The good doctor at the dentist's office

Abby had her first dental cleaning on Monday. I went first and the kids stayed in the lobby with Mike. When it was Mike's turn, Abby went in to watch. I was out in the lobby with Briton so I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could hear Abby's little voice talking quite a bit. It turns out that she really hit it off with the hygenist. (She has told me all week about how "Stephanie is a really good doctor at the dentist's office.") When it was her turn, I went in with her. (Sweet Briton was zonked out by now.) All of the tentativeness she arrived with was gone. She did great and appeared to feel very comfortable. Hygenist Stephanie was great with her and we were very proud!

More Visitors

My parents and sister and niece and two nephews came out for a visit. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed being together. My brother and sister-in-law were also out for their MI wedding reception so, although we didn't get to spend quite as much time with them, we were thrilled to see them!! (The reception is what brought us all together.)

Here are some of our activities:

Blueberry picking (mom;Brooklyn, Amy and Isaac)

Firefly catching - the most simple things were the most fun

The MSU farms - I love the shot of Brooklyn eyeing the cow

Brian and Amy's reception - The kids found a very lovely plant to play jungle under - I think that the plant came out OK

What would a trip to MI be without the beach? These hot days have paid off with 74 degree water! That is 16 degrees warmer than last time we went.

The Children's Museum - Briton had a fever that day so he and I didn't go, but they had fun without us

Water fight in the backyard - Again, the simple things...

A walk in the woods - We have nature trails in our backyard (almost)

The nature trails open up to a playground

I don't know why they were all thanking me/us for "putting up with them". We had a great time and loved the company! Thanks for coming.

It has been a wonderful summer so far - both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncle, cousins and friends!

Our Trip: Part DC

I must catch up...

Here is the last half of our trip that we spent in Washington, DC. Very enjoyable...

Day 1: We visited selected monuments and museums. It was a beautiful day! We wore ourselves out with all the walking and when we got to where we could "see" the White House (translate: make out that there was a building behind the trees) we pulled out the bubbles. The kids had a great time!
(Pictures 1-3: Hirschorn Sculpture Gardens; 4: The carousel; 5-6: Washington Monument and the Capitol; 7-8: Blowing bubbles)

Day 2: We visited Mount Vernon. We had only planned to stay 2 or 3 hours, but we loved it and extended our time there. In the 3rd picture, it is hard to see, but the home was built with wood and then covered with a sandy plaster to look like stone. In the 5th picture, the kids got to dress up like little Revolutionary era kids. The kids area of the museum was a lot of fun.

Day 3: Linda (our aunt/hostess) drove us around to some more monuments - WWII, FDR and Thomas Jefferson. I think that the FDR monument was our favorite. She then dropped Mike and I off at the restaurant Mike's cousin manages (yummy Latin food in Washington Harbor) after which we (Mike and I) went to the Holocaust Museum. Later in the evening we all went to see fireworks and do sparklers.
(Pictures 1-3: WWII monument; 4: A small snippet of the FDR monument; 5-7: Our children playing with fire)

Day 4: We attended church in the morning and then went to the Visitor's Center at the Washington DC temple. We drove to Pittsburgh that night and finished the journey home the next day.
(Picture 1: With our aunt/uncle/cousins who we had so much fun staying with; 2-3: At the visitor's center)

And thus ends a busy, happy vacation that we'd love to do again!