Family photo day!!

So I wasn't in the mood to blog today but decided to bite the bullet and get'er done. I should blog about the girls day of beauty at Sarah's house last week but I will leave that for another day.

On Saturday Sarah and I went to her best friends little ones first birthday party. We had a really nice time and it was so fun to see Renee's sweet ones. I would share pictures but.....brace yourself.....I didn't bring my camera!!!! I KNOW!!! I will have to borrow Sarah's disc so I can post a couple of pictures.

Yesterday we were planning on a family get together and to take some family photos. The weather did not co-operate. We had a nice day anyways and of course I had MY camera!! Lukas is really doing well with sitting all by himself. Here he was reaching for some of his toys.

Then he decided why bother with all the stuff on the floor when he had his own built in toys....his toes. And, yes he can reach them and loves chewing on them!! OK, so all of you that are reading this, try and remember back when you were limber enough to even TOUCH your toes let alone put them in your mouth!!!!!

Since it was supposed to be picture day Lukas decided to follow in his daddy's footsteps. Every time school pictures came around Jesse would wake up with a scratch or a bump or a bite on his face. Well, Lukas had another scratch by his eye and about 4 bug bite on his head on picture day.......but how cute is he!!!

Lukas having a conversation with great grandpa. They were discussing college choices. Shall we say a certain Michigan University was mentioned!!!

And another one with great grandma.

At dinner time Lukas needed a highchair and grandma obliged. Not to worry after this I went out today and now we have a real one. Anyways, Lukas was going to get his first taste of peas. It started out just fine......

............and things went downhill from there. Now that wouldn't have been so bad but after one bite he would make this face and then gag......we laughed and tried again....NOPE not happening...back to the cereal and we will have to try peas again later!!

After dinner the rest of the family participated in intense Wii session. Many, many, many games were played!!

Like I said the weather did not co-operate with us, it rained, but we shall try again. In the meantime Jesse and Sarah practiced there brotherly- sisterly love pose!!

Yup!!! That lasted a long time.......

Now you can all see why I miss having the kids at home!!! Those were the days!!! I am really glad that even though they are adults and leading their own lives they still love one another and get along SO WELL!!!!

Once again, I will close with Lukas. He so loves his fingers these days....one or the other is almost always in his mouth. And how cute are those legs!!

Trust me from the angle of the picture it looks like I let him sit too close to the table...I did not!!

Short and Sweet.

Yesterday Lukas asked if I could come and watch him for the day.....HMMM let me think!! I asked grandma great if she would like to go along. It was a early day as I picked her up at 6:30, but it was soooo worth it.

Here she is helping him read his new favorite book. At this point he seems more interested in eating it!!!

Thank you great grandma for keeping me occupied while gram made me some lunch!!! Almost lulled me to sleep singing to me.

He is getting quite good at sitting in his own. If he falls down he works really hard to pull himself up. He woke up this morning with a really nice scratch on his face :( Not sure from what...all the nail were cut and nothing felt sharp.) Even with a cut on his face he is still too darn cute!!! It is between his eye and his ear.

Although Lukas was asleep minutes before Jesse got home he was all smiles when daddy got there.

A big thank you to grandma great for going along.

In closing for today I have to say again how awesome it is as a mom to see your son being such a incredible dad. This little man sure loves his daddy.

We are so proud of you Jesse!!

A mish mash!!!

So this is going to be a mish mash of the last week. Already.? Let's go!!

Last week it got HOT out. Sitting in the living room and I looked out to find this.....I wanted a picture but was afraid that if I tried to get closer it would move so this is zoomed through the screen. I wish it were a better picture because I think it is funny.....who knew birds sun themselves!!!

Dave and I have a little disagreement. He loves the yuccas and I am not a fan. Don't get me wrong. They are very pretty in bloom....but after...ugly. And I am not a fan before either...they pop up everywhere. Anyway Dave wanted a picture of the small flower garden.

Yeah I'm a artist... I just liked the picture. I think I should take a photo class and learn how to do some cool stuff with my photos!!!

With the lawn photos taken we decided to go play. Took the new rig to the Great North...well not that north, but north to Mesick. We go to Seton creek, a rustic campground near Hoden Pile, Hoodyn Pile, Hoedyn Pile (oh heck, some lake up there) We have been going here for years and love it. I will say that it was a little bit of a challenge with the new bigger rig.

So for those who don't know I LOVE the Wizard of Oz, (NO I REALLY LOVE it) This is my wicked witch of the west bike. I hum the song before I get on it every time,(which is not that often.) Anyway a few minutes after our arrival Dave had her off the truck ready for me to ride. I got on and he suggested that I NOT go a certain way...yeah right...and then asked where my helmet was. In the process of replying that I would go where I wanted and didn't need my helmet.....you guessed it I crashed. And what did my loving husband do.....laugh!!! I have a lovely shade of blue on my leg but all in all not bad. Hey, Jesse do they make training wheels for the old and stubborn!!!???

So the real biker in the family took off to ride the North Country trail and I took the witch bike for a leisurely spin around the campground and down the road. There are about 20 sites here and I think when we got here only 6 sites were occupied. When we left there were only 2. It is usually nice and quiet. I digress, sorry!!! So while riding I decided to get some wildflowers to decorate the site......no they are not in a Raspberry Ice bottle!!!!

Up next on the agenda was a kayak run down the river. First Dave had to unload the boats. Good thing he is young. He took the kayaks off the truck then drove down to the pick up site. Road his bike back to the campground and after some lunch we headed out....now let me give you a little background!!!! I'll make this short....promise :) :)

First you take the yaks and carry them across the campground, down a steep hill, across a grass area and then down about 60 uneven steps. Hey,I helped!! Load up and push off. At this point you paddle out to the lake through a inlet, and it was blowing hard!! A challenging paddle across the lake (a good half a mile) in 30 mile an hour gusts....no kidding there were 2 feet waves and whitecaps. Dave never turned around once that, I saw to see how I was doing...(he thought I would say to H@%% with this, and if he didn't look I would keep going!!) Then after you cross the lake you portage over the dam, or damn as it was today!!! Still with me???? I am almost done, I promise.

Anyways, with Dave at the front and me carrying the back of the kayaks we climbed down 70 steps across the parking area and then down another 60 or so steps to the river. I will admit to only carrying one down the last set of steps. Now the fun could begin. We paddled 14 miles down river to Red Bridge. It was a lot of fun, with some great rapids and thankfully a good currant, since the winds never died down. We had a great time, but I might suggest that if you kayak remember that although your legs are down in the boat....they still need sunscreen!! Now, ask me if I am sore??!!! No pictures as I didn't want to chance getting the camera wet and forgot the waterproof bag. We headed home the next morning and now are planning our next outing!!

OH COME ON!!!
You didn't think I would have a post without Lukas did ya!!??

Bye all!!!

Lukas here

Hello again, Lukas here. Grandma said she got so many positive comments on my last blog she wanted me to write again! I think it is just because she doesn't want anyone to think she is obsessive about me!! She mentioned she has Lukasitis, but I looked it up in Wikepedia and I didn't find anything on it. I think it may be a word she made up.....what do you think?
So grandma wanted me to tell you that this is my reaction to seeing her come to visit!!! I didn't want to tell her it is the same excitement I get when I see my doggy Schaffer!!



I tried to take control of the camera..heck I figured if I was doing all the writing I should be allowed to take the pictures I would be commenting on! She wouldn't give it up. Actually I am not sure what she looks like without this black thing in front of her face. Mom and Aunt Sarah have taken to calling the camera, grandma. Not to worry I know the difference??!!



I find my own voice very interesting..I try it out quite often now. And for the most part I am pretty happy with my life and I love to tell everyone about it. Oh you may want to adjust the volumn before you view this one!!!!!



Even when I have worn myself out performing, I can't get away from the camera. But, grandma said that I am too cute. Um, my face is red from typing that!!!

I guess she even finds my hands fascinating!! Something about my pudgy fingers.

I can get a little involved when I am playing with my toys. I see that grandma captured me trying out my bubbleblowing skills.


I keep hearing speculation that I may be teething. I know I love to chew on things and for some reason I seem to be drooling a lot. I know there is such a thing as wiping my face but, I was otherwise involved. I think I am going to call my great cousin Travis in order to ask for some advice on dealing with this!!

Oh and it feels good to suck on my bottom lip too!

Wow, I didn't know she was still filming me...so sue me.... I really love my bug ring!! Sometimes I am a little intense in my chewing.

Grandma said she is including this shot just because. Alright whatever.

So for a long time now I have been noticing another baby following me around. I have seen him in the bathroom at my house, at Aunt Sarah's and even up north in Grandma and Grandpa's camper. Well, I was hanging out in the living room and he showed up again so, I decided it was time for introductions. He seems very friendly and I hope we can remain friends. I feel bad I didn't catch his name.

Well, that's it for me. I guess grandma is talking about making this a permanent addition to her blog.

Do I get paid for this??

It is a lot of hard work. I hope grandma gets better control over her addiction soon.

Oh, come on with that face how am I ever going to get cured from Lukasitis!! It is not possible!!!

Wassup with the Wards

They say the best thing is to start at the beginning. So here goes!!

First let's say goodbye to an old friend. The old trailer is sold and leaving tonight. There were a lot of good times and memories in this little trailer. Just ask the kids, they can tell you many stories. No one ever felt crowded...or wet....or cold....hmmmmm did they???

Dave spent some of the holiday weekend making some additions to the new trailer. He has added pull out shelves to the pantry, extended the kitchen counter top, and added a shelf above the sink. We are really enjoying the extra space. You wouldn't know that the shelf wasn't part of the trailer if you didn't see it before.

We spent the week down at Deep Lake near Yankee Springs. I was surprised that the campground didn't fill up for the holiday weekend. We had 2 lots next to us that stayed empty the entire time. You would think this place was somewhere in the middle of NOWHERE!!! according to Verizon....OMG it is only a few miles from all kinds of cities and NO service. (Get on this Tom.) It was a good thing that I went to visit the newest member to the clan so I could use there puter for a few minutes. My mom sister Nancy and I went to meet Victoria Jane. When we got there we found big brother Hunter doing the dishes!!!

Victoria was asleep in her swing. She never woke up the entire time we were there. Very content. She looks nothing like her dad and brother....sorry Autumn, at least she has your coloring and your chin!!!

Great grandma brought some peas for Hunter. He was really cute, he would open each one and count the peas, then eat them one by one. Oh, and he wouldn't share them with his favorite great aunt scary Mary!!! Wassup with that?? I did manage to get ONE pea...not the whole pea just ONE!!!!

Great Grandma and Hunter.


Aunt Nancy and Victoria.

For those who don't know Nancy forces all children to hold...not pull her finger!!! She forced Lukas to hold her finger even though he did not want to. Here she said that Victoria was saying she is #1...we all know who is #1!!! and it ain't aunt Nancy!! :)

I don't think that Hunter quit eating the entire time we were there. Here he is sporting his spiderman hat and eating bologna...after that he was trying to finish off the bag of dried apples great grandma brought for his dad.

And I certainly DID NOT lick that baby!!!

Now back at the campground. Just hanging out at the new digs.

The weekend starts to improve with the arrival of the family!! Here Lukas is hangin with Aunt Sarah!! SUP!!!! Hey, none of this sideways hat stuff, mister!!

Doesn't seem to matter where we are Dave is determined to make sure Lukas touches everything around. Isn't it important that all kids know what a Dodge emblem feels like?? Guess he better while there are still Dodge emblems around!!!

Lukas saying hello to some little boy in the mirror. He sure seems to like him.... who could blame him he sure was a cute kid!!

The cheering section for the intense game of badminton between Jesse and Dave!!

The boys had just come back from a ride on the trails. Jesse got in a shower but Dave was still geared up for biking.

The play got intense, with Dave putting all his best effort in

Oh come on Jesse how bad can a hit to the groin with a little......birdy be!!!

Aunt Sarah had to sneak in a little kiss.

Game over and Dave played some air guitar!!

Lukas is now working on his sitting skills. He has made a lot of progress and is doing very well. It is a lot of hard work this growing up stuff!!

This was not one of the sunniest 4th of July weekend in the history of 4ths ,but it did peek out once or twice. Lukas was really stylin the shades. He was a little under the weather also...not sure if it was a cold or from the way he was chewing on things...teething?!!

Hoping everyone had a great Holiday weekend and a HUGE thank you to all the men and women who made and make it possible for us to have fun with our families!!