Fond du Lac with the Coons

Sunday evening we drove over from Manitowoc to Fondy to spend the evening with my sister and family. We had a fun filled evening with the kids playing outside just enjoying each other. We went to A&W for some ice cream, which the kids shared nicely. When we got home we played outside until dark. Monday morning we stayed and let the kids play until Maddy got tired. Once she was ready for a nap it was time to get in the car and drive home. She was having so much fun with her cousins that she didn't get fussy until after noon. She then fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up for 3.5 hours. The weekend was so much fun and obviously quite exhausting for our little Miss Maddy.

Lexi is sure growing up

Look at the curls

JohnV enjoying his ice cream cone

Izzy sharing her root beer with Maddy

"Can someone get me some more ice cream, PLEASE!"

Izzy taking Maddy for a spin in the Hummer

John V, Maddy, and Izzy

Having fun with the cousins

Manitowoc with the Dewars

Sunday morning after breakfast we left Chicago and drove up to Manitowoc to meet another one of best friends from grade school, Tricia, and her husband and son, Pete and Jack. Tricia is a fabulous photographer and she shot Maddy's one year photos on the beach of Lake Michigan. The weather was really hot and Maddy was a bit tired, hungry, thirsty, and sweating so it was a bit of a struggle to get her to cooperate and smile. She was actually having fun throwing the rocks in the water and ignoring us. Oh well. After the photo shoot, we took the Dewars out to eat and visited for a few hours. It was a wonderful visit with them. Maddy and Jack just play so well together and have so much fun. It is great to watch!

Jack

Maddy and Jack from behind

and from the front

Maddy giving Jack a good-bye kiss

...and another for the road

Schaumburg with the Van Camps

Friday we met one of my best friends, Casey, and her husband Cory and daughter Ava for a weekend in Schaumburg, IL. We always try to meet somewhere about halfway once a year in the summer to spend some time with each other. We usually go camping and bring the dogs, but last year we missed out as Maddy was a newborn and Casey was pregnant. This year we passed on the camping and decided a hotel might be easier with the kids. It definitely was much easier although it was still quite challenging, nearly not as relaxing as our usual camping with the dogs.

The girls didn't play together very well, so whenever they were awake they had our complete attention. Maddy was a bit rough with Ava and was much bigger as Ava is 3 months younger and a premie, and Ava was very sensitive so it was a bad combination. We didn't get to play cards, unless they were sleeping. We still managed to get about a dozen games of cribbage and a game of hearts in. We did some shopping, swam in the pool, went out for dinner, and even visited an elk reserve. It was a great weekend with them. I really miss hanging out with Casey, especially now that we both have daughters, so it is always nice when we can get together.

Maddy and Ava playing in their booster seats

Dinner at PF Changs (YUM!)

Swimming at the pool

Getting a few games of cribbage in

Ava in her pretty dress

Maddy in her pretty dress

The girls in their pretty dresses together...

before dinner...

during dinner...

after dinner. (Impossible to get a good picture.)

Maddy and I feeding an elk

Camping Weekend

This weekend we spent a fun weekend camping in Mancelona, MI with the Abbotts and Schmidts. It was a pretty intense weekend with 3 toddlers, so I wouldn't exactly call it a vacation but it was still a ton of fun. The kids were all really great except the fact that they didn't really nap too well. They were just having too much fun outside playing.

We arrived Friday early evening with plenty of time to unpack, set up the tents, feed the kids...

(Line'em Up)

...and eat dinner ourselves before it got dark. It went much smoother this year, probably because we didn't have to worry about the dogs getting into fights as we left them home. The girls had a blast running around in the grass and playing in the tents.

Who's the Bully?

Maddy not letting Kendal in HER tent (notice Kendal's scowl)

Friends Again

As soon as the sun went down, it got really cold, especially away from the camp fire. The only good thing about that was that the mosquitoes left us alone. We (including Maddy) stayed up and enjoyed the fire and toasted chocolate marshmallows for quite awhile, before Kendal woke up crying and we realized it was time for bed as the morning would come sooner then we would like.

As anticipated, Saturday morning started before 7 am with the kids (surprising Maddy wasn't the first...the alarm clock honors went to Ben). We started the day with a huge breakfast and then went biking at Shanty Creek. The Schmidts stayed at the campsite so Kendal and Marnie could sleep some more. The Abbotts joined us for a tough ride from the Summit to Cedar River. It was great for Jason and I to revisit where we got married. The Schmits came and picked us up as the trip back seemed impossible with all the hills. Next year we definitely need to be in better shape.

Ben and Maddy playing after the ride

After eating lunch, we spent the afternoon at the pool. The kids loved the water. The kiddy pool was a bit too cold though for the adults so we brought the kids in the big pool. Here are a bunch of pictures of Maddy enjoying the pool.

"Hurry up dad, lets go swimming!"

"This is fun."

"Not too crazy about this one."

SPLASH

Swimming Buddies

We tried putting the kids down for a nap after swimming although Ben was the only one that cooperated. We still managed to get a few games of testy toss in. The evening was spent eating watermelon...


...and just hanging out. Ben and Maddy tried sneaking away into a tent by themselves but we caught them before too much happened.

Um, Ben, where are your pants???

After dinner and showers with the kids, they all zonked out early, which was kinda nice because we were able to play some bad-mitten before it got too dark. We had a ton of fun before Jason and I ended up in a spat as he was trying to change the rules every game and it was getting a bit annoying. Just because he is thirty, he thinks he can tell the rest of us what to do! :) We were all exhausted, but managed to stay up around the camp fire until about midnight....actually Greg only made it to about 10:30 pm. We are getting so old!

Sunday morning the kids all slept in, as they ended up on the air mattresses with their parents as it seemed too cold for them. I think they liked the warmth. Maddy slept in to about 8:30, which hasn't ever happened! Thanks Mads! After a quick breakfast, we took a few pictures...

Maddy, Ben, and Kendal's first camping trip together (Ben wasn't born yet last year)

The Kreiders

...packed up and made the trip home with one stop at Applebee's to eat. So it was a successful trip once again. The weather was much better this year. Visit Kendal's and Ben's blogs for more pictures from the weekend. (Marnie also posted some great video of Maddy.)

Buffalo Wilds Wings & A New Car

Tuesday night we had our last of 3 nights out to celebrate Jason's 30th birthday. We went out to Buffalo Wild Wings with the Abbotts and Schmidts. We had a great dinner with the group and then enjoyed ice cream cake afterwards at the Abbotts, while putting together our grocery list for the camping weekend ahead.

The Gang

Thursday night Jason, Maddy, and I spent the entire evening at the Pontiac dealership test driving a used '03 Grand Am and talking trade-in, financing, and what not. It was a long night but Maddy was a trooper. She was very patient with us...

...because she got a bag of popcorn

Before leaving for the weekend on Friday, we had to go buy the Grand Am that we were looking at the previous night. We would lose it if we waited until Monday, as there already was a buyer before us and after us. Luckily, we got the car although it was as pain to have to deal with that before we left. Thanks to the Abbotts and the Schmidts for being so patient with us. I was actually pretty sad to see my car go, as it has treated me and my family well. We spent 208,000 great miles together.

Here is the old car with the new car

Happy 30th Jason!

Today, Jason has officially turned 30! Ouch...that hurts. Jason and I went to the Melting Pot in Novi to celebrate. It is a fondue restaurant that we have heard about from a few of our friends. We thouroughly enjoyed our "dinner experience" and the food was extremely yummy. I really can't believe how much food we ate.

Birthday Boy

Do I Have Something on my Face?

Yum...dessert

Marnie picked Maddy up with Kendal from daycare today so that we could head right to the restaurant after work. So she had the 2 girls all to herself all night as Mike was golfing. Thanks again Marnie! Sarah came over with Ben though to help alleviate some of the pain. Maddy apparently was being nice to Ben, but beating up on Kendal. She was using her new fighting weapon...head butting. After dinner we were extremely excited to see Maddy as we hadn't seen her all day. She was excited to see us to, although ready for bed.

Happy Birthday DAD!

The Calm Before the Storm

This weekend we stayed home and relaxed as it is our last weekend home almost for the rest of the entire summer. We start travelling to see friends and family now all the way through Labor Day. We pretty much did a lot of nothing. We went car shopping on Saturday because the car overheated on Jason on Friday so we figured we better start exploring our options. Maddy had a great time running around the parking lots at the dealerships. Saturday night we rode our bikes down to the ice cream shop for a little treat. Sunday we went out to Kensington Park again for a bike ride around the lake with Greg, Sarah, and Ben and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch.

Maddy and Ben sharing puffs

Maddy did awesome as usual but this time she actually even wore her helmet the entire ride.

Do I look happy?

Ben did good too as it was really his first long ride. He slept most of the way.

I'm happy!

Last night we met Jason's parents in Okemos at the Stillwater Grill for dinner. They wanted to take Jason out for his birthday. He turns thirty today! :) We had a fantastic dinner and enjoyed the company. Maddy ate more than I've even seen her eat before. She loved my steak! Jason got a cramp during dinner, which we found really funny because we were celebrating him getting old and that was a comical way to show his age.


This week Maddy learned a few new things. First of all, she has figured out how to climb on things and finds her way up onto just about everything. She learned where her belly button is and how to pant like a dog. Still no words, although Jason and I thought she said a potty word Saturday night. She will also come lay down on her changing pad if you ask her to come change her diaper.

Thursday Maddy had a tough day at daycare. She seemed to be happy but kept throwing up and was waking up from her naps screaming. I picked her up early but she seemed fine and was all into playing when we got home. Friday night she woke up at 1 am screaming and wouldn't go back to sleep. She ended up in our bed with us for the rest of the night, but was really restless. Then this weekend she seemed to be running a fever on and off. I'm not sure if she has another ear infection but for the time being I'm going to see if it will just run its course.

Last night our little Miss Maddy was the sweetest little girl ever. Jason and I brought her in bed with us to try to calm her down some before putting her to bed. We laid her down between us and pretended we were sleeping. All of a sudden she sat up, leaned over Jason, and gave him a kiss. She would stop, look at him, then give him kiss after kiss. I was jealous so I asked her if I could have a kiss. So she laid back and gave me a kiss, then she kept alternating between giving the two of us kisses. It was so sweet and just melted our hearts. I've been working on teaching her to kiss, but she has only done it a few times so it really surprised us. It was great though.