Lake, Dune, Sky

We just returned yesterday from a long weekend up at the cottage with my mom, me, John, Stella and A.J. It was great!

We left early Friday morning, and the kiddos soon discovered the joys of Glen Lake.

Here is Stella with Grandma on the beach:


The kiddos fighting over toys on the beach:


Saturday, Mom and I took A.J. into town for some souvenir shopping while Stella stayed at the cottage with Dad. We had lunch at the Cherry Republic, at the eating area outside. I got A.J. some ice cream, but he preferred my lunch, which was hummus and chips. He had to tell everyone at all the tables how good the hummus was:


Sunday we had a fun trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Stella quickly became the star of the dunes. She ran fast and put some distance between us and herself, and made it to the top in no time flat, and we had to catch her before she got too far away from us to see. Here is Grandma chasing her:


A.J. loved the Dunes, too. It was his first time climbing them, and he loved it. He had to be carried a little, but not much.

A.J. with his "nana."


Dad shows Stella and A.J. the dune climb, one of his favorite places:


We finally convinced Stella to come down, and she fortunately found a stick to carry. She loves sticks:


Monday morning, before we left, we visited Empire Beach. Stella wasn't as crazy about the beach as the dunes, but A.J. loved the cold water.


It was a nice weekend:

Blueberry Pie

Today is my mom's first full day with her grandkiddos. A.J. has already coined her "Nana" ... and she has jumped in to this crazy household. It's good to have her here. Her train trip went right on schedule, and despite a few weirdos on the train, no problems whatsoever. She arrived in B.C. at 10 p.m. as planned.

I was in and out a lot today, taking Stella to appointments, so Grandma stayed with A.J. We celebrated her first day here with a big dinner ... I made a turkey meatloaf (not very yummy), and a blueberry pie with Michigan blueberries (very yummy). Here's the proof:

After a few pieces came out:


It's no shock A.J. loved it ... he loved the last blueberry pie I made, too. Michigan blueberries are so flavorful and fresh. Blueberry pie just has sooo much deep flavor to it!



John's second piece:


I'm a blueberry fan ... as a superfood, antioxidant and pie filling!

After our walk, Grandma "Nana" drew a picture on the sidewalk that Stella enjoyed:


We're looking forward to her being here for the next several days. Hooray for Grandma!

Dog Days

The summer has gone really fast, but one of the best parts is yet to come! My mom, a.k.a. Grandma Zuzu to Stella and A.J., is on her way to BC aboard the Southwest Chief on Amtrak. It's a long day of travel since she gets on the train in Topeka at 5:00 a.m., but sometimes air travel can take that long, too, with delays and flight cancellations. She'll arrive in Chicago at 3:30 and will pick up the Wolverine commuter train which will bring her to Battle Creek. She won't get here in Battle Creek until 10 p.m. after the kiddos are in bed. They'll be excited to see her Tuesday morning though! And I'll put her to work immediately chasing these rugrats around. She'll be here until the morning of Aug. 30 ... here to help me while Stella is home (before Stella starts school again).

Speaking of the rugrats, they're such a pair. I swear that even though they don't have a spoken language between them (that I can understand), they somehow conspire together to get into trouble. Even though my bedroom door is locked, somehow they got in yesterday. Stella, who was covered in sand and dirt, was jumping on my bed and A.J. was plunging the toilet in the master bath. He loves to play in the toilet.

Here they are on a day in July when Dad took them to the historic bridge park:


Stella's had a busy summer with 2 OT appointments a week, horseback riding, speech therapy and swimming lessons. She had summer school for 8 weeks, except the week she missed because of a bad case of swimmer's ear. Her class will be in a new location this fall ... in Bellevue which is a considerably longer drive than the short drive to her current school. But at the new school, there will be more opportunity to learn from neurotypical kids.



A.J. has changed a lot this summer. He's gone from a toddler with a waddle to a fast, climbing, strapping boy. He's not only physically strong, he's verbally strong. He'll say a bunch of baby gibberish and look at you like "why don't you understand?" He always wants the last word, even if it isn't a real word. He does have a lot of real words too. And he can climb up anything. Here's a good representation of the true A.J.


Like a true boy, he loves big trucks, airplanes, shovels, wheel barrows, and of course the lawnmower:


But he still likes to cuddle sometimes ....


We went to see Joe and Kathy last weekend ... what a cute couple:

A.J. and Stella had a lot of fun visiting Grandma and Papa.

Enjoy the rest of the summer ... it's gone so fast! We're planning on a trip to Glen Lake while my mom is here, and hopefully some school shopping for the kids. I'm sure we'll be busy every single day that she's here ... and she promises to help me with laundry!