Happy Father's Day

We were blessed with another beautiful summer day for Father's Day today. To let Jason know how much Hannah and I love him and appreciate him as a dad, we tried to make it a special day for him. After church, we packed up the cooler and boat and headed out to for some family boating. We checked out a new lake that Jason had discovered this winter - Wabasis Lake near Rockford. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to prove that we all went out, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Being out on the water and soaking up the sun caused us to work up an appetite. Our initial thought was to find a spot on the beach to enjoy our lunch, but everybody else had the same idea b/c the place was packed! Instead, we headed into Rockford and found a picnic table at a nice, quiet park next to the river where we enjoyed a fun, little picnic.


Hannah and Daddy enjoying lunch


After lunch, we ventured over the playground.


Flying high on the swing


Hannah's new favorite - the slide!


A fun little cave to explore


This little girl loves her daddy.

We are also very blessed to have 2 wonderful dads (and grandpas) in our lives. Both of our dads have been excellent role models for us through the years, loving us, spending time with us, teaching us the important things in life either while fishing on the river or shooting hoops in the driveway. They have also both loved our moms, showing us what it is to be a loving husband and by doing so has made them loving dads. Thank you for putting God and family first. Happy Father's Day.

4-wheeling

Uncle Todd and Aunt Courtney gave Hannah a really cool princess 4-wheeler for her birthday. Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties which kept the 4-wheeler in the garage until now. With a full charged battery, Hannah was finally ready to hit the trails on her pretty, pink ORV!


Daddy's little helper


We discovered that off-roading with plastic tires really doesn't work very well.


Hannah's got the ORV look, sporting the belly


Taking off down the sidewalk


Hannah soon discovered the reality of riding - look familiar Uncle Todd??

Planes and automobiles

This being Father's Day weekend, we treated Jason to a day of one of his favorite loves - the automobile and spent the day at the Gilmore Car Museum. It's a beautiful setting - several restored barns full of gorgeous antique cars on beautiful property out in the country. Only after we arrived, did we learn that the major storms that moved through the area the night before led to a power outage and some flooding at the museum. It actually worked out well b/c it really wasn't all that busy, and turned out that all of the barns except one were all open. We spent the whole afternoon wandering around, admiring the beauty of the cars and the grounds.


Fueling up at the vintage diner before exploring the grounds.


Such beauty


These cars all have such interesting stories behind them.


Even Hannah had to get a close-up.


If it had a motor, they have it - even this double decker bus!

They have a very impressive collection of extremely rare cars, including the Tucker (blue car above) and this $3 million Mercedes that survived WWII.

Turned out that Jason got 2 of his favorite hobbies for 1. They also had a model airplane flying field on the grounds. The yellow plane above is the same type of plane that he once had (maybe it was the same one??), so we had to watch for a bit.

Hannah really enjoyed watching the planes do their tricks.

Needless to say, we had a very quiet ride home from the back seat.

Day of fun

Last week, our babysitter's little boys were sick, so once again my parents graciously gave up their time up at their cottage to come down and babysit. As always, Hannah had a wonderful time getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. For a change of scenery, they took her to the Children's Museum downtown where they all had a ball!


Amazed by the giant bubble


From what I hear, this was one of Hannah's favorite activities. She ran through it at least 20 times! (On a side note, notice the one-sided pigtail. No, not a flashback to the 80's, but her reluctance to keep anything in her hair these days. And the cute, yellow top Hannah is wearing - her pajama top! It is cute and does match her skirt, and really, wouldn't we all rather just wear our pj's sometimes??)


Hannah and Hannah and Hannah...


Searching for the perfect piece


Waiting for Grandma to get up

Big "thank you" to Grandma and Grandpa for helping us out in a pinch. As always, Hannah had a great time (and we truly appreciate it!).

Day at the Beach

With all of this beautiful weather, I've been itching to get to the beach. This morning, we finally took advantage of the day and met our friends Conner and Morgan with their mom Juleen at Millenium Park. Even though we live so close (less than 5 minutes), we'd never been there before. I was quite impressed - a nice, big beach, fairly warm lake, a splash pad, park, and trails. We took some snacks and made it a lunch playdate.


Hannah testing out the sand


We ventured to the splash pad where Conner showed Hannah how to play in the water.


Morgan wasn't having it, even with Mama's and Hannah's encouragement.


2 beach beauties :-)


Miss Morgan - the little daredevil


Hannah excited to mooch another snack from the Haartman's!

Before going home, I changed Hannah out of her suit and wet diaper. She had sand in cracks I didn't even know she had! Judging from her giggling, though, it was all worth it to her. We will definitely be making more trips there this summer.

Splish Splash

We are so excited that warm weather has finally found us! For the first time, we inflated the pool that we gave Hannah for her birthday and tried it out in the backyard. I didn't think about it being on a hill as I was filling it up, so we ended up with a deep and shallow end, but Hannah didn't seem to mind. Even though she wasn't all that comfortable sitting in the water, she had a great time standing in the pool, filling her buckets and pouring them out over and over again.

Not only did Hannah enjoy the cool water on that hot day, but JJ did as well. Believe me, he was not in it for long, but I could tell he was yearning to jump back in. It may be a challenge this summer to keep Hannah in the pool and the dog out! Overall, though, it seems to be the perfect little oasis.

15 months old

I can hardly believe that Hannah turned 15 months old this week. She is a busy little girl these days. Here's what she's up to:

*She's starting to get into books. Her favorite seems to be Brown Bear. You know when she's reading it b/c you can hear her "growl", pretty much the same sound for every animal.

*She successfully completed her swimming class. She learned to go under and splash her hands, and pull herself up to the side of the pool. We also learned some fun songs that I'm sure we'll try out at the lake this summer.

*She has her own language. We've learned to identify some of her sounds that aren't quite words but she repeats them often for the same things - bah for cup (bottle, maybe??), ba for book, "sh sh" for shining her teeth (thanks to Grandpa Cramer), and of course her actual words - ball, JJ, and up.

*She can identify her head, hands, belly, feet.

*She loves to be outside! Whether it's pushing her new lawn mower, splashing in her pool, or going for a walk, she's all about the outdoors.

*She's learning to eat with a spoon and fork. If we load them up and hand them to her, she's very good at getting them in her mouth. Now she's working on actually scooping food up herself.

*She's been spending lots of time with Grandmas and Grandpas. She had special trips to both Frankenmuth and Owosso in the last month.

*She is a very good helper. She helps me put clothes in the laundry basket, close doors, and pick up toys throughout the house (of course, she's also good at doing just the opposite of those things, too!).

It amazes me how much she's been changing. Every day it seems we lose a little bit of baby and it gets replaced with a big girl.

Tending to the yard.



Lawn mower boot camp. Daddy is serious about a nice yard!



Hannah with her best friend JJ.




Our most common view of Hannah these days.

The big 3-0

Jason will be officially leaving his 20's behind this Tuesday. As this is a pretty major event, I thought he deserved a weekend full of fun surprises. To help me pull it all off, Jason's parents met me on Wed. night to babysit Hannah for the weekend.

Phase I of Operation 3-0 started off at Mill Creek Tavern on Friday night, where I arranged for us to meet up with our friends Sara and Brian and Eric and Jill for drinks and appetizers before heading to the ballpark to watch the Whitecaps. We try to make it to a game every summer, but last summer we just didn't make it. He was totally surprised and loved it!

Brian, Eric, and Jason engrossed in the game


The ladies

To top the evening off, Eric and Jill had us all back to their house where we enjoyed an amazing cake from Coldstone Creamery. Yum!

Phase II of Operation 3-0 involved boating - Jason's absolute favorite hobby. This past winter, Jason and I attended a home and garden show where we came across a photographer who takes pictures of wooden boats and then digitally enhances them to look like paintings - just beautiful. For the last couple of months, I have been secretly communicating back and forth with the photographer, and lined him up to take pictures of Jason's boat. The trick was getting Jason to Pentwater without totally giving the whole thing away. Saturday morning, I told Jason that as a gift to him, I thought we could take the boat up to Pentwater and cruise for the day. Just that alone would be a gift to him, as he knows it's not my favorite activity, and he's totally happy when I do come. The only hiccup was that it was raining! Let me tell you, I was praying for sunny skies and was watching the radar like a hawk! We decided to take our chances and head up. Miraculously, once we got to Muskegon, the clouds cleared and we had a gorgeous, sunny day. The Lord definitely answered my prayers!

When we finally arrived in Pentwater, and I convinced Jason to check out the shops downtown before putting in the boat. Unknowing to him, Photographer Pat was waiting for us on the street corner. Jason was initially a bit confused when I walked up to this stranger on the street, but he quickly remembered Pat from the show and put it all together. He was thrilled! It ended up being a perfect day to have the pictures taken and do some cruising.

Holding his baby for the perfect shot

After the photo shoot, we cruised around the lake. Pentwater Lake is connected to Lake Michigan via a small channel. Since it was nice and calm, we decided to take the Little Wooden Boat That Could for a cruise down the channel down near the Big Lake.

Yes, we made it all the way out to Lake Michigan!

However, we very quickly turned around after we hit a 3 foot wave and nearly capsized!!

And this is the boat that followed us back in! Talk about a small fish in a very big pond!

Yes, heading back to safer waters...

Enjoying the safety of calm waters

After boating, we strolled through town, checking out the marina and many cute shops.

Dreaming big

With all of that boating, we worked up an appetite. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant on the deck overlooking town and the lake.

Rather than hopping back on the expressway, we took the back way and drove down to Silver Lake.

I don't know if I'd call them my old stomping grounds, but I visited a few times back in the day. I just couldn't let us pass through without stopping at Whippy Dip for ice cream!

No, I didn't make Jason dot the "I" by putting his head through the "Do the Dip" sign. This will have to do.

It really was just a perfect day!

Phase III of Operation 3-0 ended the weekend by Jason's parents bringing Hannah back home. We missed her so much!! To add a little extra surprise, they also brought along his grandparents. We had another perfect day, this time to grill out. As we let our food settle, Jason opened his gifts. His grandparents gave him a particularly special gift - a glass pitcher that belonged to his great-grandfather.

Of course, what would a birthday party be without the cake and ice cream? Yes, I made a chocolate on chocolate cake (from scratch!) special for the birthday boy.

Sucking a little wind with all of those candles!

Miss Sweet Tooth wouldn't miss out on sharing ice cream with Daddy.

With all said and done, I think I can say that he truly enjoyed the weekend. Hopefully this is just the beginning of great things to come in the next decade!