Trip to Michigan

We just returned from ten days in Michigan. As usual, it was a great vacation.  The only thing missing?  Daddy!  We had to go without him for the second year in a row but hopefully it will be the last time he has to miss it! 

We played, stayed up late, slept in, and ate lots of dessert!  We spent time in tree swings, kayaks, carousels, tractors and beach chairs!  We picked cherries, raspberries, black raspberries and blueberries...all without leaving the backyard!  We baked cobbler, cookies, miniature pies and more cobbler (and by "we", I, of course, mean Aunt Amber!).  Add in s'mores by the campfire, a picnic on Lake Michigan, an ice cream treat on the river and a whole lot of lighting bugs caught in every spare empty container and you have one great vacation!

 The tree swing is probably what they both look forward to most!

 Aunt Amber was home from Bangladesh which was a great treat!

 We were also able to see Aunt Edie and Uncle Keith

the first weekend we were there (and cousins Anthony, Sara and baby Xavier but I neglected to get good pictures!) and enjoy the lake cottage.  We've spent time at the lake cottage each year when

we visit but we've not stayed there until this year.  It was a lot of fun!

 Thank you to Aunt Kristen for ALWAYS being willing to get in the water with the girls!

 

Because this one especially can't seem to get enough!

 



Back at the farm we had a great time picking cherries!

 

We spent one day at the beach in St. Joe on Lake Michigan.

The girls enjoyed time in the water and sand and Kristen, Amber and I

all enjoyed an art show nearby.  St. Joe is a great little town we're

excited to have seen and spent time in.  We'll be back for sure!

 There was a carousel near the beach and Natalie chose "Daddy's horse!"

 

 We spent more time back at the cottage at the end of our trip.

It was the perfect place to cool off on a hot day!

I never seem to get enough (or any) pictures of Nana! 
Whether she comes here or we go there it never seems like she
spends any time in front of my camera...only behind hers.

Kristen took a lot of pictures while we were visiting and

 this was one of them that I loved of Amber and Nana!

 But I am always very grateful for the Brooks Shutterbugs so I have lots

of good pictures when I get home!  Thanks, Nana and Aunt Kristen!

 

I'll end with my very favorite Michigan picture. 

The girls walking down "the lane" on the farm.

They have such freedom to roam there. 

 

Thanks so much Papa Franc, Nana, Auntie Kristen and Auntie Ammy

for such a great trip! 

Missing: First Tooth

How come it seems we just got that tooth?  It's been six years (almost exactly) since it first poked through her little baby gums and here we are tucking it under a pillow?  Seems hard to believe!  I had fun telling Natalie how hard we worked as a family of 3 for that first tooth: restless nights, oodles of drool, teethers that got a workout, fingers that filled in for teethers, and many not-so-happy moods.  I remember being at Tahoe that first summer and so excited for my friends and many family members to meet Natalie for the first time.  And she was grumpy.  It took my friend, Allyson, a seasoned mother of 3 to suggest she was probably getting a tooth.  Sure enough, she was.  Can't believe it hadn't occurred to us!

Last night, after many weeks of a little wiggling and this last week full of a lot of wiggling, Natalie decided to let Corey help it out.  She said she was getting frustrated with it because it didn't allow her to say the word "interesting" as wiggly as it was. Awesome.  She bravely let him grab it and grinned from ear to ear admiring her "little open window".

Of course the tooth fairy came and it was a morning full of excitement!  She left a little note, a cold coin and a sprinkling of pixie dust that thrilled Natalie to no end! 

There's another wiggly one in the works so I'm sure we'll keep that tooth fairy VERY busy in the coming months!

Swimming Lessons

The girls took the best swimming lessons ever a few months ago and I just came across the pictures and had to post them.  Usually we are all about the cheapest swim lessons we can find.  It involves a massive (usually freezing cold) community/YMCA/city pool, too many kids, too few instructors and a lot of whining.  Well this year we tried something different.  At Natalie's school fundraiser auction I bid on a month of private swim lessons for each girl.  Apparently no one else saw these auction items because I think I was the only bidder and I ended up getting 4 private lessons for each kid for $20 each.  Yes, for $40 TOTAL both girls received 4 private half hour lessons.  That's a great deal for private swim lessons.  AND the best part was it was at a residence in a heated, covered, saltwater pool.  We will never be able to justify their regular prices for these lovely private heated, covered, saltwater lessons but it sure was fun for a month!  I think Natalie got a lot out of the individualized instruction.  Audrey, however, just wanted to play and be carried around in the water and one day climbed out of the pool and asked if she could get dressed in dry clothes...after 8 minutes!  But all in all it was a great experience!

 This is the cover that didn't let all that lovely warmth escape. Brilliant.

 

This pool was lovely and Natalie loved the fountains!



 And when Audrey was into it she had a lot of fun, too!

 

This was the seating for parents.  Seriously lovely.

The YMCA swimming pool will now officially be more painful than
ever when we go back to the real world!

GRANDparents!

We started off the summer right...visits from the grandmas (and a Papa)!  Nana helped us move...AGAIN!  The woman is either a true saint or a real sucker for punishment.  Just like last time she was here to help us make and fill boxes and (a few short, exhausting days later) then help us empty and flatten them.  Mercy.  We are so appreciative, Nana!!!!  Thank you!

And about a week and a half later Lala arrived.  The house was only a little less chaotic for her visit, but we still had a great time putting rooms together, hanging some artwork and emptying and flattening more boxes! We also fit in a quick trip to Reno to visit GGMa and GGpa.

 Playing in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard was one of my

favorite things to do as a kid. I love that our girls can make

memories there, too.  Audrey loved the weeping willow

branches and Natalie asked if we could plant this purple Clematis

"just like GGMa's" in our yard in California.

 This is the coolest lavender field/store/event center heading out of Reno! 

We stopped in to buy our very favorite lotion and the girls had a blast running around. 

 

 Papa Rod joined us at the end of Grandma Lala's trip so that was a nice treat. 

 

 No, this is not our fireplace at our new house! 

They stayed one night at a really cool hotel in Lafayette

and this fireplace was in the lobby!

A cute moment that turned very creepy...

Natalie's bangs were way too long and Papa Rod used to always

trim my bangs as a kid so we asked if he'd trim Natalie's.  He was happy to,

she was thrilled and I decided to snap a few pictures. 

Well, talk about a timely trim...

while Papa was trimming and I was taking pictures I noticed a tick in Natalie's ear!

She had been attending an afternoon summer camp at a ranch and apparently picked up a

stowaway IN HER EAR!  Creepy little tick.  If you look closely in this picture you can see it. 

I yanked it out and then I freaked out.  I didn't handle it very well. 

She's now pretty afraid of ticks, unfortunately.  

We now check more thoroughly and we're crossing our fingers this one didn't carry anything.

I'm so thankful for that haircut or I'm not sure we would have seen it!

 

(Didn't mean to end the grandparent post talking about a tick)

 

We loved having all of you visit and please come back!!  Soon!

 

 



Father's Day

Yup. Scrapbrooks is a bit behind schedule...Happy Father's Day!

I might not have snapped any photos of Corey's birthday but at least I have a few cute pics from Father's Day. 

We made him a shirt with the girls' handprints and he loved it!

Party Animals

It seemed like the June celebrations never ended.  Birthday parties, kindergarten graduation parties (oh yes, we were invited to one!), end of the school year parties...we were always on our way to a celebration this past month.

One of Natalie's best friends, Alexis, had a birthday party at a local wildlife sanctuary/museum.  So cool.  The little guests were asked to dress up like their favorite animal for the party and that had Natalie buzzing with excitement.  She decided (thankfully) to go as a peacock so we just had to dust off her Halloween costume, pluck a few droopy tail feathers and find the other miscellaneous parts and pieces and she was ready to go.  Audrey wanted to wear her Halloween costume, too, but a 100 degree June day is just not a place for a fuzzy lamb that's still wearing her winter wool.  So, we found some kitty ears for her and she went as a cute cat instead.  Her eyeliner whiskers looked cute for about 3 minutes until she rubbed her nose so she went to the party kind of looking like a kitty cat football player!

The day after school ended Natalie attended a Kindergarten Princess graduation party.  All the guests dressed up in royal attire, played princess party games and ate cupcakes with little tiara toppers.   Needless to say, she was in heaven.

 

Natalie received this crown at her princess party and she

wore it every waking minute for the next 5 days.

 Throw in Corey's birthday...which I sadly have no pictures of :(...

and we've had our fair share of frosting this month!