Family

Of course, there was lots of family time while we were in Michigan, and lots of pictures of that family time. Here are some of my favorites.

So great to have Eric and Cathy back in the US. We missed Eric's silliness!

The Fam!

The Girls with their PopPop and CeeCee

Emily snuggles up to her Aunt Cathy....

and then hams it up with Uncle Eric

Addie and Emily got to spend some time with their cousins, Johnny and Heidi

Heidi loves babies. What a sweetheart.

Relaxing by the lake

The girls were a little nervous about the big lake, but floating with Dad was safe and cozy

Mom and Addie 

Em and Mom

Playing with old toys from when the boys were little. Emily was especially entranced by the old FisherPrice Sesame Street Clubhouse.

Catching a ride...Hey this guy's even taller than Daddy!

DIY slip-n-slide

Addie and CeeCee go for a float

The girls got to spend lots of time with their Uncle Eric and Aunt Cathy

We ended the trip on Father's Day. Happy Father's Day, Chris!

A Love-Hate Relationship with Sand

The beach by the lake had some wonderful sand, but I usually don't trust the girls around sand.

(**see video, below, taken May 10th in a friend's backyard sandbox. After said video was taken, we've pretty much avoided all sand boxes.)

After repeatedly brushing Addie's full-of-sand hands away from her mouth, being the problem solver that she is, she decided to just put her mouth directly down to the sand to take a mouthful right from the ground. After that, it was sayonara sandbox!

But, like I said, there's a great sandy beach by the lake, and it's pretty hard to avoid the sand if you want to play in the water, so Chris and I got lots of practice catching the sand-eaters, and the sand-eaters got some practice learning not to eat sand.

Addie's poor little intestines had some trouble sorting out all the sand, and Chris captured the struggle well in this perfect shot:

 Followed closely by sweet, tired relief...

why oh why did I eat all that sand?

Overall, though, there was lots of fun to be had in the sand and in the water!

What sand? I didn't eat any sand.

I'm exfoliating my legs, Dad!

Here Kitty Kitty

As usual, Sally Cat was quite the hit while we were in Michigan. The first thing the girls did when we got out of the car after the drive back from the wedding was chase Sally.

Addie would run to Sally, arms outstretched, squealing with delight

Sally was so patient with the girls

Addie tried awfully hard to share her popsicle with Sally

The girls and I are waiting for the day a hypoalergenic cat comes looking for a home, because a kitty sure would be loved around here!

Michigan Favorites

We took so many pictures during our summer trip to Michigan, it has taken a long time to go through them all! While there will be more pictures to come, I thought I'd start by posting some of my favorites. 

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are some of my favorite shots of the girls in Michigan.

Happy Babies in the Pool

Beach Beauties Sporting Sunglasses

Smiles and Silly Faces

A Cool Evening on the Deck

Girls in the Garden

Goin' to the Chapel of Love

Mike and Rachel were married on Saturday, June 9th in Michigan. Emily and Addison got to have the very special job of flower girls. Since Emily isn't walking yet, and Addison isn't quite ready to walk down the aisle, the girls got to ride in a very fancy wagon.

On Friday, we drove three hours or so from Sue and Larry's house to Grand Rapids where the wedding was going to take place in a beautiful arboretum. The girls rehearsed their roles, and we had a great time at the rehearsal dinner.

The soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Palte

Emily and Addison wore their Michigan dresses for Uncle Mike, a U of M grad

They took their roles very seriously and immediately started practicing untying ribbons

What a good looking couple!

Aunt Rachel made the girls awesome fishing toys with personalized buckets

The day of the wedding was just beautiful. Blue skies and sunshine made the already gorgeous outdoor wedding just perfect. Mike and Rachel are so in love, and it was wonderful to watch them tie the knot.

Chris pulled these precious girls down the aisle in their dresses made by CeeCee

Romance 

Auntie Allison was a great help and held Emily during the ceremony 

Addie was pretty worn out afterwards, and cuddled a bit with Uncle Eric

Congratulations, 

Rachel and Mike! 

We love you!

A Few of Our (Current) Favorite Things

Emily

Saying "Uh Oh!" 

It started "uh uh" a few weeks ago, but has evolved, and now she's always looking for an opportunity to say it.

Playing Peek

Peekaboo used to just happen with blankets and towels, but now it's become a bit more subtle. We play peek around the corners of furniture, the edges of water bottles, the brims of hats, and, most recently, if I'm sitting down, Emily will come up behind me, put her hands on my shoulders, and play peek around my shoulders.

Anything WATER

Bathtime, so much fun. Pooltime, even better! Splashing in the yard, drinking from the sprinkler, turning on the faucet on Mom and Dad's big tub...all of these things make for a great time.

Meeting new people

After being in a crowd, Emily is all revved up. This is one little extravert. It takes her some time to warm up to a situation, but once she's comfortable, she is quite the little ham!

Mirrors

Speaking of hamming it up, she loves to watch herself ham it up!

Little People

The dump truck is fun, the school bus is amazing.

Putting things in and taking things out

Got something small and something you can put it into? This girl will want to play!

Addison

Ears

Her left ear is preferred, as she loves to tug it while sucking her right thumb. But someone else's ear (even a baby doll's ear) will surely get some lovin' too.

Dress Up

Give this girl a hat and a purse, and she'll walk laps around the house with a huge grin on her face!

Babies

Baby dolls are truly a favorite for Addison, and real live babies? Well, these will bring sheer giggles. She laughs when she sees Annalea's face in her picture book, and yesterday little Annalea was treated to some Addie snuggles and real kisses (not like the bite kisses she gives Mama!)

Chase

"I'm gonna get you!" sends her into the race with squeals of delight.

Velcro

Whoever invented this stuff, genious! The noise, the ripping, it's amazing!

And things that both these girls can't do without?

Being outside, big kids, and cottage cheese

The Knee Walk

In case you haven't seen it yet, this is how Emily's been getting around for the last month.