Jack's First Solo Kayak Trip

Here's Jack, not so patiently waiting to get going on his first solo kayak trip. We kept warning him that it was a windy day and that it might not work out for him. He told us that, 'No, it'll be fine.'

I took some initial pictures and then went back to the house. I got a phone call to come back to the dock. Jack wanted some more pictures taken because now 'I really know what I'm doing'.

He did awesome! He made it across the lake and back. He could back up and turn himself around.

Jack loves kayaking as much as fishing now. He said that he loves his new kayak, so obviously this kayak has become his. Poor Brad won't get much of a break with the demands to fish and kayak.

Here's a very cute video of Jack showing off for me. He is definately a 'fish boy' :)

Mackinaw City Family Reunion

None of us have 4 wheel drive so in order to see Sandy and Rich we had to meet them in Mackinaw. We hadn't seen them since the summer. We all booked rooms in the same hotel. Here we are in a group shot enjoying a Valentine's dinner.

Had to try a family photo while we were looking decent.

Our hotel had a small waterpark in it. That's where the kids spent their days. It's the perfect size for our kids. In a couple years they'll be too big to enjoy it.

The boys posing with cousin Calum. I think Calum enjoyed it more than the boys.

Don with Calum.

A 'mostly' group photo. Notice that most of the adults are in the hot tub area.

The boys staying still for a minute to have a picture. It's Luke, Jack and Logan.

We had our Christmas with Sandy and Rich.

The weekend was over far too quickly. We'll have to wait until about June to see them again :(

Jack's Real Birthday

On Jack's real birthday, Grandma and Grandpa Fish picked the boys up from school and we had a pizza party at their house. Jack got his gifts from them, his aunts and uncles, and from us. We caved and got him a Nintendo DS.

It really will be a good thing for him. Especially on the long drives in the car. We got him a reading game along with a 'carnival games' disk.

Here we are singing happy birthday to Jack. He's still wearing his crown and birthday ribbon from school. Yes, I had ordered a large birthday cake so that we could use it for both nights. That's why half is missing. Happy 6th birthday Jack!

Jack's First Birthday Party

Jack's first birthday party. We invited the kids from his class. Only about half could come because of it being so close to Christmas. It was still a great time. There aren't a whole lot of choices of things to do for a winter birthday so we chose a bowling pizza party.

Jack bowling. He did pretty well.

Luke and Logan bowled on their own lane and tore it up. They bowled three games and took it very seriously. They keep asking to go again. Their favorite game to play on the Wii is bowling so that gave them an idea of how it works beforehand.

We had lanes all to ourselves and the kids had a good time.

Then we moved down to Little Caesar's, which is connected to the bowling alley, and had a pizza party. Jack loved all of his gifts.

Jack is really into Transformers right now. I think because the kids talk about them at school. He hasn't seen either movie, but that's what he wanted. I usually make the kids' cakes, but with all the preparation for the party I caved and ordered one. It turned out very cute.

Christmas 2009

Somehow the flash makes our tree look very boring. In real life it looked much better. Here it is before the kids came downstairs.

The stockings were full. We had to leave the fireplace door cracked open. Santa ate his plate of cookies and drank the milk we left on the hearth. Grandma and Pop don't live very far away, so they came over and got there before the kids woke up. We had a few nice minutes of peace enjoying Christmas morning before the chaos.

Logan dove right in. Santa wraps each of the kids' presents in different paper so they don't have to worry about which presents are theirs. He also wraps a pile in a fourth kind of paper for all three kids to share.

Luke excited about his remote control car. These are the ones that can go on walls and ceilings. Since we have very hight walls, this was a good choice.

The boys came to show me their loot.

Posing with their stockings before unloading them. They each got a Webkinz. They are now addicted to the website about their animals.

Jack running to show Grandma and Pop his new police airplane.

Here's the cute video of when the boys first came down the stairs in the morning. It was a great day!