U.P North!

Crossing the Macinaw Bridge has been on Kyle's bucket list for awhile now, so we finally decided it was time to cross that one off and do a little exploring in the U.P! We are fortunate that Brett is such a great traveler in the car, so our trip up was quite smooth and uneventful. We arrived late afternoon on Friday and our first stop was Macinaw City where there were great views of the bridge and a beach to explore!

"We're HERE!"

We gave Brett some freedom and let him just GO - he loved touching the grainy sand, watching the cars and trucks go over the bridge, and touching the cold water. It was so great to be free!

He thoroughly enjoyed running through these tall grasses and made this route quite a few times :-)

After having fun on the beach we decided it was time to actually DRIVE over the bridge and head to our hotel. We relaxed for a bit before dinner and Brett had the time of his life climbing on the big beds and running around the spacious hotel room. We had a little balcony to walk out on too, and this is what we looked out to. Beautiful!

After a fun dinner at a bar and grill we decided to hit the hay early so we would all be refreshed for a full day of fun on Saturday. And well, as we've learned since having Brett, things don't always go as planned. Brett was up all night with a bad cold, coughing and just not feeling good. And since he was up, so were we. When morning finally came, we pondered whether or not we should go home, but surprisingly Brett seemed to be in good spirits and feeling better, so we decided to go about our day and hope for the best. The day started out great...we drove about an hour and a half to Tahquamenon Falls and saw breathtaking views, ate a yummy lunch at the bar and grill, had a couple drinks, and through it all Brett was was such a champ. We could tell he was a little under the weather, but he was going with the flow and seemed to be having fun.

Here are some shots of the river and falls - nature at it's finest :-)

Brett fell asleep on the way back to our hotel, and when he woke up he clearly felt miserable. His cough had picked back up again and he needed a breathing treatment, but just our luck, we had left it at home. He was fussy and just not himself. We laid around in our hotel room for a bit hoping that he would perk back up but after an hour, when he still wasn't feeling good, we made the decision to head home that evening. We were bummed but had to take care of our baby boy. He was having a hard time at first on the way home because the DVD wasn't charged and he didn't feel good - so I pulled out a cherry stick for him to suck on, and THAT put a smile on his face :-)

We finally got home around 9:30, did a breathing treatment and put him to bed. He slept 13 hours straight and was a new boy the next day. It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do! From this trip we learned that you really just have to go with the flow when you have kids, and to ALWAYS bring his breathing machine with us!

Lots of pictures!

I used to have a journal for Brett that I wrote all of his milestones down in, but now that it is almost full I think I might continue in the blog instead. There is just something about a picture that really says it all :-)

My two boys gettin' the job done :-)

Play- doh has been a HUGE hit in our house lately. Almost every day Brett asks to play with play-doh and his creativeness never ceases to amaze me. Here he is making a "tow-truck train", and after that he made a lollipop and told me how good it was :-)

We had a bbq over labor day weekend and here are some pictures of the fun that was had!

"Mmmmm, Mmmm, GOOD!"

I swear the kids ate dinner first!

Kyle wanted to join in the fun with the kids :-)

One morning Brett and I had some fun sorting all different things in a muffin tin. Some of the things we sorted were coins, marbles, rocks, beads, seeds, and even some snacks like gold fish and cereal. As you can tell by the pictures, he had a blast!

Brett loves to paint!

One Saturday morning Kyle took Brett to ride a train in Clinton. Here he is sitting up in front, pushing buttons, with the conductor :-)

Last month we ventured to the Chelsea Fair. This year, instead of the animals, Brett was more into playing some games with daddy, eating ice cream, and watching the big kids go on the rides!

Summer Fun!!

Kyle has been slacking on the blog lately, so I thought it was time I caught everyone up! We have had such a fun summer and enjoyed so many activities as you'll see below - and really, each day is just such a blessing to experience new things through the eyes of an almost 3 year old - and I love every minute!

One Saturday morning we decided to go to the Trout Farm in Dexter so Brett could experience fishing for the very first time. He loved being able to help Papa hold the fishing pole and reel in the fish! We couldn't get him to touch the fish though - that part was a little too scary!

Kyle and Brett trying out the swing set at the Trout Farm

I love this shot of Brett and Papa holding the fishing rod together :-)

As you can see, Brett couldn't keep his eyes off the fish!

Papa, Yana, Brett, and Kyle going for the gold!

During lunch time one day I let Brett eat Mac n' Cheese in the Living room unsupervised. When I checked in on him, this is what I saw. Lesson learned!

Peek-a-boo!!

Here is a picture of Brett working hard on his little puppet he was making at the Chelsea Summer Festival. He LOVES doing art projects!

Uncle Matt came for a visit and brought Brett a matching Cookie Monster Google shirt. Look how happy and cute they are?!

Earlier this summer we decided to check out the Waterloo Nature Center. Brett got to see some critters (butterflies, a turtle, and a snake), and here he is making a fox footprint mold. That project was definitely a hit!

"Wow Mama! Look at all those BEES!"

Here Brett is pushing buttons on one of the displays and listening to the animal sounds. He thought it was pretty cool :-)

We have had such a great summer and now are ready for fall. I love the season changes in Michigan and the crisp fall air that follows hot summer days. Also, we have many fun activities to look forward to....play group 4 mornings a week, story time at the library, a 2 year old program that will meet on Fridays, and a trip up north just the 3 of us. Oh, and of course, cider mills, pumpkin patches, and Halloween too!