14 months -Annie!

Yep...time is flying by! Here is what's she's up to:

• still mischievous....we are always watching her carefully as she likes to put things in her mouth (stones and crayons on vacation - yikes) and likes to climb the stairs whenever she wants.
  
• She is very decisive...if she wants something she really lets you know what it is. She gets frustrated when she can't say the words but I am sure those words aren't too far away. She is very easily understood though and communicates very easily
  
• follows directions great - she picks things up quickly. For example, I usually pull her in the wagon while Mia's rides her bike in the afternoon and the other day right before we got to our house she took the garage opener and opened it up on her own! She gets really upset too if you tell her "Annie want to go for a walk" she will go right to the hallway and get her shoes and expect to go THAT second...too cute
• eating and drinking great....she likes pretty much everything we give her, really loves watermelon, grapes, meats, peas, corn, bananas, yogurt, applesauce....the usual!
• very social, she loves when we are out and sees other kids. She plays great and really likes to be apart of whatever is going on.
  

Moos like a cow!!!!!

Mia hugging her lil sis








Mia and mom at millenium park





Annie at the Frankfort museum this week

4th of July fun

Happy 4th of July! We celebrated with most of our family up at the summer house for a long and fun weekend! We all got up to the summer house early Saturday, hung out, enjoyed the pool then watched the fourth of July parade from our front yard. We had a huge BBQ and enjoyed the night, we also had a birthday cake for Uncle Chris. We saw the fireworks from the road. Sunday the guys took a kayaking trip on the Dowagiac river and the girls took the kiddos to St. Joe's to enjoy the splash park, beach playground, carousel and lunch! We then came back and a group of us went to a few wineries while another group stayed back to watch the kiddos. We ordered pizzas and had a bonfire and lots of laughs. Monday everyone went home.

When we got home we had a bbq with the girls then took them to Dairy Queen for a fourth of July treat. It was a great weekend and so nice to have had everyone together. Who was there: Aunt Kelly, Uncle Jason, Christopher, Papa, Aunt Christie, Uncle Chris, Papo, Grandma, Bosco, Charlie, Banyan, Mia, Annie, Mom and Dad.

Christopher and Mia had a great time together - they are two peas in a pod and just played and stayed together the entire time. We made them a little nest in the living room and they had fun sleeping over together. Annie is very interested in them and their play but mostly hangs out with mom and dad. The kids all loved the pool and just being together.


























Mia and Annie were really happy that Aunt Christie stayed with us last week for a few days. She was in town early and so was Aunt Kelly for our Eddie Vedder concert. That was such a great night, we spent the night downtown after the show and Grandma stayed with the girls for a fun sleepover. Mia and Annie adore their Aunt Christie, she played and read to them and they had so much fun just hanging out with her.

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Location:Dowagiac, mi

Up north

Last Thursday we took the girls for their first trip up north to Caporale's cottage. The patterson's joined us for our annual vacation together. The girls all had a great time playing on the beach, making s'mores at the campfire, rolling down the hill at the harbor and playing together. It was a nice, relaxing long weekend that we all enjoyed!














































































































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Location:Harrisville, mi

swimming update

Mia was promoted to Level 1 swimming last week. On Monday she moved up to the big pool. She is really enjoying it and learning to float and kick.

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summer fun

Mia painting her father's day gift - a picture frame with a photo of both girls for Daddy's office.

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teeth

Annie's molars have all broken through within the last few weeks. First it was her bottom right and top right...then her top left and now her bottom left. Bring on the food!

ballet, tap, swimming and biking!

Mia has been keeping busy this summer. Today was her last ballet/tap class for her first session and so the kiddos put on a mini recital for the parents. It was SUPER cute. Daddy left work early and surprised Mia by coming..and bringing her flowers! They did a little ballet dance, tap dance then a free style dance to "Dance Anyway You Want To" which was Mia's favorite! We video taped all but will upload a little bit of her tap.

She also started her swim lessons this week and loves them. They are for the next two weeks and I am hoping she will really learn some skills. So far they are working on kicking, scooping the water, jumping in and moving around the pool.

Finally, Mia has mastered pedaling her tricycle this week. We went around the block a few times, just a few days ago she could only pedal barely past our house....now she is pedaling fast. Pretty soon she will be riding her big girl bike.