Shawn's Family Visits

In early June Shawn's family came down to the lake for the weekend. We were thrilled to see everyone...especially since Shawn's brother and his family will be returning to Kenya in August. We spent most of the time on the water. Everyone was able to water ski and lounge around on rafts next to the boat. We had a great time learning how to play a card game called Foot and Mouth, though I have totally forgotten now how it goes...hopefully Jan can teach us again next week when we all get together in Texas! Here are the pics:

Big brothers always tell little brothers how to do everything!

The Hendricks Family (minus Rex) enjoying the water.

MeMa enjoying a sunset cruise.

Laura and me enjoying the breeze.

Our lovely niece Tiffany.

Steph and Titus saying 'cheese' for the camera!

We are all caught up now with our blogging. Check back in a day or two for Shawn's latest Fatherly Thoughts. Hope you are all having a good summer!

My Family Visits

In mid-June my grandparents and aunt were able to come out from Missouri for a visit. They just couldn't wait to see more of Laura and spend some time with us at home and at the lake. We had a great time the whole week they were here. Shawn was out of town, so Laura and I were able to spend an extra-long weekend at the lake to enjoy the weather and water. Here are some of the pics from our week...

Aunt Mary and Laura having a tea party at our house.

Great-grandma and Great-grandpa helping Laura play with the seashells on the beach.

Laura leading me around in the water. On a side note, she is getting very close to walking. She takes a few steps at a time and has great balance. We are expecting her to take off any day now.

Laura doing some reading on the deck...I guess she is ready to do some shopping!

Be sure to check back in a day or two for pictures of Shawn's family visit!

New York, New York

A few weekends ago Shawn, Laura and I joined my parents in a trip to Long Island to visit family. I had one cousin graduating from college and the other cousin graduating from high school. They were having a joint party so we were excited to attend as well as let my dad's side of the family meet Laura. Somehow I didn't end up with any pictures of the entire family - but needless to say - we had a great time visiting with everyone.

On Friday morning, my mom and I thought it would be fun to take the Staten Island ferry to Manhattan, have lunch, and then drive back to Long Island. I mean it is only a 40 mile drive, how long could it take? We packed up the car and hit the road with mom, dad, Shawn, Laura, Aunt Heidi, cousin Jenny, and me at about 10:00am. It took about 90 minutes to get to the ferry -- not bad, we thought. We all really enjoyed the ride and the views that it offered. We had a nice lunch in Battery Park and then took the ferry back to Staten Island. This time we had a wonderful view of the Statue of Liberty. We got to the car at around 2:00 and started to head home. Not long into our trip we realized that we were in for a looooooong ride. At just about 5:40 we pulled into our destination on Long Island -- almost 4 hours to go 40 miles!!! Laura had run out of food and entertainment several hours earlier and all of our ears were ringing from her cries. The fun of the ferry ride was almost forgotten due to the never-ending drive home...but it will always give us something fun to talk about!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again next summer as we celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday!!

Check back in a few days to see pictures of my grandparents and aunt's visit in June.

Happy 4th of July!!

I know it has been a long time since I last posted...but I have a good excuse! We have been crazy busy since the summer started. Things are slowing down just a bit for the next few weeks, but then pick up again at the end of the month.

Anyway...we hope you all had a great 4th of July celebration weekend. Shawn, Laura, and I spent the weekend with my parents at the lake. We participated in the small parade that goes around their neighborhood -- thus the decorated stroller and funny hat! (I think Laura thought we were all crazy!!) My mom, Laura and I had a really good time walking the route, while Granddad and Shawn took pictures, video, and waved like crazy when we walked by. We didn't win any prizes, but a good time was still had by all!

Laura also had a chance to see her first fireworks display. One of the more popular ways to view the fireworks at the lake is by boat. We did this several years ago -- and while it was fun and unique -- the drive home in the pitch black with hundreds of other boats was a little too frightening to try with Laura. And we weren't sure how she would react to the fireworks, anyway.

So Shawn, Laura and I decided to try to drive to the bridge where they shoot them off and see if we could get close enough to see anything. We were very surprised to find a grassy hill with a band playing and a place to lay out blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the show. Laura had a great time people-watching and playing while we waited.

Once the fireworks started she was enthralled. She pointed several times at the lights and made her little "ooooo" sound. Unfortunately, she got bored after about 10 minutes and we had to keep her actively engaged by pointing out the colors, shapes, noises, etc. Since it is a smaller town the show wasn't too long and we were home and ready for bed by 10pm. Overall, it was a great day!

To catch up on the all the pictures and stories from our recent travels, I will be blogging several times this week. Check back in a few days to see pics from our quick trip to Long Island and NYC.