Family Photo 2010: The Outtakes

We recently took our family photo for the annual Christmas card and with Gavin being a 2 year old we ended up with a lot of "extra" photos. Apparently telling a small child to smile garners varied results.

Earth Day, VA Trip and Gavin's 2nd Birthday!

For Earth Day there was a festival at Sawyer Point in Cincinnati, so we walked across the river to check it out. The best part was the "petting zoo" which was actually several farm animals on leashes roaming around. Gavin had a turn walking around a lamb. He enjoyed it thoroughly.

These were two goats hanging out under a tree.

There was a guy in a costume that looked like the Recycle triangle. Gavin was scared...and wouldn't give him a high-five.

Gavin and I went to Virginia at the end of April, before his birthday so that he could still fly free. While we were there we went to the DC zoo with Grandma M and Elizabeth. A lot of the exhibits were closed, so we didn't see much, but Gavin loved the Gorillas. They terrified him, though. If they started to move, he would run over by me. I think he liked the thrill. We watched them for a good half hour to 45 minutes.

Grandma & Grandpa M wanted to have a little birthday party for Gavin. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of the guests, but Aunt Jan & Uncle Toby were there (Ben's Aunt and Uncle), Grandma GG (Ben's Grandma), G & G M, of course, and a Clint (a family friend).
Gavin didn't know what to do with the attention.

He started to blow the candles out before we sang.

Then when it came time to actually do it, he was too shy. He loved the cake, though.

He very much enjoyed opening his presents. This is a motorcycle from Clint--I think it was Gavin's favorite because he wouldn't put it down to open other presents. So, Grandpa M hid it until all the presents were open.

This one is from Aunt Jan and Uncle Toby.

He loves playing with it and looking at the animal pictures, but we have yet to actually try playing it as a game.

Grandpa M gave Gavin a Leapfrog book of Ni-Hao Kailan--Grandpa and Gavin watch her show together.

Aunt Elizabeth had to work during the party, so Gavin opened her present when she got home. He knew what was up and was excited to get another present.

He got finger paints and a Lightning McQueen swimsuit! He loves McQueen!

On our last day in Virignia, Grandpa M took us to the Richmond Zoo. We saw a lot more animals than at the DC zoo. Gavin was still scared of the monkeys and thought that they would come get him. We had a lot of fun looking at and feeding the animals.

In this part of the zoo, there are a bunch of little birds. You can buy a stick with seeds on it and they will come land on it. Gavin wanted to hold the stick, but he shook off any bird that landed on it.

Gavin's favorite part of the zoo was this train.

Gavin was too afraid to actually feed the animals, but he liked watching Grandpa M and me feed them.

After our trip to Virginia, we celebrated Gavin's birthday with Dad and some of our new friends here in Kentucky. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of them.
This is Gavin before the party started. He has never fallen asleep on the couch watching TV, but apparently he was really tired.

I made him a "Clubhouse" cake. Gavin doesn't call Mickey Mouse by his name, Gavin calls him Clubhouse.

He didn't know how to act while we were singing.

And he still wouldn't blow out the candles on his own.

Our New Adventure

We moved to the Cincinnati, OH area the middle of march.  We drove three days from Phoenix to Cincinnati.
For some reason Gavin likes to bite his blanket.

Here he fell asleep holding his apple slices.

I don't know why he likes his blanket on his head, but he usually does this when he is tired.

We tried a new restaurant and all Gavin wanted to do was play.  It was nice that we had so much room for him to lounge on.

Gavin seems to be sweating a lot since we moved--it makes for some fun hair.

We found some huge grocery store here called Jungle Jims.  They claim to have award-winning bathrooms and it seems that the store doesn't end.  This was hanging over the soup asile.

When we first moved into our apartment, Gavin and I spent a lot of time on the porch.  He loved being outside, but he still wanted to watch the movie Cars.

Gavin decided that he wanted to carry the basket at Target--but it was a little big.

The Easter Bunny filled Gavin's basket with a lot of great stuff.

Gavin checking it out.  We had him put the basket out the night before.

Of course, we knew the first thing he would pick up was the Mater truck from Cars.

He gave it to me to open, then went for more.  (Pardon the mess, we did move in two days before this.)

This his him throwing the candy aside to get to the Cars leapfrog book.  He was more excited for the toys than for the candy.

Sleep is always better in Mom and Dad's bed.

We are settling in here.  We found an apartment in Kentucky, so we are actually Kentuckians now, but don't make fun. I've already spoken in church.  Ben was supposed to speak as well, but he made the mistake of ordering fish the night before.  Let's just say he learned a great lesson and would have rather given a talk than be that sick.  I got a calling last week as the second counselor in the Relief Society presidency.  We'll see how it goes.  Gavin already loves the nursery here and can't wait to go to class each Sunday.