Top Notch

It was the kind of weekend where a few things fell through, and a few things came together just perfectly. Overall, a really good weekend! Gavin and I kicked it off on Friday by celebrating my oldest friend, Steph's, birthday over at their house. We only lasted an hour and a half before Gavin's screams got beyond annoying and we headed home. Not too bad considering we had put in a long day at work/Dawn's and had done some shopping in-between.

It was up and at 'em early on Saturday. We headed north (and a little west) to celebrate baby Greyson's first birthday in Prescott. The weather was warm here in the desert, which translated to perfect up in the higher elevation. We had fun seeing our friends and being outside. Gavin dominated a few PB & J's, then we said sayonara to the Kennedys before they headed back to Charlotte. Then it was back down the hill, but not before joining the Johnson and Button families for a stop at Mortimer's Farm. Gavin got up close and personal with some big green tractors and went through his (and my) first corn maze. We shared a hot dog lunch with our pals and waited in line for the hayride with Farmer Buzz until G grew too restless, and then we headed home.

To my pleasant surprise, G slept half the way each way to and from Prescott and was a delight the rest of the time in the car. The whole reason I stopped at the farm was to tire him out a little bit before the car ride home. It was an exhausting adventure doing it without Dylan, and even though Gavin couldn't go in the jump castles or ride the ponies or anything, it was all worth it because my plan worked out great! I had an iPad armed and ready as back-up to appease him in the car because I thought for sure he'd be a brat, but I didn't even need to use it once. What a major success. My plans rarely work out when it comes to Gavin. I always say that the only thing I know about him for sure is that I know nothing about him at all. And also that he likes to eat. But I proved myself wrong this time, and he actually did what I'd hoped he'd do...thank goodness! Our evening at home was pretty sweet, too. I discovered that as long as Gavin has a Hot Wheels car in each hand, then he is happy exploring the whole house and just being a nice little guy.

Caden and Gavin

Party screamer

Gavin and Everly

Playing in the corn kernels

He found a big green tractor!

Pumpkin patch

Corn maze

Sunday morning brought us a smoker's cough from Gavin, which cleared up pretty quickly. Those things usually do, right? Gavin joined me on an adventurous walk/jog in his stroller with one very flat rear tire. That made it difficult to maneuver on the flood ravaged dirt roads around here...but we survived. Then, Dylan had a change of plans and flew into Scottsdale around noon, and instead of turning around and leaving again, he ended up staying the night. We celebrated with lunch at AJs and a relaxing afternoon at home, and then our family from across the street came over to play. I've always loved the weekend, but lately they've been top notch!