Sniffle, cry, snuffle, cry . . .

. . . was the sound that Joshua emitted after receiving his first instruction that he was going under water as swimming lessons began this morning. Many tears flowed, but through the tears Joshua actually listened and followed directions and was able to do what Miss Anne wanted him to do. Miss Anne is gentle, kind and yet firm with these kids so they can learn how to swim and be safe, which I am all about. He has 4 more 45 min. lessons this week. Our hope is that by Friday morning he will be beaming with pride as he shows Cory how he swims across the pool.

Vacation to Mackinac Island

Saturday morning we packed the car up and loaded the kids in for a 3 day, 2 night vacation on Mackinac Island. We had booked this back in January, but I hadn't told Joshua about it until about a month ago. He was beyond excited on Friday and bounced out of his room Saturday morning dressed and ready to go! We met Shawn, Erin, Owen and Aiden in Mackinac City and took the ferry over to the island. The boys enjoyed the ferry, just as we anticipated they would. It was then off on foot to check into our room at Mission Point Resort. We had a to wait a bit to get into our room, but that gave Matthew a chance to start walking (the little sinker refused to walk at home, but apparently Mackinac Island was more suitable to him). After settling into our rooms, and coming to the realization that there was no AC, we explored the shops along main street and ate dinner at a restaurant on the shore. Matthew and Aiden were pretty much done for the day so Erin and I went back to the rooms to put them to bed while Shawn and Cory took Joshua and Owen "Glow Golfing" (the course his lit areas and the golf balls are lit from the inside so they glow). Sunday morning we rented bikes and bike trailers for the boys and set out to ride around the island. We climbed to the top of Arch Rock and explored along the shores of the island. A picnic lunch on the front lawn of the resort followed. We spotted a 1000 foot freighter while sitting there and saw a total of 7 freighters during our time on the island. While the little kids and parents took naps those of us non-napping folk (Joshua and me) took a leisurely walk around the resort and along the shore playing in the water and soaking up the sun with a trip to the candy store added in of course. Since it was the end of the Lilac Festival there a Grand Finale Parade took place starting right in front of the resort so we plopped the kids down and enjoyed. Monday morning, after checking out of the hotel we visited Fort Mackinac. The boys enjoyed the cannon firing and the rifle firing as well as the kids area in the fort the most. We hopped a ferry back over to the city and bid a fond farewell to the island. Joshua has asked every day since if we can go back to the island, so I'm guessing there will be another visit in our future. The video below is mostly for Joshua, but feel free to watch.

FINALLY!!!

So we arrive on Mackinac Island after a 4+ hour trip in the car, ferry boat ride and a long walk to our hotel and our room isn't quite ready, so what to do? Feed the kids snacks in the lobby while waiting. We got Matthew out of the stroller, stood him up and he walked across the lobby like it was nothing new! Crazy munchkin walked all over the hotel room and in various places where we could get him out of the stroller throughout the weekend. Just days before this trip he was taking more and more solo steps, but not regularly and not nearly as frequently as this weekend. The stinker still likes to crawl as he is no pro at walking and finds crawling much speedier at this point, but at least the stubborn little kid is making process. Finally at 14 months, old the stubborn little guy figured out he can walk!! Joshua didn't walk until 15 months so at least Matthew wasn't that late! Below are a couple videos of his first wobbly steps on the front lawn at Mission Point Resort, on Mackinac Island and in a kids area inside Fort Mackinac.

A splashing good time

Seeing as though the sun decided to grace us with it's presence today my friend and I thought it would be a perfect beach day. We met up at Millennium Park so the kids could swim and splash in the water, play in the sand and play at the splash pad. I'm pretty sure the kids loved every minute of the beach and the water even though the sand was really wet and not so pleasant to sit in. So glad we have places such as these to enjoy and friends to enjoy them with!

Joshua and Hunter hauling water.

Filling up the dump truck.

Corrinne and Joshua racing out of the water.

The monkey decided it was more fun to climb my chair at one point than play in the sand.

Fill 'er up . . .

. . . and dump 'er out!

Mixing water with a little sand.

Our little beach boy!

Summer visit to the zoo

This morning we headed over to the zoo with the free admission pass that my friend/neighbor graciously gave us and met up with them there. When we arrived the people were pouring in, but it wasn't terribly crowded yet thank-goodness. For Matthew this is the first time he was at the zoo and really realized there were animals there - before when we'd gone he was too young to notice much. Both boys seemed to enjoy looking at the animals and Joshua especially liked touching the sting rays and feeding the budgie birds. Good times and more memories made.

Looking at the Wallabies.

A Wallaby with a little Joey in her pouch.

At the petting zoo - Christy is helping Matthew.

Feeding the budgie birds.

Matthew looks on as the bird eats.

Reaching to feed the more birds.

Touching the sting rays.

Lazy lions.

Watching the chimpanzees.

Taking a peek at "Mighty Mike".

Joshua wanted his picture taken with "Nessy" in the background.

Jet Ski Rides!

Yesterday, after strawberry picking, we went out to the cottage to help my aunt and uncle get the last few items out of a storage unit and into their newly completed cottage (or perhaps it should now be called a summer home). It's absolutely beautiful! Along with the new cottage came a new jet ski that my cousin Rachel finally talked her dad into buying! After the work was done we enjoyed some time in the water and trying out the jet ski. Rachel had to be the first to try it out, but was willing to let the rest of us try it out too. We weren't sure what Joshua would think of the jet ski, but much to our surprise he LOVED it and couldn't get enough rides on it! Once Matthew was up from his nap Uncle Phil just had to take him for a ride too. Oh the fun that will be had for many summer to come!

Strawberry Picking

Saturday morning we went out to Beard's Produce to pick strawberries. Joshua, and of course Matthew, have never been strawberry picking before so this was a great new experience for them. It was a bit muddy and sandy in the field and with the heat and humidity the job of picking was a bit dirtier than normal so it wasn't exactly an ideal situation for our clean-freak Joshua, but he did manage to pick a few berries. Matthew actually understood the concept of picking the berries and happily picked away until he figured out that he could just as easily pop the berries in his mouth and enjoy all the sweet rewards of his hard work! I think we'll be making this an annual summer tradition for many years to come!

Putting the berries in the container.

Matthew enjoyed picking the strawberries!

Joshua inspects a berry before putting it in his container.

Found a good one!

Putting them in our big container . . .

. . . until he figures out they can go in his mouth!

Picking away.

Uncle Shawn carried both the little boys back to the cars when we were done.

The boys and our freshly picked, sweet strawberries!

Good ol' sprinkler fun

The humidity set in at the end of last week so to beat the heat we got out the old school sprinkler for Joshua and his friends to run through. Matthew even got in on some of the fun. It was a great way to spend a night having fun and cooling down. Icy cold treats rounded out the night.

Festival

We made our annual trek downtown to Festival Saturday morning so Joshua could enjoy the kid's activities and we could all enjoy the food. First we visited the MI Chip tent again and had the ID kits done for each of our kids (last year Matthew was too little for this) so I can now keep them both in one safe place that I will remember if, God-forbid, there should be a day they are needed. Again this year Joshua opted to work at the glue-in but not the paint-in to create a masterpiece. He also enjoyed the activity/craft area that the Children's Museum had going - he made a headband of sorts. Amazingly this year we talked him into getting his hand painted and then we also had Matthew's face painted which he didn't seem to mind at all. Treats were for sure in order, but oddly Joshua didn't want any kind of ice cream treat, instead he went for the cotton candy; I on the other hand feasted on a chocolate waffle sundae and shared it with Matthew who seemed to enjoy it too. Getting a watermelon painted on his hand.

Getting a shooting star painted on his cheek. (He did really well sitting still even though it looks like I've got him in a headlock - I was just holding his head as still as possible and that is no easy task with this child!)

The finished product!

Yummmmm, ice cream!

Hanging out enjoying our treats downtown.

Too much Festival . . .