Fort Mackinac

Once occupied by the French, then the British, then the Americans, then the British and finally the Americans again, Fort Mackinac is now occupied by tourists armed with cameras, and the always helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, and brave Boy Scouts! (There is a scout camp on the island and the boys spend time volunteering at the fort.)

Despite what Gabe's face would lead you to believe in this picture, our boys really loved the fort, especially the cannons!

The cannon firing demo was a BLAST!

Porter not so happy about being put in a barrel.

Rifle demo. Another hit with the kiddos!

With these guys in the watch tower, I'd say this fort is in good hands!

Michigan Day #1

We drove to our hotel in Mackinaw City which is located right on Lake Huron. Our room had a balcony that opened onto the beach and the water was literally 50 feet from our door. We never actually opened the door due to the swarms of bugs flying around, but it was still neat to be right on the beach!

John and the kids outside our room.

The ferry dock was just a stones throw away.

The kids loved watching the ferries come and go.

Whoever thought to put a water park in a hotel was an absolute genius!

Tired kids sacked out in bed,

they need their rest for the big day ahead!

Welcome to Christmas!

Christmas, Michigan that is. We just got home from vacationing in Michigan this past week, so beware, there'll be many vacation related posts coming.

While in Christmas we saw Santa Claus at the North Pole.

and Mrs. Claus . . .

without a head . . .

at the party and liquor store . . .

Welcome to Christmas everyone!

O Captain! My Captain!

John pinned on captain today!Congratulations John!

Last Day of School

Look who finished preschool!
Now bring on the summer fun!

Groundhogs, Beaver, and Monsters

Cute mama and baby groundhogs that live in our backyard.

I know we live in Beavercreek, but these are groundhogs - just like Punxsutawney Phil - it is NOT a beaver. You would be amazed at how many people make this mistake. It drives me crazy. This is a beaver.

And FYI did you know the plural of beaver can either be beaver or beavers. Both are correct.

Anyway, here's Porter chasing after the groundhogs.

"Where'd they go?"

I think they went down there!

Don't worry, I'll get them!

Another common case of mistaken identities:

The bubble monster and the swamp monster!

Armed Forces Kids Run

On your mark . . . get set . . .

go!

This was Gabe's first BIG race.

He ran 1 mile all by himself.

Crossing the finish line!

Here's me and Porter thinking about crossing the finish line. We did the 1/2 mile race, although with all the zig-zagging we did chasing after rocks, squirrels, and flowers it was probably closer to a mile long.

Mr. Independent crosses the finish line!

Way to go kids!

Ready for Summer!

After all the rain we've had this spring, we're ready for some sunshine and summertime! We had two hot, humid, & best of all SUNNY days last week. We wasted no time breaking out the swim trunks and turning on the hose! I seriously think I have the best job in the whole world on days like this!

Porter

Here's a little bit about our sweet boy at age TWO:

• We think he has some type of monkey super powers. This boy can and will climb anything!
• He's been a happy, easy going kid ever since he was born and continues to be so.
• He's a big time cuddler and a mama's boy!
• He's curious and asks "why" about everything.
• He loves water, cars, trains, playing outside and going to the park.
• He's working hard at mastering the potty. Right now he's doing super awesome being accident free during the day, we just have to work on those long nights.

This sweet little boy can also be a little monster.

In just the past few days he has:

• Dumped red Crystal Light powder all over the kitchen.
• Colored on our leather couches with blue and yellow chalk. Hey, now the couches match the walls. At least the chalk washes off easily, unlike the marker and crayon drawings on the walls.
• He turned on the blender while I was in the shower. The noise of the blender startled him, so naturally he starting screaming. The combo of these two noises coming from the kitchen resulted in me running butt naked through the house with all the blinds open. Bet the neighbors just loved that!
• He got a pack of gum out of my purse and ate a piece. No biggie, except later I found the gum all over his car seat, clothes, and hands. And even later when I went to eat a piece of gum all I had to chose from were several pieces of already been chewed gum that had been put back in the package.
• A few weeks ago, he put matchbox cars down the garbage disposal and gave my cell phone a bath. There were no survivors.
• I've caught him up to his elbows in toilet water shoving an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet hole.
• Yesterday, I caught him literally chasing one of those furry "jumping" spiders around the kitchen trying to "pet" it.
• And then there is bedtime. Do you think the little boy with monkey powers stays in his crib? Nope. We put him in bed at least ten times every night. We lock the bedroom door so he can't get out and eventually he'll fall asleep on the floor. However, we don't like to do this, because when we've gone in to check on him we've found him jumping on top of Gabe while Gabe is sound asleep. I think we need some type of bedtime restraining device . . . duct tape. . . monkey cage. . . etc.

Whether he's being sweet or a little monster we sure LOVE our Porter bug! Life just wouldn't be the same without him!

Dear Jan,

Just a quick note to say,

Thanks for spending Mother's Day with us!

We love you!

Love,

Gabe, Porter, Rach and yes, even John!