Follow those Balloons!

Last Friday night, I hopped off a plane, went home, unpacked, repacked, picked up Bradyn and headed down to Lincoln to meet up with Mom, Grandma, Corey, Sarah and Kyleah. We grabbed KFC, and plopped down on some blankets and chairs and had a dinner picnic in hopes of watching the hot air balloons launch & glow at the Balloon Festival. Unfortunately the wind didn't cooperate and the balloons were having trouble staying upright. A couple of them took off, but the glow was a no-go. Despite the lack of balloon action we still had tons of fun hanging out as a family. It was nice to all be together and it was fun playing with the kids. Bradyn and Kyleah had a good time feeding each other goldfish crackers and pointing at the balloons that did go up. Once we found out the balloon glow was cancelled, we all headed back to moms and hung out a bit longer. Then mom, Bradyn and I decided what the heck... let's get up first thing in the morning and try to see the balloons. Chad opted to stay and sleep in... which was much deserved after being Mr. Mom for a few days while I was away. So the three of us went over to Lincoln and found the balloonists... they were supposed to take off from the airport, but ended up going a few miles further north to catch the wind and end up near the airport. Almost all of them went up, and it was fun seeing them get blown up and be up close and personal with them. One of these days I'm gonna ride in one!!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the highest height

Let's go fly a kite

and send it soar-ring

Up to the atmosphere

Up where the air is clear

Oh, let's go... fly a kite

Weekend at Grammy & Poppy's

Friday through Sunday, we continued the Maz family fun at Grammy & Poppys house.

Friday we went to the water park in Rockford for a day of swimmin & sunshine. It was super busy, but the kiddie area wasn't so bad. It was fun to see Bradyn apply his learnings from swim lessons at the pool.

Saturday we helped watch our niece, Kyla while Kyle & Laura worked & got things set up for Kyla's baptism the next day. Bradyn was a cute big cousin and sat like a little big man and watched Kyla for us while we ate lunch. He also entertained her in her carseat for awhile too. I enjoyed playing pat-e-cake with her feet and making her giggle. She's so advanced for a 4 month old. She's already got 2 teeth, she's nearly sitting up on her own, and is a very determined scooter, she just can't quite figure out how to work her arms. But she'll be an early crawler too I bet.

On Sunday, we went to church and to the baptism, then the after party was at Kyle & Laura's house. The entire family was able to make it, and we were even able to stage a picture of all four Mazanowski grandbabies! Would you believe that the first one was the best... it was all downhill from there...lol. Bradyn and Zachary had a blast hanging out together as usual. They are best buddies. I bet the kitty cat and puppy dog were glad for the two boys to leave! After a long fun weekend, we were all wiped out and headed home to get ready for the week ahead.

Bears Camp

Last weekend was a long busy weekend filled with summer fun! We started the weekend on Thursday and partied hard all the way through Sunday evening. We got up Thursday morning and headed to Bourbonnais to the Chicago Bears Training Camp. We arrived a bit early and "tailgated" in line. Bradyn and Chad tossed the football around, while I enjoyed the sun. We had a Jimmy John's picnic, and watched them set up the bouncy houses from outside the gate. Once they started letting people in, we waited for all of the players to come out in hopes of snagging an autograph or two, but we weren't so lucky. We watched them practice a little bit, then we decided to go check out the fun kids' area. Bradyn had a blast jumping in the bouncy houses and going down the bouncy slides. He also LOVED the choo choo ride. We got to meet Staley, the Bears Mascot. Bradyn wasn't too sure about him up close, but was ok as long as he didn't have to be RIGHT next to him in the picture. He did give him a high five and a fist punch, which is progress from being super afraid of Santa and the Easter Bunny this past year. We headed out after practice was over and took off to the Maz House for the rest of the weekend.

Another Day on Papa's Boat

Bradyn's second time on Papa's boat was another fun one. It was super hot out, so the water felt great! It was also super windy though so it was pretty choppy. I had this brilliant idea to go ahead and go tubing off the back of the boat. I held on and didn't fall off, but I was flopping around like a fish on dry land! LOL Ten the next day, I was super sore and couldn't figure out why at first...hmmmm... I guess I am almost 30. I'm not as young and limber as I used to bed. Evidently being tossed around on a tube makes an old fogey a little sore the following day! Haha

Logan County Fair

We stopped over at the Logan County fair this year for the first time in a long time. We wanted to take Bradyn on a few rides and it worked out as a great meeting spot because Grandma Netter was going to watch him for the evening while Chad and I went out with a few friends. Though it was a super hot day and we were sweaty just walking around, Bradyn still had a lot of fun. He ate a yummy corndog, loved looking at the BIG tractors, enjoyed feeding the animals at the petting zoo, and rode a few rides. We all went on the Ferris Wheel, which I'm pretty sure he enjoyed, but he did have a concerned look on his face. Then he wanted to ride the school bus with grandma. After that he was intrigued by the helicoptors, so I squeezed into that one with him, and he rode the merry go round with grandma & daddy. After the day of family fun, Chad and I met up with a few friends and ended up at the fair beer tent. Yum :)

Katie's Kids Carnival

Bradyn's Daycare is opening a second location on August 17th. They put on an openhouse/carnival at the new facility over the weekend. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, a bouncy house, popcorn, snowcones, a balloon artist, a facepainter, bozo ball toss, and much more. And we got to tour the new facility. While the new location is closer to our house, so far we haven't been able to convince ourselves to move him. All Bradyn's friends and teachers are staying at the original location and he LOVES it there. For now we are leaving things as they are. But I did find comfort in the fact that the new facility is laid out EXACTLY like the old one and it is backed by the same people with the same beliefs and the curriculum and staff is just as amazing as they are at the original location. Here are some pics from the day of fun.