Just a Flingin’

What a great (and busy) week we’ve had.  Mom just hosted another fantastic Flanagan Fling (despite the weather).  We headed over in the afternoon on Friday to harvest some of the garden and to help set up but Mom and Mike already had most everything taken care of.  Grant had all his water-toys at the County Park for the weekend and was staying in a cabin so we went over to see him for a bit.  We were all set to head back when we realized that the kill switch thingy had come off of Tom’s life jacket on his way back to shore so we tried to find it in the water (in the middle of a lightning storm!)  We didn’t find it but Grant headed back out after the water laid down flat and was able to see it so that was good!

[As I write this, I’m longing for the days (a few weeks ago) when Sophie was a better sleeper.  Lately she has a harder time falling asleep and will wake up during the night or early in the morning just looking for her binky.  She never used to rely on it so much – she’d just chew on her hand and “talk”, but now she is outright crying.  I’m hoping it’s a phase and she’ll go back to being a good sleeper soon!]

We started Saturday off by heading up to Megan’s shower.  The worst part about this weekend being so busy was that I didn’t really have time to hang out with Megan and catch up on things.  It was rainy when I headed over to the farm, but there was no time to waste in setting up the Flanagan Fling Olympics.  Though there was some overlap, we had kid and adult events to participate in.  I think most had a good time with the games – I know that I like to have a bunch of different games to play.  It was good to hang out and see everyone again; we really should make a point to get together more often.

Tom and I went out to the Pavilion and Muggshots on Saturday night (Pam and Steve were staying here so they kept an eye on Sophie).  It was a typical Car Show Saturday night.  It was great to see everyone that we did since we don’t usually get out much and there were more people out than usual.  Muggshots was crazy-busy; I kept wondering what the fire code was on the place because it was absolutely packed!

On Sunday we headed up to the car show for a bit to walk around.  There didn’t seem to be as many cars as last year but the weather could have had something to do with it.  We had some vicious storms off and on all weekend and some steady rain.  The rain was definitely needed – we just would have preferred it waiting a couple of days!  Next on the agenda was Andrea’s bridal shower.  The rain showed her no mercy as well and her outdoor shower was held for the most part inside.  I won the “Pin the Mustache on the Mexican” game, so that was nice.  :-)

Sophie did well all weekend – she’s in heaven when there is all that action going on (but getting her to take a nap in the middle of it all is another story).  She must have spend hours in the jumper at Mom’s.  Our other standard was to put her in the stroller outside.  It was so nice to have Kelly’s kids around because they are all so good with Sophie (thanks I’m sure to the recent practice with Kaelin and now Miguel) that it keeps her thoroughly entertained.  Sophie also got a chance to play with the neighbors’ grandson this weekend (he’s 15 months old).  She absolutely loves to hang out with other little kids so I know we’ll be looking forward to little Alex coming up in the future.

It’s crazy how much Sophie seems to grow (not always in size, but just developmentally too) every day.  She’s doing a great job eating Cheerios and other more “solid” foods now that she’s figured out how to close her lips to keep the food from coming out.  And now that she’s figured out how to close her lips she’s been chewing on her bottom one for the last couple of days.  She’s also a pro at sitting up now, only falling backwards every now and then.  I can’t wait to see what she can do next!!

I forgot…

I forgot to mention that Sophie is finally rolling from her belly to back again.  Mom was right, I find her in all kinds of places in her crib.  This morning she was sideways at the foot of the bed.  Crazy kid.

Time Flies When It’s Summer!

OK, so it may not seem like we’ve been doing much but I feel like things have been crazy busy!

Sophie keeps getting bigger and bigger (how dare her!).  I might not have even posted since her appointment so I think I’ll start there.  Turns out she’s a beast.  No really, she’s a giant beast.  She weighed in at 17.1 lbs and 27.5” which is 95% in height and 75% in weight.  So she’s tall…that’s obvious.  And she’s heavy for her age but light for her height.  But it just boils down to the fact that with her hands, she’ll be dunking in no time!  [Enjoy the 6 month picture with bear.]

Grant and Bobbie were down here for a little bit last week – we went golfing on Thursday and I golfed my best nine ever:  a 49 on the front of the Breeze.  That includes a birdie on the par 4 9th.  We don’t really need to talk about the back 9, the front 9 is what’s important!  This followed a great night of softball that included a double, triple, and I got to pitch a couple of innings.  It’s probably a given that the day culminated in some rousing rounds of Bid 500.  While we played games Sophie spend some time in the doorway jumper figuring out how to get Zeke’s attention.  She would squeal and he would run at her and she would laugh and laugh.  He’d walk away, she’d squeal again, and he would run.  Round and round they go!  Good fun.  [She’s a nonstop drool monster!]

On Sunday we went canoeing with Tom and the Kids, Mike & Erin, and the Corey Clan.  We did tip once…we don’t need to get into the finger pointing match but I’ll just say that Tom was in the back :-)  But we did have fun, it was a good trip and best of all, it was free!

The fun doesn’t stop there though!  Brian brought the kids up to AuGres to meet Kelly (who came up Thursday night) and they’ve been hanging out by the beach for the week.  I took Sophie over there on Monday and Tuesday – she definitely loves the outdoors!  On Tuesday I took her in her suit so she could sit in the little pool.  She splashed and splashed and splashed!  She’s getting really good at sitting up on her own (she falls over a lot less).  The Kohtzes came up for a visit on Tuesday night too so it was great to be able to visit with them.  [Sophie still loves her bath time!]

Kelly and Brian had us over for a cookout yesterday.  The weather wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.  Sophie has so much fun around the kids.  When she was in her jumper she would squeal every time Kaelin walked by.  And Sam, oh she adores Sam!  She is just enthralled whenever he talks.  Kourtney and Emilee are great with her too – you can tell that they are used to being big sisters.  I can’t wait to see Kelly’s pictures, there’s bound to be some cute ones of Sophie and Kaelin sitting on the couch watching the Wiggles (and Kaelin trying to get Sophie to “smell” her feet). 

Today was busy again.  Tom and I went to the city to celebrate our 4th anniversary.  It was a typical date-day:  saw Transformers and went to dinner at Outback.  We tried to go to Old City Hall but it didn’t open for dinner until 5pm.  Movie was good – definitely a good one to see in the theater.  It was good to get out just the two of us and do something too.  We’ve been trying to keep doing things here and there – it’s nice to relax and it gives us a chance to just worry about us, not the little attention-monster.

How, you may ask, are all of the Sophie-less activities possible?  Well, because she has fab-tabulous Grandmas who love to see her and let me/us do some stuff without her.  Don’t get me wrong, we love the little turkey (especially lately – she’s more and more fun every day) but it is nice to be able to get stuff done or just spend some time without her.  Plus, it’s nice for her to spend time with her Grandmas, I know I have great memories of being with mine!

Flanagan Fling, two bridal showers and bachelorette parties, Grant’s little shindig, car show, and probably more this weekend and next weekend is Pirate Fest.  Oh my, where has the summer gone?!

Walkin’ and Talkin’

Sophie’s back to her “walking”.  She did this up until a few months ago and then stopped (I think it’s one of those newborn reflex thingies).  Anyway, now when you hold her hands she is starting to take steps forward.  Right foot, left catches up.  Right foot, left catches up.

Oh and the talking that she does!  She has been very vocal lately, especially if she’s chewing on something.  Speaking of chewing, her new thing is to bite the spoon after she takes her bite off of it.

She’s been a good kid lately (minus the 5 am wake-ups) so having those teeth through must be making a difference in her mood.

We went to Charlie’s birthday party on Saturday – I can’t wait another year or two when the kids can start playing together.  We got a picture of them all together:  Keegan, Charlie, Brennan, Emma, and Sophie.  If they’re all still friends in 18 years it will make a great before and after graduation photo!

The garden is coming along quite nicely.  We are getting a yellow bug though and I’m a little worried about that.

Today is Sophie’s 6 month birthday and tomorrow she has a doctor’s appointment – complete with shots :-(

I’m working on getting pics updated to ofoto and changing my blogger layout so no pics this post and be patient with the layout of the blog.

U.P., U.P., and Away!

Well, we’re on our way home from our trip to the U.P.  No internet though so I’ll post this next time I’ll connect.  Yes Brandon, LiveWriter is better than using the web-based editor that Blogger provides.  So what have we done the last couple of days?  A lot!!  Maybe not as much relaxing as Tom would have liked, but it won’t get much slower for a few days.

So, let’s backtrack and see what we’ve done:

Monday
Grant and Bobbie came up to Munising to meet us for the Picture Rocks Boat Tour.  Before we headed out we went out to see a waterfall (Munising Falls??)  That was only a short walk in from the parking lo and it was neat because the water had eroded a little shell or bowl behind the falls.  Next stop: the boat tour.  Oh, did I mention the temperature?  A scalding 57 degrees.  When we came back 3 hours later, it was still 57 degrees (or 56, I don’t remember now).  [on a side note, I might kill Tom because he won’t stop singing “Exercise those chompers, chew chew chew” while I’m trying to type this.  now he’s pouting because I asked him to be quiet]  So anyway, normally you want to get to the docks early so that you can sit on the top of the boat for the tour but today you wanted to be there early so you could sit inside and out of the wind.  They made an announcement that the waves were 1-3’ so once we got out of Munising Bay it might be a bit choppy so people prone to motion sickness should get off.  At first no one moved…..and then 1 guy got off.  That started a cascade of people flowing toward the exits; probably 1/3 or so of the boat got off and went for a refund.  It took a while to take off because there were the indecisive ones who waited and waited and then trickled out (including one when we’d just pushed away from the dock).  OK, so we’re finally on our way (the waves weren’t that bad, especially (as Tom pointed out) if you’re used to being on a smaller boat in bigger waves).  Sophie was OK for the first part of the trip and then a real big stinker for most of the trip.  We pretty much had to take turns holding her for the whole ride.  I finally went outside when we were on the way back in and wrapper her up in a big blanket and she fell asleep out there.  The boat ride was pretty cool – I do wish we could have heard the tour guide better (they didn’t have speakers where we were sitting) because like Grant said, that’s the main reason for taking the tour.  It was neat to see and the boat pulled right up close to a couple of the formations (and right into one of the coves).  All and all, it was a worthwhile tour but I wouldn’t mind doing it again in 5-6 years on a nicer day when Sophie might be easier to handle.  After the boat ride we headed down to Escanaba and dropped our stuff off at Chez Fox and headed out to dinner with a couple of Grant’s friends from barbershop.  Then it was back to the house to start the bedtime routine and get ready for the next day!

Tuesday

More stuff to do today!  Went to Fayette, an old foundry town where they made pig iron for 25-50 years.  It has a really protected harbor and there were a lot of boaters who had stopped by for the day or so.  Maybe some day we’ll have a big enough boat to take tours like that.  Wildlife alert:  we saw a big yellowish-brown snake (probably 4-5 foot by the old hotel at the town…turns out it was a Fox snake.  Nope, not making it up, that’s what it’s called.)  The buildings were in good shape there and they’ve done some work restoring and rebuilding different parts of the town.  The exhibits in the houses were neat too – one chronicled the work by EMU students to study the history of the house (and how they found morphine in the walls that were lowered down by ribbons).  I really like going to old towns like that and just picturing the people going to and fro and kids running around or on their way to school.  You know, now that I think of it, there wasn’t a church in the town (unless it has crumbled) and that’s an odd omission for those kind of historic towns.  Maybe it wasn’t around long enough.  After some ice cream we headed down the road to Kitch-iti-kipi (Big Spring).  This was an unexpected find – I wouldn’t have planned on it if Mendy had mentioned it when we were telling them of our planned stops.  Just past Indian Lake there’s a water hole (no bigger than a pond really) that stays a constant 45 degrees and is crystal clear with some really large trout.  The color can best be described as that chemical blue/turquoise that you see when people dye/chemically treat their ponds.  The have a large raft that is attached to a rope and you pile on there and someone propels it across with a large wheel and then back again.  It’s nice on the raft because it has an opening in the middle and the roof blocks out the reflection that you normally get when you try to look in the water.  The main feature (in addition to the clarity of the water) is the spring at the bottom of the Spring which “erupts” ground water out of the sand.  It is reminiscent of the hot springs in Yellowstone (even kind of sulphury smelling) but for a completely different reason.  After this stop we headed back to the apartment in Escanaba where I proceeded to whip Tom’s butt at pool and we played some Bid 500 with Grant and Bobbie.  Late night to bed but we’ve got one more day until we head home.

Wednesday
Last day in Escanaba.  Played some more pool with Tom (and won…again…) and a little Bid 500 during the day.  Sophie was not a happy camper today.  Her second tooth must have been making a run for the surface and it was not doing wonders for her disposition.  Bobbie volunteered to stay back with her so that Tom and I could see the town and head out to the Escanaba Country Club to see the course that Grant has been slaying.  All in all, we didn’t golf that great.  Tom really turned it around at the end but I was as inconsistent as ever, especially with my putting.  I don’t know what my deal is with that.  It was a nice course but the “trees are 90% air” theory doesn’t seem to hold up in the UP, it’s more like 60% or less because it seems like we all had our share of tree hits.  After getting back we had another nice dinner, played a little more pool (may be the best use of a dining room ever), a little more Bid 500 (Tom and I won the vacation series 8-7), and then off to bed for our 4:30 wake up.

Thursday
Sophie’s being good so far today.  Her tooth broke through the surface and is now trying to catch up to its neighbor.  Hopefully now that they’re both through she’ll feel better.  Poor kid.  She slept until the bridge or so, which is what we'd hoped for.  After hanging out at Burger King for an hour or so we hit the road again and she’s back to sleep so the hope is that she’ll nap until home.  She could use the extra sleep because she didn’t sleep as well at night (or naps even) while we were on the trip.  We were able to time most of our stops around her schedule so that she would nap in the car in between wherever we were going. 

It’s crazy to think how much she’s grown already (I swear her legs grew an inch or two in the last couple of days).  She’s a big fan of grabbing for things.  An addition to my “Babies are like…” post I’d like to add that kids are like puppies (not sure if I mentioned that) because they both have chew toys and we put them in “cages” to go to sleep.  Oh, and sharks, they’re like sharks too.  Watch the Discovery channel and they’ll tell you that sharks don’t really mean to kill people, they just take a “test bite” (not the term they use but I’m drawing a blank now) to see if that surfer is food or not.  Well, Sophie puts most everything in her mouth…but just for a “taste” and then she usually leaves it out after that.  She has been reaching for her mat toys when she’s on her belly (which helped her roll from belly to back yesterday) and she’s still kicking non-stop on the ground trying to crawl somewhere.  I have a feeling that she is going to be a tough one to contain once she starts moving.

Once we get back today we’re going to mow, unpack, clean and that kind of general stuff.  Then I think we’re going to go see the garden and Grandma Vikki and pick up the Zeker-dog.  Then we’ll swing by to see Grandma Ingrid and then back home to start getting things ready for Friday-Saturday.  Tomorrow we’re heading down to the Tigers’ game with Jamie and Keri and staying over at their place.  Saturday we head back and go to Charlie’s birthday party.  But Sunday, that day should be a piece of cake!

Holiday…Vacation…Oh My!!

What a busy couple of days!  We went out to the County Park yesterday to celebrate the 4th of July with Mom, Mike, Kevin, Kenny, Sandy, Dennis, and Jeff.  Mom rented one of the little cabins they have there and let me tell you, that’s the way to do it (especially with the little one).  I can’t imagine what a hassle things would have been if we didn’t have that inside place to set up her and her myriad of belongings.  Fabulous time!  We were able to stop by Ingrid and Paul’s for a quick bite at their BBQ celebrating Nicole’s graduation (congrats!) before we had to head back.  It may be summer cookout season but there was mac and cheese so I was a happy camper!

How did Sophie celebrate the holiday?  By cutting a tooth!!!  Yep, as of today, it’s a sharp little bugger sticking through (her bottom left, but I don’t think that the right is too far behind).  We tried to head down to Shmina’s yesterday but she was too uncomfortable so we walked back to the park pretty quickly to get her some Orajel and lay her down.

We started our U.P. vacation today (bright and early).  We left around 4:30 and the timing worked out pretty well all day.  She mostly slept until the bridge and then we fed her and let her play and hang out for an hour or so and then she napped to Tahquamenon Falls.  The Falls were really neat to see, even more impressive than some of the ones we saw on our Road Trip a couple of years ago.  The water is colored an orangish color but it’s not rust, it’s tannic acid leaching from the cedars and other plants.  The Lower Falls are actually a series of 5 different falls which is cool because you can stop at a lot of different places and catch a lot of different views.  The one deck had a nice spray coming off of it.  Why was the spray so nice?  Because it kept the blood-sucking mosquitoes off of us!!!  Man, those things were thick!  We then went up to the Upper Falls (had lunch at the brewery, I hadn’t realized just how big the wolves were until I’ve seen all the stuffed ones around) and walked out there.  These ones were pretty massive (50’ drop, 200’ across).  The roar is pretty awesome when you’re standing by them.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to spend much time at the falls because our little teether was a bit cranky out there.  She was pretty good most of the day so we won’t hold it against her :-)

After Tahquamenon, we headed out to Munising and that’s where we’re at now.  We landed at the Holiday Inn, it was a bit more, but it has a balcony overlooking the lake and we’re on the 3rd floor so I think it’s worth it (especially since we’re staying here since Sophie’s had such a busy day).  She’s been good here, playing with her toys, working on scooching forward, and we went swimming down in the pool.  It was pretty fun for her at the beginning and I took her duck for her to chase, which she did.  But it got cold in the water and she got hungry so we headed back up to the room, ordered a pizza, fed her and now she’s sleeping (a bit early, but I think we’ll be OK).

So that’s been our day!  I think I’m going to head back down to the hot tub for a bit and then try to stay awake until night to see the stars.  Tomorrow we’re heading out on a boat tour of Pictured Rocks so hopefully Sophie’s up for that.  I’d also like to see some of waterfalls in the area (there’s a bunch).  After all of that, we’re heading to Escanaba to stay with Grant and Bobbie for a couple of days.  Stay tuned!

Is it October already?

Yes, if you go by the weather.  Things are supposed to be turning around this weekend though, so that’s good.  I mean, I really do like these temperatures and all, it’s just a little disorientating for my internal clock/calendar.

Garden is doing fabulous.  I still have to get some pictures in here of it.  Give me time (I know, 2 months isn’t enough time?)

Busy times coming up!  Heading out to the beach tomorrow for some cooking and hanging and all that stuff.  Should be fun; plus Mom got a cabin so we’ll be able to get out of the sun with Sophie for a bit.  Then Sunday morning, bright (well, dark) and early (4:30) we’ll be heading for the UP.  I’m really looking forward to it because we haven’t traveled since last March which is a pretty long stretch for us to go!

A couple of things I wanted to mention:
1. Spray and Wash is fabulous.  I mean, it’s not a miracle worker, but darn near close.  I give a good squirt to many of Sophie’s clothes as I’m throwing them in the wash (she’s a spit-monster…) and let them sit 5-10 minutes before turning on the machine.  Most things come out, so that’s nice!
2. Speaking of spit, we are using Similac Advanced and it doesn’t seem to stain.  When we were first out of the hospital we were using some pre-mixed Enfamil and it would stain her bibs and clothes (not only is she a spit-monster, but she used to be a very messy drinker).
3. Went to the Carters Outlet today in West Branch.  Fabulous news:  you can take back anything you buy there at anytime.  No 30- or 90-day limits.  Since they were having a great sale today, I bought a few things that I may or may not use (5 pack of onesies from $25 down to $6…can’t beat that!)  I’m just keeping Carters receipts separate and writing the date on the hanger (Mom’s idea) so that it’s easier to match the clothes with the correct receipt.  I’ll leave the stuff hanging on one side of the closet until I need to use it and if I don’t end up using it I’ll just take it back.  Now ain’t that grand!?

Enjoy your holiday!  I always have a moment of remembrance during fireworks to remember the battles that were fought to gain and protect our independence – I hope you take the time to do the same.