Fun Up North

We decided at the last minute to go up to Interlochen to the Hofmeyer's cottage for the weekend.  We had so much fun!  We got in around 8pm on Friday due to some construction/traffic and a stop for dinner.  Will led us down to the lake for a quick look around.  Then we unpacked and got the boys ready for bed.

On Saturday morning, Will was up at his normal time but Alex slept in until 9 (due to a 3 hour awake period during the night).  Phil and Will went down to the lake to explore while I enjoyed the sunrise from the screened in porch.  After Alex woke up, we drove down the road to Interlochen to walk around a bit.  Camp was in session so there were lots of students around.  Then we went to Bud's for lunch before heading back to the cottage for more swimming.  Will loved the water.  He had so much fun splashing, collecting sticks and rocks, and hanging from the dock.  The water is very clear and very shallow so he was able to wade around without any trouble.  When Alex went down for his nap, we started a campfire so Will could roast some marshmallows. Then we drove into Traverse City for a while.  We walked into a few shops but then Will asked to go down by the lake.  He had a great time jumping in the waves.  He was disappointed when it was time to leave so we could get some dinner.  When we got back to the cottage, I put Alex to bed and Phil and Will went for one more walk down to the lake. On their way back, they ran into Aiden (a 3 year old boy from California).  He invited them in to play.  They were instant friends and spent the next hour and a half chasing each other, having dance contests, and building/crashing towers out of blocks. 

On Sunday, Alex woke up at his normal time and Will slept in until 8:30.  Phil went out on the kayak and after Will was up we went for a nature walk.  Then we went back to the lake for more swimming and a "boat ride."  After lunch we packed up and headed home.

It was a great weekend!  Hopefully we'll be able to go up again this fall! 

With Dad on Duck Lake

GIVE ME YOUR DIET COKE!

Collecting Sticks

Fun in the Water

More Sticks

Trying to Get the Campfire Going

Roasting Marshmallows

Roasting Marshmallows

Yum!

Beach in Traverse City

Going Crazy in the Waves

Breakfast on the Porch

Such a Good Little Sitter

Cooling Off in the Water

"Boat Ride"

Floating in the Boat

Almost Crawler

They boys and I had a fun Wednesday. We were out the door at 8am. We walked (Will rode his bike) up to the grocery store. I treated Will to a chocolate milk and we sat at the cafe tables for a bit. Then we rode over to the football field but they were having captains' practice so we decided to go down by the lake instead. We got home around 10am and played outside for a bit before Alex's morning nap. After his nap, we went over to Manhattan park for a picnic lunch and some time on the playground. We also brought along Will's tennis racket. He hit a few balls but his hand-eye coordination is not quite what it needs to be. It was also his first time out and he insisted on standing pretty close to me so he didn't have much time to react. In the afternoon, we stayed inside because it got pretty hot. We built a fort for Will in the dining room and he invited Alex and me in to play.

Alex is getting pretty close to crawling. He goes up on all fours and rocks back and forth. He can also get up on his toes. He watches Will when he is on the ground and tries to imitate him. They are going to be trouble - they definitely encourage one another to be silly! 

Nice Form!

Downward Dog

Plank - getting an ab workout

Day at the Zoo

On Friday night, we had an evening out with friends. Grandma and Grandpa stayed to watch the boy and Phil and I went to the Cannonsburg Picnic Pops. We met up with 3 other couples - this was our fourth summer going as a group. The temperature was perfect and it was fun to see everyone.

On Saturday morning, we played for a while at home. Will's imagination has taken off and he is very content to play with his trains (driving to Grann's house), pretend he works in a restaurant with his kitchen, play school, etc. After my haircut and a quick trip to the Farmer's Market, we took the boys to the zoo. Will was very excited and wanted to say hi to all the animals (there was a story about that in his Highlights magazine). We packed a picnic lunch and ate under one of the big tents. Then we stopped at the playground outside the zoo for a bit and stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream on the way home.

On Sunday, we took Will for a much needed haircut.  Then we went to the playground across the street for a while.  We took a break for another picnic lunch and then played some more.  After Will's nap, he and Phil went downtown to run around a bit and look at the fountains outside the GRAM and the Ford Museum.

Yum... soft serve!

At the zoo

Making some delicious Trailblazer Stew

Phil and Will at the top of the waterfall

Bath time!

<>A few weeks ago, Grandpa took Will downtown to the train station to see the 7:30am train that heads to Chicago. Will thought it was pretty cool to see the big trains.<>

Field trip with Grandpa to the train station

Look at the train!

<>Alex is technically too big for the bassinette, but he really likes playing in it right now. He loves to flip over and play peek-a-boo because he can just peer over the top edge.<>

Peek-a-boo

Up North with Grandma and Grandpa

Will was a luck boy this week - he got to go up to Aunt Mara and Uncle Ken's cottage with Grandma and Grandpa! They left Tuesday after lunch (when I got home from work) and came back Wednesday around dinner time. 

Will took a quick nap on the way and was ready to go once they got there. He ran around the cottage to check everything out and then went down to the lake with Grandpa. To get to the lake, you have to walk down a path, find the stairs, and then take the boardwalk to the dock. After one time down he knew the way and was the guide for the rest of the trip. They tried to go to Bud's for dinner but a huge (50+) group of students from Interlochen beat them there so they ended up at Chili's. But they were able to go to Moomer's for dessert. Will really liked the name... he still giggles about it.

He slept well and woke up early enough to see the sunrise. He said to my mom, "Look at how beautiful the sky looks." After breakfast, they went down to the lake to explore a bit and saw two deer. Then they put on their swimsuits and life jackets to play in the water. Will was a little scared at first but then realized how fun it was and they couldn't get him out. They left for home a little after 3pm. Will fell asleep instantly and slept the whole way home... we had to wake him up in the driveway.

While Will was gone, Alex and I enjoyed some one on one time. We did a lot of playing, read a lot of books, and took a couple walks (when it wasn't too hot). We stopped at the playground for a bit to do some swinging.

Wading with Grandpa

Splashing at the Lake

Checking out Duck Lake

Boardwalk to the Lake

Oatmeal with Grandpa

It wouldn't be a trip to the cottage without a stop at Moomers!

Refilling the bird feeders

Sleepovers and Berry Picking

This weekend was full of lots of fun activities. On Friday night, we ordered in pizza and had a pizza party in the basement while watching the movie "Cars" with Will. Then, he and Phil had a campout in the basement. He got to try out the sleeping bag he got for his birthday. He thought it was pretty cool and fell asleep right away. Unfortunately, he did wake up around 1:30am with wet clothes and then decided to get in bed instead of going back downstairs to the sleeping bag.

On Saturday, we woke up and went to the Farmer's Market.  After Alex's 10am feeding, we drove out to Rockford to go berry picking.  Will did a great job.  He carried the bucket for us and was actually pretty into the whole process.  I was afraid he would either lose interest or only want to eat the berries but he was pretty excited to fill the bucket.  We took a break halfway through to have a picnic lunch in the back of the van (we love that car!) and then went back for more picking.  We ended up filling more than half of the bucket with blueberries and also picked a pint of black raspberries.  We stayed in Saturday night to grill.

On Sunday, we walked up to town and Will rode his bike on the ramp by the fountain.  He is usually a speed demon but for some reason was more cautious yesterday. After lunch, we took Will bowling.  He has been asking to go back for a while and it was pretty hot and muggy so it was a good indoor activity.  I don't know which he enjoyed more - the actual bowling or dancing in between balls.  Then Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the kids while Phil and I went to see Andrew Bird perform at the botanical gardens with some friends.  It was a great night for an outdoor concert!

Berry Picking

Lunch Break - Utilizing the Tailgate Seat in the Van

Good Little Picker

Watching "Cars" in his Sleeping Bag

Sound Asleep

Nice Moves!

Our Little Peanut

We had Alex's 6 month check-up yesterday. The doctor said he is strong and healthy!  Note: I didn't say big and strong and healthy.  Alex is still a little peanut:

Weight: 15lbs 4 oz (10%)
Height: 26.5" (37%)
Head: 16.5" (3%)

The doctor was very pleased at his ability to sit up and push himself up with straight arms.  She said he should be cut back to 4 feedings/bottles per day and that he should have baby food at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  He can even start with some finger foods: puffs, Cheerios, and soft pasta.  Right now, it is really more for him to practice picking it up - he likely won't get the concept and actually eat finger foods for a while. 

Despite being so tiny, he is doing a lot of big boy things.  He can actually play at the playground now - he loves the swings and the teeter totter.  He started playing with some of Will's cars and trucks.  And you can see the wheels turning when you put an object just out of reach - yesterday he tried so hard to crawl towards a diet pepsi can (he clearly is one of us!).  He can get his knees under him and will push himself up and rock towards an object.  When he tries to crawl he ends up scooting backwards... I remember Will did the same things.  But he knows he can roll to get where he needs to go. 

Will loves playing with Alex.  He dances and does silly things to make him laugh.  He helped with feeding him yesterday.  And he will give Alex toys when they fall and will push the buttons on his musical toys when they stop.  But yesterday, he took away a little bumpy ball Alex was playing with.  I don't think he did it to be mean - he just didn't realize it would be an issue.  Well, Alex looked like his heart was broken.  He got the biggest frown/pout on his face and his eyes filled up with tears and he just cried and cried.  Will felt pretty bad and gave it back to him right away but it took a while for him to calm down.      

Swinging at the Playground

Free Slurpee Day!

Such a helpful big brother... he fed him all his bananas

Big Boy Toys (I like at the end how he puts his head down in defeat when it gets too far away from him)

Grann!

We had such a fun weekend because Grann came to visit! She got into town before dinner time on Friday. We drove up to town (too hot to walk) for dinner at Ramona's Table. 

On Saturday morning, we went on our weekly trip to the Farmers Market. Then we spent some time playing outside/working on the shed before it got too hot. Grann took Will to the mall to run around for a bit before lunch. Then she took him on a special dinner date - just the two of them. Will had such a good time. Then Grann stayed home with the boys so Phil and I could go out for a nice dinner. We went to Bistro Bella Vita and then walked around downtown for a while. The temperature finally started to cool off and it was a pleasant evening. 

On Sunday morning, we took advantage of the nice weather and walked up to Gaslight (Will rode his bike) to get some Starbucks. After some chocolate milk, Will was full of energy and rode his bike up and down the ramp at the fountain. Then we went to the football field and Will rode his bike up and down the ramp on the bleachers and ran around the football field. After Grann left, the boys played in the back yard while we moved everything into the new shed. It is so nice to have a clean garage!  We went to visit Oma for a while in the afternoon and spent a lot of time outside.

Grann and her boys

Playing on the football field

Throwing pennies in the fountain

Starbucks!

Alex cried and cried when we tried to take this away from him

Fun treat