Buddies

A few weeks ago we were able to drive up to Traverse City to see some friends who had just moved there. It was a great time. Z had a blast seeing his two pals he's known since birth and had a hard time understanding that they weren't on vacation, they lived there now. His fall has been rough adjusting to a new school with new kids so this trip was good for him to be with "old" friends (they are only five!) I thought of all my friends and how most of my best ones live far away (hence the purpose of this blog) and I told him that even though you might be separated by many miles, you can still be great buddies.

Thanks for the weekend S & A! We miss you!

OHS Needs You to Give a Note!

Our awesome choir is competing for $50,000 in the Glee Give a Note Contest until November 7th. Go to www.gleegiveanote.com and watch the Owosso High School video. If you like them, give them your vote, currently we are in the top 100, and if we stay there, we move on to the next round. The kids did all the work themselves and are super excited. Thank You!!!

Mackinac Magic

Our second vacation was the 2nd week in August this year when we went to Mackinac Island. Mom and Dad decided to go all out for their 40th anniversary, rent a house and have the whole family and some friends up for a week. While most were able to come for a short visit, I didn't hesitate to invite myself and the kids for the whole week! After getting to spend so much time on the island in years past, it's been killing me to not have been there in awhile. It was a great week, great weather, great house, great island. So many people visit Mackinac and think that it's just the downtown. As one person said, "It's a lot of money just to go see a horse." Those people never "get it". They never get past downtown, never stay the night and never know the Mackinac magic. Too bad for them, they are missing out!

We spent the week seeing honor guard friends who were serving, sightseeing, hiking, rock throwing, golfing, people watching, shopping and tons of other stuff. While we did sit around and relax, we were busy too. A typical day on Mackinac goes by in a flash. The whole week went by in a flash and before you know it, it's time to leave. But if you are lucky, you'll get to come back soon. Z fell in love with the place and still asks when we can go back. I've never seen a more sad and depressed kid on the way home. While I felt bad for him, I was happy to see he loves the place as much as I do.


Enjoy the pictures, I'm sure I'll have to do a second post, I have a lot more!

Awesome house, very cool porch with views of the water. So nice to sit in a old fashioned dining room and eat while listening to horses go by.

Time with cousins.

New art museum in the old Indian Dorm. Z visited several times to do projects.

Several trips were made to the fort. By the end of the week, I think he could have given the tours.

Fun in Great Turtle Park.

Stone skipping lessons.

I've always loved this place, Silver Birches. If I ever win the lottery....

Moira and Rob at the Village Inn.

Hard to believe it's been 11 years since we honeymooned here. (Hey Rob, it's a great place for a honeymoon! Hint! Hint!)

And to the bride and groom, congrats on 40 years together (they honeymooned here too!) all the best for the years ahead and THANK YOU for a great once in a lifetime experience!

Summer...So Far

I apologize again for the delay in updating. We suffered without A/C for several weeks after vacation and the computer just did not need to be turned on. At one point it was 96 in the house at midnight so very few electrical appliances were used. But it's fixed now and we are sleeping again at night! Summer is almost in the books. Sad...ya'll know I never like going back. Although this heat is killing my love of summer, at this point I dream of cool fall days. Vacation was great, we headed up to Lake Huron just north of Oscoda. We kept it relaxed this year, no major sightseeing, just lots of beach time.

Our second vacation starts this Saturday when we head up to Mackinac Island for mom and dad's 40th anniversary. The whole family will be up there at some point but the kids and I are staying all week! Can't wait, it's been awhile and I need my Mackinac fix. Good old Troop 609 will be serving that week too so we will get to see all the Honor Guard girls.

Other than that, summer has been full of weddings, swim lessons, house cleaning and organizing, art camp, visiting with friends and lots of odds and ends. It's at the point that I can't fathom going back to work because right now I'm too busy to squeeze in anything else. After another month we'll be ready to slow it back down, although with Z starting kindergarten, I doubt it will be so slow. Will post lots of island pictures when we return!!!!

Finally...

OK, the quote of the wedding was (and I'm paraphrasing here) "If you are lucky, and I mean the luckiest person alive, the person you love decides to love you back." It's been a long time coming and these too finally tied the knot, June 24th. I can't think of any two people more ideally suited for each other, true soul mates. Congratulations you two!!!

Z Turns 5

Can this big kid be my chubby cheeked baby from 5 years ago???? The one who used to love Curious George but now adores Spiderman? He may not like watching Curious George anymore but he still looks and acts like him! This year's party was a Spidey theme in our backyard. We finally broke the curse of the cold weather by having it at home.

Z will start Pre-K in the fall and it just doesn't seem possible that he's starting school! Still goofy at home, he's shy and reserved in public. He loves nature and animals and seems to have a real talent for art. I always describe him as complex and that still fits the bill, he is one interesting little guy. Probably the coolest thing about him turning 5 is that he really is starting to become a "big kid". I can trust him with more responsibility and he often surprises me with what I can count on him to do. While I can't wait for my kids to enter the age I'm more used to dealing with, I don't want them growing up too soon. Happy Birthday Buddy, keep marching to the beat of your own drum, the world needs more interesting people like you in it!

Still Here!

We're alive, we've just been BUSY. We've taken pictures, just haven't had time to get them off the camera. Birthdays, graduations, upcoming weddings and the end of the school year (a special BITE ME to Rick Snyder for making that stressful!) make for no time to update. Now, a week into summer break, things have calmed a little. Just a little. In the 2 months since I've posted, Z turned 5 (the topic of my next post), we almost lost M's daycare but we the parents fought the school board and it's still here, Memorial Day was a quiet staycation, we planted our garden, had a week of art camp and we had a massive yard sale which helped our ongoing house rennovations. No wonder it's 11 at night and I'm still up, peace and quiet are stangers to me! Birthday update coming soon! It will be an eventful summer, promise to post often.

Second Time in the Second City - Spring Break 2011

We liked Chicago so much we were back less than a year later. Ever since our return last August, Z had been begging us to go so we took a weekend during spring break to revisit. This time I discovered that you can do Chicago on the cheap and I scored everything on a discount. A visit for 4 to the Shedd Aquarium will cost you $100. We did it for $23! Ask me how! This time the weather was a bit cooler which was nice and the crowds were smaller.

I do recommend the Children's Museum, it's the best one I've ever seen and affordable. Z just loved people watching, the moment we came out of the train station he was in awe - his first big city. He quickly understood why we told him he must hold hands with us at all times, it's still a conditioned response when he sees a car! M loved the pigeons, you could tell we were from out of town!

Not sure I would do a big trip with the kids for several years though. They were exhausted and very whiny, it was just too overwhelming for them I think and this was only a weekend. They had fun and still talk about it but Daddy and I did a lot of kid carrying and have the sore backs to show for it. But, we've become smitten with Chicago, luckily for us we can go there for just the weekend.

The Cloud Gate, Z collected all the change that fell out of pockets when people laid on the ground to look up at it.

Children's Museum

M and Daddy - Navy Pier

Birthday Girl!

With my second child I've learned that generic party themes are way easier and more fun. Last year it was smiley faces, this year it was Polka Dot Party. She's just not obsessed with any one thing like Z is so party planning is different for her. As long as there is chocolate cake in some form, she's happy.

Looking back at her first birthday, I can't believe the change, she looks more like her daddy and definately has more hair. Talking up a storm (and nagging the men in her life), potty training herself already and loving "school" (daycare), she's growing up way too fast. But at only 20 pounds, she's still tiny and thus qualifies as my little girl for quite a bit longer. My girly-girl is into make-up, dolls, clothes and accessories whereas I'm not. Maybe the powers that be gave her to me to take some of the tomboy out of me???

Don't worry, they're clip-ons.

Grandma Folger joined us via Skype.

Early party with Aunt Mo. Great cake!

Well, They Got Their Snow...

Jut when we Michigan folk start thinking about spring, the Vegas relatives arrived hoping to see snow. As luck would have it, it warmed up and the almost 2 feet of it melted just before they got here. But then mother nature delivered. The night before they left, we got a quick but powerful little clipper that dumped about 8 inches in just a few hours. It was enough to turn our 4 day weekend into a 5 day, Uncle David got to drive a 2 wheel drive car in snow which he hasn't done in years and Nina who is new to our family and has only lived in warm climates got to shovel and play in snow. I love watching people experience snow for the first time, you're reminded how pretty it is. Maybe she'll get the rest of the family to come home this year for a white Christmas! And as if the snow weren't fun enough, we got to meet our newest cousin, B!

Two attempts at getting a picture of all Grandma Pete's great-grandchildren. Wasn't too successful.

M was ecstatic to meet her baby cousin. She loves babies!

The desert dwellers enjoying the snow.

Snow Day!!!

I've said before that I'm not much of a snow person. By that I mean that I don't enjoy playing in it all that much, who likes to be cold and wet? But I do like to look at it. It's amazing how such pretty fluffy stuff can totally "cripple" our society by keeping people at home and disrupting their normal routines. The news called it Snowstorm 2011 like it was this awful thing, but I maintain that our almost universal snow day last Wednesday was a blessing. True, teachers get snow days but Wednesday, almost everyone I knew got one. And it was a great day.

No need to hurry out of the house to get to school/work. No rat race to run in that day. No schedule to keep. No cars needed to be started. Pajamas stayed on for a long time. TV was watched. Daddy got to stay home and play for a change. Snow was played in. Hot cocoa and junk food was eaten. 2 pots of coffee made. Everyone deserves a snow day. On Wednesday, many people discovered that it wouldn't end the world to stay home and shut down regular life for a day and just RELAX. The whole world would benefit from a snow day now and then.

Mark thought he'd make work until he saw this drift in front of the garage door.

Yes, the snow is taller than Teddy. Now he thinks he has the world's longest wall to pee on and he's made it his goal to pee on all of it.

For the Nevada relatives, I hope the drifts are still this high when you come home next week!!!


Z was in his glory, amazing how a kid with so little body fat can keep warm in the snow the way he does.

Christmas, Snowfest and other Odds and Ends

I know I've been waaaay behind on posting and yes it's because we've all been busy and sick. But I couldn't let January pass without a post so here it is, just in the nick of time. Somehow January passed in the blink of an eye without much going on. Mostly illness. On New Year's Eve, dad ended up in the ER with chest pains. He ended up staying for a week waiting for a heart stint to be put in. Once it was in, he was good to go and has been good since. Then we all ended up getting sick in various different ways. Turn around and it's February! This month looks busy busy busy as well. But I'll do my darndest to post more often.

Christmas Morning

Their favorite gifts this year.

Snowfest in Frankenmuth. We saw the OHS snowsculpting team, Z did a little ice putt-putt and spent time in an ice jail and M just rode in her stroller under a quilt. Good times!