Duluth or Bust!

Well we did it...we took our first family vacation with all 5 of us. It was fairly spontaneous or we would not have done it. I think the comment "you know in a few years this could be really fun" pretty much sums it up...

No, seriously, we did have fun. We drove "up north" (funny for those of you who already think we live in Canada) to Duluth, MN for 2 nights this week to enjoy the last few days of summer and see the beautiful Lake Superior while it's not covered in ice. The car ride was uneventful (it's only about a 2 hour drive) and Blake didn't even nap on the way there. He kept repeating "Mommy/Daddy ready?" for about a half hour on the way. This of course after we had asked him a few times Thursday morning if he "was ready?" for our vacation. Note to self...he repeats EVERYTHING!

Highlights - We stayed in a lovely hotel right on Lake Superior in an area called Canal Park. The view from our room was gorgeous. Since Molly was with us our activities were somewhat limited (no zoo or aquarium this time), but we had a really nice time going for long walks along the Lake and people/boat watching from our balcony. It was fun to walk out to the lighthouse and see the lift bridge going up and down. We also got to see quite a few shipping vessels coming out of the port and the Coast Guard coming in. We went swimming in a pool that was as warm as bath water (that's my kind of pool) and Blake had fun practicing swimming and jumping off the side and Luke enjoyed lounging poolside. We had a really nice dinner at an Italian restaurant one night and a couple even commented on how well behaved our boys were (note that half of the dynamic duo was asleep most of the time!). We had a toast to our first family vacation and for Kurt and my 11th anniversary of "dating" that falls this weekend.

Lowlights - Staying in confined quarters with a dog that has a tendency to bark at other dogs (and we were staying in a VERY pet friendly hotel) and with a 7 week old who tends to be on the fussy side some days and a 2 year old that without a nap and normal bedtime...well I'll just leave it at that.

Overall, we had a great time. It was good to get out of the house and enjoy what's left of our summer. The weather was absolutely perfect too. There were definitely some great memories made and we left excited about the possibility of a next time!

PS - Funderburk family, whatever you have done to train our dog for us....THANK YOU! She was so well behaved on our walks and we know we had nothing to do with it! We kept commenting on how she was the best behaved of our "kids"!

Get a Grip...

literally. Luke has a really strong grip and has a tendency to grab onto us for dear life whenever he's being held. Shirts, hair, necklaces...anything he can get his tiny little fingers around. It's almost as if he knows when we are about to put him down and then he starts hanging on. Sort of endearing and funny all at the same time!

Family Pictures Part 2

Yippee - We got the links to the finished product today!! I was so excited to check my email and see that the links had come.

Below are the web addresses for the slideshow and the online album which you can order from (because I'm sure anyone that views the pictures will want to plaster their walls with our family pictures!). The slide show is cool...she set it to music. It doesn't take very long and if you're related to me or know me very well you can imagine the amount of tears I shed watching it the 1st, 2nd, 3rd...time.

http://www.sewellphotography.com/jarrett/
www.jarrett.photoherald.com

The main point of the pictures was to capture Luke and his "newness"...I think she couldn't have done a better job. He looks absolutely precious. She was also able to catch Blake and his "I only live in this moment" two year old mentality. To me that is priceless as someday I will look back and will only remember that stage through pictures like these. I think she did a very good job of capturing how much Kurt and I love these 2 little boys and our sweet little Molly. Smile.

Who needs toys?

When you can have this much fun just laying around!

Luke and I were having playtime today...which for a 6 week old consists of him laying on his back or stomach and Mommy speaking nonsense to him in an abnormally high pitched, sing song voice to try and get a reaction. As you can see, the desired outcome was achieved (smile).

I really like the one that shows how strong his little neck is. It's been that way from the beginning. Oh and the one of his double chin...evidence that we are definitely not starving this little piggy!

And Daddy wonders what we do all day!

Movin' on up...

to size 1 diapers. We've officially grown out of the newborn sized diapers even though we've been trying to squeeze Luke into the last few packs we have on hand. I guess when they say 10lbs max on the package they mean it. The moment of truth came today when I was holding Luke and all of the sudden my favorite, fabulous, old, grey, IU t-shirt became soaked (and I mean SOAKED!!)! Not to divulge too many details, but I have to wonder how something so small could produce so much pee!

The best part (only a mother who had just been soaked by her own baby can say this) was that he was so happy and full of smiles once I changed him into dry clothes that I couldn't help but laugh and smile along with him. Luckily I had the camera nearby!

Gang's all here!

Today was Brandon's big birthday party and all the "gang" showed up...Chloe, Abby and Blake. His Mommy calls him "Tiger" so his party was all about tigers. The kids were in toddler heaven with the giant inflatable tiger bouncy thing that they had in their backyard. It was a blast to see all of them jumping around and squealing.

Blake also had fun getting to take a jeep ride before we left too. When you have older siblings you have much cooler toys!

We just love seeing these little ones together. They always have so much fun together and get along so well since they have been at Step by Step from the time they were tiny tots.

New friends and old friends...

This was a fun week. On Tuesday our friends Alissa, Sean and Stella came over for a visit. It's always so fun to see baby Stella and see what new tricks she has learned...this time it was crawling! We thank them for bringing us dinner too. It was fun to see Stella eat spaghetti for the first time too!

We also had a lunch date with Krissy and Carter this week. Blake missed out on that visit, but Luke and Carter became fast friends. We can't wait for Baby Hutchinson to arrive so Luke can have another new friend!