Lake Huron: Day 1

Off to Lake Huron...first stop French Laundry for yummy breakfast...then the hike to P.H. It was beautiful at the lake. Jane and I spent some time searching for sea glass, and we found a good handful. She was pretty excited, and it was nice to have some time to just walk by the water. This year is a bit more comfortable for me with her; I'm not quite as freaked that she's going to randomly run pell-mel into the water. Or fall into it.

We got a family picture of sorts. Jane is kind of anti-camera at the moment. It's super fun trying to get her to look at the camera, much less smile. I haven't quite managed to communicate the concept of fake smiling so it will just be over all ready! Jane got some 'Averie' time, she's been dying to spend some time with her cousin. We went for a little walk on the beach before dinner, but both the girls were chilly with the wind. It is cute to watch them together, though.

Go play

Holy poo, is July over already? I mean, I 'know' the date and all, but seriously, this month has flown by!

Had to get out of the house today, so left way early for my haircut. Jane has all this twitchy energy and was vibrating and driving me insane....and then I get all snappy and wow, we need to get out of here already.

Got some new books at the library and had some napping and quiet time in the car and then played for awhile. Jane is so sweet...she buddies up to this cute 2.5 yr old little boy and runs all over with him. Lots of 'be carefuls' and 'there's your mommy', she's such a little momma. Then, these bigger boys show up and start kind of playing keep away from Jane and this little boy. So she's trying to 'protect' him and then at one point she says to one of the boys--can't you just play nice? Seriously, such a girl and so cute and I love how she kind of stands up for those smaller than her. It's a great trait. Penny entertained herself playing with wood chips...I only had to fish about 2 out of her mouth. Mike intended to meet me at the salon and take the girls home, but he got caught up in traffic and I was almost done by the time he was there. The girls did awesome, Jane hanging out by me, and Penny sat nicely on my lap while I was shampooed...and then while she cut my hair. She was pulling at her own hair and looking in the mirror. Cute stuff. She got a little antsy, but then he got there and all was good. Jane made a little friend, so he ended up staying, 'cause it's just not worth pulling her away at that point!

Crazy packing day tomorrow, we're off for the Laber Lake Huron Cottage weekend. Mike's taking Monday off, so 3 solid days of just family fun and crazyness. Just gotta get everything we need put together.

Hmmm....

So, I hear that sometimes kids 'forget their words'. Absolute best tonight. Laying in bed with Jane (I get some good ones at bedtime!) tonight and she asks, "Mommy, can I have some diarrhea?" "Umm, whata what now?" "Some diarreha, pleaaase" "Ummm, what? You know that diarrhea is the watery poop that comes out of your butt, right?" "Some diarreah for my lip" "Oh, you want some vasoline?" Big smile, "YEAH, some vasoline". (She had a cold a week or two ago and we put some vasoline under her nose a couple of times since it was so red from the kleenex). Whew.

Other than that, nice rainy day. Gram D & Dave came for lunch and hung out with the girls for a little while, and Mike and I got the upstairs cleaned a bit. So, next time he gets time (haha), at least Mike won't have to clean first. He also cut down a tree or something out in the woods...I hear chainsaws and tow straps and the second chainsaw comes out b/c the first one got stuck...and I go 'lallalalaa, i don't want to know--be careful!'

Rainy day cooking.

Did a bunch of cooking today. Had a zucchini from the CSA that I wanted to use up, so made some yummy zucchini carrot bread. Came across these Weelicious zucchini carrot pancakes, and I figured since I already had the food processor (and the zucchini) out, I'd make them for lunch. Jane 'looooved' them, and I thought they were pretty tasty. Penny ate one, too. Ran to the store before dinner and came home in a rain storm, so we went outside to play for a couple of minutes. Warm summer rain, pretty fun. Love Jane's expression....'yeah yeah the cute baby is walking'.

Jabbering...

Nice weekend. And it's the middle of the week all of a sudden! Jane's had a rough couple of days with some serious meltdown knock down drag out tantrums. Today we managed to get through without anything crazy. Whew. Tires everyone out.

I snuck in after Mike put her to bed tonight to get some cuddles; she thought that was kind of funny (me coming in and asking for cuddles). She was jabbering on and on. I got to try to NOT explain incest and homosexuality...sweet.

* She starts by asking when Sam and Maggie will be getting married (her second (?) cousins).
-I say, they won't be, they're brother and sister!
* Well, why not??
- Because we just don't do that, we find NEW people to start a NEW family with. It would be like me marrying Uncle Baird or Daddy marrying Aunt Jenny--very very weird.
* Well, when I grow up, I'm going to have my kids get married.
-To each other?
* YES!
-Mmm, hmm.
* You know what would be funny Mommy?
- Hmmm?
* What if two Daddies were married--like if Daddy and Uncle Baird were married---oooh and if you and Aunt Jenny were married--wouldn't that be SILLY?!!
- Yes honey, veeerrrrrry silly. (biting my toungue b/c my first response is to go all teachery on her and start explaining that sometimes that happens, just in case she has some kid in school with gay parents (yeah, in livingston county, it could happen, right?), but no...back away, back away...she's not going there...leave it alone...leave it alone.)

Good times.

Busy busy...

We're busy today. Jane had a DDS appt. She did awesome as usual...talking to adults nicely, and listening great to the directions for her appt. She even got some flouride. Penny actually sat nicely on my lap for most of the appt as well, which was good. Ran to Walmart for a few groceries...I am now driving a semi-truck of a grocery cart! We moved Penny out of the infant carseat last weekend, so now she HAS to sit in the cart. She's a monkey and often tries to climb out of the seat, and she's figured out how to undo the velcro on the seat cover I have...but Walmart had a HUGE cart with over the shoulder buckles and a seat for both girls. Holy heck it's huge, but both kids were pretty happy. Jane is doing a few weeks of a dual gymnastics/dance class, and it started this afternoon. She had a blast and made a few friends (hugged the one girl like 4 times on the way out). I think the best was when the dance teacher was going around asking the girls for their names...and Jane responds 'cinderella'. The teacher is like....'ella'? No, Cinderella...oooh, then the teacher understands. So, they've come to an agreement that Jane will be Jane in gymnastics and Cinderella in dance class. Too funny. Working on listening skills in the gymnastics class...which I LOVE. Yummy lentil and bacon stuffed trout for dinner. Mmmm.

Adventures at Cranbrook

Busy fun day today. Penny was WIDE awake at like 6:15. I tried to feed her back to sleep, but to no avail...so, I dragged myself out of bed. I had thought about going to Cranbrook Science Museum this week...so why not today?! We got packed up and headed to Cromaine Library...they are participating in a a cool program called Detroit Adventure Pass. Basically, you 'check out' free admission to a bunch of different museums. We got our pass and hit the road. It was a pretty cool museum, although many of the concepts are a bit much for a 4 year old; however, the dinosaurs, rocks, and water pool were a hit. They had a bigger dinosaur exhibit going on, and a special place for kids to 'dig' for bones and play. Walking around in airconditioning trying to remember science concepts from high school and explaining them in 4 year old terms was a great way to spend a muggy overcast day. Drove down Woodward looking for lunch...uhhh, I'm not a fan of that area! It's crazy! And so fancy! And really hard to look for places to eat and drive with 4 lanes of traffic (and increasingly irritated kids in the back) and no way of turning around once you see something without making a bunch of turns. So, we headed back north and found Piepers Pies. How fun! They were tasty; we tried a beef one and Jane got some chili, which she's been wanting. Tried the playground in Birmingham, which was super cool; astroturf hills with cardboard for sliding down and rock chairs (Jane said King and Queen, of course). I didn't have sunscreen in the car for some reason, and it was really sunny and hot, so we didn't stay long. Naptime on the way home for Penny. And all is now quiet.

Reynolds Reunion

Penny has been teething all week; I can feel a little molar coming in, and she’s getting more of her front teeth poking through as well. The heat hasn’t helped anyone. We forgot to pack any Tylenol to help take the edge off, and she woke up in the middle of the night kind of peeved about it. She wants to nurse all night, and I was getting kind of tired, too. We finally got re-settled, but it was nice to sleep in a bit while Jane looked after Gram Sandee and Gramp Mike (haha). Of course, once we got up, the mad rush began. Mike and Dad had to load the tractor (weee-the tractor is finished and the lawn can be mowed—without the pushmower!), and I had to re-pack and get the girls put together. We finally got on the road-with Dad riding the middle between the girls, which really isn’t that bad. Jane was pretty excited to do a little fishing with Heidi once we got there. She caught a couple of big fish today! We had a nice lunch, fun to see all the different things everyone brings. Penny was pretty cranky for most of the day. She slept the whole trip out, but probably should not have woken up when we got there. A big rainstorm ended up blowing in, so we didn't go swimming. It was probably for the better that we didn't stay as late as last year; Jane and Penny were both asleep before we were out to main roads, and slept most of the trip home (as did i!). Nice to be home and to have a few weekends free before we pack up again for the Laber cottage weekend in P.H. at the end of the month. Laundry here I come!

Off to the west-side...

Road trip…what? Number 3? We’re off to Allegan to visit G&G Carlson at the lake. The cottage is up for sale, so never know how many more of these visits we’ll get! We had a fairly good trip in, only a few stops. I spent the last 30 minutes or so in back with the girls once Penny woke up, but no major flip-outs. John, Colleen, Angela, Brian, and Collin were able to join us. Fun having the kids together. Collin is a little cutie-pie; I don’t think Jane realized he’s only a little bit older than Penny. She kept trying to get him to come play with her; I think the funniest request was that he come play Monopoly! They finally did some bubbles, which was good for all the kids. Jane was super excited to do some fishing with Grandma Sandee. She and Chole really had a good time together; Chole is a great fishergirl too! Jane caught a few really small fish; it's way cute how excited she would get. We had a nice lunch of grilled chicken tacos, and then Jane and I went out swimming for awhile while Mike tried to get Penny down for a nap. Water was nice out by the raft once we got past the weeds. Ick. I thought Jane was done with her cold, but she’s got a nasty looking crusty nose now. Ugh. Hopefully all the fresh air will help clear it out. If I could just convince her that water is not poison, maybe I could get her hydrated as well. We headed back to Mom & Dad’s house for the night. Us girls all conked out in the truck. J They’ve got a great garden growing; corn is getting tall, and lots of other fun veggies poking up here and there. By the time we got the girls settled, we pretty much ended up going to bed. Long day!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4^th of July! We started early…Jane was up by 6:30. We decided to go out for breakfast and had Ron come get Averie. Who knew…a lot of restaurants aren’t open on the 4^th. We landed at Denny’s, which was not awesome, but Jane and Averie enjoyed their hot chocolate. Back to Jenny’s for some crazy running around and re-packing, and then we went to Uncle Johns. We pretty much spent the entire afternoon in the pool, which was great. It’s turning into a hot summer! Jane has been doing really good in her lifejacket, and she had a blast playing with all the cousins. We finally headed for home, both girls sleeping. Until we were almost to Flint, Penny woke up, then Jane woke up; we stopped to feed Penny, Jane had a little flip-out, and we finally re-loaded. Penny was NOT happy about being back in her seat. She got really really upset coming down 23, and I had to crawl back there…and watch her throw-up. Yum. Poor baby. I think she got kind of hot, her car seat faces backwards, and she was just not getting enough air. It’s hard, but when we’re only 10 minutes from home, doesn’t make much sense to stop and take her out and then load her back (into her vomit covered seat at that point). Super fun times.

Travelin'

We're off to P.H. for the weekend. First stop...Lake Huron-Lewis's cottage. Jane had a blast running around with all the kids; Penny finally took a little nap on Mike. We stuck around for some awesome jambalya and gumbo. Great to hang out with Gwyn and Charlie...who we don't see enough of! Watched a few fireworks from the beach, and then we headed to Jen's house. Jane basically stated that fireworks were fine, but that it was waaay past her bedtime and we needed to go home. Cute. You know she's tired at that point!

10 years...

We've been married for 10 years. How cool is that? It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but when I look at all that we've done, it's kind of amazing. We've moved twice and taken some nice trips and had two beautiful girls...just to mention a few of the big things. I'm incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful life; a wonderful family; and an amazing husband. We got to have a great anniversary dinner tonight at French Laundry. They have one of the cards with points you earn, and we got a free meal tonight. Scallops for me, and steak for Mike...a bottle of champagne (weeee!)...and creme brulee for dessert.

Just perfect.