Uncle Dan the Traveling Man Visits

We had a visit from Uncle Dan last week (and a visit from cousin Meg & Ron her husband last night). It's fun to have company come up here so that we can have some quality time to visit - that is hard to do when we go home and have such a short amount of time and so much family concentrated in one place. So we've been to busy to do any substantive thinking about the last few weeks in the Obreiter household. It's been almost two weeks since we took Olivia to see an allergy specialist. That visit was mostly a waste of time. On the positive side, we know she is not allergic to dogs, cats, dust, or mold. But the allergist seemed to have this idea that a girl her age couldn't have an outdoor allergy. We disagree. A lot. The snot has been flowing all spring around here and was even worse for the last few weeks since she had to be medication free for the week leading up to her appointment. And after he told us she had no allergies and didn't need the medication we went with that for about a week. But eventually you've just got to go with your gut instinct and make your kid feel halfway normal, so as of 3 days ago she's back on allergy medication. She's still snotty, sounding funny when she's talking, and having all the allergy symptoms (especially after being outside), but we are hoping by the end of next week she will be feeling a little better again.
While Uncle Dan was in town we took advantage of the opportunity to do some day trips. The first trip was up into Canada. Our goal was to photograph Chippewa Falls, which is just over 30 miles from our house. We went on Monday and the radar showed some sprinkles, but it seemed like it would clear up quickly. It did not. Poor Dan braved it and got out at the falls to try and get a picture. Two minutes later he was totally soaked and didn't have any great shot to show for it. And he ended up crossing the border back into the US in my shirt (luckily I had packed myself and the girls extra clothes). But we had a good time driving up the coast. It was a beautiful stretch of road leading up to the falls and we saw a bald eagle sitting right on the beach.

We also took a day trip to Drummond Island and had fun exploring the neat things that the island has going on. Here are some of the things we saw...Maxton Plains - this place is basically a gigantic slab of limestone. The picture doesn't really do it justice. If you could see this from over head it would look like grass and bushes had grown up on a giant parking lot. And it's totally naturally occurring. It was pretty cool. And it would have been gorgeous about 2 weeks ago when it was in bloom. But, being a flower lover, I did enjoy snagging some wild columbine seeds, so I can enjoy the beautiful wildflowers in my own yard in a year or two.
I've lived in the U.P. for over three years now and this was the very first live, wild deer I'd seen. Not kidding... And it was an adorable spotted fawn. It would have been even more adorable if it hadn't been running down the middle of the road and making us follow it at a creep. I normally wouldn't have cared, but when on an island with a ferry that runs only once an hour it's important not to get slowed down if you want to leave on schedule. We ended up having to hang out at a beach for a few minutes because we missed the ferry boat. But the girls had fun swimming and playing in the water.

Birthday Partying

We have lots of little friends, so birthday parties are a fairly frequent occurrence for the girls. We had lots of fun celebrating a couple weeks ago with our special little buddy Wyatt who turned one. And Olivia learned how to swing on the swing without freaking out, so that was a major improvement in our outside activities!

Beach Weather

We finally have had some beach weather and the girls have been crazy about being in the sand and water. Olivia literally tremors with joy at the sight of the beach. And when I said beach the other morning she ran right to the closet, grabbed my flip flops, and put them on my feet so I would be ready to go. She can hardly stand the wait from the car ride when she knows where we are going.

We tried a new beach on Tuesday and it is someplace we probably will avoid for many years (and also made me rethink my plan to sell our house and buy a house on the Lower Saint Marys River in about 10 years). We are pretty well used to seeing freighters (huge boats) at the beach, since you can't really visit a beach around here without catching a peek at a boat. So we didn't think twice about throwing our kids into the water where big boats might be passing. And we did read the warning signs about strong currents and all. We even made the kids get a good 20 or 25 feet from where the water line was. But that apparently wasn't far enough. I was at least 20 feet on shore, but when the boat wake came I was mid-thigh deep in a very strong current. Luckily I was holding Olivia and had a good grip on Abby. Abby's friend Huron was on the bank, about 25 feet inland, and he ended up washed away. A quick thinking stranger plucked him up, but not before a big scare. So ended our first (and probably last) trip to 4 Mile Beach.

Sleepy Swing

Olivia got swung to sleep by her big kid friend Aron. She enjoyed having her own personal playmate last night!

Big Girl Talk

Olivia finally had a consistent morning of big girl talk with her mouth open so that I can understand her. Maybe it was the fireworks last night or the homemade ice cream that loosened her lips. So her words this morning were dog, doll, wall, ball (she can rhyme good), momma, dad, and cup. That's a lot of talking for a girl who has been mumbling and grunting with a few words thrown in for the last few months.

We had a great holiday weekend. We enjoyed great weather, took a trip to the beach, had a barbecue with friends, and hung out last night with lots of people from church to watch the fireworks. The girls both enjoyed the fireworks - especially when we told them it was tinkerbell making the lights. And there was even a Mickey Mouse firework. It was a good show and a great night with friends.

Popeye, The Sequel

Here are some pictures from our trip to to the Toledo Zoo (we went while Steve was in Haiti). We had lots of fun with Great Grandma Lorraine, Hannah, and Emily. Unfortunately, Olivia wasn't feeling good that day and spent most of it moaning in the baby sling.
Abby loves posing on or in anything.
Abby riding the zoo train, which takes you on a safari and all around the perimeter of the African exhibit. She really got into the zoo this time around.
Posing (above) in a Dora Explorer hat - Thanks Grandma Lorraine! And (below) modeling in a nest.
Abby's arm (the other one) is huge again today, along with the bridge of her nose. It's apparently going to be a recurring theme this summer. This is the 4th big swelling incident since the mosquitoes arrived. Yuck! And, since Olivia is scheduled to see an allergy specialist next Wednesday she is off her medications. So we have two unhappy ladies around here. One with big swollen bites and the other with a faucet for a nose.

Steve and our friend Trevor started the new door project yesterday. They got the trim boards all pulled off in one piece and re-usable, so we are off to a good start. Hopefully next week we will have the old door out and the new one in. I'm looking forward to being able to go into and out of the backyard the easy way. It will make the rest of this summer much easier from a parent of two kids in the backyard perspective.

Abby's Art

So... Here is Abby's drawing. It is her riding on daddy's head and Olivia riding on my head (her explanation). The scratched out part was her, but then she decided to ride so she removed the original Abby from the picture. I'm pretty impressed by her art skills.

Toddler Bed Update

It's been one week since Olivia started sleeping in her toddler bed. It's going. Somedays it's going okay, somedays not. But with Steve and I both being sleep deprived before, we are both getting pretty tired (and short). Last night Olivia was up an in our room twice and I had to put her in her room and leave her there to get into bed and go to sleep. I'm finding that if I try to stay until she's asleep he thinks it's playtime and usually I wake her up in the process of leaving. I guess she was well trained in going to bed herself.

Abby has started drawing pictures with recognizable figures. Last weekend she drew a picture of our whole family. She is growing up too fast!

Some Pictures from Steve's trip to Haiti

Students at the school where the team was building the kindergarten classroom (roof and posts for walls)
The accomodations
Steve and Ryan with the head of the Haitian help that was hired
Pastor Dave, Ryan, Steve, and Lindsay at the top of the mountain on the drive from Port Au Prince to Jacmel
Building concrete forms for the posts to hold the roof

I'm not going to try to tell you anything about Steve's trip to Haiti, except that they went, they survived, and they are home in one piece with stories to tell. Maybe I can talk him into sitting down and typing a reflection on it, but knowing him you'll just have to find him and ask him in person about it. It sounds amazing and intense and scary. I'm proud to call him my husband and very happy to have him home!

Rainy Day Fun

We are on day 4 of all day sprinkles and rain and we are running out of ways to entertain little people. Today is our day to have Maddie & Wyatt over so that helps break up the boredom for all of them, but it still stinks to be inside all week long. And if I believe the weatherman it looks like next week will be the same way. So today we are having an indoor camp out (and testing our spare tent so we can loan it to friends for camping together this summer). It's been a good distraction so far. And maybe later I will brave walking all these kids to get some produce - but that may be too crazy for even me.