Summer in Michigan

August, was a busy month and flew by.  Darcy, finished his exams in mid August and was able to have a few weeks off school, which is always great.  His parents and brother, Levi came out to visit at the end of the month.  We had fun shopping, eating, going to the beach, a Tigers game and the Detroit Zoo.  It was great to see them and they were such good sports about squishing into our tiny apartment for the week.  I actually took a ton of pictures, so here you go:

Fun at the splash park in Lake St. Claire

Lake St. Claire beach

The kids loved playing in the sand

We met up with Sue's brother, Steve from Ohio. It was our first time meeting him.

mini golf

At the Detroit Zoo. The kids (and adults) loved it!

crocodiles

Londy, the snake charmer

The kids loved spending time with their grandparents

The tiger  is always one of our favorites

Family picture (the best we could do...)

London, loving her new tiger toy"Simba" from Grandma Sue

The peacocks on the zoo grounds would come quite close up to people, naturally London tried scare it away with her tiger

The polar bear was awesome.  He swam right by us!

I think this is supposed to the vet or something

Londy, crashed as soon as we left the zoo gates.  Such a fun day!

Birthday Girl!

A few weeks ago we celebrated Londy's 3rd birthday.  That's right....I said 3rd!!! Seriously, where did those three years go??  I have decided I am no longer a fan of my kids growing up.  It was fun and all when they were babies, but I would be just fine if they would stop it now.

At age 3, London is still a ball of energy.  She is so funny, and crazy, and sweet.  She is good at sharing and helping mommy, and is a wonderful big sister.   She is a girly girl, and loves to wear beautiful dresses, shoes, jewelry, and make-up.  She loves princesses and puppies.  She is very out-going and loves to make new friends and meet people.  It's a good thing we adore her, because listening is not her forte, and she knows how to give us a run for our money.  Overall, she is a gem and we couldn't imagine life without her!

We had a little birthday party for her at a park with some of her friends in Michigan.  It was a mermaid/ under the sea theme.  We kept it pretty simple, but I think it turned out OK.  London, was super lucky and was able to have her "Grandma Sue" and "Grandpa 'Lon", here in Michigan to celebrate with her.  It made her day extra special and of course, they spoiled her rotten.  

I am so terrible at taking pictures, but here are a few of her little party:

Friends!

birthday craft

 

painting kept the kids busy for a long time...except London, she was ready to play after a few minutes

Birthday lunch: PB&J starfish sandwiches, goldfish crackers, grapes, marshmellow pops

singing to the birthday girl

opening presents

our birthday princess

water balloons!

close up of the cupcakes and water bottles

 

opening presents from the grandparents, mommy and daddy.

We couldn't forget about Mase, he got to open a present too. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

NFL Game

Wow, summer is just flying by.  I can't believe it is almost September. We have had a fantastic summer so far.  The kids and I were able to spend all of July in Canada, which was awesome.  Darcy stayed back in Michigan, for school. But now we are back in Michigan and the weather is still hot and sunny...and humid.

A few days after we got back we were able to go to a Detroit Lions football game.  It was our first time going to a NFL game.  We met up with a bunch of our friends there, so it was extra fun to see them and catch up on their summer.  Come to think of it I must have been doing more visiting than watching, because I am not sure who won.  The kids had a blast too.  Mase, of course was scared of the screaming and cheering at first, but was having lots of fun half way into it.

Here are a few pictures.  I will have to post more of summer in a later post.

Mason turns 1

On June 8th, Mason turned 1 year old!  Sometimes I think, wow, that year went by super fast.  But it also feels like we've had Mason forever. 

We celebrated his birthday twice that week.  First we had a combined birthday party for Mason, and his friend Madelena, with our playgroup friends.  Their birthdays are only 3 days apart and they both turned one year old.  We had balloons, snacks, cupcakes, and a pinata.  The kids loved it!

Then on Saturday, (his actual birthday) we celebrated it again with just our little family.  Where we had more balloons and cupcakes.  We opened presents and went to the park and the pet store.  Pretty simple, but I think Mase had fun (Londy did for sure).

At 1 year old Mason likes to:
- say "mama", "Dada", "bye-bye", "Ba"for ball, "mo"for more
- imitate lots of sounds and actions
- walk along walls and furniture
- crawl really fast
- get into the cupboards and pull out pots and pans
- read books (or rather be read to)
- play with his sister
- eat! Yogurt is probably his favorite food and broccoli is his least
- play with balls and anything with wheels



Mase with the Sponge Bob pinata

The Birthday Babes!

Cute decorations made by my friend Marcella

playing

We couldn't leave out a picture of Londy at the party....of course we had to sing happy birthday to her too....twice

He loved the balloons

opening presents

new toys!

riding his new horse

 

cupcakes!

 

Eating cupcakes!

 

We love this one year old!!!!

Spring!

I cannot tell you how happy I am to be done with winter.  This is our first spring in Michigan, and it is beautiful.  Super green and blossomy (is that even a word?).  It rains quite a bit, but lately it has been pretty hot.  I'm guessing around  20-25 C.  We are loving the sunshine.

Everyday, London will say one of the following phrases:
"where will my feet take me today?...maybe to the park"
"It's not raining, it's a sunny day.....we could go to the park!"
"We hope we can go to the park today!"
"I have an idea... we could go to the park...is that a good idea?"
Needless to say we go to the parks often.  There are lots of them around us and they are quite nice, they usually have little streams with ducks and geese.  It's so fun to play outside with my 2 favorite people.

These pictures were taken in April, therefore the cold, drab scenery (imagine everything green now)

 

 

Darcy and London also went to a Tigers baseball game in May.  The weather was awesome and Londy loved game....and all the people there.  Darcy said by the end of the game everyone in their section knew her name and said goodbye to her.  She is such a character!

not the best self pic of the two of them but cute idea!