4th of July Weekend

We spent the 4th of July weekend with Alan, Christine and Sophie Long at their home near Detroit. This was the fourth consecutive year we spent the holiday with them, but the first year at their house instead of Alan's parents in Toledo.

We decided to leave early Friday morning (2:15 am) with the hopes that Danielle and Michaela would sleep in the car, of avoiding traffic in Chicago, and arriving in time for lunch. We were successful in the last two, but sleeping was not common early in the drive. Michaela remained awake throughout the morning looking at Chicago's many lights and signs. Danielle and Christine did get a bit of sleep but not much. We stopped at Benton Harbor, MI for breakfast around 6am. The girls got clean diapers and slept the remainder of the drive. Upon arriving we got the grand tour of the house. We spent most of the day lounging around talking and playing with the girls. Christine Long and I failed miserably at Hand & Foot losing two games, with the first game conceded after three hands we were so far behind.

Michaela woke up sick on the 4th, we suspect from exhaustion the day before. She napped while we took a walk but woke up in time for the neighborhood parade. Michaela filled her pockets with candy, although none of the girls got to eat much of it. The parade stopped at the neighborhood clubhouse and Michaela got a closer look at a firetruck. We chatted with the firefighters about Uncle Steve and they opened the truck to give a look inside, but Michaela was too scared to actually step inside. I'm sure she would have been braver if Uncle Steve was there.

We packed a picnic and headed to a park for lunch. Michaela and Sophie played together wonderfully. Michaela proved to be the bully exuding her age dominance (8 months) over Sophie even though Sophie probably had the weight advantage. At the park Sophie ran from Michaela for nearly 15 minutes, with Michaela chasing her as a daddy lion. After naps we played at a splash park and in their backyard (complete with swing set, sandbox and climbing trees) before grilling in the evening.

Alan and I lost two games of Hand & Foot to the Christine's that night. We concluded that I suck at cards, but of course the flip side is that my Christine rocks...so you decide (although I prefer the later explanation). Fireworks were first set off around 8:30. Of course the extra noise was too much for Michaela to sleep and around 10 I finally opened the window shades to let her watch the Fireworks from the upstairs bedroom. Fireworks stopped around 11 and Michaela was asleep when we checked on her shortly after.

Gwinny (their scaredy cat) actually made a surprise appearance Sunday morning and hid under a chair. Michaela loves cats and repeatedly laid on the floor to see her. Sunday the girls went to the zoo and the guys went golfing. We ordered pizza and the little girls played in an inflatable pool. The girls fell asleep within ten minutes of leaving at 8 pm and the rest of the drive home was uneventful. We finished 'Pandora's Daughter' a book on CD while driving.

Dresses and Ice Cream

My mom requested a picture of both girls in their wedding dresses. In OUR confusion at the wedding a few days ago we failed to ask anyone to take our family picture and/or take a picture of the two girls all dressed up. Considering how much we like pictures of Michaela and Danielle, this request was one that both Christine and I were looking forward to.

So ... we went to Olbrich Gardens one abnormally hot humid afternoon this past week with one goal in mind, a picture of the two girls in their dresses.

Danielle has just begun to crawl on her hands and knees. Hopes for her to sit still, stand, or pose for a picture are almost always fulfilled. Michaela had something else in mind. With the hot weather Michaela had no intention of changing into her flower girl dress, posing, or even smiling for a snapshot. Asking her to change attire was met with screaming and emphatic expressions fitting of a two year old.

We took the dress with hoping that she would change into it later. After walking briefly outdoors Michaela threw a short fit wanting to return inside. Christine took the girls inside and came back outside with Michaela in her dress. I was completely shocked! How did that happen? Christine informed me that Michaela had unsuccessfully searched for the model trains (which were here in the winter) and afterwards was easily bribed into wearing her dress. A promise of ice cream on the way home was all it took.

We quickly took some pictures, trying not to test Michaela's short fuse. Her sunglasses seemed to help the situation. After pictures Michaela informed us that she wanted purple grape ice cream and Mommy, Daddy, and Danielle could share green ice cream. A stop at DQ for a grape and lemon-lime freeze and everyone returned home happy.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

I often have music playing on the computer while editing pictures. Bobby McFerrin's song was playing in the background and I thought it was perfect for the two pictures I was working on right at that moment...so I pass along quite possibly my lone thought for the day.

I don't remember what Michaela was actually looking when Christine snapped these two pictures at Henry Vilas Zoo a couple of weeks ago, but whatever it was it got Michaela's full attention.

Congratulations Derek & Kali

This past weekend we were back in central Minnesota for my cousin Derek's wedding. It was a wonderful celebration and gorgeous wedding, with many people deserving a thanks for all their work in putting it together (especially Tom & Linda for hosting all the festivities).

Congratulations to Derek and Kali, they make a wonderful couple and we wish them all of God's blessings.

Pleasant Surprise: Black-necked Stilts

Today's afternoon sunshine proved to luring for me after yesterday's rain and I was home shortly after 4 to go for a walk with Christine and the girls. We grabbed our camera gear ready and headed out for a short walk before planning on a shopping trip to Walmart. We decided on Nine Springs in hopes of finding a butterfly or dragonfly. Dane county parks burned off the praire grass and it has come back beautifully green, however we struck out on butterflies and dragonflies.

We were not quite ready to go shopping at Walmart after our short 20 minute walk so we headed across the street to the boardwalk. We often walk around the water treatment ponds and Michaela informed us we were going the wrong way. After a bit of convincing she was okay going down the boardwalk instead of the bike trail leading to the ponds, and she practiced her balance by walking on the edge board.

At the end of the boardwalk I showed Michaela where we normally walked and asked her to count all the gulls. Because we were not planning on birding I did not bring binoculars with, but habits are hard to break so I looked through the camera lens in order to identify what was on the island besides the Ring-billed Gulls, Great Egret, and Caspian Tern. I soon dismissed the goal of having Michaela count the gulls, as to my pleasant surprise I saw a Black-necked Stilt. Such a cool looking shorebird and a brand new bird for us!!

Shortly thereafter I spotted a second one and we quickly decided to walk the ponds in order to get a better look at them....besides we can always go shopping tomorrow. The above picture is heavily cropped with poor lighting, but at least you can see what we were looking at tonight. The stilts were a very pleasant surprise.I think you can tell by my smile that I enjoyed this much better than shopping.

Building memories

We went to the doctor on Wednesday for Danielle's belated 9 month checkup. Apparently slow verbal development runs in the family, as Danielle is not saying 'ma' or 'da' yet or mimicing our sounds. Danielle seems to be fine with physical development, working those fingers efficiently to eat often. She has also started to army crawl, pulling herself up, and taking steps with assistance.

Coming out of the doctor's office Michaela ran to the window, pointed at a car in the parking lot and told us 'Gramma'. The car highly resembled Dan & Linda's tan car. Michaela has started to point out anything that reminds her of family.

Clearer Words

Michaela has begun to enunciate and speak more clearly. It has been over a year since we first heard 'chickadee', 'lion', 'duck', and 'bird'. We are happy that she is trying to say full words once again.

Kudos to Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Steve for making an impression.