Warmin’ Up for Ladder Golf

Posted on July 31, 2014 by justeeni

Dan’s grandparents have a dog named Lady. Lady is pretty cute, pretty well behaved, and pretty friendly. But she hates it when birds get into the pine tree outside. She hates it so much that she jumps and bites branches off of the bottom of the pine tree. Then she barks and runs in circles with her eyes fixed on whatever bird has invader “her” tree.

The Saturday morning of the Dexter Family Reunion was rainy. Lydia didn’t mind because when we got to Gramma and Grampa’s house she got to play in the puddles in their driveway. We took Abby inside and watched as Lydia splashed in puddles and Lady barked at the birds. Grampa got in some good time holding Abby, and everyone enjoyed an extravagant potluck lunch.

Once all of that was over it was time for some serious competition. Lawn games were set up and everyone found a partner. Grampa kept score because Dexters are very competitive and there were prizes to be had. Uncle Gene and Gramma fought over who got to hold Abby.

I especially like this picture because it captures the heat of the moment: ladder golf newbies, a devestating miss on the cornhole game, and Dan warming up on the stationary bike.

At the end of the day Grampa rang the bell on his “train” (pulled behind a four wheeler and definitely not up to any safety codes) and the kids scrambled to get on. It was an intense ride but after the fact Lydia claimed to have enjoyed it, and no one was hurt (although we did blow a tire). Everyone was exhausted by the time we piled back into the car and it was a relatively quiet ride home.

This is a Fun Time!

Posted on July 29, 2014 by justeeni

We’re back from our up-North Traverse City vacation, and, while it was far from relaxing, we certainly enjoyed our time. We drove up late Wednesday night and took off again late Thursday morning to spend our first day in downtown Traverse.

After searching hopelessly for a (free) parking space, we settled in at the library and enjoyed a packed lunch on the Boardman River. Abby watched us eat for a while, then got down to roll around in the grass.

Then we loaded the girls into their strollers and began the long trek down town.

Dan and I had forgotten about the relatively new water playground put in along our walk. When we got there we schemed together for a while before asking Lydia, “Would you like to play?” She was hesitant at first, but once she got a little wet she started running around squealing and laughing and having a great time.

What happened next was rather epic. Lydia stood under the “waterfall” with water pouring down all around her. She held out her arms and yelled to no one in particular, “THIS IS A FUN TIME!”.

By now she was dripping and shivering, so we brought an end to the water playground fun and continued our walk out to the pier to enjoy the beautiful blue water and to watch some boats.

Then we walked a little more and came to a small stretch of beach. All of us, including Abby, felt the sand between out toes. Only Lydia ventured into the water, but we had to hold her back so she could continue to dry off. Silly parents that we were, we didn’t think to bring her a swimsuit, towel, or change of clothes.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through stores downtown, then headed back to Dan’s parents’ house for some dinner and some much needed rest.

Friday we packed into the car once more and drove all the way out to the peninsula after a somewhat spontaneous decision to pick cherries. (Some of you remember our cherry-picking adventure last year. This was far less adventurous but equally fun).

We spent a little more time downtown and visited some of my family with an adorable new baby. Then we met up with my family for dinner on the beach. This time I brought extra clothes for Lydia and assured her I would come in the water with her and swim as deep as she wanted to go. The water was cold, so no one joined us, and afterward both girls had to be bundled up to fight the shivers.

We spent the rest of the evening at my parents’ house chatting, while Lydia and Nana colored and played. We stayed out far too late, but everyone enjoyed their time and even slept through the night that night. 🙂

Saturday was our Dexter family reunion, but that deserves its own post.

We’re Off Again!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by justeeni

Yesterday we packed up some clothes, some food, and our girls and made the four-hour drive up North. This time we brought Dan with us too. For the next few days we’re planning on being “Traverse City tourists”. We’ll go to the beach, walk downtown, and spend some quality time with our families. Even as I write this, Lydia is having a blast with Grandma mixing colored sand and playing outside. Saturday is a big family reunion, so check back with us next week for lots of pictures of our trip. Happy weekend everybody, see you when we come back down!

Pretty Quilts and Measuring Spoons

Posted on July 1, 2014 by justeeni

This Saturday a couple of young ladies from church hosted a bridal shower for our friend, Rachel. Rachel and Peter are a sweet couple from our church who have known each other for years and will be getting married this August. It has been such a joy and a privilege to watch them grow from friends, begin a courtship, become engaged, and now anticipate their wedding. We are so excited for them!

Dan totally saw it coming all along.

After some snacks, a group of girls from church sang, “May the Mind of Christ My Savior.” They did a great job singing a beautiful hymn.

Our Pastor’s wife, Rachel’s future mother-in-law, gave a little talk. A big part of the talk was expressing our church’s excitement for the couple and telling Rachel how much we love her.

Then it was time for presents!

There were lots of kitchen items. Here, Rachel was telling everyone that she had just opened some measuring spoons.

Rachel is very sweet and thanked everyone for their gifts. This is her “thank you face”.

Her grandma framed a picture of a mountain in Alaska. Peter and Rachel plan on traveling through Alaska for their honey moon, and may even go hiking on the mountain pictured.

One of the last gifts Rachel opened was a very special quilt made by a family friend.

And, believe it or not, the next gift was another quilt made by another one of Rachel’s good friends.

Congratulations Rachel! We are looking forward to your wedding in less than two months!

Taylor Girls’ TC Escape

Posted on June 17, 2014 by justeeni

Well we’re back from our week up North. In all it was a great trip visiting family, relaxing, working on Abby’s quilt, and getting out of our basement “home”. And even though it was our first real time away from Dan, we pulled it off without any major catastrophes.

We started the trip off by meeting Dan’s Dad in Alma, about half of the way up North. Once we found the right gas station, we took a break to stretch our legs and transfer all of our luggage. (Even when we’re only going to be away for a week, and we’re without Dan, we still end up with a LOT of luggage.) Then Grandpa Taylor took us straight in to Bob Evans to grab a bite to eat and say “hello” to Grandma Taylor, who was working at the time.

Soon we were back on the road heading to my family’s house for the night. Lydia was getting pretty excited.

Monday was our big beach day. After stocking up on some beachy essentials (flip flops, sunglasses, a new outfit for Abby, and a beach umbrella), Nana took us all (Lydia, Abby, and myself, Aunt Christina, and cousins Colten and Coby) to the beach where we met up with Aunt Steph, Uncle Nate, and Uncle Tim. It was the first time all of the Carlson kids have been at the beach together since who-knows-when, and it was a lot of fun.

It wasn’t long before Coby found a nice stick.

And Lydia taught the cousins her favorite beach game: throwing sand into the water.

At one point a family of ducks came walking right in the middle of our family’s circle on the sand. I couldn’t believe how close they got! You’ll notice the duckling in the picture is almost sitting right on top of Uncle Tim’s foot.

Nana got in some good Abby-holding time.

And I did too. It was so nice to be back at the beach again.

Lydia looked right at home on the beach with her new sunglasses and flip-flops.

When we got home that night there was a big pile of dishes to wash. Lydia insisted on helping Nana with them.

Tuesday we took it easy at home. It was a cooler day, but Lydia and her cousins had fun playing with Papa in the back yard. Afterwards, Lydia and Colten “helped” Papa edit some of the videos from the latest Disney trip.

When Nana got home from work that night, Lydia got to open her birthday present.

Then Papa took us to visit all of the great-grandparents. This was the first time Abby got to go to her Great Grandma Carlson’s house.

Great Grandma’s may not be the place to find all sorts of toddler toys, but Lydia was pretty happy playing with a rug and a pillow, pretending to nap.

Wednesday morning we packed up again and Grandma Taylor picked us up and brought us out to her house. She surprised Lydia with a “big girl bed” but Lydia calls it her “little bed”.

There was also a tricycle waiting for Lydia. Grandma had a lot of fun giving Lydia trike lessons. After a while she seemed to be getting the hang of it.

Thursday Grandma got in some quality time with Abs…

And Lydia.

It was hot enough to spend some time outside, so after planting some sunflowers, Lydia changed into her swimsuit and had a blast splashing in Grandma’s kiddie pool. Then she found the hose and watered her newly planted sunflowers.

In the afternoon, Great Gramma and Grampa came to visit with Great Aunt Debbie.

Abby tried out Aunt Debbie’s Tigers hat.

For dinner, Grandma and Grandpa had the idea to make homemade Qdoba. Lydia loved getting a big burrito all to herself.

Thursday was also the night Lydia figured out how to peddle the tricycle.

Friday was chilly so we ran some errands and took Lydia to her first garage sales. She brought that big white purse everywhere we went.

Much to our surprise and delight, Dan took half a day off work and surprised us when he walked in the door about six hours earlier than we expected him.

It was perfect timing because he was able to join us for a belated birthday dinner for Lydia. Grandpa grilled and we enjoyed a delicious meal followed up by some Lydia-approved dessert.

Saturday was bittersweet as we packed up and said our goodbyes. It was totally out of character for her, but Abby slept the whole way home.

Signing Off

Posted on June 6, 2014 by justeeni

This Sunday Dan is packing up his girls (including me) and shipping us off to Traverse City for a break from our basement dwelling. It should be a fun time. We’ll be leaving the computers all at home, so I won’t be posting any updates next week, but stay tuned for a (probably picture-ful) report from our trip.

In the meantime I have some more cute Lydia-stories for you to enjoy. This Sunday will be Pentacost Sunday so I asked Lydia if I could video tape her telling the story of The Book of Acts (using this book). Enjoy!

…To Grandmother’s House We Go!

Posted on March 18, 2014 by justeeni

Thursday morning we all got up early, packed our bags, and headed North. I wasn’t very faithful in my picture taking throughout the trip (completely missed Aunt Christina and the cousins, Uncle Nate and Aunt Steph, and Lydia’s great grandparents on my mom’s side), but here’s a glimpse into the good time we had.

A long drive, a fussy baby, some delicious burritos, a visit with Aunt Christina and her boys, and more driving brought us FINALLY to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Lydia loved a special toy from Grandma: an old purse stuffed with sunglasses and a broken cell phone.

There was a lot of reading.

And it should be noted that a significant portion of this trip was spent trying to keep Abby from staring at bright lights. You’ll notice in the picture above that she was succeeding.

Lydia gorged herself on homemade guacamole.

During the Carlson Christmas celebration, Uncle Tim serenaded Abigail with his guitar.

Lydia got a piano and played us some tunes. The poor piano didn’t fit in our car so we’re waiting for the next visit to bring it home.

Then Lydia tried her hand at Uncle Tim’s guitar.

Nana and Papa got in some seriously needed snuggle time with Abby.

And Nana read more Lydia more books.

Lydia gorged herself on blueberries too.

And the great grandparents finally got to meet Abigail.

It was so good to finally, finally make it up to see everybody and let them see (and read to, play with, and snuggle) the girls. Now we’re all home again, safe and sound. There was a lot of laundry to catch up on and we all needed some good long naps. Traveling with kiddos is no easy task, but the memories will last a lifetime.

Over the River and through the Woods

Posted on March 13, 2014 by justeeni

The bags are packed. The Christmas presents are finally wrapped. The snow has come, but we are going North to Grandma’s (and Grandpa’s and Nana’s and Papa’s)!

This is our 7th attempt to get together with my family to celebrate Christmas, and introduce everyone to Abby…outside an isolette. All week Lydia has woken up from every nap and bedtime yelling, “Grandpa Grandma’s House!” and we’ve had to remind her, “yep, in three days…two days…tomorrow”.

To prepare for the trip, Lydia dressed up in her “going North outfit”, my fancy schmancy raincoat (from the time I went to Africa), a small purse from a dear friend (containing her toy cell phone and a hair bow), and Mom’s high heels (which Mom never wears, but Lydia puts to good use).

There is a long car ride in store. Fun to be had. Pictures to come.

We are ready.

2013 Carlson Family Reunion

Posted on August 21, 2013 by justeeni

This weekend, we had our first ever Carlson family reunion at my sister and brother-in-law, Christina and Matthew’s, house. Everyone arrived Friday night for hotdogs, s’mores, and reminiscing around the campfire. Most spent the night in tents in the back yard, but Dan, Lydia, and I slept inside (pregnancy privilege!).

Dad started a fire, Dan oversaw with the hatchet, the ladies chatted and watched the kiddos, and soon everyone had eaten a hotdog or two (or three, in the case of Lydia).

Lydia went to bed earlier than everyone else, but before she did, she had a chance to play with her cousin, Colten. They played in the sandbox, shared a toy truck, and threw the football back and forth with Dan.

The next morning we all got up and went for a short walk to McDonald’s for some breakfast. On the way back to the house, we ran into Matthew, who had been given the morning off from working on the farm.

Once we had all made it back to the house, and the kiddos and pregnant mommy took our potty breaks, we loaded up the cars to go to a nearby park and ball field. Dad, Matthew, Dan, and Tim spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon playing some baseball, much to Dan’s delight. Steph and Nate’s dog, Alice, joined in on the fun. And Christina, Colten, and Lydia took their turns as well.

Meanwhile, my mom, Steph, and I were hanging out over on the playground with Baby Coby and Colten and Lydia, when they weren’t off playing ball. Lydia developed a game that involved picking up dirt and pouring it on everyone’s feet, and kept herself entertained for quite a while.

As the ballgame wound down a little, some of us headed over to a nearby farmer’s market. My mom bought a jar of pickles to go with lunch, and Christina and I shared some incredibly juicy and delicious peaches.

Then it was back to the house where the ladies prepared meat and veggie packets and Tim grilled them to perfection.

As Lydia took a nap, the rest of us spent the hottest part of the day swimming in Matthew and Christina’s pool. I’ve been wanting to go swimming for ages, so this was my favorite part of the reunion! When everyone had cooled down sufficiently, we moved back into the shade for a few rounds of Catch Phrase.

The cousins played some more with Colten’s toys. Colten couldn’t understand what we were all doing just sitting in a circle when there was a bat and ball to play with.

Lydia grabbed the Boppy and wanted to know why she couldn’t hold Coby.

And Coby just sat and looked cute.

Soon it was time to pack up and head home. We made it home, tired and happy, just in time for a late supper. Overall, I’d say the 2013 Carlson Family Reunion was a great success. We’re hoping to make it an annual tradition.

Our Trip to the Camping Trip

Posted on August 12, 2013 by justeeni

Today is rainy and cold, but this weekend the weather was absolutely perfect for our annual church camping trip. Dan and I didn’t actually camp, but we spent the day on Saturday out at the campground. It was a bit of a long drive, and we were running later than originally planned, so we put a gift card to good use and ate on the road.

Once we got to the campground, Dan immediately began scouting for a group of people who wanted to run around. Instead, he found a few willing baseball players. So he got to enjoy some baseball. Lydia even got to play a little, and when she wasn’t playing, she was sitting with me eating raisins. Don’t be fooled by the picture, she was having a grand time.

After a while, Lydia wanted to go over to the playground. So we spent a little bit of time swinging and then walked down to the lake. The water was a bit frightening at first, but she enjoyed throwing wet sand into it to make a splash.

Later in the afternoon, we had the annual church camping trip baptism service, where we had the priviledge of witnessing eight baptisms!

To wrap up the evening, we had some dinner and visited with various families at their campsites. We stayed late and had to spend the rest of the weekend resting and recovering, but it was a great time.