Jumping Dylan

Dylan is 8 months now. He is a funny little guy. He actually doesn't care to do a whole lot, sitting up, reaching for toys, and maybe rolling around if he feels up to it, is about his extent. He is very observant. So, I have been trying to motivate him to do more, setting toys out of his reach, things like that, trying to get him to move around some more, like crawling. Unfortunatly he doesn't care. He will sit there for 15 plus minutes just looking around, without a budge to do anything else. Well, the other day I busted out the Johny Jumper, and he loves it. Tyler, absolutely hated it, so I didn't have very high hopes, but he really liked it. He jumps and laughs and loves being in it. My little boy that doesn't care if he does anything actually likes doing something. So it is probably silly that I am so excited that he is finally doing more than just sitting around, but Tyler was a very active baby. He stood up at eight months, walked at ten months and ran at twelve months, so this for Dylan is very exciting. Anyway, he is the cutest baby ever and I am glad we have finally found something active for him to do that he likes. Did I mention he is the cutest baby.

The last of our trip

Sorry it has taken me forever to post the last part of our trip. After this I will finally be moving on to other things in our life.

Our last few days in Michigan we went north. Mackinaw City, Mackinaw Island and the Upper Peninsula. The ride up along the coast was beautiful, we even stopped and got fresh picked cherries from a road side stand were they pointed out the exact tree that my cherries came from.

We road the boat over to Mackinaw Island. For those of you who don't know this island, let me explain a little.

No cars are allowed on the island. It is all old fashion. To get around you walk, bike, ride a horse, or take a carriage pulled by horses. We did a carriage tour, and saw everything. It is a really neat place and would be even nicer to go back to in about 20 some years, kid free. Tyler did like the boat ride, the horses, and the ice cream, but it is a lot of walking or sitting (stroller, and carriage) with not a whole lot for young kids.

One part of the island Tyler did like was the butterfly conservatory. They were all over and would land on you. They really liked Tyler and I, we had a lot of fun.

The final thing to see is the Mackinaw Bridge. This bridge is what connects the main part of Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. Pretty cool to see and drive over. Tyler applauded when we reached the other side, and said "way to go, we made it!"

These are the same words that I used when we finally made it home, after two weeks. "Way to go, we made it!" The drive home was a little rough on the kids, we spent a lot of time in car seats on this trip. The two days after we got back we didn't leave the house, just lounged around and played in the back yard.

2007 July 4th Family Photo

The Carnival

After the parade we went to the carnival down by the beach. Tyler road this motorcycle ride over and over again. He is with our friend Mandy and her baby girl Sophia. He loved going round and round making motorcyle noises. I think we have a future biker.

Jeff and I road the ferris wheel. This is Jeff's favorite ride.

We convinced Tyler that he should ride this mini rollercoaster. He had to go by himself. Lets just say we are bad parents, but he didn't cry. He looked terrified, but did not cry. What a brave little man. He then went right back to his motorcycle ride.

We stopped and got ice cream on the way home. He was so worn out he fell asleep eating it.

The 4th Parade

We woke up early and went down town to see the parade. Tyler got a ton of candy, stickers, and other goodies. We had a great time and the town of Manistee put on one great parade.

Jeff keeps asking where the pictures of me are, if you are wondering the same thing tell Jeff he is in charge of the camera next time! ;)

Sand, Slide and a Lighthouse

Manistee is right on Lake Michigan. We went down to the beach one day and Tyler decided right off the bat that he doesn't like sand. For the rest of the week, if there was a spec of sand he found it. Yes, he finally left the sidewalk and walked down to the water, but he wasn't going to touch that to save his life. He is a funny little boy.

Tyler wanted to climb up this slide and go down it "all by myself" as he likes to say. Of course he got to the top and then wouldn't come down. Jeff had to climb up and come down with him.

There is a lighthouse out on the lake. We walked out on the pier and took pictures. It was really windy. If you have ever been in our house there are pictures of this lighthouse in winter in our living room.

Animals!

There was a petting zoo in town. Grandma and Tyler got carrots to feed the animals. Tyler loved the baby goats the most. He thought it was funny that he could feel them eat right out of his hand.

Pow Wow

In Manistee there is a large number of Native Americans. They kicked off the week with a traditional pow wow. It was really interesting to see everyone in there costumes and listen to live drums and music.

Setting Up Camp

We pulled our 30 foot fifth wheel trailer with us. This is it. It is actually a toy hauler and holds the motorcycle in transport and then we take that out and it is set up for us. We set up in a park right outside of Manistee Michigan, where we spent most of our time. Note the Texas and American flags flying proudly sixteen feet above our trailer. We were the only ones in the park with flags. Jeff said it was so people could find us. "We are the ones with the flags"

Seeing The Family

Our first stop was Kalamazoo Michigan. Jeff's brother, Terry, is going to school and working there. We spent the day with him, saw his place, school and work.

We met up with Grandma, and loaded back up to visit the great grandparents.We went to Edmore Michigan and visited Great Grandpa and Grandma Cook. They live on a farm surrounded by corn. Tyler didn't understand why they didn't have any animals, not even in the barn. How could this be a farm?

Last stop was the Megerle family. We all met at cousin Miranda's house, which happens to be on a corn farm. Once again Tyler was a little confused why there was no animal, however it was exciting to finally be with second cousins his age. Great Grandpa Herman has five great grandsons. No girls just Boys, Boys, Boys!

Run Out Of Gas?

Jeff run out of gas? That's right, halfway to Michigan and the whole rig shuts down. Eight miles from any gas station we coasted into a weigh station. We freaked out for a second, and then remembered that the trailer has a gas tank and even a pump. We emptied out some two liters and filled up enough to get to the gas station. We were laughing so hard. It was even funnier that I wasn't trying to help but instead documenting the moment.

The Drive Up

The drive up to Michigan started really well, everyone was really happy. We sang, we laughed, we watched videos, and best of all napped. These are the best kids for riding in the car. I knew things would go well and was not worried about them at all. One thing we had never experienced however was being car sick. Day two of the trip, crossing the boarder into Michigan, Tyler lost it. I was diving into the back seat with paper towels and Jeff was screaming "Do I need to pull over"Needless to say after 23 hours we made it okay and were happy to finally be out of the car.