Busy, Busy, Busy.

Oh man, per the ushe, life has been hectic, crazy, busy.  Summer.  Oh do I love me some summer.  Days that aren't eaten up by 12 hours dedicated to making a living. (boo) have been spent doing things like more trips to zoos (John Ball Zoo), lots of pool time at my moms house, a trip to Ludington. MI , Potter Park Zoo, I turned 31, we tore up the casino sea food buffet, and just plain having a good time.  In between naps when they are allowed ;)  There are more updates on life to come soon I promise :)

Stopping to smell the roses at Potter Park Zoo

This along with every single "stick your head in an animal cut out" had to be photographed at the zoo.  She's becoming quite the camera ham.

We all (My Mom, Stepdad, Sam, Cassie, Addison & I) climbed Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington.

Then we enjoyed a day on the beach

Addison was digging lake Michigan as usual!

Addison has become a pool master, just give her a life jacket and she'll swim around all day.  Take the life jacket off and she can swim underwater to you for a few short feet.  She never tires!

Old school teeter totter at "The Depot" in Mason where we went out for my Birthday meal.  They had some KILLER blueberry pancakes!

it was far too hot for cake, so watermelon it is.  That and its my current summer obsession anyway!

all too excited to blow out candles.

refusing to leave the pool

She's calling him "My Harker" now, which is all too adorable.  Snacks before the John Ball Zoo.

you can't have a toddler and NOT ride the camel.

A little 4 wheeler time with Daddy

Ready for Grandma's house.  Both of her beloved Blankets and her new hat!

on my birthday a client offered to take us out to eat for lunch at Gandy Dancer here in Ann Arbor.  That meant dressing 'nice' which meant no scrubs for a day.  So I had to document that I bought these pants at 21 when I was getting ready to interview for 'real' jobs out of college.  10 years and a kid later and they still fit.  Major win for 31!

and last but not least, Seafood deliciousness.  Firekeepers Casino has an amazing seafood buffet!  Check it out!  I also put $20 in to my first machine, and got up to $114 in minutes...whoo for playing all night with only $40 I had!

We're getting the house and the yard ready for Addison's #3 party this coming Saturday.  Honestly I can't wait for it to be over :)  Parties are too much work.  But she will have a blast and that's really all that matters in the long run.

Swains Lake

When I was growing up we spent a week, EVERY SINGLE summer, camping out at Swains Lake in Concord, MI.  It was less than 15 miles from home but to us it was like a major vacation.  We camped along side the same family/friends year after year.  And even though I go now and see that it's really nothing special it will always be a special place to me that holds so many memories.  So of course when its hot out and you want to go cool off where you don't have to watch your child like a hawk for fear of her jumping immediately into a pool thats always too deep for her, we go to Swains Lake.  I still have to watch her like a hawk but at least if she goes down she has the ability to get herself back up so her face is out of the water!  This was our first trip of the year this past Saturday after being at the Zoo all day.  She liked being able to go into the water by herself and of course loved that someone abandoned their sand toys.   

WW longing for summer!

Already missing those end of summer days...Oh how I dread the weather to come.  The only way I could love Michigan more is if we could skip the endless months of freezing temperatures, freezing rain, wind chills and snow covered roads!

Summer Solstice, First Day of Summer 2011

Ask for summer and thou shall receive?  What a humid scorcher of a day.  Unfortunately our extra long daylight time was cut short by some brutal thunder storming, which I love so what-eve.

We decided a trip to my mom's pool was in order after work to help beat the heat.  Oh, how I love that they have a pool.  I would not have survived the last few weeks of pregnancy last year without that sucker to cool off in!  Addison must have inherited some of our love of the water cause that girl LOVES the pool.  Even an attempt to climb out of her floaty that landed her face first underwater today didn't make her fuss!  What a crazy kid!