Michigan or Bust

Our big family vacation this year was to drive to Michigan to see my parents, along with family along the way. My dad will be retiring next year and they'll be moving somewhere south (hopefully here!), so we figure this will be our last time to ever be in the town where I grew up and relive some childhood memories.
I have to say, growing up I thought Midland was B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! And well, it is, but not when you're all grown up and have kids of your own! We hit all the hot spots in town and had a blast just enjoying the cool Michigan weather. We played outside all the time; basketball, climbing trees, running, riding bikes, taking walks - it was FABULOUS!!!! I hate that we can only do those things in Arkansas before 8am, when it turns to a furnace.
So....a photo journal of our trip....


First stop, Grandma and Grandpa's house!!! We were so excited for them to meet Eli for the first time. We got to see lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, too. (Eli spit up on most of them.)

Next stop, MICHIGAN!!!!!!!!!

The whole Willis clan after church on Sunday. We haven't all been together in Midland since Rachel's wedding 10 1/2 years ago!

We couldn't all fit around the table, so the kids got to eat outside, which they loved!

Of course, we had to visit the Tridge! They've added an awesome play area since I had been there last.

Poor kid, he doesn't get to do anything fun!

All six grandkids:

More hanging around the house:

A HUGE attraction for the week - climbing the tree that we used to climb when we were little.

Grandma is the coolest - she made Mickey Mouse pancakes!!!!!

Hitting the downtown area:

We had to stop at Pizza Sam's for ice cream:

More hanging out:

This was the first time Keira got to feed Eli - she was very excited, despite her mad face!

Midland Center for the Arts:

The Fun Zone:

More hanging out: (playing Shanghi, of course!)

Chippewa Nature Center:

It was really cold and I forgot to pack a blanket, so Eli got to wear what I could find in the diaper bag - an extra onesie and two burp cloths.

Eli pretty much just sat there while we walked around. I just thought it made a funny picture.

Bath time in the sink:

Dow Gardens: (yea for getting to see Sonja!)

Great Lakes Loons minor league baseball game:

And that was it for Michigan. On our way back to Arkansas, we stopped in Bowling Green for my cousin's 30th birthday party and got to see a lot of people from my Dad's side of the family that we don't see very often, including Grandaddy!

Whew!!!!! It was a whirlwind trip that I'll never forget. The boys did an amazing job traveling; Ethan watched Elmo most of the way and Eli slept most of the way. And as always, Lonnie did a great job driving the whole time!

I will miss Michigan soooooo much!

All Smiles

Eli is such a happy, smiley baby!

My Boy is all Grown Up!!!

These pictures just don't seem right - he's toooooo big!

In case you're wondering, that's the inside of a play hard hat on his head. He likes to use it as his baseball helmet.

Ethan is just hysterical these days. He definitely keeps us laughing. I can understand what he says almost all of the time now and he talks mostly in complete sentences. (Of course, all those things are ONLY true around us or close family members. He is THE world's most shy kid when he gets around most people. Just like me as a kid!)

A few Ethanisms I want to remember:

-"meeeelk" = milk (like nails on a chalkboard to me!)

-"wearit" = toilet (I don't know why he can't say that word, but that's as close as he can get!)

-"baskapoop" - basketball or basketball hoop

-"Ho dat for?" - a question that could mean a couple of things- What's that for? What's this? Who's that? etc.

-"Eli lookatchew!"

-"I made!" He says this to show off something that he made.

-"I found!" To show off something he found.

-He loves to do the whole 'see you later, alligator' 'afterwhile, crocodile'

-"I HAPPY!" This started after listening to the song 'And I'm so happy, so very happy. I've got the love of Jesus in my heart." As soon as he hears the first few words he SHOUTS in a very excited tone "I HAPPY!" Now he says it a lot, along with 'Mommy happy,' 'Daddy happy,' etc.

-"I don't like it." (very southern drawl)

-"I don't want it." (very southern drawl)

-"bumpty" - bumpy

-"Oh, okay."

-"alright!"

-"Mommy may I ___fill in the blank___, peepeepeepee-pease!" Not sure why he started saying please like that because he's said that word fine for a long time. I always correct him and make him say it the right way, and then he over-enunciates. "puh,lease!"

-he can't say the 's' at the beginning of any word, so we hear these phrases a lot:

"I winging!" (swinging)

"Nuggle me" (snuggle)

"I wimming!" (swimming)

-He loves to tell us he loves us. "I love Mommy." (Daddy, Eli, Grandma, Grandpa, bears, etc.)

-He talks to inanimate objects like they are people. 'Hi stop sign!" "Whatcha doin, hotdog?"

-He also likes to just make up jibberish - "boop boop, Mommy, boop boop!" "googah"

-This has nothing to do with him talking, but Ethan is suddenly obsessed with toe fuzz. He is constantly checking in between his toes to see if he has any fuzz, and does the same to Eli. I'm surprised he hasn't broken one of Eli's toes yet, with the way that he spreads them apart searching for fuzz.

Love that kid!

Morning at the Lamps

It's starting to get a lot warmer here, so we try to play outside first thing in the morning before it gets too hot (meaning we go outside around 7:30!) And this is what you can find us doing any given morning...

My boys are definitely outdoorsmen. They both LOVE to be outside. If Eli is fussy, all we have to do is walk outside with him and he immediately stops crying. In the mornings, he loves just sitting in the stroller, looking around, and feeling the breeze. Ethan is very busy - he rides his trycicle completely independently now (soooo proud of him!), he rides his big boy bike mostly independently (except for the incline of the driveway), he plays T-ball and runs the bases, he draws with sidewalk chalk, and we play catch. It is soooo much fun! That is, until our hour is up and it's suddenly scorching hot to this Michigan-blood Mama!