What a busy weekend!!!

First, though back on the last Sunday in August, Tony's school hosted a "Summer School Session" for the high school staff and families. That morning, while we were getting ready to go, Bradlee wanted my attention so much! We had to bring a dish to pass, so I was busy getting that ready. I gave Bradlee a pot and a wooden spoon and he went to town!!! I think we have a drummer on our hands!

This is the second year they've done this Summer School, and it was so much fun, again! They open up the gym and have a bounce house and games, as well as a BBQ and tons of food, and they also open the pool for swimming! Last year, Bradlee was barely a month old, so I didn't get in the pool, but this year, I promised Emma I would! She went under water twice (and survived!) and we all had such a great time!! Here's a picture of her in her swimmies in "the big pool at Daddy's school"!!

So back to this weekend...we dog-sat for my sister, Kathi's, dog, Holly. She's a big black lab that is so great with the kids and basically just sleeps all day. Her only downfall is that she makes a mess with her water bowl and she she like to chew on things when she's lonely. She chewed our remote control (one of her favorites) and one of the kids' toys (both are still usable!) this weekend, but she's so good and we just love her. We put her bed in Emma's room, and she was ecstatic that Holly came and slept in her room with her...On Saturday morning, Holly had an appointment at the "dog spa"...so Emma, Bradlee and I loaded her in the car and took her over to PetSmart. Here's my view in the rear view mirror:

As you can see, Bradlee's hair was out of control, so after we took Holly to the spa, we went over to Grondin's and had his haircut. He had to sit on my lap, and was kind of nervous the whole time, so as a result, his bangs are a little crooked, but other than that, it's so much better...and you can now see those beautiful blue eyes!! Here's the "after" picture...

Each year, for about 4 years now, the Sunday before school starts, we've made it a tradition to go to the Detroit Zoo, just the (now) 4 of us. This year was no different. We let the kids sleep until they woke up on their own, then we got everything together and headed to the Zoo. What a day! There were tons of people there, but we all had a great time! Bradlee loved the animals (especially the giraffes) and Emma loved "the polar bears and all of the animals"! Here are the kids getting ready to see some animals!

Emma also loved the flamingos, so here is her and Daddy posing like a flamingo:

Like I said, Emma's favorite part was the polar bears. The Detroit Zoo has an amazing polar bear/seal exhibit, where there is a 70 foot glass tunnel where, on a good day, you can see the bears and seals swimming all around you. Well, they were performing for our visit! Just as we walked into the tunnel, a polar bear dove into the water and headed for the tunnel.

He swam right to where we were (below) and walked on the tunnel, so we could see his GIGANTIC paws:

Then, as Emma told EVERYONE....the polar bear "sat on the tunnel and we saw his butt!"!!!! LOL

It was a great day at the zoo! Bradlee also loved watching the seals swimming around! We enjoyed a picnic lunch we had packed, and then were home in time for dinner with Aunt Karyn...not before having our traditional picture taken by the bear fountain!

Monday was supposed to be a day full of surprises...Kathi's boyfriend, Garrett, is in the Marines. He has been in Japan (and surrounding areas) since March on a humanitarian tour. He was due to come home this first week of September. In the mean time, Kathi's gotten a new job, new apartment, and a new car (convertible!)...so there have been so many changes in her life that he's personally missed. She told him about everything except the car...which she got back in July! So, Garrett emailed my parents and said that he wants to surprise Kathi and come home on a different day he's telling Kathi...my parents were going to be up north this weekend, so mom had Garrett talk to me. Garrett and I emailed quite a bit, and I managed to get Kathi to agree to come up on Monday (today, Labor Day) to pick up Holly and to enjoy in our "back-to-school BBQ" we always have. Great! That means everyone will know where she is and Garrett can come surprise her here! Well, Kathi was also in a wedding this weekend, where a bunch of Marines that know Garrett were...and the whole surprise was blown when they told Kathi he was going to be home late Sunday night instead of Wednesday, like he had told her! Surprise spoiled!! Damn! Well, it was still nice to see them together again and we still had the surprise of Kathi showing Garrett her new car! LOL Here's Kathi and Emma enjoying the spaghetti salad I made:

Here's Kathi and Garrett, WELCOME HOME! :)

Uncle Garrett brought Emma home a present from Japan...a silk kimono-like dress! She was really shy to try it on, but once I told her we could put some chopsticks in her hair, she was sold! Here's a nice picture of the dress...it's so beautiful!

Then, of course, Emma decided to pose...she did this one on her own!

So, as busy a weekend it was, it couldn't have ended better. We are all so happy to have Uncle Garrett back in Michigan safe and sound! We've all had a great summer and are also happy to have school starting again. Emma said her favorite part of summer was "playing in the pool, going to the Zoo, and being with Mommy and Daddy when Mommy was on vacation!" What a sweetie!! Tony's favorite part was watching the advances Emma made in the pool...from going to the "death grip" when she got in, to floating on her back with just some arm floaters on, it was amazing! Our goal is to have her comfortable jumping in by the time next summer comes around! My favorite part of this summer was watching my kids grow and making new and continuing old traditions...Look for first-day-of-school pictures tomorrow!!!