Monday, August 28, 2006

Camping Trip '06

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

We just got back yesterday from our annual camping trip. We teamed up with Dan, Lynette and Colin, and the Wegienka crew (Craig, Kari, Evan, and Lauren) and headed out to P.J. Hoffmaster State Park just south of Muskegon. We had two great sites again with a nice long hike down to Lake Michigan. The campground was pretty busy with pre-Labor Day campers, but the sites were so large it was hard to tell.

We got lucky and avoided all of the rain that seemed to be in the surrounding area. We may have gotten a sprinkle, or it could have been bits of acorns falling from the trees. Regardless, we stayed dry. While the humidity was a bit high, the temperature was great, and the evening temperatures lended nicely to shorts by the campfire.

Evan and Colin are about the same age, and Lauren is only a month older than Jacob. As they get even older, I'm sure they'll have more and more fun on the camping trips (if they are permitted - might let the grandparents have a weekend with them next year).

Jake did great while sleeping in his pack-and-play in the tent Dan and Lynette were so kind to share with us. He actually slept through the night both nights! He had a bit of a whimpering fit on Saturday night, but never woke up. I booked it into the car and calmed him down, and he continued sleeping right on to morning. Besides the night time, he was really only interested in 10 or 15 minute naps the rest of the time. I guess there was a lot for him to see.

Speaking of seeing, you can see Dan and Lynette's photos from the trip here.

Kari and Craig also post to dotphoto, so once they get their photos uploaded, I'll be sure to post a link. With two kids it's understandable why they haven't had time to upload them yet!

Lastly, here's a link to the pictures my parents took while celebrating Miah's birthday.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Miah @ 78

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Happy Birthday Miah/Grandma/Great-Grandma! Michele, Jacob, and I headed up to Flint last night to surprise Grandma for her birthday (which is today). Meme brought Alison over, and Papa came over as well. We had a great time chatting, eating sundaes, and then playing a game that's possibly older than Miah herself... Moon/Space Probe. The game says Moon Probe directly on it, but the box is clearly labeled Space Probe. It's from a time before brand awareness was even important.

Mark and Kelly are planning to head over tonight with the same crew for the "official" celebration. There may be more photos to link to after that.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Jacob @ 5 Months

(Please click on the photo to see more 5 month pictures, or click here for a few non-event shots.)

Summer is flying by, and Jake is already 5 months old! We decided to try to take after the Pruss' Family and create some professional looking photos at home, but it didn't work out nearly as well. They look good, but they aren't this good.

In other news, Meme got home last week from a few day trip to New York with Linda Rumbel. Linda's son-in-law, Darren, was being honored as one of 30 top traders under 30. While there, they were even able to catch two Broadway shows, Hairspray and Wedding Singer, in one day.

Dan and Lynette found out last week that Colin's likely going to have a baby sister. They quickly received a ton of name suggestions ranging from Danielle to Matti to Coline, but they don't seem to have decided on one quite yet.

If you haven't been keeping up with The Ferrell's blog, Jake got a mention and a nod in their photo album. You can see the photos here.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Summer Vacation

(Please click on the photo to view more pictures.)

We just got back, last night, from a great week spent in Shelby, MI. You can find our album from the trip here. DLC also have an album started here.

Last Saturday, while Michele got together with girlfriends to throw Tiffany a bachelorette party, Jake and I spent the day together. We hung out around the house, did some shopping, went to Church, and then went with Meme and Papa over for a barbecue at the Philippart's. Then, after Michele went to Church on Sunday, we headed for Lake Michigan. We had a great trip there as Jake's need to eat coincided with ours, resulting in only one stop for food, gas, and a quick car wash.

We then spent the week pretty much down on the beach of Lake Michigan. A lot of Dan's family made the trip over on their own this year including his sisters and their families from Indiana and New Jersey. One day, Dan and I went with his Sister Bonnie, her husband Rich, and their kids Matt and Amanda to Michigan's Adventure. We rode one quick roller-coaster, then spent the rest of the day in the water park. Later in the week, we also went go-carting and played some putt-putt with the same group.

The trip wrapped up nicely Friday evening when we all went to a Fish Boil. Dan, Lynette, Pete, and Teri had all been to a boil in Wisconsin, but it was a first for everyone else. You can read all about the custom here. Also, you can see the "over boil" for yourself in the video below.

It was a fun week, but now it feels like I need another week to decompress. But, it's back to work on Monday for me, and back to a routine for Michele and Jake.

Fish Boil - Over Boil


Thursday, August 03, 2006

Date Night

Last night, Michele and I got to go see our first movie together in ages. Meme and Alison came down to watch Jacob while we went to Emagine in Canton to see The Illusionist. It was a very good movie. We received two free passes to the preview screening. I would recommend the movie as a definite rental. I'm not sure it needs to be seen on the big screen, but then, I'm partial to watching movies on DVD at home. If you want to see it in theaters, it's scheduled to begin on August 18.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

What the ???

It's official... we're moving to Alaska. I thought 103 was bad on Tuesday, but this is what my car read yesterday. It's too bad I had an extra 1000 miles on my car because otherwise the mileage would have truly reflected where I thought I we were.

OK, we're not really moving to Alaska (yet), but we did have a great night with Alex and Deanne, and got to meet their son Logan. In case you haven't checked out their blog, Logan was a preemie as well. It's funny how many of the same traits Logan has that Jake had just a few months ago. The one thing we realized is Jake is a much quieter sleeper now as Logan was making all kinds of noises as he slept peacefully.

In other news, Jacob has now learned to roll over. Here's a picture of him getting really close. If you click on from there, you'll see the few photos we took while visiting the Ferrell's.