Hello Old Friend

Abby wanted to take a walk after dinner tonight and we wound up down by the locks, since she has a little bit of her Great Grandpa Steve in her and loves looking for the freighters. While we were down there she ran into her old friend - the Rodger Blough. She has some history with the old guy and a very nice picture of the first time they met.Olivia wasn't quite as impressed with the freighters. She slept through our whole adventure. It's too bad since we ended up watching three huge boats on the lower river and saw two pass within yards of each other. We also got to see a little tug boat taking things off the Rodger Blough while it was moving and putting more supplies on. Maybe it was laundry, or food... Either way Abby enjoyed her boat adventure.

Visiting the Locks

Yesterday we spend almost 3 hours at the Soo Locks watching the boats. This is Abby napping at the park. Grandma Jennie pushed her in the stroller until she fell asleep, then Grandma and I spend an hour watching the boats while Abby napped. Grandpa was up in the observation tower, but it wasn't stroller friendly and we wanted to sit in the sun.
This boat is the American Spirit - when we watched it leave the locks it blew its horn once, just like all the boats do. It scared Abby half to death and made her cry, but after a Grandma Jennie hug she was okay. We saw 3 big freighters in the locks, plus 3 tour boats, a sailboat, and a tugboat pulling a barge with a HUGE crane on it. And it was sunny and lovely.

Soo Locks and Beaches

We did lots of great things this weekend. These photos are from Friday night, when we walked down to the Soo Locks to watch some boats and to get a little exercise. We got to watch one boat head down into Lake Huron. It was a lovely evening, so we enjoyed just being outside. And, Abby had her first experience of laying in the grass. She wasn't too sure about it, or the freighter horns, but we had a great time.

Yesterday we drove down to Traverse City for a wedding. Steve's friend Greg Wagner from Steve's Tri-State days got married on the bay at the Bower's Harbor Inn. His new wife Stefanie looked beautiful, the weather was great, and we had a good time catching up with some old friends. Apparently the Inn is haunted, but we were pretty sure they were just trying to trick us. Nonetheless the wedding was wonderful. It was also wonderful to get to some stores - especially Sam's Club for lots of chicken and baby supplies. Abby loves to shop, so she really enjoyed that part. Unfortunately the big day created a little too much excitement for Abby and she didn't get a nap, so she was very tired and crabby by the end of the evening.

Today was perfect so we drove over a few miles to the shores of Lake Superior west of Brimley. We all enjoyed the beach, especially Maize. It was a "Maize Day" since she had to be home alone all day yesterday. She even managed to hold it all day - over 15 hours - so we had no accidents to clean up. She's a good dog. Abby wasn't too sure about the beach and couldn't quite nap, so we only stayed a couple hours before we headed home for a real nap. Tomorrow Abby's Aunt Hannah and Uncle Dan will be visiting, so it will be another trip to The Antlers so they can enjoy our best local cuisine.