A week away in pictures...

Sunset the evening we arrived

E and her Burger King crown that she wore all week playing with a stick outside the cabin

The stairs going up the dune to the neighbors house...ours were much steeper but generally nicer

The front of the beach house

X playing in the water that was purposed to rinse our feet...however, due to X's love of water, it was empty most of the time.  It was also the same tub I used to bath the kids all week in the outdoor shower

X enjoying an indoor s'more on a rainy evening...E made almost as much of a mess but I didn't capture a good pic of her

X trying to goober Jut after said s'more...notice the ladder behind them.  That was how we got up to the small loft that we slept in...not fun to climb down in the middle of the night when baby positioned itself on my bladder!

E ready to head down to the beach...notice her face is still a bit swollen from a bug bite.  Her eye was completely swollen shut on Sunday AM when she woke up.  I ran her to urgent care before we left town just to make sure everything was ok.

The kids enjoying collecting rocks on the beach

E with her rock collection...she thought we were going to bring all of those home...however, Jut didn't particularly want to carry them up all 58 stairs...we managed to convince her only to take ones that would fit into her pocket

X and the Lake

"Mom, that water is COLD!"  It numbed your feet within 10 seconds, but the kids loved it anyway.

There is lots that I failed to capture on camera...like our awesome grill and chef for the week...or beautiful gardens at the main house that we got to walk through every day...or the Charlevoix light house that we could see from our cabin...or all the walks along the beach that we took, but it was a fun getaway and we look forward to doing it again!!

A week away...

We were able to escape life for a week this month and head up to Charlevoix. Jut and I hadn't been on a vacation since we went to Sri Lanka five years ago, and we'd only done weekend excursions with the kids. So, we decided it was time to try a family vacation.

Early this spring, I researched different rentals in locations up north. After much deliberation, we choose to rent a little beach house on the shores of Lake Michigan just outside of downtown Charleviox. When I say it was a little house, I mean a little house. It was maybe 400 square feet with a tiny loft wide enough for a full sized mattress on one end and a twin on the other end. The "kitchen" was a countertop with a sink, mini fridge, microwave and ice maker. The grill was our main method of cooking for the week, which was wonderful for me because that meant that Jut did all the cooking...however the rainy days made the outdoor grill cooking was a bit of a challenge. There was a bathroom in the cottage, but the shower was outside on the backside of the cabin. The outdoor shower was nice when it wasn't raining or too breezy. It was a really fun little cottage. Jut and I look forward to the day that we can return child free and enjoy the ambiance of the setting.

We arrived on a Sunday evening and the kids wanted to immediately go and investigate the lake. So, I took the kids to the water while poor Jut unloaded our tremedously packed car and walked down (and then back up) the 58 steep stairs from the top of the dune (where the main house and car were) to the cabin. The kids fell in love with the water. E immediately started collecting stones. She had a pile so high on the beach by the end of the night that we could see it from inside the cabin. X loved just making the rocks go "splash"...so he spent forever throwing rocks into the lake. Were they content to just look at the water? Heavens no. Both were soaked by the end evening. Lake Michigan is early June is freezing. Both were like little ice cubes by the end but we still had to tear them away.

We enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous sunset and put the kids to bed. Thankfully they slept relatively well and did better as the week continued.

For the rest of the week, we enjoyed exploring Charlevoix and Petosky. The kids continued loving the water. We had fun building a sand castle, collecting rocks, throwing rocks in the water, walking along the beach. They never tired of the beach. It was great. It was kind of funny. E really wanted to find a park one day. So, we found one and played for awhile. But, I think she had much more fun playing at the beach later in the afternoon, and she didn't ask to go to a park again for the rest of the week.

One day while exploring downtown we got to see the drawbridge raise for a boat. Both kids loved it. E will still play 'drawbridge' from time to time and tell us that we can't pass. She's funny.

We had a couple campfires on the beach throughout the week. The kids loved S'mores by the fire or by the microwave on nights that a fire wasn't an option.

The last three days were a bit challenging weather wise. But, we found a place to go indoor swimming and explored more in the car. Plus, G'ma came and spent the afternoon with us one of the rainy days, which added some variety to life.

It was a very fun vacation and I can't wait for our next opportunity to get away as a family for an extended period of time. Life away from TV, the Internet and life's general demands is a wonderful change of pace.

E turns 4!

Happy birthday to E! It is hard to believe that she is already 4! Her arrival changed everything. Four years ago, I was teaching in Port Huron. Jut was a youth minister in Algonac. We were living in Algonac enjoying walks along the river and eating entirely too much DQ! Now, we live in Alma near family. I get the privelege of staying home with E and X. Jut is currently a youth minister but is in the process of transferring to the roll of lead minister. Our life is so different, but we love it. We walk along a tiny river and do it without ice cream, which is probably better for us anyway.

At 4, E is so much fun. She is a great big sister to X and will be wonderful with the new baby coming this fall. I love watching her explore nature. Going on leaf hunts is fun. Watching E pick dandelions for me is precious.She has had more fun digging in the dirt in our backyard this spring. I'm excited to plant some flowers and veggies. I think E will be a great little farmer.

My favorite time of the day is nap time and bedtime because I love cuddling you and reading stories.  I love when she quotes stories throughout the day or acts out the scenes.  People comment all the time what an active imagination she has...and she does.  At story time at the library or music class, she is the first to blurt out something like, "I see a crocodile!" when Miss Tina takes a breath.  Drives me a bit crazy but Miss Tina is very gracious and says that she adds life to story time.

E's favorite books right now are the Bernstein Bears, Arthur, and Little House on the Prairie picture books.  Although, we read a great variety of books each week.  E also loves our new On Demand box from Char*ter.  She can watch the Bernstein Bears and a slue of other wonderful shows whenever she wants.  I think she'd watch TV all day, if I'd let her!

 

She still enjoys watching and playing with her Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.  She still dresses up as Cinderella and the fairies, but right now she'd rather be outside swinging or digging in the dirt or blowing bubbles.  Candyland, the fishing game, Memory and Scrambled Eggs are her favorite board games.  E loves getting to stay up 'late' after X goes to bed so that she can play her special games.

We are working on 'school'.  E wanted so badly to go to school this winter that I started having lessons in the afternoon when X napped.  We are working on writing her name.  She can write all the letters...but somehow I can't quite make her understand that the order of the letters matter.  But, we've had a month plus break from practicing writing...as she's been napping quite a bit and I've been napping a lot (good thing she always does an hour or so of quiet time each day!).  So, maybe when we start up again, it will all become clear and make more sense.

We've been sporadically working with the 'l' sound...but we still visit the 'hibrary' and eat 'hogurt' and pray for 'hindsey' at night.

She wants the new baby to be a girl.  She alternates between thinking she (the baby) should be named 'Strawberry Shortcake' or 'Angel Cake' or some other name from Strawberry Shortcake.  So, we'll see in a few months whether she'll be disappointed again or not...it took a couple days to convince her that X was indeed a boy and not the girl she originally wanted.

X's first haircut

Well, at 1 year, 6 months, 3 weeks and 2 days old, X received his first haircut...from Jut and I.  I didn't think he'd sit in a chair and be still enough for a 'professional' to cut it.  So, we gave it a shot.

I started out by trimming up the back, but he kept turning his head...so it was a bit crooked and uneven.  Jut didn't like my cutting style and decided he'd do a better job.  So, he gave me my little squirmy boy and took the scissors. 

He started on the front...and chopped it all off.  The little guys hair is at his hairline.  However, I guess it makes it mostly straight.  X really started getting squirmy at this point.  Jut decided maybe it wasn't so easy, but he trimmed up around X's ears and declared it done, as X was done at this point anyway.

So, I took him upstairs and he got content reading books...so I decided to try and trim up the rest of his hair.  So, I snipped a bit here and there...trimming up all the rest of the ends.  He did really well.  That part of his hair looks okay, I think.

We'll see how he looks tomorrow in the light of day.  I don't know if a professional can help how I botched his back and Jut massacred his front, as they are both too short, but if it looks too bad, we'll see what they can do.  Poor little guy's first haircut wasn't traumatic for him, but his parents learned that it wasn't really all that easy to cut the hair of a squirmy 19-month old.

**We decided this morning that it looks okay...a bit short in front but okay.  Jut used the trimmers to even up the back and so he's looking pretty good.  In a couple weeks, it will look better!  :)

Visiting the Butterflys...

At the end of April, the kids and I traveled to GR to see the butterflies with my sister and her husband.  It was the last day of the butterfly exhibit and it was pretty busy.  But, we had fun exploring the habitat of the butterflies and enjoying the warm, humid air.  The kids enjoyed being able to run free.   

It was the perfect setting for some beautiful pictures...however, this pretty much sums up how well the kids posed for any pictures.  Oh well...someday they might cooperate for me.  Until then, we'll laugh at pictures like this.

Even when I sat with them, it didn't help...although at least it doesn't look like E is attempting to kill X anymore.  But neither were thrilled with me holding them and keeping them from moving and exploring.    I purposely put X in an orange shirt so that we'd be able to see him.  The butterflies liked his bright shirt too.  He had a bit of a swarm around him at one time.  He was very visible and difficult to 'lose' until he got too hot and we had to let him run around in the gray onsie.  He was a bit harder to keep an eye on when he wasn't so bright.  

Aunt Stacey and the kids had fun exploring.  They examined caterpillars in the Michigan room and watched one lone monarch flutter around.

It was a good thing we took 3 adults to watch my 2 children.  They scampered off while exploring the wonderful butterflies and it took all of us to be able to enjoy the exhibit ourselves and keep track of the munchkins.  More than once, I had a volunteer ask if X belonged to me as he wandered away.  I always had a eye on him but the volunteers didn't want him to get too far away.  He must have looked like he could be trouble to the fauna in the habitat.


The kids loved the bridge and E loved the 'cave'.  She had to walk through it several times and would have continued to meander through it if allowed.

We did see numerous butterflies, but I took the little camera and it didn't capture very many good photos of the fluttery little guys.

After the exhibit, we went outside and played in the children's area where the kids could really run around and stretch their legs.  There was a huge tree house that both kids loved.  E thought that the log cabin was really neat, as we've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books.  She thought seeing Laura's house was awesome.  They found a huge sand area that they would have loved to play in for hours but it started to rain shortly after we found it and had to leave.  We also discovered a huge water table area.  The kids really would have enjoyed that had I let them play.  We'll definitely have to go back again sometime!

The only damper to our day was that X tumbled out of the stroller while I was opening his car door and put his teeth through his lip.  Poor little guy.  He bled forever and we were in a parking lot without many supplies to work with, but thankfully the bleeding finally stopped and we were able to continue on our way.

An Amelia Bedelia Apple Pie

I didn't learn my lesson from reading Ugly Pie...I checked out Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parrish from the library.  E loved it.  Unfortunately, it came with a recipe for an apple pie in the back.  E just had to make Amelia Bedelia's apple pie!  So, one afternoon...we chopped apples, made a crust and assembled an apple pie.

 

 I forgot to take any 'action' shots...but I did remember to take a picture of the finished product.  E had a great time helping me assemble the ingredients and make the pie.  Amelia Bedelia got to make her own apple pie in the story.  So, E just had to make her own apple pie too.  However, I did not have a tiny pie plate like Amelia Bedelia's grandmother.  So, we improvised with a muffin tin.  E put her own little pie together.

 

 Her little pie came out looking adorable and most delightful.  However, would my silly little goose try one taste of it?  Would she try a piece of the big pie?  Nope...not one bite.  She did enjoy the ice cream that we served with the pie, but she wouldn't try a bite of the pie.


Lesson learned:  Don't get any more books from the library that include recipes...and definitely no more books dealing with apple pies, since of the two apple pies she has wanted to make, she has refused to try.

X at 18 months...

X is such a happy, little trooper.  I love this age.  He explores everything.  He climbs everything.  He gets into everything.  He destroys everything.  He makes me tired...but he is so much fun right now.  The major difference between toddler girls and toddler boys is finally completely obvious.  The boy has had more bloody lips in the past few months than E has had in her entire life.  Due to all the practice, I'm getting much better at handling the sight of blood, which I'm not sure is a good thing or not.

I just looked through is list of words from 15 months.  I don't know that I could write down all his words now.  He has a great vocabulary...not that he doesn't get frustrated when we don't understand what he wants, but he really has a good vocabulary.  Momma, Dadda, Kitty, Please, Baby, Milk, Cup, Grandma, Grandpa, Bye Bye, Good night, Up u go (when he wants up), Cookie, bootas (shoes), No, Mickey (loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), remote, Peak-a-Boo, potty, Where da' go (Where did it go?), nose, Aunt C-C (mimics) and a variety of other words that he will mimic but doesn't say on his own accord.  He's learning new words daily.  His newest word for Mother's Day was "jello"...finger jello was a definite hit with the little guy.

He's a cuddler.  Rocking is his favorite way to fall asleep...but if he doesn't fall asleep after 150 rocks or so, he'll put himself to sleep in the crib.  He loves to read books before bed, too.  He doesn't really have any favorite books right now.  He loves animal books and loves to make the animal noises.  He got a few new ones for Easter and so we've been reading those a lot lately.

His eczema is finally under control.  Our landlords put in a new furnace in February and he hasn't had a major outbreak since.  We also had him allergy tested via a blood test.  He's extremely allergic to dust mites and the cat (dogs too) and he's allergic to all forms of nuts.  Plus he has a mild allergy to soy, wheat, and egg whites.  We are hoping he'll grow out of the last 3.  The allergist recommended trying soy, wheat and egg about once a month or so to see if he still reacts.  X ate regular pizza crust this weekend and he's definitely still allergic to wheat.  So, we vacuum, vacuum, vacuum and continue to buy gluten free products that are void of soy and egg whites, which isn't always easy to find...

All of his teeth have broken through the surface, but we are waiting for the incisors to come all the way through.  It has been nice to have that hurdle finished.  All four incisors broke through within a week.  He was a trooper but we were all glad when they finally pushed through the surface.  They came through in a funny order too.  All of his teeth have started in the lower left and either came in clockwise or they came through in pairs.  His incisors didn't but at least they finally all came through.  Now, we just are waiting for those pesky 2-year molars and we'll be done teething for several years.

I love watching him run.  He's really started running lately.  The funniest was the other morning while I was doing dishes.  I wanted to keep him close and out of mischief.  So, I put a dishpan with a couple inches of water in it on the floor for him to play in.  Once he figured out that he could submerge his toys, he'd run to the toy room, grab a toy, giggle, run back into the kitchen, drop it in the pan, giggle, and take off again as fast as his little legs would carry him.  It was adorable.  Made a bit of a mess...but it was just a bit of water.  Easy and quick clean up!