Baby Gap Ad

Over the summer, we had our friend Liza take pictures of the three grandkids for my parents.  We spent an afternoon in the park and after much bribing with food, crying and a few smiles, we got a few pictures we could work with.

**side note:  I had this picture on my desktop at work & my co-worked asked me why I had a Baby Gap ad on my computer.

Thirty Flirty & Thriving...

One of my best friends turned thirty this past weekend.  For months, her sister and my other friend Traci and I have been planning a "spy day" as Jess would eventually name it.  Basically a scavenger hunt.  We gathered a lot of her friends & family to participate and after many emails, some flow charts & and iPhone app, we made it happen.

We surprised her at 9:30am with her favorite custard rolls, then we kidnapped her for the day.  The day went something like this... rollerskating with Ginny (college friend) & family, lunch @ Ginny's.  Shopping for a new outfit (present from Mom), then pedicure & manicure (present from me).  New shoes (from other college friend), pie with candles, then off to Greektown, Detroit for the evening.  Dinner at Fishbones, drinks at the Casino, along with some gambling and lounge singers, then up to our corner room on the 29th floor (courtesy of Aunt Laurie & Uncle Jeff) with an amazing view, to eat cheese pizza & drink champagne at 3:30am.  Phew... it was a jam packed day full of fun.

We of course made her wear flashing gear that advertise her age & make her look fabulous!

Here are some pictures from the day.  Not sure why they are a little blurry, I stole them from Traci's camera so you can check them out on her blog here as well.

It's fall...

It's definitely that time of year.  We had our traditional Halloween festival with Nona (Phil's mom) again this year.  She was such a good sport hosting us, cooking and playing broken wrist and all.  We had a great time as always eating, picking out pumpkins, carving (although Phil and I ended up doing all of the carving this year... who was this party for again?) and spending time with Nona.

Here are just a few pictures, I'll post more later.

Binder Park Zoo

A few weekends ago, we took a big group of people to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. I hadn't been there (aside from the Zoo Boo in October, but that doesn't count since there are really no animals out then) in probably close to 10 years.

It was an extremely hot day, but we managed to make our way around and get the whole "Zoo Experience." We rode the tram, fed the giraffes, saw the giant tortoise, ate some ice cream and even saw a peacock with it's feathers spread. It was a pretty exciting trip.

Abby while we were waiting for the tram to Africa.

Natalie & Champe checking out the giraffes & other animals in Africa. Don't worry, the animals weren't scared off by the tiger on his bum!

this was truly one of nature's amazing beauties

Natalie after she fed the giraffes. She thought it was so funny that they stuck their (really long, may I say) tongues through the nets to get the lettuce from us. She laughed so hard at this.

Ok, the tongue doesn't look that long here, but I swear they are like at least a foot long.

Rhiannon & Alistair looking very coy

Abby & Henry all pooped out from their big zoo adventure

Happy Birthday to my favorite nephew

My nephew Thomas Champe turns 1 year old today. We celebrated over the weekend with the whole family and reminisced about last year and how we spent the whole fourth of July weekend trying to convince my sister to go to the hospital. We thought you'd never get here, but after a whole day of labor and several hours of pushing... we finally got our first look at you. Now a year later here we are spending as much time as possible with you.

It's been a year filled with fun and great memories. We've enjoyed your company, your smiles, babbles, first steps and watching you grow so fast. We are blessed to have you in our family.

Happy birthday Mr. Champe!