Drew obviously likes the standing up sometimes. He will chat and give us some big grins while he's standing.
This past weekend we left early on Saturday morning (6 a.m.) and drove up to Rivermouth campground in Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the Upper Peninsula. Drew survived the five and a half hour car trip with one feeding stop along the way. He did really well in the car, but he was happy to be held by us after so long in his car seat. We camped with Nate and Meg, Dan and Sandra, and Laurie and Sascha. We spent two nights camping in a tent with Drew and left early Monday morning.This is our tent in the campground. The campground is nicely wooded and the rustic sites are nice and big. It's a great place to go camping.
Here is the view of the Tahquamenon River from our campsite. The setting was absolutely beautiful!
Drew loved being in the tent with Jana and me. We took him into the tent for his feedings, and in the midst of a busy weekend with lots of firsts for Drew, he loved the time in the tent with just the three of us.
After all the excitement of the drive and being his farthest away from home ever, Drew needed an afternoon nap with Jana to recover.
Drew still wasn't done sleeping, so he snuggled in with Jana and took an evening nap as well. Drew was pretty thrown off by the change of pace on Saturday, so Jana and I held him most of the evening and let him take lots of naps.
Saturday night we wrapped Drew in several layers and gave him a hat to counter the cold. He stayed nice and warm, slept great in the tent, and loved being inside the tent with us. 
On Sunday morning we awoke to a light rain in the campground (to be expected when camping :) Drew and Jana weathered the rain with the help of their matching Michigan State hoodies.
Everyone huddled under the canopy, cooked breakfast, and enjoyed hot coffee while we waited for the rain to stop. Drew found the picnic table was a great place to practice standing.
In the afternoon, the rain cleared and we decided to head to Tahquamenon Falls for a hike.
We paused for a family picture by the lower Tahquamenon Falls. You can't see them, but there were clouds of mosquitoes that forced us to abandon our hike and head back to the cars. The mosquitoes were terrible!
Laurie and Sascha joined us for weekend. Laurie and Sascha are engaged! Congratulations!
On Sunday night Drew was in a great mood, so we used the opportunity to get some photos and to pass him around. Isn't Drew cute with his bare legs and feet!?
Sandra enjoyed holding Drew when he was smiling and talking.
They had a great conversation!
This was the favorite activity of the men during the weekend, Baggo. To play Baggo you throw bean bags onto a sloped board and try to get the bags to either stay on the board (one point) or go into the hole (three points). You can see one of the boards next to Dan. Nate was the Baggo champion and he won almost every single game!
Dan and I still had smiles on our faces, even though we don't like getting beaten by Nate all the time.
Nate took a break from dominating the Baggo play to hold Drew.
Drew went to Meg next, and he continued to chat and smile for Meg!
Drew slept quite soundly on Monday morning while Jana and I packed up our tent and loaded up the car to make the trip back to Lansing. We tried to get an early start back to beat traffic.
On the way home, we stopped at Straits State Park to feed Drew. Of course, we also needed a photograph of Drew with the Mackinac Bridge in the background. He was so interested in the scenery that he couldn't be bothered to look at the camera.
Drew was excited to be home after the weekend away and to just hang out with me in the afternoon. He was laughing so hard that I had a hard time getting a picture of him doing a "normal" smile!
Drew needed a break from all the laughing and started to get tired of sitting up, so he leaned over a bit (before I righted him again).
Drew was chatting away telling me all about everything he did during the weekend. It was a busy weekend!
We think Drew has begun teething because he's been drooling like crazy and he really likes to chew on just about anything he can get his hands on (including his hands!). He's also gotten a little more fussy lately and sometimes he's been harder to calm down when he cries.
After being a little stinker and crying for Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill the ENTIRE time we were with our church small group on Monday night (we think Drew might have been out of sorts from the busy weekend), Drew calmed down once we got home. When it was just the three of us, Drew even managed some smiles and talking.
Drew is presenting a new challenge for us because he's cried for a couple of babysitters in the past few weeks, especially in the evening. We're flattered that he enjoys our company so much, but we'd like him to be better for his babysitters!
It didn't take long though, and Drew was ready for bed. He had a busy weekend and needed to get to bed! (so did his parents!)
You can't see the Spartan "S" on the sleeve, but we are continuing to groom Drew as a Spartan (and a Wolverine too). He seems pretty happy here to be dressed in Spartan green and his big boy jeans.
Last night after our conversation (maybe about the mysteries of the progesterone receptor) I couldn't get Drew to calm down through holding him, bundling him, putting a pacifier in, talking to him, walking him . . . nothing worked! Then I tried putting him in front of the TV to watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" and he calmed right down. TV is magic!
