I love art fairs. I love the crafts, the people, and overall atmosphere. Dave on the other hand would rather scrub toilets with a toothbrush. I think our last art fair was about 5 years ago. Ajax was small, in a stroller.
Today Williamston had it’s art on the river festival and since it was right here in town we went! Yea! The fair was very small only about 20-30 venders and they also had activities for the kids. Noomi did a craft while Ajax ran wild in the bounce house. The kids got ice cream and dogs made out of balloons. There was also a band with music which Noomi rocked out to. It was so cute. Dave was resilient to its charm. Overall though we love Williamston.
After the fair we zipped into “town” and bought a new mattress which will be delivered on Wednesday. Our current mattress is going on ten years old and was used when it was given to us, lol. Our backs have been hurting so bad and we haven’t been sleeping, that Dave kind of snapped this morning and declared we were getting a new mattress.
The kids thought the mattress store was hilarious and ran circles around the place. Ajax kept trying to leap from mattress to mattress. I think the lady was negotiating to get us out of the store quickly. Either way we ended up with a deal.
On Monday I had the day off to let the kids rest and get the house in order after our camping trip. The day, however, ended up not being as relaxing as I’d thought as I also took the opportunity to stack up the doctor’s appointments for both kiddos.
In the morning I took Ajax to see the dermatologist about a small mole on his right leg which seemed to crop up a few months ago. The doctor said it wasn’t that unusual for that type of mole to occur with kids and that we could either remove it or watch it closely. I immediately said remove it! So we did, that day in the office. Ajax did great throughout the process and only got a little light headed during the stitches. I was not a big fan either and also had to look away. We need to go back in 10 days to have the stitches out. Till then, no swimming. Poor kid.
In the afternoon Noomi had her 2 year check up and the Doctor reported that she looked great! She weighed in at 28 lb 14 oz, which put her in the 75% and was 36.7 inches tall putting her in the 97% for height. The Doctor said that he was impressed with her speech, she also managed to get dressed by herself while we were there and was very pleasant with the Doctor and nurses. No shots this time around, but she has to go back at 2.5 for one or two.
Overall, our day was pretty hectic and everyone was pretty tired. That tired also stretched into Tuesday and Wednesday. Camping really takes it out of you!
Here are just a few more pictures from up North! Uploading these photos I notice there are more pictures of Noomi than Ajax. That’s only because Ajax was constantly running with the other boys and Noomi I kept closer since she’s younger, lol.
Where is Morley, Michigan? That’s the question we usually get and with good reason. It’s a small village off of I-131 between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids. My grandparents have a small cabin on 80 acres up there and it’s wonderful. My mom grew up running around in the woods up there, I remember going up there and running around, and now my kids have been up there and they too ran wild.
After Noomi’s birthday party Ajax headed up north with Grandma Dara and Papa for some one-on-one time. He did wonderful and loved the alone time with his grandparents and all the tractors and dogs. Noomi was quite content to be home with Dave and I and loved all the attention. It was a tea party every night.
On Thursday, we loaded up the car and headed to Morely, which was only a 2 hour drive from our house. We met my cousin Angie and her five kids, my aunt Rena and cousin Marissa there. We also met up with Ajax and the grandparents who brought their new fancy trailer. We went hiking and exploring, I took Ajax tubing down the river twice, and we also went kayaking. Dave and Rod went down the river, and then Emily and I went kayaking down the river from town.
I wasn’t comfortable taking Ajax kayaking down the river, so we went into town and put in the small pond and went around for a bit. He did great. Noomi we felt was still too young so she stayed home with Grandma Dara. On Friday night, my sister and cousin Sara came up with her husband and their five kids, so it was a party all the way around. One thing about being from a large family, is that your kid will always have an age equivalent cousin or two, so each kid had two other kids their age, or near, to play with.
At night the kids slept in the trailer, except for the last night when we all piled into the tent, which actually wasn’t that bad except for some reason the tent flap was open at the end where Noomi and I were sleeping and now we have a bunch of bug bites. I think one of the kids was playing around with the zipper, but since it was dark when we went to bed I didn’t notice. Next time I’ll check.
On Sunday morning, we got up early, packed up and hit the road for home. A good camping trip means that your family smells so bad you refuse to stop until your home, and some people may or may not have pants or shoes on. It was a wonderful camping trip and we had so much fun up north with family, but I definitely liked coming home and showering and sleeping in my own bed. The kids even slept in Monday morning, Ajax till almost 7:30 and Noomi till 8 am. Good times were had by all, thank you family!
This year Noomi’s birthday fell on a Saturday, what luck! We tried to teach Noomi to respond, when prompted, that she was two but she didn’t really grasp the concept. Instead she latched onto the word- two- and walked around saying – two, two. Or, if we began counting (in the menacing parent way) – One… she would jump in shouting TWO! So there you go.
We had a very good turnout for her party and were even fortunate enough to have her godparents and cousin up from North Carolina. The weather cooperated so we weren’t trapped inside, and the temperature hung in the high 70s, low 80s. There were lots of little kids for her to play with and also quite a few babies, though she wasn’t as interested in them, which was funny since she’s all about her baby dolls right now.
For her birthday “cake” we did a large slice of watermelon with blueberries, as Noomi just isn’t a fan of sweets and she loved it. Unfortunately, we were outside singing happy birthday so the wind kept blowing out her candles. She didn’t seem to mind and we all clapped at the end of the song, so she thought she blew them out.
When it was time to open presents, Ajax was a little over excited and ended up opening most of her gifts. Noomi didn’t seem to mind and sat perched in her little chair watching the excitement. She received some wonderful gifts, thank you very much friends and family! Since the party we’ve had multiple tea parties and many baby dolls have received bubble baths.
I’ll add more pictures tomorrow as my computer is being difficult 🙂
Our family wants a dog pretty bad, this is no secret and we routinely debate the type of dog we shall get when we buy our home. Ajax and I are on board with a standard poodle, while Dave is holding strong to the German Shepard. I love GSDs, but I do not love the hair. So we will have to see, heck we may end up with a mutt, we really don’t care.
Today we had family over for a BBQ, which involved swimming, cooking out, and awesome food. It also involved the neighbor’s little dog who spent a good part of the day with us on our back porch. The kids loved it and chased him all around the deck trying to pet him. The dog primarily wanted the steak we were cooking, but we can’t blame him for that.
Noomi also has a stuffed Snoopy doll, which Ajax got her last year. He’s a mighty good big brother. She’s been carrying it all around the house and insisted on sleeping with it tonight. She does not call it Snoopy, she calls it – My woof. Actually it’s quite common for her to refer to things by the sound they make – woof (dog), neigh (horse), and roar (bear). She’s been walking around saying – my woof, my woof. I have not corrected it much, because it’s so darn cute.
Heavens where to begin! Life has been bananas around here lately with work, kids, and more work.
A while back I was in Boston for work and both my parents and Dave’s parents were kind enough to help us out with the kiddos as we pulled them from daycare for the entire week. The kids had a blast with their grandparents and enjoyed spending time up north. Ajax is in a new summer camp program through his elementary school, as we thought it would be nice to get him into the routine of going to the school in the morning and meeting other kids who would be in his class. So far he has absolutely loved it. He went to Potter Park zoo, he took an Amtrack train ride to Battle Creek, and he saw a magician at the library. Each week they have a new theme and field trip. Ajax thinks that’s pretty awesome. Noomi is still at Kindercare and still enjoying it. We’ll keep her there another year until she too can transition over to the school district pre school program, so that both kids are at the same place.
Dave is now driving into Dearborn again, as he leg strong enough to drive long distances. He’s doing very well and will have one more surgery in August to remove the longest screw from his leg.
This is obviously the Fourth of July weekend, and our holiday started on Thursday as I had the day off. I took both kids to my work to visit, then we went to a dozen stores getting things for Noomi’s party, then we played at McDonald’s for over an hour, then we went visiting a friend with a new baby. At our friends, Ajax worked outside with some neighbor boys who were doing yard work and Noomi played inside with her baby. She was not terribly interested in the real baby, which I thought was funny.
On the Fourth of July we were home, we did yard work, played and generally bummed around, getting ready for next weekend. We tried to go swimming but Ajax got bite by a black fly and insisted on getting out of the pool and going into the house. So we ended up having an early dinner, roasting marshmallows, and playing with the neighbor kids. So there you go.
