise and quality play-time in. Ally has always been a good buddy to Gus and he adores her. She pushed his stroller to the park, then pushed him on the swing for a loooonngg time.

2 peas in a pod on the slide.

Gus looks shocked in this photo. As if he's surprised that I would be taking a picture...

Time for a picnic! Frosted pink animal crackers and strawberries were on the menu.

Oh, and water, too. 2 oz at a time. They had very small cups.

Tips appreciated

We walked around the Fargo Downtown Street Fair on Friday evening. It was much bigger than I thought it was going to be! It was very nice. About half way through, Gus was really feeling the arts and decided to display his own artistic talents by performing a rhythmic percussion tap dance on a man-hole cover. Kristie, our dear friend who came with us, suggested we set out a tip jar to see if he could make any cash.


Rewarded!

Gus and Susan

I think every kid has a photo of them in a cupboard or playing in the pots and pans. Here's Gus', Lazy-Susan-style:

Mmm, that looks good

Gus' popsicle melted because he was too busy eating mine.

Dragon and beach party

Dragons and swimming is the best combo ever. Gus loved attending the work picnic put on by my office last week as you can tell from the shots below. He was super bummed when they closed the beach/pool, but he wandered up the hill to the dragon and had so much fun there that he forgot all about swimming.