Thanksgiving weekend

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Joy's mom and brother at her mom's apartment. The boys were a little unsure of Joy's brother at first. During the meal, Jasper sat at the end of the table with me on one side and Joy's brother on the other. Jasper turned his back to him and was trying to not to look at him. Jacob was on the other end of the table being fed by Joy's mom.

Eventually, they both warmed up to Joy's brother. Jacob spend most of the time there sitting with him watching the parade and dog show. Jasper went off into the kitchen to be with grandma. I kinda dozed off a little.

After that, Joy's mom came over our house so Joy and I could black Friday shop. We did great. The boys are gonna have a great Christmas!

Friday night, my parents joined us for the tree festival at the convention center in Akron and the tree lighting with fireworks at lock 3. The trees were really neat at the convention center. One was made up with Beatles records that I really liked. We missed the lighting of the tree at lock 3 but caught the fireworks. The boys seemed to have a good time.

We also put our tree up Friday. The boys have enjoyed taking the ornaments down ever since. Haha

Saturday, we went to the Santa parade in Akron. The parade was a lot if fun. The boys waved at the police men. Jasper loved the corvettes and old cars that were in the parade. Jacob loved people watching, mainly the kid behind us.

It was a great long weekend!


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At the beaver marsh

Today Joy suggested we hit the cuyahoga valley national park to let the boys walk around outside. She texted my mom so her and my dad could meet at the beaver marsh.

We arrived first so we walked with the boys up to the marsh. Jacob did a great job at holding hands with mommy during the walk. I held Jasper's hood because he's not into holding hands.

The boys loved looking at the marsh and the ducks but mostly loved walking. We hung out there for a while then walked back to meet my parents.

The boys acted shy around my parents but warmed up to them later. When we walked back to the marsh, I held Jacob's hand. When I looked back Jasper and my dad were holding hands. He held hands the rest of the way to the marsh. We were amazed.

We hung out the marsh for awhile. The boys had fun with my dad who was goofing around with them. It was really nice being outside. I hope we get a few more chances before winter sets in.

Tonight, we had a good chill out night. After they got up from their nap, we put on Monsters Inc for them and then after dinner Joy and I played with them on the rug. Jasper laid on my stomach and we did plenty of secret handshakes, fives, and patty cakes. Jacob was a little more into doing his own thing in the dining room but he would stop in from time to time for a secret handshake.

Yesterday, Joy's mom watched the boys while we went on a date to see Breaking Dawn. The boys got to stay up past their bed time and watched muppets christmas movies.




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Dudes' night or at least dude's hour

One day this week, Joy took her mom home and I stayed at home with the boys. We started our dudes' night by blasting a Beatles album on the record player. We had a little dance party. Jasper started clapping his hands but when he saw me looking at him, he stopped. Almost like "I wasn't doing anything." So cute!

I chased the boys around the house playing "get'chew." That game ended in the hallway when Jacob found the basketball. We played catch and I dribbled the ball back to them. Jacob was really good at throwing the ball back to me. I got a feeling he might be a sport dude. He threw the ball almost like how you're supposed to throw a basketball.

Jasper was laughing so hard. He came over to me so I asked for a high five. I then tried to give him a "secret handshake." I helped him make a fist and then knocked the top, then the bottom and finally our knuckles. He thought it was funny. Now, when I ask for a "secret handshake" he makes a fist.

One day while I was at work, Joy and her mom took the boys outside. At one point, Jacob took off to our neighbor's yard. Our neighbor was mowing with his riding mowing. He took Jacob and let him steer the mower. Jacob had such a blast. Jasper got a chance too but Joy said he was a little more afraid.

The picture above is from when the boys and I went giant eagle for milk.

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Boo At The Zoo

This year we celebrated Halloween by attending Akron's Boo at the Zoo. We were characters from How to Train Your Dragon. Joy and I were the two main characters and the boys were dragons. Joy's mom who was with us was a scarecrow.

Joy's mom made the boys their costumes from patterns we picked out. She did a great job! They looked awesome and very cute! Joy made her and I's costume. We both made Viking helmets out of paper mâché. She ended up not wearing hers, so I did because it looked better than mine. It took the boys a minute to get used to their grandma in her costume. At one point, Jacob hid in the hallway only peeking out to look at her. They eventually warmed up before we got to the zoo.



We set the boys loose at the zoo with Joy and I directly behind one. At first I was with Jacob and he did a great job at holding hands. Jasper wanted none of the hand holdings. Soon after I carried Jasper a lot so we could keep up with others.

I did let Jasper wonder off enough till he found a blow up jack-o-lantern. He had so much fun pushing it and having it bounce back. Eventually Jacob joined in the fun.


We then walked up to the petting zoo. The boys loved the goats! They got up all close and personal with one on the other side of the gate. We had a good hand washing session afterwards.

Our final stop at the zoo was one last walk through the jellies exhibit.


We got tons of pictures while we were there. Mostly on Joy's mom's camera. I haven't seen them yet but the ones we took are so cute!



I took off three days from work to celebrate Halloween and Joy's birthday. During my time off, we enjoyed much time outside. The boys loved playing in the leaves for first time. We set them from free and they didn't wander off too far. They had a blast!

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