this week

loving life with Uncle T

brother

Been spending time with Troy this week....

Usborne Books

We're fans of Usborne puzzle books at our house. That's what Jonah asks for on a regular basis. We check out at least one puzzle book every time we're at the library, and we've read them all over and over and over and over again.

A friend is starting an Usborne business, and I told her I'd have an eShow for her because we love the books so much.

Go here if you'd like to check it all out.

Here's a direct link to some of the puzzle books.

Cinderella Lydia

Look who's THREE!

We had a small party with cousins yesterday. Here's a few pictures:

Vacation!

Are you ready for this? You must assume that a photographer would certainly have plenty of family vacation pictures to share with her family & friends!
We had a great vacation. We purposely chose a "low-key" vacation this year. Mike is in grad school from May-August so it's hard for him to be away from his studies for very long during this time. Ironically, we ventured to that lovely northern state. I laugh at the irony b/c we wouldn't think about vacationing in Michigan when we lived there!

We started in Petoskey and were welcomed with a frigid chill that didn't keep us away from the water!



The following morning we headed to Mackinac. We layered ourselves with every piece of clothing in our suitcase (and still stopped at Wal-Mart for some socks, rain parkas, & pants:) to shelter us from the cold Mackinac weather. As the ferry was leaving, literally, I realized my camera battery was blinking and my spare battery was in the hotel room. AAAAGGGHHH! So throughout the day I turned my camera on, took a quick picture to document a moment, and turned it back off again. I barely took time to look through the viewfinder! Let me say it again, AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!

As soon as we got there, we rented bikes and spent the first few hours bicycling around the island. Jonah loved every minute of it. He wanted to stop at every trail that we passed. It was the perfect adventure for him. Lydia, on the other hand, was scared of the bike and horses all day. Yes, she was scared of horses......
and we were on Mackinac.......
That was interesting...




I love this picture because it's so typical-- Jonah leaning to get out of the picture with his infamous tongue that tells us he's overstimulated. I think it's one of my favorite pictures from vacation.

All day, we said, "Vacation!" and held up our fingers in a "V." Here's a side of Lydia that most people don't get to see, enjoying fudge on the ferry, of course!

After spending the night in Mackinac we took the scenic drive-- and boy did we take the scenic drive-- to Charlevoix and met our friends, the Ross family. It was still cold so Carrie creatively thought we should visit Avalanche Bay, an indoor waterpark. WE LOVED IT! Jonah could ride every water slide and even little miss Lydia was a daredevil riding down some big slides on her own. As Carrie mentioned in her blog, "Vacation Carrie" and "Fun Traci" were alive and well. We were even spotted riding a double tube down the "flushie." Sure wish I had a picture of that! I think that the adults had as much fun as the kids.





The following day, we experienced some warm northern Michigan weather and enjoyed lake activities at the Ross cottage.



Pop and Grammy spontaneously met us in Holland for our final grand adventure. The kids were so excited they were there; I don't think they ever settled down!


Mike and I had been worried about vacation. A road trip seemed like a good idea when we planned it, but how would the kids handle the constant change in hotel rooms, the driving, the sleeping arrangements, etc.? It was great! We made so many memories, and we can't wait to do it again next year!