I have had more play time than I’ve ever had … probably since I was a kid! Looking back at the calendar we were up at Ryan’s parent’s place on Plum Island most of the summer. We got to spend a lot of time with the cousins and both sets of grandparents! In short spells at home we gathered with friends. We had a terrific day with our friend, Vanessa and her son, Johnny, out at Farm Pond. The water was perfectly clear and warm on a hot day.
We also enjoyed time with Grammy G’s good friend, Auntie Jane. She came and spent a couple of nights with us and we stayed up late talking and watching the Olympics. Phelps was amazing! Auntie Natalie also spent a couple nights with us and as always got Alexis to giggle. Since her girl, Gwennie, is exactly one year older (to the date!) - she brought up a bunch of outgrown items. Alexis has been sporting some of Gwennie’s cute bathing suits and sunshades.
Of course almost everything we did over the summer with our first child, Tyler, in mind. We ate lots of meals outside and made every attempt to get Tyler access to swimming.
Alexis had her 6 month check up today. She is sitting up and talking ... though she sounds more dolphin than human these days. She loves her puppy … especially when he licks her cereal covered hands clean.
There are tons more pictures and a couple of videos in our August Album Set. Click HERE to see them. The August Album includes those from Labor Day weekend and the start of September too!
PLUM ISLAND - Yankee Homecoming July 26th - August 3rd. We had a great time with friends and family for an entire week of relaxing at the beach. It was Yankee Homecoming and we enjoyed several concerts on the boardwalk, craft fairs, and good eating. We missed the bed race and canoe tipping … next year! Alexis started to sit up that week and now she is sitting up all on her own. It is amazing how quick time is going by. We took lots of pictures since that is the best way to show what a great time we all had. Hope everyone else is enjoying Summer as much as we have been!
Alexis is a real trooper as the summer of travel continues! She took her first ride on an airplane out to Minneapolis. She managed to catch naps on the floor of the NorthWest flight club and on the plane too. We traveled for the wedding of Addie’s cousin, Corinne, and Aaron on July 12th. Grandpa Don’s sister, Soozie, babysat Alexis the night of the wedding since Corinne is the daughter of Grandma Gladys’ brother and almost all of Glady’s family were in attendance: Aunt Ann & Uncle Oz along with Cousins Tony & Janel with daughter, Alessandra, and cousin Julia. Addie’s brother, Jake, & girlfriend, Yeliz, also flew out for the wedding. There are pictures from the nice rehearsal dinner at Corinne’s mom’s home and the wedding was beautiful at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis. We are all extremely happy for Corinne & Aaron!
Gladys hadn’t been back to Minneapolis since moving to Atlanta when Addie was 3. Having lived there for 10 years it was a trip down memory lane going by their first house at 5229 Knox and Storlie family church, Mount Olivet, where Addie was baptised. We visited the Malt Shop and strolled the sidewalks to Lake Harriet where Alexis got her toes wet and visited the tree elf.
Aunt Soozie had a wonderful barbecue with her own smoked dry rub ribs. We all hung out on her back porch for a great dinner while Alexis and Alessandra were sound asleep. Don’s cousin, Bill, and his wife, Mary joined the festivities as well as Soozie’s boyfriend, Frank, and his son, Peter - who was great with Alexis.
While out in Minneapolis Addie made a visit to Starkey’s Center for Excelence in Hearing for a tune up. We had both ears tested and the hearing aids tuned up. As usual it was an amazing experience and wonderful to have access to such teriffic technology.
On Friday before the wedding Addie and Alexis make a trip out to Excelsior to visit Carrie and her kids, JD & Taylor. We wished we had more time to hang out, but it was great fun to see the kids and JD was practicing his wakeboarding in the living room on a balance board attached by ribbon to a laundry basket boat. The practice paid off since the following week we received a video of JD wakeboarding on the lake outside their home. There is a 3 second video taken by JD of Addie & Carrie with Alexis & Taylor (I thought the camera was on photo mode, but it was on video instead). There is also a video below of JD doing his practice wakeboard and then another video of the real thing.
We celebrated Alexis’s first fourth of July on PI (actually her second on PI since she was in utero for her first also on PI). Along with Grammy Carol & Grampy Marv we enjoyed spending time with cousins Jack & Brooke and Auntie Heather and Uncle Ed. Marie and Matt were also there with son, Jameson, and his grandparents, Karen & Barry. We got a couple of thunderstorms during the weekend, but still managed to hit the beach and Alexis enjoyed her first dip in the bayside. At the end of the weekend Addie, Alexis and Tyler drove with Grammy Carol to New Jersey for a day of hanging out in Princeton where we bumped into Aunt Selma. We picked up the sweater Grammy Carol knit for Alexis and met Grampy Marv for dinner at the Pluckiman Inn.
Every day Alexis looks a little different. Some days her face is round and others long and she is definitely getting more and more of a spunky personality. I’m working to get pictures from the July 4th holiday and our trip to Minneapolis for Corinne & Aaron’s wedding so I can add posts. But while we were out in MN my Aunt Soozie shared a baby picture of herself that looks very much like Alexis & walking the streets of New York my dad actually had a random person comment how much Alexis looked like him. It is a picture of a picture so a little blurry … but check out this baby picture of Aunt Soozie and see for yourself and add your own vote … the polls are still open :-).
On June 15th (father’s day), Alexis had a beautiful baptism ceremony at the Brick Church in New York City (also where Addie and Ryan were married in 2003).
We were so honored to have family an friends travel from great distances - as far Maryland and Minnesota. Another special thanks to all the women who helped stitch Alexis’s name in the hem of her christianing gown. We have many lovely memories of the day, family, and the friends who shared it with us.
Almost a nightly occurrence, but we grabbed some video of Alexis taking a bath at about 3 1/2 months. Ryan would be appalled if childhood video of him bathing was released on the web, but all the same here you go …
As the migration from blogger to wordpress continues, one new thing we are trying out is a poll feature. So the biggest question these days seems to be … who does alexis look like the most. Initially Addie was the popular choice, but lately opinions seem to be shifting to either Ryan or his Mom. Of course for those who saw the pictures from when Alexis was born … it was definitely the mailman.
You can cast your vote on the poll in the sidebar and also view the results to date. As some of you may have noticed, we had some trouble getting the poll initially setup so if you have any problems with it, please leave a comment to on this post and let us know.
Ryan has been wanting to move to something other than blogger for a while and use a tool that can be hosted on our site (whatever that means). He is finally making the change this week. So you may not have access or see some funky behavior on the site this week. The basic changes should be done by Friday and then improvements over the next month or so. A few things we are working on:
1) Getting the pictures pages back up and working including new tabs for 2008 and 2007 as well as getting those old links working form 2004 / 2003. This won’t be done on Friday but won’t be too far behind.
2) A better search tool where there results are readable.
3) and of course … getting some more pics up including Alexis Mae’s baptism weekend in NYC.
Tessie (Tyler’s cousin and girlfriend) stopped by the other day in some massively hot temperatures. Addie and Alexis joined them outside for as long as they could bear it. Here is a quick video clip …
Of course almost everything we did over the summer with our first child, Tyler, in mind. We ate lots of meals outside and made every attempt to get Tyler access to swimming.
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