Wednesday Jacob officially turned 3! We have the poor kid thoroughly confused now because when you ask him how old he is he'll often say "I'm going to be three". We're like, no it's cool to say three now, bud! It was a beautiful day and Aaron used that day as his pass day for working this weekend. We started off the day with a trip to Secretary of State (Jacob should learn early that no birthday is complete without it, right?) to renew my tabs. One thing I LOVE about living in a small town is how quickly you can get through a SOS office. In fact our local one doesn't even have a waiting area!
Then it was off to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for a little hike to look for some morels (a bust) and then back to Traverse where we ate lunch downtown at Pangea's Pizza out on the deck. Afterwards we headed to the Children's Museum since Aaron has never been there before. I was hoping that we would finally get Jacob to go down the big slide if his dad was there, but no such luck. Which is so strange to me, he has never shied away from any slide no matter how big or scary on a playground, but for some reason he just will not. go. down. this. slide! I think I heard him mumble something about it not being structurally sound.... but Brody didn't mind - he loves it.
We ended our day out with Jacob's favorite - miniature golf and ice cream. In Florida Jacob played his usual way... hitting the ball from the tee, then picking it up from wherever it landed and setting it a few inches from the hole before hitting it in. On his birthday he decided on a new style of play... now he hits the ball from the tee and quickly runs after it, guiding it into the hole. Ironically, once he is done he will stand aside and let you play out the hole as normal. Silly kid.
Memorial weekend was pretty low key. Aaron had to work both Saturday and Sunday and is on call. The boys and I went over to my parents house on Saturday. Noelle, Kris and their three littles were visiting for the weekend and Mark and the boys came over for a bit (Lisa was celebrating a Bachelorette party in Vegas... jealous!), so Jacob and Brody got some quality cousin play time in. I didn't take any pictures, but they sure were cute together. Jacob especially loves playing with Libby - it's adorable. We went for ice cream with them in the evening and then they headed home in one direction and I turned the other and it did NOT go over well. Jacob spent the entire ride home (well, the entire time he was awake) saying "I don't WANT to go home!" When Aaron pulled him out of his car seat and transferred him to bed he woke up just enough to let Aaron know "I don't WANT to go home" again. The next morning the boys slept in a bit (after our late night out), but getting ready for church was a breeze after I informed Jacob "Anni and Libby will be there...". Jacob did GREAT at nursery school, but Brody cried. Thankfully he's quick to get over it. Afterwards we went to Uncle Mark's house where the boys played a bit and then it was back home. Aaron did have Monday off, so we went into town for a bit and had lunch with Mark AND (a recovering) Lisa and boys and then shopped for a bit.
Sooo, now we have a short week and then maybe some camping on Friday night... it's not supposed to be very warm (high of 60), so I'm not sure if I'm up for it yet. Sunday is my birthday and we become members of the Church.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Jacob
Jacob at 3 days old:
At one year old:
Another one of Jacob at one year:
Jacob at two:
Again:
Jacob at 3 years old:
It's crazy how much they change!!!
Anyways, here are pics of the new swing set and a few from our walk on Weds. I'll sum up how Jacob's birthday went and how the holiday weekend went tomorrow!
At one year old:
Another one of Jacob at one year:
Jacob at two:
Again:
Jacob at 3 years old:
It's crazy how much they change!!!
Anyways, here are pics of the new swing set and a few from our walk on Weds. I'll sum up how Jacob's birthday went and how the holiday weekend went tomorrow!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party
Opening presents:
Checking out his cake with the fam:
Jacob, a little unsure about what Uncle Mark is doing...
I can't believe my little guy is (almost) three! He is such a joy and constantly cracking me up, but he sure knows how to test me, too. His party went great! He got lot's of great gifts including a new swing set from his Switzer grandparents and us (I'll take a picture this week). Can't think of any funny or exciting stories... just a good day. The weather could have been a little warmer (it was about 50), but hey, the sun was shinning so I won't complain too much.
Other news... Brody is (finally) walking! He's taken a few steps here and there, but as of today he is walking! Sometimes it's about 25 steps, sometimes about 2, but he's getting more and more brave! Which is exactly his problem... he's had the balance and coordination to walk for months, he just lacked the confidence. Maybe it's the fact he has a brother eager to knock him down every time he gets up?!?! Hmm....
Also, we (finally) took the new member class at our Church! After attending for about 7 years, being married there and having both our kids baptized there it definitely seemed time (or a little past due!). We will be welcomed officially at the May 31st service, I believe.
Oh and in sad news, I killed my camera. All those great shots in the pool came at a price. I thought I was in the clear since Aaron got the extended warranty, however it does not cover being dropped in a pool. (Can anyone tell me WHAT good an extended warranty is?! Seems to cover exactly what would be covered under the manufacturers warranty... Grrrr). So I'm screwed. And the camera was only 3 months old :( Thankfully, cameras are much cheaper these days (especially when you don't buy a foolish warranty), but it's still so disappointing. Thankfully though our pictures and memory card are just fine.
Checking out his cake with the fam:
Jacob, a little unsure about what Uncle Mark is doing...
I can't believe my little guy is (almost) three! He is such a joy and constantly cracking me up, but he sure knows how to test me, too. His party went great! He got lot's of great gifts including a new swing set from his Switzer grandparents and us (I'll take a picture this week). Can't think of any funny or exciting stories... just a good day. The weather could have been a little warmer (it was about 50), but hey, the sun was shinning so I won't complain too much. Other news... Brody is (finally) walking! He's taken a few steps here and there, but as of today he is walking! Sometimes it's about 25 steps, sometimes about 2, but he's getting more and more brave! Which is exactly his problem... he's had the balance and coordination to walk for months, he just lacked the confidence. Maybe it's the fact he has a brother eager to knock him down every time he gets up?!?! Hmm....
Also, we (finally) took the new member class at our Church! After attending for about 7 years, being married there and having both our kids baptized there it definitely seemed time (or a little past due!). We will be welcomed officially at the May 31st service, I believe.
Oh and in sad news, I killed my camera. All those great shots in the pool came at a price. I thought I was in the clear since Aaron got the extended warranty, however it does not cover being dropped in a pool. (Can anyone tell me WHAT good an extended warranty is?! Seems to cover exactly what would be covered under the manufacturers warranty... Grrrr). So I'm screwed. And the camera was only 3 months old :( Thankfully, cameras are much cheaper these days (especially when you don't buy a foolish warranty), but it's still so disappointing. Thankfully though our pictures and memory card are just fine.
More Florida Pictures...
Jacob loved all the Pooh characters...
Brody wasn't so impressed...
Can you blame him? The bear tried to eat Robert's head!!!
Luckily Robert is forgiving, yet cautious (not to mention sick) when Piglet visits:
But it was a rather exhausting day for him:
I think I'm more excited then both of the boys here...
Jacob couldn't get enough hugs in:
Hangin' poolside:
The boys chillin':
Brody kickin' it:
Brody wasn't so impressed...
Can you blame him? The bear tried to eat Robert's head!!!
Luckily Robert is forgiving, yet cautious (not to mention sick) when Piglet visits:
But it was a rather exhausting day for him:
I think I'm more excited then both of the boys here...
Jacob couldn't get enough hugs in:
Hangin' poolside:
The boys chillin':
Brody kickin' it:
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Home from Florida!
We flew into Detroit on Sunday after an early morning flight and i spent the last few days recovering! The trip went great though, minus a sick baby :(
The flight out went well. We made the 4 hour drive to Detroit and the kids did beautifully. Although we arrived to the airport like 2hrs ahead of time, we still ended up rushing around and just about walked on the plane after parking, getting through security and all. Which was nice, because the kids didn't have to sit around, but bad because I totally forgot to purchase drinks for them! We tried to grab a flight attendant and request some water or milk while people were boarding and you can imagine how well that went over (as it took a second visit once we were well in the air to actually receive something). Jacob did great, he LOVED every aspect of flying and I only used the portable dvd to keep him occupied, other than that the flying alone was entertainment enough. Brody, on the other hand, wasn't so impressed with flying. (Or Florida, or Mickey, or Dolphins, or heat). It was an 8pm flight and he was tired and just could not.get.comfortable. Eventually he fell asleep about 30 minutes before we landed. So then we picked up our car and realized that 2 adults and 2 kids could easily fill a 7 passenger minivan with no problem at all and it was off to the hotel. The kids were pretty excited, but fell asleep easily since it was like 1am at that point.
The next day, we left our room in search of breakfast and found the pool. It was SO HOT that we ended up just staying right there at the pool all day (I ran back to the room for suits). Our hotel was rated "Best for Families" by trip advisor and we quickly learned why. There were three pools, all the zero depth entry. One had a huge pirate ship with waterslides (Brody rode down with me a few times) and a bunch of splash fountains. One was a more traditional pool with a large waterslide that was adjacent to a huge splash playground and the third was a shaded infant pool. We spent the first day in all three and the rest of the time in the more traditional pool where Jacob practiced his "jumping in" skills. The air temp was always in the 90's and the water was about 83-84 degrees, it felt heavenly!! The pool also featured a miniature golf course, which Jacob LOVED. He would play with sweat pouring down his little face, determined to get all 18 holes in!
On Tuesday we decided to try out Sea World, which was less than a mile from our hotel. Aaron said "you could have walked!" which showed he had no idea how.stinking.hot it was. I know we have 90+ degree days with humidity in Michigan, but this was ridiculous. I don't know if we were just out of practice after that arctic winter or what, but we all struggled with the heat! Anyways, we made it to Sea World, walked around a bit and went to the dolphin show. Despite sitting in the shade, it was still unbelievably hot. Brody did NOT enjoy the show. He was just too hot. Grandma, Jacob and I thought the show was pretty amazing though. Of course the animals were spectacular, but the high diving and trapeze aspects of the show were incredible. After that we walked around some more and made our way to a restaurant with a huge shark aquarium inside. We sat at a table right next to sharks and dined while watching 12+ ft sharks swim by, it was very entertaining. It was slightly pricey, but it allowed us to all cool down and regroup for an hour - I would have paid that much just to sit in the AC for an hour, the food was just bonus! We made our way to the next show with Shamu and this time the whole family enjoyed it. Brody seemed cool enough from our lunch and I bought a misting fan to help keep him that way. And having him comfortable made a huge difference, he LOVED watching Shamu and was pointing and hollering during the whole performance. We checked out a few more exhibits and another show before we made our way back home.
Wednesday we enjoyed another pool day and then I picked up Debby and Robert from the airport in the evening. Jacob jumped in some more, holding his breath for longer and longer and he also got a ball and practiced playing catch. Brody spent too much time watching the dolphins and whales and tried to swim underwater like they did. He loves the water and thinks he is ready to take off swimming on his own!
The next day we did a little shopping and bought some water toys for the kiddos and spent more time at the pool. Jacob began swimming independently with his noodle and Brody and Robert got some new little boats that worked out perfectly. That evening we ordered Outback to go and decided Outback was the best food ever. And take out is the best invention ever.
Friday we decided to try Magic Kingdom despite the high temps. Visiting Disney, you would have NO IDEA that the economy was bad. It was packed with people and they all seemed to be spending money. The day started off pretty good, except all of our kids seemed too hot and uncomfortable. We walked around a bit and did a little jungle cruise before we decided that we needed to find an air conditioned restaurant and let these kids cool off. We walked back to the 1st restaurant we saw and while we were being seated we learned that we lucked out and picked a restaurant where the Winnie the Pooh characters visit your table while you eat! I expected Brody to be really into it and for Jacob to be scared, but they surprised me! Brody was terrified and Jacob loved it! It was so cute to watch Jacob get all excited and give the characters big hugs! Robert was cute too, he kind of acted like a teenager... definitely interested and watching the characters, but too cool to get real excited about them. Although, that may have been because he was very sick but we didn't figure that out until later... After the restaurant, we checked out a few more things and then began to get a little concerned about Robert. It was hard to tell if Robert was sick or if he was just hot, tired, teething, etc. Debby kept walking into stores in an attempt to cool him down which seemed to be working and then stopped working. At that point we decided to take him to the first aid station to have his temp checked out just in case and that is where we discovered he actually had a fever of 105.4! It was pretty scary to see such a high number. The nurses put some wet towels over him and Debby gave him a feeding. His fever came down a bit and we got escorted out of Disney and took Robert to pediatric urgent care where he was diagnosed with an inner ear infection. Once we realized how sick he was we couldn't believe how well he did all day! Poor guy! Jacob and Brody did great through the whole thing and waited very patiently.
The next day was our last day and thankfully much less eventful. We hung out around the hotel and pool and enjoyed the sun. We packed up all our gear and enjoyed another take out dinner that was fabulous!
Sunday (Mothers Day) we headed to the airport bright and early and remembered the drinks for the boys this time! Our flight went great and got in ahead of time. Brody was a little less antsy and slept about an hour this time. The only negative about our flight home was that when we were boarding the airplane I noticed a maintanance worker cleaning my seat cushion. I said "oh no, did someone get sick?" His reply? "No, I'm just dusting. It looks fine to you, doesn't it?" So based on his response I was thinking worse case possible (ewww). I sat down on the seat (what else was I going to do?) and then the flight attendant brought me and the guy behind us new seat cushions. He said he didn't know what happened, he just knew that we would want to use these. Gross. Anyways, Jacob only slept 20 minutes on the plane and didn't sleep at all during our 4 hour car ride despite getting up 2hrs before normal - I think he was pretty excited to see his dad! And best of all, he never asked to use the bathroom during the car ride!
So I think I've mostly recovered from our trip. I now have to find the motivation to finish the laundry and prepare for Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party this Saturday! Wow, three!
The flight out went well. We made the 4 hour drive to Detroit and the kids did beautifully. Although we arrived to the airport like 2hrs ahead of time, we still ended up rushing around and just about walked on the plane after parking, getting through security and all. Which was nice, because the kids didn't have to sit around, but bad because I totally forgot to purchase drinks for them! We tried to grab a flight attendant and request some water or milk while people were boarding and you can imagine how well that went over (as it took a second visit once we were well in the air to actually receive something). Jacob did great, he LOVED every aspect of flying and I only used the portable dvd to keep him occupied, other than that the flying alone was entertainment enough. Brody, on the other hand, wasn't so impressed with flying. (Or Florida, or Mickey, or Dolphins, or heat). It was an 8pm flight and he was tired and just could not.get.comfortable. Eventually he fell asleep about 30 minutes before we landed. So then we picked up our car and realized that 2 adults and 2 kids could easily fill a 7 passenger minivan with no problem at all and it was off to the hotel. The kids were pretty excited, but fell asleep easily since it was like 1am at that point.
The next day, we left our room in search of breakfast and found the pool. It was SO HOT that we ended up just staying right there at the pool all day (I ran back to the room for suits). Our hotel was rated "Best for Families" by trip advisor and we quickly learned why. There were three pools, all the zero depth entry. One had a huge pirate ship with waterslides (Brody rode down with me a few times) and a bunch of splash fountains. One was a more traditional pool with a large waterslide that was adjacent to a huge splash playground and the third was a shaded infant pool. We spent the first day in all three and the rest of the time in the more traditional pool where Jacob practiced his "jumping in" skills. The air temp was always in the 90's and the water was about 83-84 degrees, it felt heavenly!! The pool also featured a miniature golf course, which Jacob LOVED. He would play with sweat pouring down his little face, determined to get all 18 holes in!
On Tuesday we decided to try out Sea World, which was less than a mile from our hotel. Aaron said "you could have walked!" which showed he had no idea how.stinking.hot it was. I know we have 90+ degree days with humidity in Michigan, but this was ridiculous. I don't know if we were just out of practice after that arctic winter or what, but we all struggled with the heat! Anyways, we made it to Sea World, walked around a bit and went to the dolphin show. Despite sitting in the shade, it was still unbelievably hot. Brody did NOT enjoy the show. He was just too hot. Grandma, Jacob and I thought the show was pretty amazing though. Of course the animals were spectacular, but the high diving and trapeze aspects of the show were incredible. After that we walked around some more and made our way to a restaurant with a huge shark aquarium inside. We sat at a table right next to sharks and dined while watching 12+ ft sharks swim by, it was very entertaining. It was slightly pricey, but it allowed us to all cool down and regroup for an hour - I would have paid that much just to sit in the AC for an hour, the food was just bonus! We made our way to the next show with Shamu and this time the whole family enjoyed it. Brody seemed cool enough from our lunch and I bought a misting fan to help keep him that way. And having him comfortable made a huge difference, he LOVED watching Shamu and was pointing and hollering during the whole performance. We checked out a few more exhibits and another show before we made our way back home.
Wednesday we enjoyed another pool day and then I picked up Debby and Robert from the airport in the evening. Jacob jumped in some more, holding his breath for longer and longer and he also got a ball and practiced playing catch. Brody spent too much time watching the dolphins and whales and tried to swim underwater like they did. He loves the water and thinks he is ready to take off swimming on his own!
The next day we did a little shopping and bought some water toys for the kiddos and spent more time at the pool. Jacob began swimming independently with his noodle and Brody and Robert got some new little boats that worked out perfectly. That evening we ordered Outback to go and decided Outback was the best food ever. And take out is the best invention ever.
Friday we decided to try Magic Kingdom despite the high temps. Visiting Disney, you would have NO IDEA that the economy was bad. It was packed with people and they all seemed to be spending money. The day started off pretty good, except all of our kids seemed too hot and uncomfortable. We walked around a bit and did a little jungle cruise before we decided that we needed to find an air conditioned restaurant and let these kids cool off. We walked back to the 1st restaurant we saw and while we were being seated we learned that we lucked out and picked a restaurant where the Winnie the Pooh characters visit your table while you eat! I expected Brody to be really into it and for Jacob to be scared, but they surprised me! Brody was terrified and Jacob loved it! It was so cute to watch Jacob get all excited and give the characters big hugs! Robert was cute too, he kind of acted like a teenager... definitely interested and watching the characters, but too cool to get real excited about them. Although, that may have been because he was very sick but we didn't figure that out until later... After the restaurant, we checked out a few more things and then began to get a little concerned about Robert. It was hard to tell if Robert was sick or if he was just hot, tired, teething, etc. Debby kept walking into stores in an attempt to cool him down which seemed to be working and then stopped working. At that point we decided to take him to the first aid station to have his temp checked out just in case and that is where we discovered he actually had a fever of 105.4! It was pretty scary to see such a high number. The nurses put some wet towels over him and Debby gave him a feeding. His fever came down a bit and we got escorted out of Disney and took Robert to pediatric urgent care where he was diagnosed with an inner ear infection. Once we realized how sick he was we couldn't believe how well he did all day! Poor guy! Jacob and Brody did great through the whole thing and waited very patiently.
The next day was our last day and thankfully much less eventful. We hung out around the hotel and pool and enjoyed the sun. We packed up all our gear and enjoyed another take out dinner that was fabulous!
Sunday (Mothers Day) we headed to the airport bright and early and remembered the drinks for the boys this time! Our flight went great and got in ahead of time. Brody was a little less antsy and slept about an hour this time. The only negative about our flight home was that when we were boarding the airplane I noticed a maintanance worker cleaning my seat cushion. I said "oh no, did someone get sick?" His reply? "No, I'm just dusting. It looks fine to you, doesn't it?" So based on his response I was thinking worse case possible (ewww). I sat down on the seat (what else was I going to do?) and then the flight attendant brought me and the guy behind us new seat cushions. He said he didn't know what happened, he just knew that we would want to use these. Gross. Anyways, Jacob only slept 20 minutes on the plane and didn't sleep at all during our 4 hour car ride despite getting up 2hrs before normal - I think he was pretty excited to see his dad! And best of all, he never asked to use the bathroom during the car ride!
So I think I've mostly recovered from our trip. I now have to find the motivation to finish the laundry and prepare for Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party this Saturday! Wow, three!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
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