Glasgow Green Park

It ended up being really nice weather for Rhys' last week of Summer Holiday. I was pretty much taking the boys to the park every day. It was fun, but I was starting to get a little tired of the park by our house since it was a 30 minute walk to get there. One of the days we decided to make a pack lunch and go meet Steven for his lunch break. We ate on the steps of the school, enjoying all of the sunshine. 

When it was time to say good-bye to Steven, we weren't quite ready to go home yet, so we decided to go exploring. That weekend we were planning to attend the World Piping Competition but we didn't know where the location was. I decided if I could find it and see if it was within walking distance to the train station we wouldn't have to take the bus. 

While we were walking Gavin ended up falling asleep, so when we finally found the Glasgow Green and saw there was a park, he didn't get to play. But, it was nice for me because I could easily stand be the sleeping Gavin and keep an eye on Rhys at the same time. Rhys just loved playing at the park. The big playground looked kind of like a Pirate Ship that they could play on. It also had some swings and a teeter totter. 

Rhys is such a friendly little boy, that he had no problem making friends and was really enjoying the playground. We stayed for 30 minutes and by that time he was red in the face and I figured it was time to go find some shade. We walked to the Toy Store so Rhys could read some books. (He prefers the toy store to the Library... I don't know why since he can't take them home.) Gavin woke up in the Toy store so he got to run around a bit as well. I ended up getting a call from Steven then telling me he was done, so he was able to meet up with us. It was so fun for him to get to ride the train home with us and definitely makes it easier on me. It was a fun day, and even though we still played at a park, it was refreshing to be at a new one. Here are some pictures of Rhys playing in the park, and of course one of sleeping Gavin. =)

Gavin's 3rd Birthday

Yesterday my baby boy turned 3. I still can't believe it! I swear, time has been fast forwarding ever since we had Rhys and it just seems to be picking up speed. =)

Yesterday was a really fun day. As soon as we woke up we gave Gavin his presents. Rhys had picked his present out weeks ago and was so excited to give it to him. I'm very proud of him for keeping it a secret this whole time. (He gave him the stuffed green yoshi to match the yellow one Rhys already had. Gavin loved it.) He also got a tiger stuffed animal and the movie Kung Fu Panda 2 from us. Gramma and Poppy sent him a Leapfrog Tag Jr. Its a little machine that helps kids read books and he loves it. He hasn't figured out how to do it himself just yet, but he loves having Rhys or one of us do it for him. They also gave him some Chocolates that you can mold into some fun shapes and a Star Wars t-shirt. The shirt hasn't come yet, so it will be a fun late present to get. He got Birthday cards from his Uncle Evan, Aunt Leslie, and Cousin Liam. The Ward Primary also sent him one along with my parents. My Mom decided to wait and take him birthday shopping when we get home, so they're going to have fun with that.

We put the movie on for Gavin to watch while we all got ready for the day and then we sang him Happy Birthday and had him blow out his candles. We didn't know what time we were going to get back so we wanted to make sure he got his birthday cake. He picked it out himself and ended up eating all of his and half of Rhys'. The little pig! =) 

After cake we took a train ride to Largs. Its about an hour away from here, and its a cute little Seaside town. Reminds us of a Scottish version of Seaside Oregon. It was SO very cute and Gavin loved it. We originally decided to go because our Stake was having a fun family day there and we thought it might be fun to go for Gavin's birthday since we've been wanting to go to Largs anyway. When we got there it took us a while to find where the Stake activity was, and when we finally did no one from our Ward was there. We weren't sure anyone from the Stake recognized us and felt weird just going up to them. So, we hung around for a bit and let the boys play in the park that was right there. They also got to go to the shore and throw rocks into the sea, which they loved. While we were throwing rocks a rescue helicopter came to practice doing rescues with the life boat out on the lake. It got so close and the boys loved watching the guys jump out of the helicopter and get pulled back in. A fun adventure we were not expecting!

After a while we decided to just head out. We didn't feel that much like socializing with people who didn't know us and we wanted to see a bit more of Largs before we headed home. When Steven came last year to audition, our friends Ben and Olivia had brought him here and taken him to get ice cream at a cafe so we decided to go there to eat. The food was really good, but it really was the ice cream that was amazing. The boys got free scoops with their meals, so Steven and I splurged and got one ourselves. It was definitely some of the best ice cream I've ever had. Its actually really funny, there were about 5 Ice cream shops that we found while we were there. The whole time we kept joking about wanting to move there, but after I saw all the Ice cream shops.. I wasn't really joking anymore. =) There was a house on the hill in the distance that was just so cute and Steven and I have decided that if he ever does get rich and famous we would love to come back and buy the house. (Haha, well we can dream, right!) 

We ended up taking the train back so we could go meet up with some of our friends for dinner in Glasgow. One of them shared her birthday with Gavin and so we wanted to do a joint birthday dinner. We went to McDonald's because its Gavin's favorite. Angie was very nice to let us go there on her big day as well. She was so sweet and brought Gavin a present. It was a Sticker book full of a 1000 animal stickers. Our other friend Lauren came as well and also brought him a present. She babysat Gavin for me while I was with Rhys for his performances of Duchess of Malfi, and so the two of them bonded a lot. They especially bonded over the sound that a sheep makes, so she bought him a stuffed sheep. Its so cute and it was sweet of her to give it to him.

After McDonald's we went back to Angie's for a little bit for a mini party. More of our friends showed up and said happy birthday to Gavin. Although, I think Rhys felt it was more for him. =) We left Steven there, so he could celebrate with our friends a little longer and I took the boys home. When we got here we checked Skype to see if we'd missed calls. We had one missed from my Mom and she was still on so we called her. My parents were happy they got to sing Happy Birthday to Gavin. They also got to see him fall asleep on the couch while we were talking since he was so tired from the day. I'm so sad he wasn't able to talk to Gramma and Poppy or any of his Aunt and Uncle's, but when we live so far away it just makes it a lot harder. He knows that they were all thinking of him though, so that's all that matters. 

It really was an amazing day and such a fun adventure. It felt like we went on a little mini Holiday, and the boys loved it. I think that's all you can really ask for in a Birthday. =) Here are some pictures of the big day. I tried uploading the video of us singing Happy Birthday to Gavin but its not working. I will try again a bit later, but I wanted to get these up in the mean time. 

Gavin opening his present from Rhys.

Gavin picked all his stuff up and hugged it all on his own. It was so cute.

Opening his present from Gramma and Poppy.

Some pictures of us in Largs.

Happy Birthday my sweet Gavin!

Daddy's back!

This week has been so much fun for the boys. Since Steven's show ended on Saturday they've gotten a chance to see their Daddy more often. Its still not for a long time, since Steven usually gets out of rehearsal at 5 or 6 so he doesn't get home until almost 6 or 7 and they go to bed at 7, but its still more then what they have been seeing him. 

This Tuesday, Steven was actually given a short rehearsal. He just needed to be there from 11-1:00, so we decided to make a fun day out of it. I took the boys on the train and we met Steven in Glasgow. We walked to the mall and let the boys wander around the toy store for a bit. Rhys spent most of the time with the books reading, he just loves to read. Gavin went everywhere and just loved that we just followed him around. After a bit, we left to go find the soft play area for the boys to play in. Right next to it, was a jumping house that they were both so excited about. It was £2 for 5 minutes, so its not something we would normally do, but it was our fun day out so we decided to splurge. Rhys took off right away and was jumping, going down the slide, just going crazy. Gavin was a little more hesitant. All the jumping scared him a little bit, so he was happy to stay close to the entrance for the first bit. After a while he spotted the stairs leading to the top of the slide, so he ventured over there. It took him a while, but he finally climbed to the top. (All the other kids just kept going around him since he was so slow) but he did it! I was wondering what he was going to do when he got up there, since he won't go down a slide by himself, but once he got to the top he just slid back down the stairs. Silly boy! By the time he made it back to the bottom it was time for them to get out. 

That really worked up their appetite, so we took them to the food court and let them get some Happy Meals from McDonald's. Its not very "Scottish" but the boys love it and its cheap! 

After we ate, we rode the train home and let the boys play outside for a bit. It was one of the rare nice days we've had this summer, so we didn't have to worry about the rain. The boys ran around like crazy, made a few friends, and attempted to ride a bike. I'm so glad we got to do this with the boys. Rhys only has 2 more weeks until School starts again, so its good for him to get to do a few fun things. =)

Playing in the blow up house.

 Waiting for Daddy to bring the food.

 Daddy with the food! 

 Waiting for our train to show up.

 The train ride home!

 Playing outside!