Boat Racing and Movie Watching

It was a not so glorious day for boat racing in Sault Sainte Marie today. In fact, our weather has been down right crummy today. But, we did manage to catch the first race, the 0 to 200 horsepower division). After that we decided it was a great day to stay inside and catch up on a few new movies, so we went down to the local Family Video and rented some movies. Abby slept through our first feature for the day - hopefully she will wake up enough this evening that she will sleep all night tonight.

We did get some great boat photos. The rest are going to be loaded up on our flickr photo page for you to see.

Abby wanted to tell you a story today

Abby was telling stories this morning. We decided to share one of them with you. She is a very good story teller in the mornings and at night when the rest of her family is trying to sleep. Tonight we are taking Abby to her first parade ever, the Great Tugboat Race Parade. Tomorrow we are going to watch the boats racing in the St. Mary's River. It should be a very interesting afternoon. I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to share.

Today we are finishing the laundry so we can start thinking about what we want to take with us when we go "downstate" to visit all our family for the 4th of July. We also have to make a list of things we need to buy while we are down there that we can't get up here or can't get in the same quantities or at the better prices. I hope Sam's Club and Target are well stocked, because Abby is coming for supplies. It's kind of like being a pioneer and having to plan and purchase everything you'll need before you reach the next stop on the trail. Maize is requesting pig's ears and Abby is hoping to get stocked up on the Sam's Club brand wet wipes, since they are the best to carry in a diaper bag. I am thinking a nice big box of laundry detergent would beat having to keep buying the small boxes at the local WalMart.

Hopefully we will be seeing many of you soon!

Welcome Summer

It is finally warm up here. It's the 5th beautiful day in a row and we are enjoying our lovely summer weather. Abby has been able to wear her really cute summer outfits and sun suits and we have been enjoying walking outside.

Abby and her dad got a new toy last night - a Coleman roadtrip grill. We still need to put it together and get a propane tank, so we probably won't be grilling until Friday. Those yummy porkchops from Hannah and Emily's 4-H hogs will be meeting our new grill soon :)

This weekend there is The Great Tugboat Races here in Sault Sainte Marie. We are going to try to catch the racing action from one of the local parks. We also found out that one of Steve's co-workers has some connections with Mackinac Island, so we should be able to explore the island's historical sites without having to pay the extra fees. Of course, there is still the pesky ferry boats and that extra expense. But, we are so excited to have another great Upper Peninsula attraction to explore.

It is a working day today. So far I've got one basket of laundry to fold and a sink full of dishes to wash. I am really missing the dishwasher. Abby is having her mid-morning nap, so I better get to those dishes.

A Typical Day with Abby

Today Abby and I thought we'd share with you what our typical day is like, just in case you were wondering what I do all day.

5 am - Abby wakes me up with her noise making. Sometimes she wakes herself up, but normally she finds her thumb and goes back to sleep all by herself. It normally takes me about 30 minutes to get back to sleep. Maize normally wants let out too.

6:20 - Steve's first alarm goes off. If Abby hasn't had her early morning snack yet, she normally is up around this time to eat, get clean diapers, and then go back to sleep.

6:30 - Steve's second alarm goes off. He gets up. Some days Abby gets to take her dad's spot in the bed (if she and mom are both awake when dad gets up).

7:30 - This is the latest that Abby will sleep in the morning before her first morning snack. She usually goes back to sleep after her snacking.

9:30 - Abby wakes up for the morning (after she takes her first early morning nap from 6 or 7 am). Every other morning or so Abby takes a warm bath and gets dressed up. She always wakes up smiling in the mornings.

10:00 - After Abby gets washed up and dressed (and I get dressed, but not showered) we have some playtime. Abby loves reading books and currently is a big fan of standing up on me, or Steve, or the couch. We have to let Maize out if Abby is going to play on the floor. After playtime Abby is ready for a snack and has vitamins in her bottle so the milk is cherry flavored.

10:30 ish - Abby takes a nap for 2 or so hours. If I am not to exhausted, I try to sneak in a shower, do dishes, and get lunch.

1:00 - Abby is awake again by 1 and wants some more food. After she eats we try to run any errands that we have so we are home before her next napping period. I often have to go do errands without a shower, I usually remember to at least put on deodorant and my glasses or contacts.

4:00 - It is Abby's naptime again. She is cranky by the time she gets to her afternoon nap, so we usually have a little bit of crying or whining before Abby falls asleep. This is usually a time when we read books again. Especially Junior's Colors. We are espeically grateful for Abby's many pacifiers at this time. She highly recommends the Soothie pacifiers. While Abby naps I may be able to get a shower, I have to start dinner, and Maize normally is feeling left out by now and needs to play a round or two of fetch. If I have time I try to read a little or check my email. This is also laundry time, pick up time, and bill paying time.

5:10 ish - Abby's dad gets home and she plays with him while they wait for dinner to get ready. She likes to stand on her dad and stomp her feet on him. She gets another bottle before dinner and then sits in her high chair at the table while we eat.

5:30 ish - Abby and her dad watch SportsCenter or some other ESPN program while her mom does the dishes.

6:00 ish - Either we take a family hike around the neighborhood, or if needed we head out to do our weekly shopping. Sometimes I go out by myself and sometimes Abby and Steve go too. I try to do all of the grocery shopping and other trips where we will have more than one bag when Steve is home, since it is too much work wrangling a baby carrier, tons of bags, and unlocking and opening a door with an excited dog behind it.

8:00 - We start the calm down routine with Abby. She eats again and gets snuggled by her dad. We read books or work on a puzzle.

9:00 - Our family heads up to bed for an hour of reading time before bedtime. Steve is currently reading The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. I am reading the collected short stories of Dostoevsky and the biography of John Adams.

10:00 - Abby gets a clean diaper, gets a snack, and gets laid down for bed. Sometimes she goes right to sleep and sometimes she talks until 10:30 or 11.

1:00 or 2:00 am - Maize thinks she needs to go outside. I assess the situation and either tell her to get back to bed or let her out (based on the urgency of the whining).

Our Library Adventure

Abby and I went to the library today. We checked out Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See and some books for big people. Abby really likes the pictures. She also is a big fan of Junior's Colors (a veggie tales book). Besides the library we had to go to K-mart to stock up on wet wipes. Abby slipped a new bathing suit and hat into the cart to wear at Grandma Mary's pool when she goes to visit.

Just Another Monday

First off, thank you again Sharon & Neighbor Dave for the beautiful pink afghan Abby is sitting on in the photos. We love it!

It's just another regular old Monday around the Obreiter household. Steve is off at the clinic working on teeth. Apparently when they pull teeth the technical term is "delivering" teeth. Some of the dental assistants that work with Steve give the newly delivered teeth a gender just for fun. Apparently if the roots flare out the tooth is a boy and if the roots flare in it is a girl. You learn something new everyday.

Abby and I have just been resting today after our big weekend. After Saturday's day trip, we took Abby on a long walk around our neighborhood. We wanted to see what our new neighborhood was like and enjoy the 2nd day of wonderful weather in a row. Even Maize got to go along for the walk. So today we've been resting, napping, and reading. Tomorrow we are planning a trip down to the library to trade in our old books for new ones. One of the books I checked out last time was a biography of Katharine Wright, sister to the Wright brothers of aeronautical fame. It was a great read if you are a lover of history, like I am.

Our Daytrip

Today we took Abby on a big adventure around the Northeastern UP. We drove out along Lake Superior to Paradise and from there went to both the upper and lower falls on the Tahquamenon River. We enjoyed walking the short hike back to each set of falls and letting both Steve and Abby see the falls for the first time. We took lots of pictures, and even got a nice lady to take our family's photo. We also enjoyed a Jilbert's ice cream root beer float (thanks Aunt Julie for the suggestion). We also had lunch at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub. Abby really enjoyed looking around at the ceiling fans, lights, and stuffed animals during lunch.

After the big falls we headed out to Whitefish Point to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the beach. Abby was pretty impressed with the old lighthouse lens on display at the museum, but she cried through the rest of the museum (basically). We had a good look around and then took Abby down to the beach for her very first ever beach experience. It was way too cold to get near the water, it is Lake Superior after all, but it was still beautiful.

On the way home we stopped by Monocle Lake to see if it would be a good campground for our camping friends and family. It is only about 20 miles from our house, so it was nice and close and Steve could camp and still head to work in the morning. We need to investigate the fishing in the lake a little more before we decide if it would be a good alternative to our normal campsite.

So... look below to enjoy some photos from our day trip. More of the photos will be uploaded to our flickr photo page.

A photo diary of our daytrip (Tahquamenon Falls & Whitefish Point)

Going to a Party

Abby and I are going to a party at Steve's office this afternoon. Unfortunately, we only found out about the party last night at dinner and we have to make an appetizer for the party (and all the easy ones were already taken on the sign up sheet). To make up for not letting us girls know about our kitchen duty sooner, Steve brought us some pretty flowers last night. And then we had to go out and get ingredients for our contribution to the retirement party.

This afternoon Abby is going to have her first experience making a fruit pizza. Since we weren't really sure whether it was just plain cream cheese or something else that Aunt Ruth adds to her sugar cookie crust, we picked out some ready to eat cheesecake filling to use as our "sauce". I will think it is yummy even if no one else does :)

Now we are just waiting for Steve to call and tell us girls what we have to wear to this party. Abby hates to show up in the wrong attire - not that she doesn't look incredibly cute in anything she wears. But since she is now officially a doctor's child, she needs to make sure she is keeping up with appearances.

Practicing Yoga

The other day Abby figured out that she can hold her entire torso up using only her arms. She has accomplished this great feet of physical strength both while on her mini boppy pillow and on top of her Dad's chest. She can also do a lot more moving and throwing her self around when being carried, which makes carrying a little more difficult, especially up our 18 stairs to our bedrooms. Abby is getting very strong and wants to spend more and more time using her muscles.

Yesterday Abby and I went to visit our local Bookworld bookstore. Abby loved the store, mostly because of the great overhead lighting (Abby is fascinated by overhead lights of all sorts). We picked up a super detailed Michigan atlas so we can start exploring the local campgrounds and fishing holes. We are hoping for some better weather this weekend so we can have a grand adventure.

And... on day 3 I still have a terrible headache. I am beginning to think it is something environmental, so when Steve gets home this evening we will have to give the house a once over. I need his assistance because I am too chicken to go into the basement - I am sure there are spiders there (not that I am scared of them, but I have a severe reaction to spider bites) and maybe other wild animals.