It took awhile to get her to sit pretty so I could get a picture of her cute new bumblebee outfit from Gramma Jean.
Category Archives: Vacation
Hair, Story, Pouting, and Sewing
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?
Katie’s pool and pizza birthday party.
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!
Superhero Owen
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!
A Wet Day in Kalkaska
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!
Len Christmas in July
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.
Pool and playset time at the hotel!l!
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.
iPad fun and trying to take a picture!
Trying to take a picture. 🙂
Wrapped in B
Slip & Slide & Corn & Fish
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!!
Fish hatchery and fishing!
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!
Katie’s first painted toes!
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. 🙂
Katie went bump in the night.
So the kids were in bed, David was in the bedroom, and mom, Tom, and I were just sitting in the living room visiting and whatnot…when we heard a loud CRASH BOOM BANG. Mom thought David had fallen—but then we heard crying. Oh no! Katie had fallen out of bed!! (She did just fine the first night and during her nap, but she obviously was more of a wiggle worm tonight. We hadn’t taken any precautions because, well, we forgot, and because she HAD already done just fine.)
Tom sprinted down the hall and came out carrying a whimpering Katie. He said he found her laying on the floor with her legs against the closet. We figured she must have gone over the edge head first, flipping over so her legs hit the closet (which would account for the thuds and bangs we heard). Poor Katie. While Tom was comforting her, I was putting rolled up blankets in her bed (under the sheets) as bumpers and then he stayed in there with her for a good half hour. Other than being scared, she was no worse for the wear…thankfully.
Owen’s first fireworks!
We have been wanting to try some low-key fireworks with Owen for awhile now and just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve had sparklers for a year now—planning on using them on July 4th or after a party or something—but again, we just never got around to it. Until now.
We went to the local fireworks outlet and asked for the kiddie section and they were having a B1G1 free sale so we ended up with a bunch of little stuff.
And Owen LOVED it. LOVED IT. And everyone loved watching him! We only used half of the stuff tonight so we have one more night’s worth coming up. (And when I say a night’s worth, I mean about 10-15 minutes max, which includes sparkler time.) We made sure Katie was in bed so we could concentrate fully on Owen and not have to worry about Katie… She’ll be out for the second night.
The lady said the ones we got would go “telephone pole height” at most. She was right. 🙂
And I found my pooping dog! I had seen it on Facebook and loved it—and thought the kids would, too. I was thrilled they had it at the store! (And yes, Owen LOVED it.)
Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie—Part 2
We had planned to have Katie’s birthday party at the hotel like we did last year, but as it turned out, we could have had the party today since everyone was at the house! We will still have the pizza/pool party, but Gramma Jean still made a cake to celebrate her actual birthday!
This is the look we got after I stopped her from picking a chocolate chip off the cake before we all sat down.
Stripped down because she was covered in chocolate!
Fun in Gramma’s Back Yard
Potty break when dripping wet = going in the woods!
Excited to see Papa!
When we hit home from the movie, Papa and Grannie were waiting. Papa met us outside and Owen was super excited!
We helped save the Rialto!
We donated to the Restore the Rialto Kickstarter campaign and used our two free tickets today to take Owen to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.
The first thing Owen said when he sat down is “Where do I set my drink?” Spoiled kid, used to newfangled seats with attached cup holders. 🙂
Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie!
And a TBT birthday along with today’s version, both taken in Gramma Jean’s back yard!
An awesome Lego case!
Gramma Jean found this for Owen when they were in Florida earlier this year… HE LOVES IT! He filled it immediately with the few Legos that he brought.
Happy Kids
Sitting with Gramma!
I ♥ MI cookies
A good friend of my mom’s brought over treats for the kids. Cookies are always a big hit. 🙂
Burning off some energy
We let the kids run wild after being cooped up all day…and gramma gave the kids their own bats and balls.
Car crazies
The kids did REALLY well on the loooong road trip today…until about hour 10 when they started to get restless. This was on the very last home stretch, a few miles out of town when they were a little slaphappy.
Dorothy, we’re not in DC anymore…
Uninstructed blue skies, lush greenery, and open roads…
Owen LOVES his new jammies
He got them last night and wanted to wear them on the road trip today!
The After Pictures
Upon opening the front door after being gone for a week and seeing this…
I actually love my house…for a little while! The floors are absolutely gorgeous and all the newly-painted rooms look amazing! The minor downsides are that everything echoes terribly and everything needs wiping down (there’s a layer of dust on everything). And we still have to move furniture back in…but not all of it because it has to be staged.
But it feels good to have it finally done!
And we let the kids burn off some energy:
The long wet road home.
Unfortunately the day got started a little earlier than planned since Katie was a hot mess and woke us up screaming for no good reason. (She had actually done it quite consistently throughout the week, but it never lasted more than 20-30 seconds—even though it happened about 3-4 times a night. But today it never stopped.) So we were ALL up and moving by 4:30 and packed and leaving by 5:45. Katie didn’t stop crying for about 30 minutes, but then when she did…she napped for over three hours! YAY! And Owen finally dozed off about 10am so we had a good hour of pure silence. 🙂
And it was a dreary, rainy day…ALL the way home. And we hit a traffic jam right after lunch—a semi had gone off the road. So our already 13-hour road trip got another hour added to it. 🙁
But, amazingly, both kids were REALLY VERY good. Katie had a few minor tantrums but milk and snacks took care of them. And the iPad got brought out a bit earlier in the trip than on the way down. She’s so cute, too—she will watch the whole movie (including credits) quietly, but AS SOON AS the movie stops, you hear “Mama!” 🙂
Owen dozed for another little bit about 7:30 but Katie never napped again. We rolled in at 8:30 on the dot…
Owenisms 40
Tom: Owen, do you want McDonalds for lunch?
Owen: YES! M is my favorite letter!
Tom: Owen, do you want some ice cream?
Owen: Yeah, baby!
Telling gramma stories while watching himself in the wall of mirrors (that was his most favorite thing to do all week):
Katie was climbing on Owen to get to the iPad.
Katie! Get off me! Go to grandma!
After running on the beach with daddy:
When I run too much my bones get tired.
On the way home wanting his head phones.
Where are my ear muffins?