Living, Loving, Learning

Yesterday, there was another first in the life of Griffin George Gast...he rode a pony. We spent the weekend up in East Lansing visiting his Gran and MorMor and on Sunday we went to the zoo (except Bruce, but don't worry, we didn't leave him home alone - he went golfing with the guys.) Griffin was very confident that he wanted the littlest pony after spending a few minutes checking them all out. He went all by himself (aside from the helper girl) around the small trail. He even gave his pony a hug and a kiss when it was all over. He also enjoyed hanging with the monkeys, petting the goats and just generally being his sweet, energetic self.

We certainly had a wonderful day yesterday! My good friend Kassi invited us to join her at the Renaissance Festival in Holly, MI. It was a media preview day, and entrance was limited to those on a guest list. She had a friend that worked there and we were able to scoot right in. This is one of my favorite events of the year, something to look forward to during the dead of winter. It was incredible to be there with so few people. Usually, the push of the crowd propels you through the grounds, but yesterday it felt like we had the place to ourselves. I can only compare it to what it must be like to go to Disneyland an hour before it opens. We ran into the King and Queen of Spain, jugglers, muscians, lords and ladies of the court, fairies and all sorts of other wonderful people. The kids (Griffin and Kassi's daughter Madison) were able to get painted...they loved it. A Griffin for Griffin and hearts for our little Princess. Griffin made fast friends with the neighborhood Troll. They h...

Last Friday, Bruce and I took Griffin to his first carnival. We met up with our very good (and much blogged about) friends Chanley, Jake and Casey along with Chanley's Mom and sister who were visiting from Wisconsin. We started the day with my very favorite activity - CRAFTS!! Griffin helped me (by throwing handfulls of beads around) make a necklace. I couldn't believe it, but he wore it all day!! We then met up with the Webbers and Jake and Griffin rode on a jeep ride together. Griffin had such a great time, we bought him an armband which allowed him unlimited rides. The ticket lady gave Griffin a stamp on the hand which he was excited to show me. "jus t like Mama's" Jake and Griffin continued to go on lots of rides together. We stopped for a quick lunch of corn dogs and hummus and went right back to it. The boys even rode on a baby roller coaster together....Griff was a little terrified although he recovered immediately and told us he liked it, but I may never...