A bit of our week

Here are a few things to report on:

My computer got fixed! Thanks, Mikey!

Abby likes to tell us stories about when she was a little girl. Interesting, I know.

Mike has told her "When I was a little boy..." stories and she will periodically ask me to tell her stories about when I was little. Now in the car she'll start sentences, "When I was a little girl..." Tonight at bedtime she told Mike to come into her room so that she could tell him a story. Most of the time the stories go something like this: "When I was a little girl, I held a veeeeeeeeeeeery pretty snake purple." I think this is reminiscent of the snake she held at a state park visitor center and the snake Mike found in our yard.

Really I suppose that it isn't too much of a surprise that she tells us stories about when she was a little girl because she has a memory like no other. Today when I referred to my sister Tami, she told me that she wanted to go to Tami's house because that is where she saw Spiderman who gave her fruit snacks and Spiderman stickers. She's right. He came to her cousin's birthday party back in December. Like I said, she has a memory like no other.

Going back to "in the car", Abby is extremely talkative in the car. She talks, asks questions and sings non-stop. Very cute.

Abby is a very energetic little girl. She gets very excited about lots of things: daddy coming home from work (that is a huge one), seeing her friends, bike rides, etc. Her enthusiasm and energy are such fun parts of her personality, but do make Sacrament Meeting a bit of a challenge. (Last week I ended up feeding Briton during Sacrament Meeting and Abby sat with some branch members while I was out. Ahhh...the peace.)

We went to the zoo again. Our Tracy Aviary pass expires on Tuesday so we needed to get in another trip. (Maybe we'll go again Tuesday, too.) There is a lion in this picture. He was king of the big rock.

Yesterday we went to the park with a pizza and then went out for ice cream. This is Abby's "Play Dough" ice cream.

Briton must really be a big boy now because he rode in the swing all by himself and loved it! He is such a joy to be around. He's started grabbing at some toys on a little mat thing he has and it seems to have opened up a new world to him. He loves to smile and does it very well.

Last Weekend's Camping Trip

with minimal commentary:



Ludington's own light house. (Mike and I both climbed to that balcony - nice view.)


Yes, my eyes are closed. I sacrificed the open-eyed shot so that you could see Abby's face.

Happy Father's Day

I would post pictures of all the great dads in our lives, but this is what my computer looks like right now:
This is because a really great dad who lives in my house is fixing it all by himself and there are lots of pictures on it that are a bit unretrieveable at the moment. (Can you believe he is that smart? He really is.)

Having said that, I need to give a tribute to our dads. I am so grateful that Mike and I were both raised by wonderful men who have devoted themselves to their families. My dad was and is a great friend to me. He taught me so much about serving in the church. He is very smart and service oriented. Dave (Mike's dad) is extremely handy, easy to talk to and very helpful. We love them both very much!

Mike is the greatest dad my kids could ever hope for. Abby absolutely adores him. Daddy's homecoming is the highlight of the day! I appreciate his hard work, his testimony and his devotion to us.
I did have some pictures from this weekend as you can see of dad with his kiddos. I'll post more later for your viewing pleasure (love Lake Michigan).

***And, if you are concerned about the future retrieveability of data on my hard drive, don't worry. The hard drive is perfectly fine. No pictures are being harmed in this process.

Abby thought she had pretty cool parents last night

(In other words, even simple free things can be pretty fun!)

So, we're planners. We don't do a lot spontaneously. (Our poor kids.)

Anyway, yesterday Mike decided to set up the new tent we bought to check it out before we go camping this weekend. Abby thought that was great fun. Unfortunately, we decided after we set it up that we'd need to return it because the entire top half is mesh and we're afraid it'll be really cold.

I took Abby in shortly thereafter to get all "jammied up". She was unusually excited about putting her pajamas on. I didn't think about it until she pretty much sang to me that she was getting jammied up so she could sleep in her new tent. When I told her we couldn't sleep in it because we had to take it back to the store, she was devastated! Tears and tears and tears.

This is where spontaneity comes in: we decided to set up the old tent in the backyard and have a little family campout. There wasn't a lot of interest in sleeping. (We live pretty far north and it is the middle of June. Translation: the sun never goes down. Yes, I know that is an exaggeration.)

We had so much fun watching Abby. She thought that it was the greatest! Here's proof:

Happier baby

What a Saturday!

Go to the temple. (Stop for a donut breakfast on the way.) Pick out (correctly, I might add) the family on the freeway that was also going to the temple (7 am on a Saturday, dressed up, in a mini van). (They picked us out too. They told us when they parked right next to us when we both arrived within a couple minutes of each other.)

Eat a picnic lunch outside the temple.

Visit the Henry Ford Museum. Take turns going inside for the first hour so that the kids could nap (much needed) in the car. (Pictures included in the next post.)

Go to Costco. Buy cheese - lots and lots of cheese.

Eat out for dinner.

Get home late and let the sweet husband put the kids to bed while I go on a (short) bike ride.

What a great day!

The Ford Museum

We decided to turn our temple outing into a day trip. We visited the Henry Ford Museum and we were impressed. It is a United States history museum with an obvious focus on vehicles. Here are some highlights.

This was probably our favorite part of the museum. This is the bus that Rosa Parks rode on in 1955. The display and the significance of the events were very touching.

This is the car that Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated. I enjoyed the entire Presidential vehicles display. Also included was the car Reagan was riding in when he was shot.

It is hard to tell how big this train is, but take my word for it - massive!

This is the chair Lincoln was using at the Ford Theater when he was assassinated. They also had a bed George Washington is said to have used.

We'd really like to go on the Ford Factory tour and tour the Greenfield Village (both of which are connected to the museum). We'll save those for another day! (It is a lot of fun getting to know a new place.)

A Few of My Favorite Things

I just posted 5 posts.

Mike and I went to the dentist this past week. I am loving the new toothbrush. It is a complete mouth experience. I had to watch Mike when he used his for the first time to see if he enjoyed it as much as I did. Anyway, if you haven't tried out the Colgate 360...Meijer is a Walmart-like chain out here in the midwest. I do a lot of my grocery shopping here. They have a mechanical horse that costs one penny! I love it! I, of course, don't ride it (that would look ridiculous). But it makes Abby happy and I have been known to use it as a bribery object (i.e. if you keep your shoes on in the car on the way to Meijer).
Briton has decided he like these!!! Yeah!!! (It took 3 months, but we are glad he came around.)

Babies are Amazing

There are so many simple things that babies have to learn that I never thought of as learned skills before I had babies. Today I watched Briton play with a rattle and it was so interesting to see him stare at it, put it into his mouth, be alarmed when it made noise, kind of switch hands, etc. It sounds like a silly thing to observe, but it is fascinating.
And here is a great face (I haven't convinced him how much he really loves his Bumbo):

Abby quotes

Abby says so many funny things. She cracks me up all day.

She loves to say, "That's sooooooooo special!" She's been experimenting with different adjectives. This morning I told her something we were going to do today and she said, "That's sooooo [pause, think of a good word] darlin'!" She called me her darlin' the other day. I am not sure where she picked it up but it is really cute.

She is a phenomenal singer. Her memory is really good. The other day in the car this is the song I heard, "I often go walking in meadows of clover and do what missionaries do." She may be on to something. Last night Mike had to go up to the church. The kids and I tagged along. I was making some copies in the library and asked Mike where Abby was. This is how I found her:She had a little songbook and was singing. Over and over she sang, "When Mary went to Bethlehem I think she took great care..." (The song is actually about Joseph, but she got the words pretty darn close.)

Her prayers are also changing up a bit. For several months every prayer was thanks for the food and bless Leo. (And Leo got to come home last week. Yeah!!!) She's gotten pretty good about blessing her family. Here are some other good ones from the last couple days:

• Please bless us to get to the library safely.
• Please bless daddy to get his teeth clean.

I think that Mormons come programmed to pray for safe driving. Please don't think that the second comment says anything about my husband's oral hygiene.

Yesterday when we called Abby for dinner, she informed us she was dressed for Halloween:

The Zoo

We made it to the Potter Park Zoo and it was more than I expected. I had heard that it was nothing like Hogle. It doesn't have elephants and giraffes, but we had a nice visit. And last summer's Tracy Aviary pass did me well. We'll need to go a few more times before the end of the month when that one expires.
A little baby one of these started "playing" with one of our friends through the glass. This dad was not amused and stood right in front of us to guard his little ones. It was kind of funny. (Had to be there, I am sure.)
Our yard is kind of a zoo, also. In addition to the regulars (squirrels, chipmunks and occasional rabbits), Mike brought this beauty out yesterday.

Branch Gardening

Our branch has a garden. Here it is. There are three big plowed areas. (This is what we can do with all the extra land we have for when our church building needs to be expanded.:)These are our cucumbers with another family's brussel sprouts in the background.
This is the killdeer and his eggs that have nested right in the middle of our garden. Aren't they cute.
This is my baby hanging out on the grass while I torment the birds. (OK - not really - yes, it is my baby but I was only kind of tormenting the birds - you see, Mike told me that when you get close to their eggs they start squawking and playing dead or pretending to be injured so that you'll go help them rather than disturb the eggs - I tried it out and he might be right.)

Seven Somethings

1. I love Hawk Island Park! We had a great time (6 moms and 8 kids) yesterday morning. Abby was having too much fun to pose for a picture, but you can get the idea. Before playing in the Splash Pad, we walked the trails around the park (beautiful wooded areas) and played in the fancy accessible playground. (It's similar to the cool playground in Cedar City that we have stopped at a few times.)

2. We had so much fun that I took Mike back last night. Our friends were going to be watching Abby and we didn't have date plans set in stone so we borrowed their jogging stroller and roller bladed through the park. It was so nice! (And the stroller was great. Briton was strapped in and safe and I felt much more stable having the stroller to push.)

3. Our friend posted these pictures on her blog of what Abby was doing without us. Her little boy, Liam, is very sweet and happy and they have a lot of fun together.

4. Abby has some great little friends and I adore all of them! When we moved here we were very hopeful that Abby would make some cute little friends like she had in Utah. It has happened!

5. Tonight we had dinner at the home of some branch members with another branch family and the missionaries. We had a great time and you should have heard Briton laughing. He was so cute. We aren't quite sure what he was looking at but for a good 10 minutes or so (or maybe not, but it was a long time) he just laughed and laughed and laughed.

6. Also yesterday - Abby pulled out her tricycle and started pedaling! She just pedaled and pedaled and pedaled. Way to go! She has been starting to get the hang of it, but yesterday was the real thing!

7. Today I rode my new bike for the first time! Mike fixed the flat tire and adjusted the seat for me. I am very excited about it. Also, Mike found a $5 child's bike seat at a garage sale that he attached to his bike. He took Abby for a ride and she loved it. (We think Brit is still a bit too little for that one.) I am really hoping that the weather stays so gorgeous and pleasant (I know, I know, the humidity is coming) because maybe I can stay motivated to be active, exercise and work and play outside past spring!