A note to start off - Koen had an episode of croup in the early AM hours, around 5, and never fell back asleep. He was a good boy and laid quietly, but the poor thing never fell back asleep so he was exhausted by the time we were all ready to start our day. After breakfast, PopPop had a great activity planned for Koen. He took him out to his woodshop in the garage and they made a wooden boat!
Koen did very well with the special one-on-one attention and the hands-on activity. When Doug went out to get these pictures he asked him to leave so that he could concentrate on his project with PopPop!
After the toy boat was complete, we all piled into the cars and headed over to Boiling Springs Children's Lake for the boat's maiden voyage. Tavin was happy to be along with big brother, but was a little pouty (I think he was a little tired too). He happily let PopPop carry him when he got tired walking. So sweet.
We brought Koen's bike along so that kept Koen nice and busy.
Doug and Koen found some rocks to climb. Koen was completely into it.
This could've been a cute family shot, but we were happy to have a little moment with Tavin while Koen was happy riding his bike around talking every second.
Tavin was very sweet with Nana during our whole stay. Here they are getting the bread for the ducks ready (Tavin wanted to eat it, but I had some alternative snacks for him).
Koen loved feeding the ducks (and swans!), he also was getting hungry and did actually snack on the duck bread. Oh well!
Here's Nana, Tavin and I on our walk by. Look at Tav's sweet face. Just going with the flow as usual.
Koen threw his boat into the water one last time when we got back to the car. Look how proud he is of his construction project. He and PopPop named it the S.S. Hedgehog. Koen put his name on it as well.
Koen was so tired (and really showing the evidence of it) that we had him rest for an hour in his bedroom before the Thanksgiving meal (and before his cousins arrived) after our time at Children's Lake. He didn't actually fall asleep, but the down time seemed to really make a difference the rest of the day. Since the moment we arrived at Nana & PopPop's, Koen has been asking about his cousins. Well, around 12:30pm the moment finally arrived! Koen was ecstatic and so sweet just doting around his cousins smiling trying to get conversations started and interact. He is so social, it was really sweet to watch. Here he is with Daniel. Daniel sat down here soon after he arrived and Koen pulled up right next to him and just smiled and asked him questions. It was so precious. Daniel is such a sweetheart, he is very patient and gave Koen the attention he was so looking forward to.
Koen had requested to sit with his cousins at the meal. Here he is (in his hilarious turkey hat) enjoying conversation with his big kid cousins. He really rose to the occasion. There was almost no silliness from the kid table. (David's kids are so great. I'm always so impressed!).
Soon after the meal we laid Tavin down for his nap and the rest of the kids went outside to play baseball with Doug and Uncle David. Koen was so pleased to be included. Doug helped him work with the big wooden bat and Uncle David (a great baseball player himself) coached him as well.
Here's a video of Koen at bat. At this point he was pretty tired from all the swings, so his technique is a little sloppy. =)While everyone was outside, I took a walk and then came back for my little buddy and we went on a bike ride in the neighborhood. I couldn't believe he still had the energy to be biking. This was probably one of the most active, long days of his life with such an early rise, no nap and so much activity!
After our bike ride we had some down time for Koen for a little while and he enjoyed watching Cars 2 with Michael. About when the sun went down, Tavin got up from his nap and Uncle Scott, Aunt Jen and their kids, Casey and Katelyn arrived for dessert. Koen was so excited for more cousins! After dessert Doug took a few of the kids outside and got a fire started in the backyard. We all headed out to enjoy the crisp fresh air.
Here's Koen star-gazing with Casey and Daniel. Shortly afterwards Koen had an idea and asked his cousins if they wanted to play tag in the dark. They all loved that idea and they were off running! (Seriously, I can't believe Koen could still move!!).
Here's a shot of the Melder boys. Scott, David and Douglas.
At 7pm I put Tavin down for bed and everyone else started to get ready to go. Koen was sad to see his cousins leave, but thankfully, Casey was actually staying the night which made it easier for Koen to say goodbye. It is so sweet how he cares for his cousins so much! Casey is another great kid (seriously, all of these cousins are just wonderful children, I'm always so encouraged, I hope our little Melders turn out the same way!). Casey patiently played some made-up games with Koen until it was 7:30pm and definitely time for Koen to go to bed.
We heard no complaints from him and after laying him down there wasn't a peep, he went right to sleep. He was exhausted, but the best kind!Koen slept hard and didn't wake up until about 6:30am when the sun lit up our room. We laid around until 7:30am though, so a pretty normal start to the day. Tavin woke up super early for some reason, but managed to stay resting in his bed until 8am. Here he is after breakfast cuddling with Nana and reading a book.
We got things all packed up and headed out around 10am. It was a wonderful visit with family and a lovely holiday. Thank you so much, Nana and PopPop. You are such kind and generous hosts. Mom, the Thanksgiving meal was delicious (and we've already enjoyed some of the leftovers you sent home!). We so appreciate that we were able to have this special family time. Thanks for all your effort!We made one stop on the way home (Bent and Broken grocery store - amazing deals!) and then got on the turnpike and made fantastic time getting home. The boys "helped" us unload and got to play for a little while and we laid them down for their naps late. We weren't really expecting them to sleep, but they both were so exhausted from the fun few days that they fell fast asleep immediately. Koen had to be woken up even!
We had a low key night unpacking and just playing at the house. Doug and I made pizza after the boys went to bed and just finished a movie. Now, I can't wait to crash myself!!
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