Celebrate!

We had a fun weekend around here. On Saturday morning, Gavin and I ventured out with Tom and Tilly to launch Tilly's new rowboat for the first time. Tom also keeps one of his jet skis at a friend's dock on the lake, so Cody and Abby and family met us, too! Gavin and I rode with Tilly on the maiden voyage after we launched the boat. Gavin loved it at first, but then I think he was uncomfortable in his life jacket and started getting squirmy and crazy. He's big, and I'm not strong, so it's a bit of a difficult situation in a tiny little rowboat. We took him ashore, where he had a blast playing with a dump truck while the rest of the family enjoyed the jet ski and rowboat.

After nap time, we emerged from our apartment to find Tess, fresh in town from Portland. She's always a welcome presence! Gavin and I took off to the grocery store with her, and even though he behaved like an animal, Tess handles him so well and keeps us all under control. Thank goodness for Tunes! After Gavin went down for the night, all four of us hung out in the living room to watch the British Open (actually, I read a book on my Kindle...) but we've had surprisingly very few moments to relax with family since I've been here, so it was really nice!

Sponge Bob and Grandpa at Devil's Lake

Finding time in his schedule for a yogurt break.

He loves finding the ocean from the driveway.

On Sunday, Tess hosted the soon-to-be Mrs. Schwartz's bridal shower at the house. The Sears sisters put together flowers and decorations, and Tess had a great assortment of cheeses and wine. Everything came together beautifully. I'm not a big bridal shower game person, but Tuna did it right with charades and darts. I popped five balloons to bring home the win in darts. Must've been beginner's luck, but it was sure fun. Mikaila looked stunning and made a haul with some beautiful lingerie, which made me realize that my regular shorts and t-shirt nightwear might need some mixing up. I told Dylan I was inspired to buy some lingerie. "Please do," he said. We'll see how that goes with this extra weight I'm sporting around my belly (and chin and thighs and butt and...).

Gavin took off with his grandpa, who he adores, during the shower to play with his cousins, and he received an excellent report when he got home. I'm pretty sure he loves me a lot, but I think he was getting a little tired of my face and was happy to be around some kids. I thoroughly enjoyed the party and loved not having to talk to anybody in an overly excited voice about menial things like eating lunch. I was happy to see his face at the end of the night, and we are off for more great fun this week, but it was a welcome break.

I've only got a few pictures from the weekend to share, but I promise you Tess will more than make up for it with the bridal party photos that she'll post to Facebook once the wedding craziness dies down. And here on the blog you'll find a ridiculous excess of photos of Gavin picking blueberries at a U-Pick Farm in the next few days. It was incredible fun, and he ate his weight in blueberries and said "Delicious, mama" after every bite. I am not looking forward to that next diaper.