Family Vacation

We took a trip this week over to Bay City and then to Mullett Lake to visit with family. We suprised Jay and Keri when we arrived in Bay City on Thursday evening. We were supposed to meet up with them on Friday at the lake but we made a last minute decision to go over to Bay City instead to spend a little time with them and Emma. Kole and Emma had fun taking each other's toys and playing in "The Tunnel of Fun" that I brought over. Emma is getting SO BIG and it was so fun to see her "live"!! She cruises over the whole living room and hangs on to the furniture to be sure she doesn't fall. I could kick myself for not taking more pictures and then when I did decide to haul the camera out, the battery died! I will await the photos that Keri and Mary Rose took and post those when I get them.

Seth, Kole, and I made a stop to Mackinac City on the way to Mullett Lake on Friday. We walked around and had a nice time. We met up with Mary Rose and Carey and had a nice dinner Friday night after we checked into our hotel. Seth and I fished off the dock for quite some time after dinner and went to bed late. Saturday found us at the lake. We relaxed, hung out, and played in the water with the two kids. Emma was not a huge fan of the water but Kole didn't mind it. He managed to take over Emma's floatie and had a fun time with his legs dangling in the water. It rained later on that evening so there was no campfire for us. Naturally though, just after we left, the rain subsided. Seth and I fished a little more off the dock near outside our hotel. Sunday was a bit cool and windy so we didn't stay long at the lake. We left around noon and made our way home. Our family vacation was now coming to an end. Monday was back to reality :(

Seth's fishing trip

Click on this link for pictures of Seth and Carey's fishing adventures. Here is the little ditty that the fishing guide wrote about them (sorry Carey, they spelled your name wrong):
Well Seth and Kerry father and son duo had there first taste of night fishing,,,,,,,,The really big fish w0n the battle but we did get a few to hand........I have monday off the 29th and the 3rd and 5th of July,,,,,,,Come join in on the night fun
Check out Seth and Carey's pics, they look good!!

Up North and Swimming

We went up north to my Dad and Deb's "cabin" in the woods. I use this word loosely because it's more of a two story house than a cabin. We spent Saturday with lots of family and then on Father's Day, Seth went fishing with the boys all day. He had fun and caught some good looking fish (as far as fish go anyway). All the boys napped after fishing, including Kole, and Deb and I just relaxed. Dad and Seth went back out fishing and came back a little later. Seth had a nice first Father's Day and did just what he wanted, fishing with the boys! He's looking forward to taking Kole fishing when he's older. We left on Monday morning but drove seperate since Seth was staying up north to do MORE fishing with Carey, this time on the Pere Marquette River.

Seth took the whole week off so he went to swimming class with us this week. He got in the water while I played photographer. Both boys had fun in the water and I got some cute shots of the two of them splashing around. Kole loves the water and squeals with delight when he's in the water. Now, the temperature of the pool is like bath water, so that helps. We'll see how he does in the water at Mullett Lake this upcoming weekend!

Kole's been working hard at pulling up to his knees on his activity table (as long as I'm holding it still and in one place). He thinks he's hot stuff when he can do it himself. He really enjoys standing/leaning on the table but he needs help with that. No crawling yet, but maybe soon, we'll see. I'm hoping his cousin Emma can teach him a few tricks while we spend some time with her this weekend at Mullett Lake. Kole is enjoying eating his "yum-yums". They are glorified Cheerios that are flavored and encourage babies to eat themselves. He's now picking them up and putting them right in his own mouth! He does seem to be a very nice and thoughtful boy as he's been offering his yum-yums and his biter biscuits to his dog, Jersey. Jersey is happy to take those treats off his hands (or right out of his hands really) and Kole thinks it's great that the dog is giving him attention. What nice sharing, Kole...

LOADS of pics and several videos below, enjoy!!!

Kole checking things out






Jersey is exhausted!



Dirty Morgan

Rae and Matt returning with the quads



Sweet girls, Meghan and Maddie


Meghan pushing Kole



Meg was such a big helper with Kole



Kole eating his yum-yums


On a walk with Nanny and Papa Tom

Oh Seth, you are dead sexy!

Can you see his baby butt crack?

Kole and Daddy on Father's Day





Kole being cool and standing at his activity table (with my help)


So relaxed with Grammy

Kole in swimming class

Paddling after a blue ball

Daddy is so hilarious

Listen really close to him on the ground. He's making is "roar" noise!

The teacher put this contraption in the water for the kids to stand and hang on the rails

Seth was tossing the little ball up the slide and Kole was laughing as it rolled down :)

Kole loved it when Morgan pushed him on the swing!

Busy Kole

Kole has had a busy couple of weeks as Summer gets underway. His first big outing was getting his first hair cut. We went to see Phillip, who has been cutting my hair for years, for the first trim. His hair was not really long, but it was growing over his ears and it was starting to curl up. ? The little curls may have been a little cute, but I really want to keep him trim and neat at this point so Phillip trimmed a little around his ears and he was done! We went on a ride to the other end of town to drop in on Nanny and Papa Tom. We visited for awhile and Papa fed Kole; mmmm....bananas! Poor Papa had to hold his breath as he HATES bananas! Apparently, feeding Kole was worth the "stench" of the fruit. We stopped by the park that week and played on the swings and such. He seemed to like the park and was pretty eager to stand up and smack the playground equipment. Oh, and of course, flirt with the little girls... Over that weekend, we had Nana come for a visit. We played and went out and about with Aunt Joanne and Melissa too. Seth had a golf outing that lasted WAY longer than it should but we did get a chance to go out to eat with Nana babysat Kole. All of a sudden Kole has been putting things in his mouth; he never used to be "mouthy" and I thought it was great---I hardly had to worry about him putting everything in his mouth. Well, the time is here. I have a hunch that he's teething, but only time will tell. He's finally figured out that his little baby puffs that I offer him at meals on his high chair tray actually go in your mouth and they even taste yummy. Apparently, he's grown bored with just pushing them around on the tray. He's been doing that really well now for the past week. We've also started taking swimming classes! Kole LOVES the pool and splashes and squeals when he's in. There are some older babies in the class and Kole likes to check them all out. Doubt he'll really "learn" anything from the class but he likes it and it's something fun for us to do together. Seth is going with us this week so I'll be able to get some good pictures! We also had to upgrade to a big boy car seat this past week. He's outgrown his infant car seat/carrier so he now sits on a large throne in the back seat. We'll see how he likes it as we take rides in the car.
More to come very soon as we just spent a nice weekend up north with Tom and Deb and I have lots of pics!














At the park swinging



checking out the strange ground at the playground

Totally flirting with a toddler girl

Oh, he thought he was hot stuff doing this

snuggles with Nana

Hangin' out with Papa Tom

Tom's new toy for the kids up north. No, Kole will not ride just yet!

Busted!!

We had a relaxing weekend; no real plans or a schedule. Those are the best weekends. Seth went golfing on Saturday with an old friend from college and Kole and I took a walk and browsed some garage sales. Sunday found us at home most of the day but I did manage to escape for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
Monday, Kole had his first dentist appointment. Okay, I know what everyone is thinking---the DENTIST?? I went for my 6 month cleaning last week and it was mentioned to me that I could bring him in for a well baby visit and the dentist took a peek in his mouth and the hygentist gave us a bunch of information. Now....the ONLY reason I decided to bring him in was that our insurance covered the entire visit with no co-pay. Hey, we pay for insurance, I might as well utilize it, right? Pretty much, the dentist told me that he might be on the latter end of the curve when it comes to teeth, meaning, he might be a "late bloomer" and get them on the later side. Of course, nothing to worry about, he's got a bit more time yet. He got a cute toothbrush that the dentist rubbed on his gums. He was a good boy, naturally.
We came home and during Kole's nap I decided to rest my eyes on the couch. Now, I need to prefice this by saying that I VERY VERY rarely take naps during the day when I'm home with Kole. Today, I was really tired (probably all that coupon clipping at Kmart early this morning) though and started dozing. Apparently, Seth was trying to call me on the home phone and on my cell phone and I didn't hear the phones ring. Kole was crying on the monitor and I didn't hear him either. It was about 3:30pm and as I'm having a strange dream, Seth walks in the front door and is looking at me as I'm just opening my eyes. I was SO BUSTED!!!!!!!! I was sleeping SO hard I didn't hear the 3 times he called the home phone and the 3 times he called my cell phone. Who knows how long Kole was awake in his bed. Seth likes to jab me about how I sit around all day and watch TV and eat "bon-bons" (right) and this just convinced him that my days are filled with relaxing. I felt bad all afternoon, mainly b/c I was busted!!!
Here's some pics of Kole today while we were awake : )


What a face!


His little "car" that can he can eventually walk behind and push when he's ready.


What a show-off


Oh Mom, this is the best toy ever!


I wonder what that dog is thinking...?

C'mere Jersey!

I love my dog.

Let me just grab your ear...

I'm so excited!!

Oh what another face!

Kole likes to "fix" his car

Playing with Jersey

Having fun with his mirror

Kole and his new ride.

3 Years

Well, it's been 3 years since Seth and I were married.  Today is our anniversary (well, since it's after midnight, it was technically yesterday June 2).  We've had a wonderful 3 years together.  Since then we've added a great dog to our family and we treated her like our "baby".  Seth has done so much with the inside and outside of our house, mostly himself with the help of some special "worker bees" of course.  We've gone on some pretty nice trips to San Francisco, Boston, and Savannah thanks to Seth's hard work at GFS.   I found an early retirement that started last summer.   Seth took a couple of more trips with some well deserving family members thanks again to his hard work.   Then baby Kole came along, stole our hearts and we started treating Jersey like a dog (poor thing).   Then a career goal for Seth, winning Person of the Year with a trip to Hawaii.  What a 3 years it has been, and I can only imagine the next 3 being just as wonderful!  Love you Seth, Happy Anniversary!!!

Riding on the Harley

Can you believe that Jersey was ever this small???

Boston

San Francisco

Our Sweet Baby Kole