Summer Road Trip - Brantingham Lake (July 4 - 24)

On the 4th, we enjoyed the company of the Osterhaudt's. Mike and Marty (the big kids)enjoy playing with us, while Mikey, Matt, and Margaret play nicely with Mariana and Marcus. Ava throws the whole thing off by having a name that doesn't start with M.

Mikey LOVES Ava.

The kids enjoying dinner on the deck.

Mariana and Margaret were great, helping Ava walk all around camp.

Uncle Ryan with two happy girls on the dock. We enjoyed a lot of dock days, compared to our 1 1/2 dock days during the Summer of Dreariness, last year.

Our longtime friend, Jason, stopped by to visit with us. It was great to see him and catch up.

Mariana is already a lake girl. She was in her bathing suit shortly after breakfast and played in the water for HOURS.

Ava welcomes the Korbers to the dock.

Helping Daddy finish working on Grandma's hardwood floor.

Marcus-Man, hard at work doing some coloring on the dock. Overseeing the job: robot.

Having recently learned how to pee standing up, Marcus took full advantage behind the boathouse. Mariana didn't want to be left out of the ever-so-cool "Boathouse Potty Club" so she would drop her suit and pop a squat too. :)

Early in the week, Mariana would barely get her face wet. Pretty soon, she was jumping off the floating dock, putting her face in, blowing out her nose, and going all the way under water!

One cool dude.

Enjoying homemade margs. (Photo courtesy of Marcus. Hat courtesy of Meg, circa 1996).

One cool dude + another cool dude = great company.

I LOVE Louie's margs!

Ava was baptized in a private ceremony on Thursday, the 8th. She wore a dress made from her Grandma Bogert's wedding dress and a bonnet that was her Great Grandpa Bogert's (almost 90 years old!).

The ceremony was beautiful. Fr. Chris did a magnificent job, included all of us, and made it really special.

Mommy's friends come to town! Kyle and Sophia, Ryan and Ava, Erin and Evy. (Not pictured, Gretchen and Greg) Gretchen and Erin are two of my very best friends and it was wonderful to spend the day with them and their families. Plus, the weather was beautiful!

Enjoying her snack on the deck with Daddy.

Playing with her new animal magnets.

Enjoying yet another day on the dock.

It took almost two weeks, but she finally discovered the stairs. And then we couldn't tear her away! We all made countless trips up and down the stairs. She even began to walk up them - BACKWARDS! What can I say, she's gifted (if not a little strange). :)

Enjoying a snack on the dock.

Playing in the water with Daddy.

Me and my girl.

Meeting a new friend, Hannah.

Another friend, Molly. Ava LOVES dogs and climbed right aboard our friends' boat to visit.

Sitting like a big girl in a chair just her size.

Playing with Pop-Pop.

On the tube with Pop-Pop and Grandma.

We dropped Ava at the dock and took Ryan's parents for a real ride!

Feeding bear in the high chair.


WHEW! Another round of blogging about our trip! I have to admit that I got a little tired of typing.

Next up, another visit with my Dad.

Summer Road Trip - Old Forge/Utica

On July 1st, we drove from PA to Old Forge to stay with my dad and Marylou at their place on First Lake. The weather was nice and we had a nice tour of First through Fourth Lakes on the boat.

Ava's not normally a snuggler, so I enjoyed EVERY minute of our cuddly boat ride.

Practicing her new "trick" at lunch with Grandpa - "CHEERS!"

"Cheers" with Mommy.

Love this!

Some father-daughter time on the ride back.

A true lake-girl at heart.

My cousin, Bill, got married on the 3rd and he and Jacquie had a beautiful reception at their place. A big tent, a great band played in the barn, and the weather was beautiful. PLUS, we got to see tons of other Obies. (Hi Jean!)

Cutie patooties! Playing with Sierra.

Doing some chalk drawing with Aunt Karen, Marcus-Man, Aunt Gretchen and Brandon.

A great time had by all!

In the next blog post - pics from our time at camp!

Summer Road Trip - PA Part 1

We left Florida on June 25th and stayed overnight in NC. With only one delay for construction (in PA, of course) we arrived at Ryan's parents' house at 5 on the 26th.

Ava was a great traveler. She played with each and every toy I stashed in the car, threw things all over the place, watched a few Baby Einstein DVD's, and only napped for 30 minutes at a stretch. But, all in all, it was a smooth trip.

There's a great new bike path near Ryan's sister's house and we went for a ride with the entire fam. Pop-Pop and Lane - paving the way.

Cousin Ainsley with her John Deer bike. :)

The girls got a ride back together.

At our friends' alpaca farm, we got to meet a one-day old baby 'packer.' It was really cute and would just start running for no apparent reason - kind of wobbly though.

That's Bella Donna, our 'packer,' poking her head out from behind Ryan. She's due with her second baby soon!

Playing Star Wars stuff with Lane.

Playing all sorts of girl things with Ainsley.

On our tour of the Byler farm, Ava got face-to-face with a 3-day old baby Brown Swiss.

While Lane and Ainsley were picking fresh peas, Ava was picking the grass. She had her first taste of fresh peas and loved them.

We had to visit the new calves before we left. This one slobbered all over her!

Watching Daddy and Pop-Pop build a new porch.

"Where'd the kitty go?" Ava LOVES Grandma's cat and chased it under this chair. She would then drop to her belly and army crawl toward the chair. It's pretty cute.

Lane and Ainsley played really nicely with Ava.

We left PA on July 1st and spent a few days with my dad in Old Forge before a family wedding in Utica. Those pics will be in the next round of the blog!