"Blankie" and "More Blankie"

Minnow has a favorite, treasured blankie that she sleeps with, goes in the car with, takes on walks, takes pretty much everywhere. It's a small pink "comfort silkie" blankie that was given to us by a teacher at Muskie Man's school when Minnow was an infant.

We thought we lost blankie back in June. Muskie Man had taken Minnow for the evening stroller ride which is part of our daily life. When we were putting her to bed, the blankie was nowhere to be found! Minnow sometimes gets agitated in the stroller and throws the precious item from the stroller. Why she does this is a mystery to us as this is a prized possession. We searched high and low, Muskie Man even went back over the walking route in hopes of finding the missing blankie. We checked the stroller, under beds and furniture, in every nook and cranny of our home--no blankie! Minnow missed her blankie that night and reluctantly accepted another similar one, but it just wasn't the same to her.

I ordered a new blankie just like the missing one. It had to be ordered online and shipped, I couldn't find a local store that carried this exact one. Minnow was very happy to receive her new gift and life went on.

Fast forward a few weeks to our vacation in Michigan. We were out walking with Minnow in the stroller, and I see a blankie peeking out the back of the stroller from behind the cushions. It was the missing blankie! We also found a nuk back there so that must be Minnow's secret hiding place. She must have shoved it behind her in the stroller and with the stroller being folded up a few times while travelling, it worked it's way out.

We now have 2 precious blankies that make our Minnow very happy. She has recently started referring to them as "Blankie" and "More Blankie."

Happy Birthday Minnow!

Minnow celebrated her 2nd birthday on August 14. We're a few days late in the happy wishes because we were Up North again for a vacation. We celebrated Minnow's 1st birthday Up North so we thought we'd keep the streak going this year. We stayed at my brother's home in the Northwoods. His family was on a vacation of their own, so we used their home, thanks big bro!


We spent Minnow's special day on our boat. We fished, swam, ate a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the water, and just had a fun family time. Minnow caught her first fish and realized that she likes to play with the fish, she even kissed the fish.


It was a wonderful day, one that will be a great memory for all of us. We love you, Minnow, and can't believe it was just 2 short years ago that we were on a plane, flying to meet you on your day of birth. We can't imagine our family without you.

Giving Daddy a big hug before leaving for the birthday outing:


Swimming in the lake after a delicious lunch:


Concentrating on catching her first fish!

Admiring her catch:

Kissing a fish:

A Language Explosion!

We've been having a language explosion around here for the past month or two. Minnow's vocabulary has been just exploding. Sometimes we have to try very hard to translate what is being said, but for the most part, we figure it out. It is so nice that she can verbalize what she wants instead of just grunting and pointing.

She repeats what we say and understands if we give her simple commands. It is so fun to watch her grow in to this funny, interesting little person.

One of my favorite phrases is "I want a W*ii" She watched my nieces and nephews play the W*ii on our vacation in June and loves this thing. She cheers for them as they play and also wants to participate in Gui*tar Hero. Several of our friends have the game too, so she can watch it at their homes.

The first time she asked me for one, I told her to ask her daddy. He was out in the garage and came in about 15 minutes later. She ran up to him and looked up (she comes up to his knee) and said, "I want a W*ii." It was priceless! What is she going to ask for next, a pony?! I don't think we will be getting a W*ii any time soon, but she can enjoy the games at other people's homes.

And the Winner is. . .

After a long wait, sorry commenters for making you wait, the winner (as randomly chose by Muskie Man) is dani, the last commenter for the contest!

I'll contact you via email. Thanks to all who participated in my bloggy giveaway!

Bloggy Giveaway Time!

It's that time again, the quarterly bloggy giveaways carnival is underway. Be sure to visit bloggy giveaways for lots of other cool giveaways.

Since it's summer and we are all outside (or should be!) it's time to apply good sunscreen. I'm giving away an Arbonne Save Face and Body SPF 15 bottle of sunscreen (a $26 value) to one lucky reader. This sunscreen is AWESOME! Muskie Man even likes to use it because it doesn't have a strong "sunscreen" odor and it is not greasy. He can use it when out fishing and can still tie his knots or whatever it is one does to the lures when out fishing.

This giveaway is open to US residents only, and you don't have to be a blogger to participate. Just leave a comment and you could win! The giveaway will be open until Friday evening, July 31. Thanks for playing!

Up North

We took another vacation the week after the 4th. We visited Up North with Muskie Man's family. We go to the same resort for the same week with the same people every summer. It's fun and we've gotten to know the other guests at the resort. We had beautiful weather and once again enjoyed time with family.

Some highlights of the trip were first spending the 4th with my brother and family who also live Up North. We visited them for a couple nights before heading to the resort. We did the whole 4th of July thing: parade; picnic in the park; and then fireworks. Minnow had fun with her cousins, but was very tired by the end of the evening.

Could it be she was tired because the night before she decided to have a middle-of-the-night party? She woke up at 12:30 a.m. and would not go back to sleep! She wasn't crabby, she just wanted to hang out, Muskie Man and I did NOT want to join the party. Muskie Man finally got her to sleep at 4:30 a.m., we all were a bit tired the next day.

She actually fell asleep on my brother's lap during the fireworks! She did have fun hanging out with her cousins during the day:

We then headed to the resort for a week of fun in the sun. We had great weather and enjoyed celebrating Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's 40th wedding anniversary--Congratulations!

Muskie Man and I also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary while on vacation. We went out for breakfast, and spent some time fishing on our boat while Minnow napped in the afternoon. It was a nice day.

The rest of the week was spent being lazy by the water. Minnow loves the lake, she stood in the water, picked up stones and threw them--for hours! She would pick one up, "kiss it good-bye," and throw it into the water:

We also had fun with a bucket--she wanted me to dump it while she tried to get a drink:

One of the guests at the resort was a girl who is just finishing cosmetology school and wanted to do Minnow's hair. After an hour-and-a-half of wrestling and a little screeching, the end result was 9 cute little cornrows. I love her hair like this and need to learn how to do this. She looks beautiful!


The week came to an end and it was time to say good-bye to our fun vacation--until next year:

Vacation

I took a little blog vacation and we took a real vacation. We spent a week near Petoskey, MI with my family. Our family, my parents, my sister's family and my brother's family all piled into a condo at a resort and spent a week. It was a nice time, the weather was great, the kids loved the pool and we relaxed.
Our vacation started out a little rough. We stayed one night at Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's as it was on the way. Minnow decided to start her day a little early, at 3:45 a.m.! She would not go back to sleep until we had her in a high chair watching E*lmo right before we went to church and she decided to nod off:

There was time to sleep on the way to the resort that day. Here is the rest of the week in pictures.
A view of the resort from the ski chair lift:

At a park in Petoskey with Lake Michigan in the background:

My Mom, Dad, sister and I went to Mackinac Island for a day:

My sister and I rented a bicycle built for two and biked around the island:

My parents opted for the retro bikes:

We spent a day with my sister and family at a beach near Charlevoix. Minnow had fun looking for rocks and playing with her cousins:



The pool was the place to be. Minnow jumped from the side to Muskie Man and had a great time. It totally wore her out so she took good naps.

Our happy little family on vacation: