Grandma Lynn and Grandpa John were a huge help in getting Jana and the kids up to the cottage because I was in Washington D.C. while they settled into the cottage. I showed up later that night. Grandma Lynn made sure that Kate had plenty of kisses (the grandmas do a good job with that).
Grandpa John gave Kate her evening cup of milk. We've got a fair number of pictures of Drew, but Kate was much easier to get in a picture.
The next morning Drew and Kate were thrilled to explore the cottage and to find that I was at the cottage with them. Everywhere I turned, Drew and Kate were right there next to me. They were holding each other cutely as they looked out the window of the cottage, but they never looked cute at the same time!!
I coaxed a smile from Drew and managed to capture it on camera. Yay!
Jana captured one of our best photos yet of Kate. Kate has a great smile and Jana captured it well in this photo.
For our first trip down to the beach (we were right on Lake Michigan), Kate decided to rock the bikini. It loses a little of its effect with the diaper sticking out, but she still wears it well. Jana found that this was a very convenient outfit for diaper changes, although not one we'll have Kate wear regularly!
I like how in this picture you can see that Jana and Kate have on sweatshirts, while Drew is shirtless. Drew and I were both sans shirts and were plenty warm. It's going to be interesting regulating temperature for our family in the future!
Last year Drew threw sand into the water overhand, but this year underhand was the method of choice. Either way, lots of sand got returned to the lake!
Initially, Kate did NOT like the feel of the sand, so she was decked out in shoes, socks, and all her clothes. Once fully clothed, she roamed the beach with confidence.
You can see her looking down at the sand wondering about it and not quite sure if its a good surface to be walking on. For the first day or two her most common expression on the beach was dubious.
Drew and Kate had lots of fun getting buckets of water and then dropping sand into the bucket, splashing in the bucket, or dumping the water out.
Big brother Drew got big laughs from sticking his face in the bucket of water a few times.
Kate is slowly growing some hair, but it's a lengthy process for her to get some hair. I have to be careful to label pictures like this because without an outfit on, we have trouble telling which child is in the picture.
Drew and I built a large sand castle . . . that Drew started destroying as soon as we were finished. We spent quite a while working on it together though, and we had fun mixing water into our "cement" (sand). Drew helped me smooth it out, move sand around, and build it higher and higher. We were both covered with sand by the end.
Drew doing some demolition work. Kate came over to help as well.
Kate didn't have much desire to go in the water, so most often she was at the beach in a sun dress and her shoes. Can't touch the sand with bare feet!!!
Drew was in and out of the water a lot, especially to retrieve all the sticks he threw into the water. In general, the water was very cold while we were there, so Drew and I were the only ones swimming.
As the week went on Kate ventured into the water, but at the beginning she was happiest being held. These are my two favorite women!
Jana dipped Kate's toes down in the water . . . and Kate tolerated it all right. In her defense, the water was very cold.
Drew, on the other hand, got nice and wet going in and out of the water. Who would have thought that playing fetch with yourself could be so much fun? :)
Another day at the beach, another dress and hat outfit for Kate.
With a little coaxing, Kate braved the water. Once we got her going into the water she was constantly in and out of it.
Jana is sharing her dessert with Drew. They were both enjoying it!
Kate poses like this a lot. That girl is going to be flirt someday. She's pretty good at the chin dip and eyelash batting smile. The teenage years are going to be fun.
Grandma Sue grabbed Kate for her bedtime story. My family came up for a day at the cottage as well. It was fun to share our cottage experience with our families.
There was a wonderful municipal park in Ludington that we visited a couple times. Drew and Kate loved it. Kate is absolutely fearless and climbs ladders and stairs all over the structure. It's so weird to see a relatively small 15-month-old clambering all over a play structure. Here she is on her way up the structure.
Once Kate gets to the top, she flops onto her stomach and goes down the slide on her own. It's quite the sight!
At the bottom, Kate gets onto the ground, walks around to the stairs and goes back up again. She's very independent!
Drew is a climbing machine and he was all over the place. He can climb anything with ease and he's very sure-footed.
Kate is totally fearless and has no regard for heights. We need to keep an eye on her! A very close eye.
Drew and Kate enjoyed riding on this toy together. Drew was a little forceful with moving it back and forth, so Jana helped Kate hang on for dear life.
We enjoyed taking walks on the beach as a family after supper. Most of our evenings were gorgeous!
Drew loved walking around the beach in his pants and bare feet.
Kate usually got a ride from either me or Jana because she'd get distracted by stomping in the water. The goal was to actually walk at least a little bit.
Drew made sure the beach was clean by throwing things into the water. Throwing things into the water never gets old!
Occasionally, we let Kate down for a little walking. She loved walking with mom along this little stream that fed into Lake Michigan.
Where Drew went, Kate was not far behind. She loves to follow her big brother around. As she walks along, she says, "Drew! Drew! Drew!"
Our annual footprints in the sand photo now including Kate. Her little foot doesn't really press into the sand, so we had to help out a little by scratching the sand where her foot was.
It was not very busy on the beach and we often had large stretches to ourselves. It was beautiful!
Kate enjoyed climbing in and out of this bin. She was so tremendously pleased with herself the first time she stepped into it and plunked herself down.
Kate has also been enjoying reading, just like her big brother, and she'll sit and read to herself for extended periods of time. We appreciated how independent both Kate and Drew were on our trip. Jana and I had plenty of time to relax without having to always interact with the kids.
We had some beautiful sunsets and we also had some evenings when the whole sky was purplish-pink. It was fun to have the kids in bed and for Jana and I to read and watch the sun set each evening.
Before leaving we had to take a couple more photos with Lake Michigan in the background. Drew was a rock star on these pictures and smiled nicely. It was a treat!
We couldn't be too picky using the self-timer on the camera, but we were happy to get a shot of all four of us when we were at least looking at the camera. Not a great picture, but we'll call it a success.
It was tough to go back to reality after a week of relaxing fun! We've done several more things since our vacation, so I'll be posting those pictures when I get the chance.
We enjoyed taking walks on the beach as a family after supper. Most of our evenings were gorgeous!
Drew loved walking around the beach in his pants and bare feet.
Kate usually got a ride from either me or Jana because she'd get distracted by stomping in the water. The goal was to actually walk at least a little bit.
Drew made sure the beach was clean by throwing things into the water. Throwing things into the water never gets old!
Drew moved a LOT on our walks. He was a constant blur of motion moving from one area to the next. He especially loved splashing through shallow water and getting his clothes soaking wet. There's something very satisfying about that, isn't there?
Occasionally, we let Kate down for a little walking. She loved walking with mom along this little stream that fed into Lake Michigan.
Where Drew went, Kate was not far behind. She loves to follow her big brother around. As she walks along, she says, "Drew! Drew! Drew!"
Our annual footprints in the sand photo now including Kate. Her little foot doesn't really press into the sand, so we had to help out a little by scratching the sand where her foot was.
It was not very busy on the beach and we often had large stretches to ourselves. It was beautiful!
Kate enjoyed climbing in and out of this bin. She was so tremendously pleased with herself the first time she stepped into it and plunked herself down.
Kate has also been enjoying reading, just like her big brother, and she'll sit and read to herself for extended periods of time. We appreciated how independent both Kate and Drew were on our trip. Jana and I had plenty of time to relax without having to always interact with the kids.
We had some beautiful sunsets and we also had some evenings when the whole sky was purplish-pink. It was fun to have the kids in bed and for Jana and I to read and watch the sun set each evening.
Before leaving we had to take a couple more photos with Lake Michigan in the background. Drew was a rock star on these pictures and smiled nicely. It was a treat!
We couldn't be too picky using the self-timer on the camera, but we were happy to get a shot of all four of us when we were at least looking at the camera. Not a great picture, but we'll call it a success.
It was tough to go back to reality after a week of relaxing fun! We've done several more things since our vacation, so I'll be posting those pictures when I get the chance.
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