Seda, baby, you're the one . . .

How cute are they?

 . . . You make bath time so much fun! We tried giving Seda a bath with Charlie the other night, instead of pulling her tub out separately. It worked out great! Charlie holds Seda in his lap while we wash her, and then he helps rinse her off afterwards! She definitely gets a kick out of it too, as you can see from the video below. I can't wait until she's big enough to sit on her own and play with Charlie in the bath... they'll have so much fun!

"Can I dump this on her, Dad?"

Helping rinse Seda off.

Visit with G3 and GAC

Checking out the airplane book with Grandpa.

 After our boat trip to Wisconsin, we had a 2.5 hour car ride to get to Chicago to visit Pete's grandpa and Aunt Carol. It had been awhile since our last visit and they hadn't met Seda yet, so we figured we were due for trip! We got there for dinner on Friday night, so we had some pizza, played some ring toss (big thanks to AC for buying it for Charlie), and just visited. After hanging out for a few hours, we headed to our hotel down the street. In the morning we got up and hit our usual stops we like to when we make it to Chicago. First stop was bagels from our favorite place, then to Trader Joe's to stock up on food items we like from there. We wanted to go to IKEA, but we just ran out of time. We took bagels back over to Grandpa's house, and spent the morning and early afternoon with them. At lunch time, we headed out to Fuddrucker's. We had a nice little lunch together, and then we headed back home. It was a pretty long ride home, but the trip was totally worth it. Both Seda and Charlie really enjoyed visiting with Grandpa and Aunt Carol... and we think they enjoyed the visit too! ;) Hopefully we'll be able to get back to visit again soon!

Seda liked grabbing Grandpa's fingers. I think he like it too! :)

Getting some love from Great Aunt Carol! 

Playing ring toss with Great Grandpa George.

"What's that on your shirt, Charlie?"

"His name is Spiderman, Grandpa George."

Badger Boat Ride

Getting on the boat.

After our week in Ludington, we took the car ferry (The Badger) out of Ludington over to Wisconsin. We wanted to get to Chicago to see Pete's Grandpa George and Aunt Carol, so we thought the boat would be fun for Charlie. One of my former students at Free Soil works on the boat, so he was able to hook us up with a free trip! It was SUPER nice of him because it's really expensive to ride the boat, and even more to take your car across. Charlie LOVED being on the boat. There were so many cool things to see and do: games to play, movies to watch, etc. He was even able to see the boat captain and wave to him! The unfortunate part of the trip was that the water was ROUGH. All the beaches were closed due to strong undertows, and Pete's friend, Micah (who is a charter boat captain), said they were calling for gale force winds that day. Great. Luckily we paid extra to get a state room just in case the kids needed a nap or if we wanted a place to get away from the rest of the people. We ended up spending half our time in the state room, laying down to avoid getting sick. I couldn't take Dramamine because I'm nursing, so I just had to lay down on the bed the whole time. Charlie watched a movie for a bit, but then the rocking of the boat put him to sleep and he slept for almost two hours. Once we got closer to Wisconsin, the waves died down a bit and we were able to walk around again. 

All in all it was a great adventure! I've always wanted to ride the boat, and Pete & I knew that Charlie would love going on it. Maybe we'll be able to do it again in the future and have a better day on the water!

Charlie and Seda posing where Pete's dad and his brother did when they were kids.

Grandma and Grandpa took our picture from land.

Leaving the harbor in Ludigton... it was chilly!

Waving to Grandpa and Grandma at the lighthouse (they are on the left)!

Charlie and Pete all excited for the boat ride!

Me trying not to be sick on the boat. :(

Having fun in the state room... not at all bothered by the big waves!

Being a little monkey.

Snuggling in for the long ride.

Week in Ludington

First time playing putt-putt.

 After a weekend in Traverse City, we headed to the family cottage in Ludington for the week. It was the perfect week for weather! The boys LOVED playing in the waves in Lake Michigan, we took walks on the beach, Kelly and I enjoyed the woods and the beach for our workouts, went to the playground, Pete and his dad fished, we got ice cream at House of Flavors.... and on and on. It was a super fun, relaxing weekend with the family, and it always makes us wish we lived closer to use the cottage more. At least we have a couple weeks we look forward to in the summer time every year!

Charlie loved the Badger hole... because he could hit the ball in the water. :)

Hangin' in the exersaucer again.

Charlie helping keep Seda entertained while playing.

Bonding time with Uncle Mark.

Superman ice cream cone at House of Flavors.

Kelly and I... we are never in the pictures.

LOVE this picture! My little man chillin' at the lighthouse.

Love my in-laws!

My adorable kiddos!

Yay! Pic of Pete and I together!

I love Charlie's face when I take these pictures of us.

Traditional bath for the babies in the cottage sink. 

They held each other's hand all by themselves.

Enjoying some sunshine.

Jumping in the waves of Lake Michigan.

Cleaning the boat with Grandpa (yep... in his undies!).

Matthew's Baptism

Godparent picture.

While we were in TC, Mark and Kelly had Matthew's baptism. We are so lucky because they asked us to be his godparents, along with Drew. There's nothing that would make us happier than being able to be there for Mark and Kelly and to help support our nephews in any way we can. We were very honored that they asked us. It was a great little service, and Matthew did SO good! He slept a little, ate a little, and then even let the pastor hold him! After the baptism, Pete's parents had everyone over to their house for lunch. It was a nice visit with everyone, and then Mark and Kelly stayed a bit longer so Charlie and Drew could play. What a great day and a great little celebration for Matthew! (The pictures are all out of order, but it was too much of a pain to fix them all!)

Great pic of Kelly and her dad.

Family pic.

Matthew on his special day!

An updated wagon pic of the boys!

Playing some golf with Uncle Mark!

Lost in the trees. "Spirit of the Forest" coming through!

LOVE this little guy!

A little snooze for Daddy while Seda snuggles in.

First time in the exersaucer!

Sittin' like a big girl.

Seda and Auntie waiting for the baptism to start.

Takin' a snooze before the festivities begin!

Big brother, Drew, waiting patiently for the dunking.

Charlie wanted to know when they were going to "dunk" Matthew.

Our sweet little angel... in a dress for the first time!

Hangin' with the Pastor Walls.

The official dunking.