Wordless Wednesday

Our First Michigan Guests!

We are so ecstatic to be living in Michigan for a handful of reasons. 1). We are in the same time zone as a lot of family. 2). We get to watch football at a normal time, instead of 10 a.m. 3). Everything is cheaper than Portland and of course 4). We get to see family more often!

Speaking of family, Ryan's Uncle Bob, Aunt Sandy, Cousin Rob and Cousin Krissy had a baseball tournament in Michigan that happened to be right around the time we arrived here. They invited us to come watch Rob's game in Farmington Hills, and of course we said yes. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up without of all of the holiday chaos.

Connor had so much fun watching Rob play baseball, and he was quite the player himself. He ran around the benches hitting balls by golfing with the bat (I know, baby steps, he'll learn eventually!) throwing and just being his happy self. It gave us some much needed catching up, and spend some quality time together. Congrats to Rob and his team for winning the championship, we are so proud of you. Oh yeah, and every time Connor sees a #9, he says "Rob is #9!"

Connor watching Rob

Swinging at grass lol

Rob's up to bat!

I see baseball in his future : ) 

The same bat Ryan had as a kid!

We finally found a ball

Go #9!!

Aunt Sandy & Connor playing

He loves his Krissy

Krissy cooling Connor off with ice

Cheese!

Keeping cool in the shade

Some more of Rob

"#9 is Rob!"

Meeting Grandpa Klager

The stars finally aligned, and Connor got to meet his grandpa during a recent trip to Buffalo. Unfortunately, I wish it could have been under better circumstances (my grandmother was in the hospital), but it was nice to see them interact with each other. Grandpa buttered him up with a toy (and it worked!), and we enjoyed having a nice lunch and visiting with my grandmother at the rehab facility. Cameras are the greatest thing ever! I love capturing all of his memories. Here are some pictures:

Relaxing At The Beach

While searching for things to do in our new city, we came across Spencer Beach in Rochester Hills. It was a great find on a hot day when all we wanted to do was stay cool. Even though it was a manufactured beach, Connor loved it. They had a wading area just for toddlers, a playground, concession stand and tons of sand! It didn't compare to our beach days in Oregon, but it was perfect for the giant heat wave of July!

Aquatic Center

The day we found out we were moving to Michigan, I started doing some research on all of the things our new city had to offer us. One of the things I found was a ginormous water park, equipped with slides, a lazy river, and a great tot area. Connor and I decided to check it out one hot summer day, and even though it was crazy busy, it was so worth it.

They had a wading pool area that the little ones could play in, and a slide that led into it. I helped Connor up the stairs and tried to explain to him how to stand in line, but that failed. The older kids cut in front of him, and he just stood there. I guided him up to the top of the slide, ran back down to the bottom of it to catch him, and waited in anticipation of seeing his face. Well, he decided he wasn't ready to go down yet, and just stood there. The other kids in line were getting frustrated with him so they decided to walk in front of him and go down themselves (the lifeguard wasn't back yet, I guess they get breaks too, but it makes it extremely difficult to help them up the stairs and then run and catch them lol). Once the lifeguard came back, she helped Connor get on the slide and come down, and from there it was over. We spent an extra 20 minutes in that area, with Connor bouncing back and forth from the wading pool, to the slide, to the water fountain area. Two hours later, I left with a wet, happy and hungry child, AND a two hour nap : )

4th of July - Detroit Style!

Even though Connor's only 2, we've made a point of going to the 4th of July parade every year, no matter where we are residing. He was 4 months old at his first, and I can remember feeding him and his eyes darting around as the lights and sounds distracted him. His next parade, at 16 months, he sat with Daddy and I and took in all of the fire trucks, dancers, horns and "floats". At this one, not only did he get giddy when we saw the fire trucks, but he'd run to the curb whenever they threw candy out (it was an election year, so we scored so much candy and free swag!) We'd constantly hear "Look Mama, look Dada!" Whether he was sitting in his stroller with his sunglasses, or sitting on the curb eating his bagel, he had fun. It was about an hour long, and around every corner there was something more to ogle at. It gave us a great impression of our new home!