Today we went up to the South Bend area to celebrate Andy's Grandpa's 75th birthday. It was a long day, since we didn't leave until after church this morning and came back home after the party. Still, it was a lot of fun, and Quinn loved all the attention he got. I actually didn't get many pictures at all, but these three I really liked.

Look at how happy Quinn is sitting like a big boy with his cousins (actually, second cousins). We love the Klawitters and wish we saw them more! And I just love this picture.

This is Quinn's new "cheesy" face. How cute is the picture of these three? We stopped by to see Andy's mom and her husband Dennis at her beautiful store in Lakeville. I hadn't seen it since it opened in September, so I was really excited. I love this picture too!

We also were able to visit with Quinn's Great-Grandma, or "Gigi", as we call her. She hadn't seen Quinn walking yet, so it was fun to show her all his tricks. (:

Quinn and the Kuhns

Our great friends the Kuhns came over for dinner the other night. It was a tentative plan, as Virginia was 5 days overdue with their third child. Happily, little Simon (isn't that such a cute name?!) held off on arriving until just a few days ago, so we were able to enjoy having them over. Quinn LOVES the Kuhn boys. He said their names Colin (Nah-nin) and Issac (I-ick) all day before they came and all day the next day. He loves to do whatever they do, and they are play really well with him. The top left pic in this collage is from May '07, just to show how they've grown. I absolutely love that picture with Issac (barely) refraining from grabbing Quinn's head. (:

And check out this gorgeous rainbow we saw tonight! It started pouring rain even though the sun was out. I LOVE rainbows. I love how beautiful they are, and I love how they are a symbol of a promise from God. They make me thank God so much for loving us enough to create such an unnecessary yet breathtakingly beautiful aspect of nature. I think this is the best rainbow I've ever seen.

Sunday Fun

We had so much fun this afternoon discovering a new park near us. When we got back from vacation, a few people told me about this new park 10 minutes from our house that had an awesome spray park. Not only does it have a great spray park, but it has the coolest playground equipment (like the swing Q and I are on in the above pic). Quinn had soooo much fun (so did Andy and I)! I can't wait to go back. I'm sure we'll be regulars! These kinds of afternoons are why I love summer. (:

Apple Nonny and Minnie

After days ago, Quinn's Uncle Johnny and his girlfriend Nikki visited on their way back to Florida. Before they came, I kept telling Quinn that Johnny, who he calls "Nonny", and Nikki were coming. When I said Nikki, he at first thought I said Mickey and would repeat back, "Mickey Mouse?". (He LOVES Mickey Mouse, who is on his diapers and also sings the "Hot Dog" song. Moms out there, do you know that song? I know it very well! (: ) I told him that it wasn't Mickey Mouse, but when they arrived, he called Nikki "Minnie" instead! Then he started calling Johnny "Apple Nonny" for Uncle Johnny, which we thought was so cute. Anyway, it was a short but sweet visit. They hadn't seen Quinn since before he could walk, so it was really fun to see them enjoy his antics. Quinn also LOVED Johnny's big truck and thought it was so fun with Johnny let him walk around in the bed of it. We sooo wish we could see them more often, and hopefully we'll be able to pull off another trip to Florida before we have to pay for a plane ticket for Quinn. (:

Vacation Pics

So, even though this is my third vacation post, I don't feel like I have that many great pictures. I guess I'll have to be better about that next time! It seemed there was always something going on that took my attention away from getting the camera out. (:

In case I haven't made this very clear, the family we went on vacation with is the Keppler family, consisting of Nan, Matt, and Will. Will, as I've mentioned in many previous posts, is exactly one month older than Quinn and is his best friend. Nan and I became the best of friends through figuring out this whole mom thing at the same time. I don't know what I would do without her! Matt and Andy get along great too and loved golfing in the Hilton Head area, even though it was 99 degrees both of the days they went! So, while it was an adventure with two toddlers and we actually didn't get to see that much of the Kepplers some days since the boys were on opposite sleeping schedules, it was still a very wonderful trip.

I think this might be the first picture of Nan, me, and the boys. How crazy that it took 18 months to take it! We met up in Savannah, GA, which was only about a half an hour away from where we stayed. It was really, really hot that day, so I would love to go back at a cooler time of year and without a little one.

I made sure Quinn wore his seersucker pants to Savannah, which Andy didn't quite get until we saw several other little boys in seersucker. Come on, I read John Grisham books! I know that's what guys wear in the South (Right, Jaillene and Lindsey?) ! ( :

Cutie-patooties Will and Quinn

And so I can include Matt, here's a pic of the Kepplers, even though Will is in the middle of eating a carrot in this picture. ( : A wonderful perk of vacation with other people is we traded off babysitting nights. Andy and I were able to enjoy a delicious meal on the waterfront on the island.

And I discovered that sunscreen on the head means fun hairstyles later in the day!

I just like this picture of my guys in their matching towels.

Pool pics

Throughout the week, we visited a pool in a nearby development, since the pool hasn't been built yet where we stayed. Nan and I sooo wish we had a pool like this one here at home. It had 2 gradual entrances into the water (like a beach), and it also had an awesome sprinkler/wet deck, where once the kids hit a button, sprayers went off. Quinn called them bubbles and LOVED playing in them. The water was a bit cold for me, but he and Andy had a blast.

Beach pics

I love beach pictures. There's just something about the lighting and water that makes them all seem more special. Maybe it's because I love Quinn's chubby belly in his swimsuit. Or maybe it's just because it's so wonderful to be near the ocean since we live so far away from it! We were able to go to the beach twice. I wasn't sure how it would be, since our last beach experience was right before Quinn started walking. He loved it, though, and we had so much fun watching him enjoy the waves and sand. We didn't stay right on Hilton Head Island, but we really liked the island and hope to go back again sometime soon to explore it more.
Oh, and I'm just going to post a bunch of collages because it's so much easier and quicker to write captions under a bunch of pictures. Every time I sit down to post, I want to be more clever and creative, but it doesn't happen. Throughout the day, I'll think of things to say, and then they all leave me when the moment to write comes. You'd think more of a former English teacher, wouldn't you? (: I love my friend Heidi's blog (see DeKorne family link). I aspire to be as refreshingly witty as she is. (:

We're back!

We're back from our vacation to Hilton Head. This is the only family picture we got, which I obviously took myself. Even though we were on vacation with our wonderful friends, the Kepplers, we still didn't get a picture of all three of us together. Try as I might, I seem to always get back from trips or events and realize what pictures I didn't get. Oh well! It was a great trip, and I learned a lot about how different a "vacation" is with a toddler. The relaxing part that used to go along with a vacation is certainly not there; I think I didn't really relax until we got back home! But, the fun part definitely was there, and I'll post pictures of it in the next few days.

Happy Father's Day!

In honor of my wonderful husband--Quinn's awesome daddy--I thought I'd post a collage of some of my favorite pictures of the two of them from the last few months. I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing partner in parenthood. Andy is above and beyond what I could have ever hoped for as a father of my child, and Quinn and I love him so much!

Our Wills

Quinn really is a lucky little boy. Not only does he have two good little buddies who live near us that he gets to play with often, but they both have the same name--Will! As a result, Quinn learned how to say Will awhile ago, and he just loves saying "Hi, Will!", "Bye-bye, Will", and "Will's house" whenever we drive by the Will who lives in our neighborhood. These pictures are of in-our-neighborhood Will. I was so happy to become friends with his mom, Shannon, after we walked past each other many mornings last summer on our walks with the boys. It is a wonderful thing to have a friends just down the street from us. Will is a couple months older than Quinn, but Quinn is catching up to his size quickly. They are still learning how to share with each other, but they have a lot of fun together.

I won't be posting again for over a week because we are going on vacation with the other Will and his parents! We're going to the Hilton Head area. It will be quite an adventure traveling with two toddlers, but I'm sure we'll have a great time and lots of pictures to post. Till then, Happy June, everyone! : )