Owens' BBQ, Drew's Bday, Memorial Day, Todd's Bday & the Giant Womb

Here's another big old stack of pictures. I love having this record so I'm trying to keep it going...

Jackson and Cara moved to Texas last month (my heart is tearing up while I'm typing) so we had a little BBQ in their honor. It started to rain so we had to hang out in our awesome carport (our house is too small for parties of this magnitude). Can you spot Cara in the first picture? Thanks for the smile, lady.

Jackson loves the spotlight, but was kind enough to share a few minutes of it so we could have a little birthday cake for Drew. Can you believe our boy is 2?? He is still as edible as ever. 

He got a backpack and lawnmower and didn't let the rain deter him for a second.

 Gotta get that lawn taken care of!

Todd had to work on Memorial Day, but we really wanted to get out of town that weekend before. So, Pam and Jordan were good enough sports to go camping with us despite the less than sunny weather forecast. We went to Pinery Park in Ontario - right over the Canadian border. It is on Lake Huron and is very pretty. The weather forecast didn't lie. It was not super warm or sunny, but it was camping! And it was fun!

Drew having some ketchup and some boogers for dinner.

Looks as warm as it felt, but Todd and I did take a COLD dip in the lake. 

I couldn't take enough pictures of those adorable buns. 

It rained pretty hard both nights we were there, but we stayed dry in our tent and the kids have seriously never slept better. Look at these angels.

"Holding hands" in the car. I think Audrey was forcing this situation, but he mostly does what she says.

On Memorial Day, the kids and I met up with friends at a nearby lake. These are the only 2 pics I took, but it looks like Drew had fun. Nasty.

Cute girl reading 100 books before church one Sunday.

Todd turned 32!! a couple weeks ago. We had a picnic at the Arboretum...an Ann Arbor favorite. It was the perfect night at the park. Sure love my husband - he puts up with me forcing him to blow out candles every year. You're THE BEST, honey.

Jordan and Scott bouncing their little ladies. 

Drew loves his Michigan hat. It's a little big and is usually crunching one of his ears. I tried to capture that here, but it's kind of hard to see. I love those faces. 

We went to see this "thing" the other night at the Summer Festival. It's a huge (like 1/3 of a field) blow-up maze sort of thing. It's not for playing in, in fact they make it very clear before going in that there is no running, jumping or even loud talking. There's quiet music playing and one worker was even in there meditating. The light inside is all reflected from the natural sunlight. It's made by "air architects" and was flown in from England. It's supposed to be somewhat like a "cathedral or a womb". Hmmmm. I choose Cathedral. It was pretty cool and luckily the kids didn't try any crazy moves and get us kicked out.

Audrey is not a photo poser. I had to take some candid shots of her to send in for the bulletin board in the preschool she'll attend in the Fall. When I told her it was for preschool, she was more than willing to pose. She loves that "4th of July" dress and wears it whenever she can. Her hair kind of looks like a little ragamuffin, but I love these pictures. She is full of it, that girl.

Drew wanted to pose too. Popsicle mouth.

Easter with the McMasters

We had a fabulous Easter weekend this year. It started out with an egg hunt at the park with friends and then when we got home Todd's sister Brooke and her kids were at our house! Cute Brooke packed 4 of her 5 kiddos into the minivan and drove the LONG trip from St. Paul to hang out with us for the weekend. That's true love. It was also perfect timing for them to come because my mom left the night they got here, and I think I would have been a crying mess if they hadn't been here to ease the transition back into parenthood.

Drew picked up about 2 eggs and then ripped into them for the treats. 

I love the discarded basket and egg in this picture.

Ah...my little models.

Last pic with Gramma Janny before she headed home...my face is as white as my sweater. Love Michigan winters.

That's a handsome boy.

Easter Morning

Modeling the Easter socks. The Easter Bunny couldn't find any Easter socks in James's size so his say "Recycling Rocks my Socks". That hit my funny bone for some reason.

Anyone want to come sit in our computer chair?

Cute Baby Lauren - look at that face.

We went to the local petting farm....Sammy looks like she enjoyed it. Our kids were crying and clinging to us because they were scared of the baby goats that were roaming. Sheesh!

Crazy, curly furred donkeys. Only 180 of them in the world and we have 2 in Ann Arbor. You're jealous.

Cute cousins.

Do you love these guinea pigs or what?

Audrey adores James. Everywhere he went she found him and sat on his lap....he was very patient.

And no visitors get away without a visit to Washtenaw Dairy (Debinaw Dairy in Audrey talk).

We love you, McMasters! Thanks for making the trip to A2. St. Paul, here we come!