abby's stroller

Giraffe was the lucky passenger today . . .

And in case anyone was wondering whose stroller this is . . .

soap, shoes, and more

Nothing like a sink full of soapy water to keep A busy.

Someone snuck a taste of the suds.

Shoes - of all sizes - provide endless amusement.

The project of getting a bag on each shoulder kept Abigail busy for a good 10 minutes. Then she marched around the house toting her bags for another 10.

michigan adventures, 2009

"Hi everyone...."

One notable milestone was reached on our Michigan vacation . . . Abigail now calls herself Abby. While her parents hadn't yet gotten to the nickname - which they like very much - Abby took the plunge and didn't look back. Now everything is Abby this or Abby that. Here are some Abby ducks (technically, geese).

Exploring the beach with Papa.

And with Mama.

We did lots of fun things - like visit a nearby lighthouse.


We even climbed to the top!

And we rode in a rowboat. This continues to inspire many, many verses of "Row row row your boat" . . .
We had flashbacks to last summer when Abigail was just a wee little sprout enjoying a bottle on the beach. Note that papa still has the same taste in clothes.....

Abigail was astounded when not once, but twice (on two separate days - gasp!) a ladybug crawled on her hand. Now everytime a ladybug shows up in a book, Abigail reminds us of this very momentous occasion. It also crawled on Grandma, Grandad, Papa, and Mama. Beat that!

It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandad visit us at the cabin! Here Abigail and Grandad are reading "Farewell to Steam" a book full of pictures of choo choo trains. Abigail decided Grandad was the best reader of this book, so long as she could narrate with "choo chooo"

After many readings of her other new favorite book "If You Give a Pig a Pancake", Abigail and Grandma stir up some imaginary pancakes to feed the hungry cabin crew.

Some smooches in front of the fire on a chilly day. There were also local wineries to explore . . . we give two thumbs up to 2 Lads . . . they even had a table for kids to read and color at - bonus!

We went on an outing to a little town called Alden, where we found lots of fun things to explore . . . including these unique blooms:

A gentle reminder from a Traverse City merchant.

This plastic bin, which doubled as Abigail's cabin bathtub, was a huge hit and so very fun to play in. The sticker book that we got at the gas station was also exciting - especially when we put the car sticker on papa.

Abby + Bin = Good times

Enjoying a glass of wine and a breezy evening on the beach.

With grandparents to keep an eye on sleeping beauty, Abigail's parents set off on a sunset canoe ride.

Abigail sports some new-to-her beach shoes.

A purposeful stride.

Pants-less, but no less purposeful.

Ode to cherry pie. Back at home, miles away from the cherry capital of the world, we are suffering some serious withdrawl symptoms.

"Hey, won't someone please shovel with me?"

Satisfied shoveler.

Abigail's bear buddy got lots of wagon rides......

Abigail took very good care of bear . . . walking him, feeding him blueberries, giving him sips of water from her sippy and the lake . . ..

Instead of raking, look what Abigail came up with - rake rock sculptures!

Shovel too!

After all of this activity, catching a few stroller z's in the cedar woods.

And what else to do on the final night of vacation, when cabin-dwellers from earlier that summer have left tonic and lemons and limes in the fridge? Gin and tonic sundowners.

Sunset.

back from the beach

We are back from vacation.... we had a wonderful time at Abigail's papa's family cabin on the Old Mission peninsula in Michigan.

There were so many things to explore.

If you view the next several photos in rapid succession you'll have a flip-book sense for the splashy-ness of our week at the beach....

Water is wet. Though sometimes Abigail will tell you that it is "hot" - hot and wet are concepts that sometimes get confused......

Splashy splashy waves!

"Oh here Papa, I found a special rock for you in the water...."

On the prowl for more beach adventures . . . stay tuned for many more vacation pictures to follow....

now and then

Abigail continues to find stuffed animals that nuzzle and tickle her very amusing.

A year ago.

Today:

kitchen helper

Abigail sure is a good little kitchen helper. Here she is, in training to tackle the massive piles of dirty dishes that we can produce in one evening of dinner prep.

Rear view. Note that active-almost-17-month-olds require careful supervision when standing on chairs . . . Abigail just sees something across the way on the countertop and can't resist making the reach for it.

Enter our new best friend. The aptly named Kitchen Helper. It's an enclosed stool!

Here's Abigail testing it out for the very first time, bright and early this morning.

She can get up (and down) all by herself. Quite satisfying.

"I'm busy - why don't you two get yourselves a cup of coffee or something . . ."

Water is fascinating. (Note that it is still darkish outside at 6:15am these days. We know this for a fact.)

Two thumbs up from Abigail!