back up north

me taking a picture of levi taking a picture of the mackinac bridge...

everyone pours out of their vehicle for the meet up lunch.

mackinaw pier

the big bridge!

summer starts at the pines

mema showing ledge how to use the blower to clean off the deck.

some of the kids out in the front playing ball together!

wow, they all look so calm and normal.  oh how looks can be deceiving...

a cheesy afternoon

ledge didn't exactly understand this game, but he was really excited about the construction equipment!

he really enjoyed the fun 'rides' they had at chuck e cheeses!

this one had a fun touch screen that he could mess around with while it was moving around.

he really loved skeeball (but who doesnt, really?) even though he was terrible at it.  'no ledge, the ball has to stay in our lane...'

there were a ton of different games with different themes and creatures that kept ledge excited to try more!

a fun shot of the two of us having a great time together!

roof repair

getting everything set up to take a look at the roof.

the two of them got up there to examine the damage.

getting the supplies ready and the wood needed to fix it.

it certainly needed a bit of repair!

taking a quick breather!

the new section of the roof looks great!

an unusual view you dont often get of the neighborhood!

repairing the drywall on the inside of the rental.

dide dogs

diana writing in her book while the dogs hang out.

the sweet note left by my aunt in the room ledger used all week!

one of the mornings i spoiled us with hot cinnamon rolls.  yum...

the dogs were always wanting to know what was going on!

it was mother's day while we were there so ledger and i tried to make the most of it and made mama a little card!

penny even came by for a couple days and had fun with the dogs.

rockin' luau

the ladies rocking out on the dance floor.  the band was a bunch of fun too.

levi sits and recovers briefly before going back out on the dance floor...

or he takes a nap.

random ledge 46

when we babysit for penny it can be hard to keep ledger entertained.  we went to the dollar store and picked up a bunch of random stuff that he might like so that we could pull them out one or two at a time and keep him occupied for a while and out of penny's way.  one of the random things we got was this stuffed fishy which he absolutely loved!

at grandma's, being a fast little boy running from one end of the house to the other.  sans pants, of course.

resting, watching tsum tsums, with mama.

fast asleep for naptime in his crib.  one of the last days of sleeping in his bed as a crib.  out little guy is growing up!

he wanted to take a picture of himself and daddy.

tsum tsums and lunch.

picking up leaves from the yard and bringing them back to the table to examine them.

playing at the library.  the weather is finally starting to turn warmer, so they took the kids outside after reading time to play with some of their different toys.  ledge did pretty well with sharing, but not very well with keeping the sand inside the box...

a book and eggs

during his nap we pulled out the plastic eggs and put some candy and little toys in them and hid them around the house.  he was confused about the whole process at first, but once he got the hang of it he was off, scouring the house for as many eggys as he could find!

'look mama, that eggy is hiding in mema's plant!'

he was almost more thrilled with seeing the faces of the eggys than he was with getting the treats inside them!

the big oh three 2

opening his birthday gifts- a cool new transformer!

chattin' it up with his cousins.

so thankful for his new birthday prizes!

his special 3rd birthday caterpillar cake.

longingly looking at his cake!

chow down time!

playing with one of his new toys with mama.

the big oh three 1

we had been telling him for months that he was going to have to get rid of his binky when he turned three.  we would tell him that when he was three he wouldn't be a baby anymore, so he would have to give his binkys to the babies who needed them.  he was always a bit apprehensive about that idea, but knew that it was what the babies needed, so he was willing to do it.  sometimes he would ask which babies were going to get his binkys and if he could go and visit them...  come on kid, you're making this ruse hard to maintain...!
well, now that the day was finally here, we pulled out the special binky bag and went around the house collecting the different binkys we found.  all of them were put into the bag.

ledger then proudly carried the bag around, showing everyone what a big boy he was, willing to give up all his binkys for the needy babies!  the binky bag was then put on the front porch for the binky fairy to take.  we informed him that the binky fairy would sometimes leave a gift for big boys that gave up all their binkys.  after the bag was on the front step, i waited until he was distracted, and then slipped away into the garage and took care of things.  when he asked again about the binky fairy we opened the front door and saw a huge gift wrapped box!  he was beside himself with excitement!  we brought it in and he unwrapped it.  he had gotten a cool new electronic drum kit from the binky fairy!  he immediately wanted to set it up and jam!  maybe giving away his binkys wasn't such a bad idea after all!

chatting with jaidey.

aves made a special sign for his chair- which he couldn't read, but was really excited about anyway!

dinner time!