Happy Birthday Anna!

Yesterday (Aug 25) was Anna's birthday! (go ahead, sing a little tune of Happy Birthday in your mind). She started the day waking up at 6am to do a 10 mile run (sound fun to anybody?). I had surprised her by hanging up the birthday banner the night before after she went to bed. She had a nice long run through what felt like a sauna with 94% humidity. When she came home from her run a yummy breakfast was waiting for her that out neighbor Amy had made, then she opened her gift with a hand made card from Jayda, Addison and me. We took a little trip to Costco in the afternoon, then last night we dropped off the kids with some friends and went to dinner and saw the movie "Hairspray". Anna loved the movie, the movie theater had so much energy with teenagers who were dancing and everyone was clapping, a little much for me but Anna thought it was fun. Overall it was a nice day for her and a good birthday celebration.
As part of her birthday celebration, several of her friends took her out on Thurs night to get ice cream. Our Michigan friends are so good at making birthdays a special time and making sure there is a celebration.
Anna wants to thank everyone that sent cards, e-mails, or called to wish her a happy birthday.

All shook up

It has been a very rainy and thunder filled week here in Michigan. It seems like it has rained almost every day for at least a week, some days very heavy! In the last week we have had one flood warning, numerous severe thunderstorm warnings, and on Friday night there were actually 3 tornadoes that touched down about 30 minutes north of where we live. It is such a crazy experience here- you can look outside on a cloudy day, and within minutes the sky turns dark gray almost black, the rain just starts to pour out of the sky, and then comes the lightning and thunder. It seems like the lightning strikes are all around your house, and the thunder shakes your house just to make sure you know how close this storm is. It is scary, and you want to run and hide in the basement. Sometimes they last for quite awhile, and other times it is over in 5 minutes.
That has been what our week is about this week. Hard to plan anything outside, or let the kids out for too long- it is just soggy and wet all the time.

Kids say the funniest things...

Kids say the funniest things sometimes, and every time Jayda says something funny I mean to write it down, or I think that I should hurry and put in on our blog....but I usually forget and then it is too late. I did have two experiences this week that I thought were entertaining- one was cute, and the other very funny. So I am going to share them both with whoever is reading our blog these days.



I wear scrubs to school almost everyday. There are several reasons- comfort, easy to wash often and not iron, cool temperature in summer, etc... I put on my scrubs the other morning and came walking down the stairs. Jayda looked at me confused for a second (I guess I haven't worn them in a few weeks) and she said to me "Daddy, what are you wearing?". I replied "these are my school clothes, it is what I wear everyday." She then smiled and said "Oh yeah, those are your school pajamas!!" and then walked away. I thought it was funny, and kind of true at the same time. She must realize that most pajamas are very similar and that they are just as comfortable.

The other story is the funniest of all. I was in our upstairs bathroom waiting for Jayda to come up for her bath. I was watching her walk up the stairs when all of a sudden she stopped, looked to her side and behind her and said "whoa" with a very confused look on her face. I thought nothing of it and just waited. She took a few steps more, and then the same thing, she stopped walking, looked to her side and behind her and just said "whoa" with a bewildered look on her face. This time I decided to ask her what the excitment and confusion was about. She looked at me with sweet little innocent eyes and told me "Daddy, my bum is talking!"- I had to control myself from bursting out in laughter, I looked at her and just asked her "well, what is it saying". "I don't know Daddy" she replied in confusion, "but my bum is talking to me". I couldn't keep it in any longer and just started to laugh. Such a cute little girl trying to understand what her bum is saying to her.

Clapping, School & Running

We have two exciting things to share about Addison this week. The first is she has started to clap! It is so cute to watch. It almost looks like it’s an accident and then she will do it again and again, so I am convinced it is purposeful movements. She keeps one hand still and moves the other hand to meet it. So fun to watch her discover a new trick, you can tell she is so proud of herself by the smile on her face.



The second bit of exciting new about Addison is that she finally took a nap longer than 40 min.! She actually had a two-hour morning and a two-hour afternoon nap today. I know this is probably not very exciting for most of you, but if you have ever had a short napper you can understand my frustration. I was just about at the end of my rope with her naps and she shocks me with 2 two-hour naps. I feel like that happens a lot in parenting, kids push you until your just about to throw in the towel and then they surprise you by doing what you have been asking for. I’m just hoping that we continue to have success with her naps tomorrow.

Todd starts fall semester tomorrow. Part of me is dreading it and the other part is like bring it on, lets just do this and get it over with. It will be a busy and stressful school year for him. He is in his last year so things are good, but he has a lot to do for graduation requirements, national board exams, and applications to Pediatric programs. I think it is going to make it all go by fast though. It makes me sad to have summer end, I love fall but I know winter will be here soon after.

I fell like a lot of my time lately has been spent training for the St. George marathon and recovering from my runs. I ran 16 miles on Saturday, when I think about it I’m amazed that I was able to go that far, but then I think to run the marathon I’m going to be adding 10 miles onto that! I just need to take it one-step at a time, I’m sure everything will be just fine. My goal this week is to be able to walk down the stairs forward not side ways griping on to the handrail for dear life. I’m so sore!

Crazy Pictures

Just having a little fun with the built in camera on out computer. Jayda absolutely loves it! She will sit on a chair and make us turn on the camera so she can make funny faces, or see two of herself, or see us in funny colors, etc...

Niagara Falls

We took a trip to Niagara Falls this week for a few days. It was a fun trip for us and one we are glad we did. Todd hasn't been since he was very young (and doesn't remember it). Anna went 6 years ago with her sisters and dad, but they just spent one day there. Our original plan was to camp, but as the time got closer we changed our mind due to the fact that it was supposed to be so hot during the day. It was going to be upper 80's to low 90's with 80% humidity, and no relief at night. We decided that would be too hard for sleeping and no chance of the girls getting naps during the day. So, we got a hotel on the Canadian side and spent 2 nights there instead.
Niagara Falls is very pretty, and also very touristy we decided. The streets on the Canadian side are full of large hotels, casinos, and tourist traps. We felt like we were visiting a combo between Las Vegas and Disneyland. Once you get to the view of the falls it is all very pretty though and worth it.
Our trip had varying weather- from a torrential downpour while we drove through Canada, to blistering muggy heat the next day, to more rain the day after. Luckily our one full day there was the only day it didn't rain.



Our trip included a stop at "Journey Under the Falls" where you take and elevator down to some tunnels that are under the Horseshoe Falls and get a close up view of them. They give you some sweet yellow ponchos to wear so you don't get too wet. You can even take them home as a souvenir if you want to. Here are two photos of us with the yellow ponchos. Jayda loved having hers on.





Later the same day we also took a trip to the Butterfly Conservatory. They have literally thousands of butterflies flying around the room and landing on you while you walk. You are not supposed to touch them, but if they land on you it is ok. It was amazing how many varieties there were and how close to you they would fly and land. Addison was pretty tired and took a little nap before we went inside, I couldn't resist taking a picture of her sleeping in the backpack.





A nice group shot of us overlooking the American Falls.


No trip to Niagara would be complete without a trip on the Maid of the Mist boat ride. Jayda kept seeing the boats go up and back for 2 days and kept begging to "go on the boat". We finally took the trip and it was very wet and fun. We put a poncho over Addison in the backpack (making sure she could still breathe)- and we got a lot of comments and some strange looks. We all enjoyed it and Jayda thought it was pretty cool to wear poncho and get rained on by the waterfall.




After a 2 hour line to cross the border back into the US, we went to see the American side of the falls. Much less touristy and much more State Park nature reserve feeling on the US side. You can get much closer to the top of the falls, but get less of an overall view.


On our way home we decided to take the "scenic" route and stay in the US. Anna wanted more adventure (not sure it worked out that way) so we drove and stayed a night in Erie, PA., then the next day we stopped in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. It was fun to see, but not sure if worth the extra "adventure" time of driving with tired kids.

Our week

Our week was mainly filled with swimming everyday since it was quite a warm week here. Summer temperatures have been very mild so far this year and we have loved it. 70-80 degrees all summer, low humidity, and perfect to be outside anytime of day. That all changed this week with 90 degree temps and 70% (or higher) humidity. The only way to play outside was to go to the pool and swim every afternoon. Jayda absolutely loves it and every morning when she wakes up now she asks if we can go swimming. Addison also loves it, but she just likes to splash and doesn't really know what is going on. We didn't take any pictures of swimming this week though, sorry.

Jayda got a cute dress up skirt from our friends the Burns. She loves to wear it around the house (in her pajamas too) and talk about her pretty skirt and how good she looks.













Jayda got to play with her friend Eve Bryner this week. They had a lot of fun playing inside and outside. They were in the basement playing, and suddenly were giggling out of control. They both walked up the stairs with these baskets on their heads and thought it was the funniest thing ever. They also loved riding bikes outside and taking turns being the leader on the bike.



We taught Jayda to play UNO this week. She kind of understands the game, but only plays it for a few minutes before she looses her attention. She wants to play it all the time now, maybe we shouldn't have taught her about it so early.











Anna went to a movie this week for her friend Jan Parker's birthday. They went to the famous Michigan Theater here in Ann Arbor and saw "Becoming Jane". They are all big Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice fans so it was fun for them to see the movie together.







Todd finished summer semester this week and has a break for 2 weeks. He had finals last week, and then just a few more days of clinic until Wed when he finished. He is now home for a break and it is nice to have him around. Once he starts up again at the end of August, it is a busy year with a lot going on, so we will enjoy the short break.



This week we are going to Niagara Falls for a few days. Should be a fun trip and good weather so we are excited. We will make sure to add some photos to the blog after we get back.