The Cottage

Our weekend at the cottage.

Samuel doing some birding.

There are wild raspberries right across the road from the cottage. They seem to have more flavor than garden grown berries. This explains why Samuel had a ring of red around his lips and we ended up with about half the berries we picked.
The turtle trap. Samuel, my dad, and I built this gizmo a couple weeks ago and it has proven to be irresistible to the shelled beasts. We caught 7 turtles over its first weekend of use and another 5 this past weekend.
Samuel snacking on a boat ride. (Not pictured here is the Mason County Sheriff who kindly persuaded us to put a life jacket on Samuel.)

We built and hung a tree swing. It doesn't take too long sitting in a swing to come to the realization that it is a cottage essential.

A more aesthetic view of the swing.

A more aesthetic view of the family.

Sunday best

Making dots look good!

Phone call

Abigail orders a pizza

"...no, I'm serious. The coupon says 'free 2 liter of pop with medium pizza'...All I want to know is can I get breastmilk instead??......"

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” Albert Einstein

Samuel masters the bike.

Click here to see video of the 2029 TDF champ.

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5 month statistics

Abigail had her appointment with the doctor yesterday. She received her second round of shots. Here are the numbers.

Wt: 15#0oz.

Ht: 25 1/4"

65th percentile for weight

75th percentile for height

The data seem to be telling us that Abigail will pass Yao Ming in height sometime around her 5th birthday.

Weekend Adventure

With our driver chomping at the bit early Saturday morning we were off to Uncle Nick and Aunt Joy's cottage on the Muskegon River.

Loaded up on java, we were ready to point the motor-coach north.

The weather was beautiful and Great grandma kicked back with Abigail.

Samuel, Sarah, Owen, and Uncle("boppa" to Owen)Nick catching minnows and crayfish in the river.

Huckleberry fin times two.

During lunch Abigail evaluated what was soon to be converted to breastmilk and made available to her.

"Hey, you guys!! I bet we could package some of that milk stuff into a handsome container for casual drinking. These chairs seem to be already outfitted for holding the containers....neat!" Abigail.

If all of these babies ever realize how much they out-number us we could all be in big trouble.

On the way back we stopped by Ohma's house to say hello. Ohma took this opportunity to make a wish on Abigail's head.

A big hug and kiss for Ohma and it was time to hit the trail and head for bed. It was a long day.

Gorgeous girl

Abigail in green showing her Mona Lisa smile.

She is such a tasty kid!

Please daahling! No more pictures.

Big Fan

A fan of the worlds best game, and the game's best team.

Yoga Baby

Abigail holds the sidways-facing-dog position.

The Great Ohio'an Adventure

This past weekend we made the trip to the lake house per the invitation of Kate and Ryan.

We loaded up the jalopy like a tibetan sherpa and updated our passports with an Ohio stamp. Friday morning we piloted our motorcoach South by Southeast.

Day 1:

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We didn't have too many miles under our belts before we encountered some wildlife of interest. I have a habit of photographing outstanding mullet haircuts. So when we stood in line at McDonalds for coffee behind this stunning specimen I completely gave in to temptation and snapped this nice candid.

Then it was back onto the highway. We made it to the lake house where some introductions were in order (Abigail's first meeting with some native Ohio'ans)

Then it was time to eat some lunch and play trucks.

Day 2:

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Samuel starts off the day by brewing a pot of java for the fam.

Our bellies were filled to carrying capacity with breakfast so we figured the best thing to do was to spit in the face of sea sickness and go for a boat ride.

A trained goose made a great babysitter while Abigail took a nap.

The afternoon was consumed with working on the tan and looking at the boats.

Day 3:

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The water was calm for skiing in the morning.

Samuel took the jet-ski out for a cruise and encountered a piece of Marblehead, OH history. The smallest lighthouse in the universe. This is not trick photography this microscopic beacon of saftey is roughly 6 inches taller than Samuel. A boat captain needs the vision of an eagle to avoid this landmass.




















This concludes our adventure. The remainder of the day was occupied with the journey home. No photos or commentary will accompany this event as it was filled to overflowing with cranky tired children. We are currently praying that our memories of the return trip will be obliterated completely.