Nathan's Tree

We decided when pregnant with Nathan that we wanted to plant a tree in celebration of his birth, that would grow along with him. The fact that we live in Michigan, and Nathan is a December baby necessitated a delay between his birth and the planting of his tree!

Todd has great memories from childhood of playing under his neighbors' weeping mulberry tree. When mature, the branches arch over and touch the ground, making a great little hideout by the trunk, where you can sit and have your own private space surrounded by delicious fruit! Once I heard about this, we were in absolute agreement that this would be the perfect tree for Nathan (and perhaps his parents too!).

While Nathan and I were visiting my grandmother in Rochester (posts on that trip are coming soon!) Todd purchased and planted Nathan's tree. I can't wait to look at these pictures someday and marvel at how much my son and his tree have grown.

Garden Update

I'm having so much fun with my veggie container garden! Having one zucchini plant left over that I just stuck in the ground has made me realize that it is much preferable to plant in the ground rather than in pots, however. The zucchini plant in the ground is significantly larger and happier than my potted ones. Perhaps next summer I really will make a whole bed happen. I am thrilled, however, that I do have some veggies that have started to grow.

Little baby red bell peppers

Jalapenos


Grape tomatoes

The zucchini plant in the ground.

Family Sunday

Yesterday before heading back to Kalamazoo, we spent some time at Larry, Faye and John's place, which is north of Northport. The home is a labor of love; Larry has been building it himself, much of it by hand, every summer for years. Everything about it is beautiful--the craftmanship, the design, the location. It was lovely to see Faye for the first time this summer and to spend some time on the porch enjoying the view and catching up with each other.

Showing Nathan the Bay


Todd, Nathan, Grandpa Basil (and the American flag!)


I made John humor my self-portrait addiction.


Dan was my next self-portrait target! :)

Larry, Faye and John's house, the side facing the Bay.

Great Grandma Florence and Nathan

A beautiful picture of Nancy

John and Rocky

John, Larry, Basil and Faye on the porch.

So curious about everything!

The view from the porch--this might be heaven!

Dan and Todd

Driving back to the cottage in the Miata--yes, folks, one more self-portrait!

Baby pool!

Today is my one day of vacation that I am at home with no plans. I love all of the traveling and plans that I do have, but it is really nice to have a laid back day at the house with Nathan. I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get out the baby pool for the first time. Nathan wasn't totally sure what to do with the added aspect of the water, but he did splash a little and seemed to enjoy himself.

Another cinematic masterpiece. :)


Playing with his favorite cups.

Splashing!

Swimming is tiring!

Fourth of July

On Friday Nathan and I drove from the Hookers' house to Northport, which, due to the holiday weekend traffic took six hours! Ugh. I'm hoping to never make that drive again! Once we got to the cottage, however, we settled in for a lovely weekend.

On the Fourth, we got moving pretty early and headed over to Glen Lake to Todd's uncle and aunt's place. In addition to seeing Tom and Clem, Todd's cousin Michael and his wife Erin were there with their two children. Alex, who is about to turn 3, was a ball of hilarious and adorable energy. He quickly convinced all the guys to head over to the playground with him where he had a blast swinging and climbing on everything. It was so much fun to get a preview of what Nathan will be like in a few years! We also got to meet Avery, 11 weeks old, for the first time. She is such a little cutie! It is amazing to see how quickly babies change and grow. It was the first time that Nathan has looked big to us! We didn't stay very long, as they were headed to town for the parade, and I neglected to take any pictures. :(

In the afternoon Nancy, Nathan and I hung out at the cottage and took a nap while Basil, Florence, Todd, Dan, and Todd's cousin John all went to Leland for the parade. I loved having some really peaceful and relaxing hours in the sun, and I think that the rest of the crew had a great time waving to the parade attendees from the '23 Buick.

That evening we went to Paul's cottage (right next to ours) for the annual 4th of July picnic. It was great to see and talk with some of the neighbors that we usually only greet in passing. Todd, Dan and Nancy stayed up to watch the Village of Northport's fireworks, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open and had to crawl into bed early (this will surprise exactly none of my readers, I'm sure!).

Nathan thinks that beer bottles make good teethers.


Cool dude.


Grandpa Basil and John


Nathan and Mommy

Indian Beach 4th of July picnic

Ahhh... Northport Bay!

Nathan and Grandma

Nathan was fascinated by Daddy's cupcake-eating technique.

Retreat on Cooley Lake

On Thursday I took a vacation day, and Nathan and I packed into the car and drove over to the Detroit suburbs to Gillian's parents' house for a little pre-4th of July celebration. I was sad to miss the big Hooker Family 4th festivities, but it was actually really nice to hang out with Gillian, Caroline, Dick and Jan; it was so relaxing and wonderful to get caught up with all of them. It was cold and gray and drizzling outside, so we spent most of our time around the table eating delicious food (thanks Jan and Caroline!), drinking great wine (thanks Dick!) and laughing the night away. Nathan was on very good behavior, and I think everyone enjoyed him. I didn't take many pictures, as we were having such a good time talking and my camera batteries were running low, but I did manage to snap a few photos before the batteries died.

Nathan and Auntie Caroline


Dick and Nathan

Lowkey weekend

The weekend after Father's day was the calmest we've had all summer! We finally made it to the Farmer's Market, did some housecleaning and just relaxed. Our friend Marty was in town for a friend's wedding, and he made some time in his busy schedule to stop by and meet Nathan and spend some time with us. It was really great to catch up with him. We miss you, Martins!!