Good bye 2, bring it on 3!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

We celebrated Samuel's 3rd trip around the sun with a bulldozer cake this month. Thank you to Samuel's mom and his Aunt Liz for the cake. It looked and tasted great. No less than nine Tibetan sherpas were required to carry in all the frosting for the cake.

This birthday ushered in a new phase of present opening. For the first time in his short life Samuel has more interest in the thing wrapped than in the wrapping paper.

Those in attendance were Ohma, Aunt Hannah, Aunt Liz, Grandma and Grandpa, and Nana, and Papa .

Samuel, Abigail, Sarah, and I capped off the day with some pizza and The Little Mermaid.

Hmm...

....ahh yes here is the page I was looking for.

It seems to me that if I could just pull myself up onto my hind legs like these well dressed gentlemen I could cover so much more ground.


Yeah..I've just..eh..eh..about..ehhh.. oh nevermind. Anyone know a good rickshaw puller?

Smile

So glad to see you all.

Celebrating the achievements of life.

Can we all give Samuel a big high 5 for keeping em' high and dry!

Got Milk???

Curls by genetics,

Mustache by milk.

GGRRRAAAAAHHLLLGGG!!!!

Was that scary?

I have been trying to develop a rougher, tougher persona.

If it looks like a duck...

Samuel sets off in search of the answer to the question that has been vexing him for several moments now.

Does a duck have teeth?

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.

Monday Grandpa Wagner took the family to the ballpark.
Hot dogs, popcorn and fellowship were shared by all.
Samuel and cousin Peyton enjoyed the rides more than the game,
but that should change when Samuel develops his curve ball and can locate his change-up!
Tigers lost 2-7.

Fishing at Grandma and Grandpa's

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

~Henry David Thoreau

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.