Nick is a small 10yo and Owen is a big 5yo. This is what it looks like when they stand next to each other. 😯 I had actually thought Owen was a bit closer in height than he turned out to be…but I’d hope Nick was taller since there’s five years age difference!
We left Grayling a day early so we could visit and stay the night at my cousin’s house—and so the kids could play more. And we had fun… We pulled in and they said “Want to go on a boat ride?” Sure!
The kids sword fighting while we loaded the boat.
Ready to go!
On the boat!
The cabin where the kids spent most of the time playing and watching movies!
In the driver’s seat!
Proof we were actually in the water! Yes, I’m a geek. 🙂
When we finally got to the swimming area, Owen didn’t want to go in because he was scared. It didn’t matter that Tom was in the water, the other kids were in the water, and he could see that it was plenty shallow enough.
So Tom took Katie in first! And she loved it, of course!
Grilling. Off the side of a boat. Who knew that was a thing? Of course we had Timmy’s delicious brats!
Katie was having a blast in the cabin bed—she could see out the window which was right where we were sitting!
We finally convinced Owen to go out and he clung to Tom like a second skin. The guys were pulling the boat to a new location (trying to get in shallower water).
Friends of theirs came and moored with us and they had brought their dogs so Katie wanted to go over to see them.
Owen getting more comfortable in the water…
And when he saw they had a football water toy? It was GAME ON.
And suddenly he was having a blast!
He told Tom he was floating just like a balloon!
On the way home…
It was really fun and really relaxing…and the time really flies when you’re out on a boat—we left about 1:30 and were pulling back in about 6:30! Tom and I were exhausted after all that fresh air! The cousins introduced Owen to a new video game…and Katie had to sit there, too!
Then Owen was building with Nick’s Legos, and I heard one of the girls say that Owen builds such cool things! 🙂
Then it was time for Frozen! All the kids were enjoying it!
After the group photo, he commandeered the tripod to use as a cannon…and then actually as a tripod and was pretending to take pictures.
Sitting by the fire!
Not a bad spur of the moment family picture!
Making s’mores!
Eating s’mores—or in Katie’s case, eating the chocolate bar off the graham cracker.
Since we had the time, Tom took the kids back to Kalkaska to the Kaliseum for another day of swimming with Uncle Rob and Grandma Marsha! (I stayed back and went to a Parade of Gardens and lunch with my mom!)
This is how she’d navigate the water when it was too deep for her.
Heading up for the waterslide! He hadn’t wanted to go on it the last time, but then was sad he didn’t do it…so he was excited to go back so he could try again.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, and he came back down within a minute (the time stamps on both photos are 1:06pm). Oh well.
I got some of mom’s pictures of the day, but not until after I’d already posted…so I’m just putting her pictures in their own post!
Gramma Jean wanted to try out her new fire pit…so we all headed outside. The kids loved running around and of course Owen had to get out his new water gun. 🙂
Uncle Rob was nice enough to go in and fill up the water gun…but surprised Owen by shooting him! It’s blurry but I love Owen’s body!
She stayed pretty far from the fire once daddy yelled at her for getting too close. 🙂
Watering Gramma’s flowers.
Smoke bombs! They certainly didn’t last as long as I remembered them to…
Katie liked the pooping dog—except for the popping and crackling at the end.
In addition to Katie’s first fireworks (MUCH earlier than Owen’s first fireworks!), she also got her first sparkler. She was okay with it…but not thrilled.
And then we all went out to the front yard looking for Petoskey stones in the landscaping.
We got Katie a doll stroller for her birthday…and this is what we found this morning. 🙂
We couldn’t stay as long as we’d planned last night after Dairy Queen, so we took the kids back today. Of course, Katie was THRILLED to be swinging: “Look Owee! I’m swinging!”
Owen was playing Frozen with two older girls until they left…then he looked bummed and I asked what was wrong. “I need the two girls to be my archers!” Here, he’s “just resting.” 🙂
It took some convincing, but we got him up there.
Then of course Katie wanted up as well.
Owen: Mama, I want to go to the new house.
A minute goes by.
Owen: Mama, I want to play with my toys.
A minute goes by.
Owen: Mama, I really want to go to school.
Owen had plumbers crack while building Legos. Tom went and tickled him. Owen jumped.
Owen: HEY!!! STOOOOP!
Tom: I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.
Owen: WELL HELP IT!
Me: Owen, what do you want for breakfast? A sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit?
Owen: Yes, and an oval chicken thing.
Me: Huh? Oh, that’s a hash brown. It’s potato, not chicken.
Owen: Yes!
Gramma Jean was putting Owen to bed and they were talking.
Owen: Tomorrow is going to be a big day.
GJ: What’s going on?
Owen: Don’t say the F word…
GJ wonders why he’s talking about the F word.
Owen: FIREWORKS!
Me: Owen, would you like gramma to do your hair?
Owen: No! I’m not a baby girl!
Going with Gramma to a neighbor/friends house.
Owen: I’m going to be bashful here.
And then proceeded to talk the whole time.
There was a beeping noise in the bedroom and Tom turned it off.
Owen: Thank you for solving the problem.
Owen was showing someone his new water gun.
Friend: That can hold a lot of water.
Owen: Yes!
Friend: You could really get your dad wet with that!
Owen: If he has his suit on!
Tom: Owen, do you want to wear your sunglasses?
Owen: Yes, I want to look fancy.
Meeting Papa and Grannie at DQ…
Katie had just gotten up from her nap and was cuddling with Grannie Lin while Gramma Jean curled her hair. She was very intrigued by the mirror—especially when she realized she could see Papa and Owen behind her if the mirror was put in a certain place.
Owen showing Papa ABCMouse on the iPad.
The boys in matching outfits courtesy of Grannie Lin. 🙂
Kicking the ball around.
Showing Papa his Lego Star Wars book. Owen saw me with the camera and immediately gave me a good smile. I love that he’s somewhat trained. 🙂
Then we had to have Papa look up for a good picture, too!
Grannie Lin showed up in the same basic outfit as Katie—so of course we had to get a picture!
It took awhile to get her to sit pretty so I could get a picture of her cute new bumblebee outfit from Gramma Jean.
Gramma was reading a Finding Nemo book and Katie kept saying “Nemo!” and “Just keep swimming!” You think we’ve watched that movie a few times?
Unfortunately, Gramma Jean was sick so she didn’t make it to the party—and we didn’t get a group picture—but Grandpa David, Grauntie Marge, Grandma Marsha, Uncle Rob, Grannie Lin, and Papa were all there! Even our dear friend Paul stopped by!
He bonked his nose diving in the shallow water.
Katie was having a blast splashing EVERYONE. We kept trying to redirect her to splash Owen but she kept coming back to us.
Tom turned the water on and she stuck her foot right in!
She has no fear—she jumped right into Tom’s arms!
She loved daddy pushing her around the pool!
Owen was not comfortable in the big pool and stuck to the steps and the side of the pool. He would NOT go out any farther, even though we showed him it wasn’t any deeper AND Grannie promised to hold him tight. Eventually, after maybe 30 minutes, he FINALLY let go…and of course had fun racing with daddy and Katie!
And then it was time for the party! Grannie Lin and Papa bought all the plates/decorations, the cake and cupcakes, and the pizza—and brought Burger King crowns for both kids!
Grandpa David would put a cheeze ball on Tom’s beer and Katie would eat it off. We did this a handful of times.
Papa and Grannie had bought this scooter for Owen for his birthday but then they weren’t able to come visit…so they brought it now, but he’s just a bit over the recommended weight limit so it went to Katie instead. You can see she liked being pushed on it. 🙂
But then we let Owen try it, just to see if he’d like it and would maybe want a bigger scooter for himself. He did like it, and Katie took to running in front of him saying “WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!” to clear his path. 🙂
Then it was back to the house where it wasn’t long before the kids were ready to crash. A good day!
Grauntie Marge got Owen a superhero cape and mask (that also come with a book) for our belated Len Christmas and he wanted to wear it this morning!
We took the kids to the Kalkaska Kaliseum for open swim. Owen was there last year (and I wasn’t) so this year we ALL went. 🙂 Grandma Marsha came to watch and Uncle Rob came with us in the afternoon (as did Papa and Grannie, who happened to be in Kalkaska meeting people for dinner).
Katie had no fear of the water and kept wanting to go into the 3′ deep section (which is, of course, over her head). She’d hang on to the edge or bounce up and down to keep her head above water. Or Tom would hold her and she’d do this. 🙂
Owen likes to float (he’s about two inches above the bottom here).
Back to Grandma Marsha’s for lunch…and a nap before the next open swim time.
Grannie and Papa were arriving and the kids were excited to see them!
The family decided to have Christmas in July this year and the Besons hosted. It was a GORGEOUS Michigan summer day on the river spent with our AMAZING family! Timmy supplied about 32 different types of brats (okay, maybe only about 12) and we stuffed ourselves silly on them plus all the other good food everyone brought. A good time was had by all and I think we may officially be moving our holiday celebration to the summer from now on!
Owen was a bit shy at first, so he and Katie were both in Nick’s room playing by themselves.
Katie loved the boat. LOVED. LOVED!! She would have sat out there all day if we let her and kept wanting to go back.
Finally Owen wanted to play!
Owen is six months younger than Aubrey. I know, right?
Cousins Katie 2, Owen 5, Aubrey 6, Gracie 8, Nick 10, Alex 12, and Jess 15. We never actually got Owen back-to-back with Nick, but I think they were within a fraction of an inch of each other (with a five-year age difference). And Katie seems to be pretty close to Aubrey, who is four years older. I guess we really DO grow them big. 🙂
Last year:
Lisa B. made these AWESOME ladybug cupcakes for Katie’s birthday.
And these for Greg’s birthday. (I missed a pic of the ones for Aubrey’s birthday, but they were Frozen-themed.)
We did pretty good keeping track of Katie all day (when there’s so many people around, there’s always someone half watching) and then we failed right at the end. People were running around cleaning up and putting things away…and before I know it, Tom is carrying Katie back from the front yard. Apparently Katie was wandering down the driveway and Greg caught her and brought her back. Phew.
And before we knew it, it was time to head out. Katie didn’t make it to the end of the road before she fell asleep, and Owen lasted about 15 minutes.
Papa and Grannie are staying at the Ramada so we took the kids over to play today!
And then it was time for the playset! She has NO fear—she climbed right up! She was a little wobbly and didn’t make it all the way to the top before daddy rushed in. 🙂
And someone was NOT tired and did NOT want to take a rest. We MADE him lay down…and this happened.
Trying to take a picture. 🙂
We bought the kids a $6 Slip & Slide and finally got it out today. The water from the hose here is COLD so it took a bit for Owen to actually get into it and get wet. And Gramma was peeling corn for dinner and Katie wanted some so she was wandering around eating raw corn on the cob and LOVING it. 🙂
Daddy cooked Owen’s fish and Owen even tried a bite! He was SO proud of his fish!!
We wanted to introduce Katie to the fish hatchery—and I wanted to see Owen enjoy it (since I didn’t go last year when Tom and Marsha took him)…so our big group came in and asked if we could all get in on the free family admission coupon my mom had…and the guy joked that we were a circus and I said YOU HAVE NO IDEA. 🙂 He let us all in for free, so we bought five bags of food and planned to take Owen fishing…
Katie was fascinated and REALLY wanted to go in the water—so someone had to keep a hand on her most of the time. Owen had fun, too, but couldn’t wait to go fishing!
Owen loved fishing—but who wouldn’t, when it only takes a matter of seconds to catch one! We let him catch five (you pay by the inch) and he had fun with each one!
Katie thought she wanted to see the fish…until she saw them and then that was it.
Owen thought he wanted to hold one…until Tom held one out. 🙂
The family—and Owen with his catch!
I was painting my toenails so decided to do Katie’s, too, while she was sitting with Gramma getting her hair in pig tails. She sat fairly still (except the very first toe I did, where she jerked as soon as I touched her). Afterwards, she was VERY enthralled with it. 🙂
