We drove to Milwaukee on Saturday for a taste of a big city. We had dinner at the same place we had our rehearsal dinner 8 years ago. We were so impressed that Magnolia made it through all of the courses without a fuss. She loved the escargot, steak frites, and chocolate mousse! Our weekend was wonderfully relaxing. I've been glued to the t.v. watching and loving every minute of the Olympics...to think we were there a year ago! Magnolia especially loved watching the gymnastics. She did somersaults all over the living room floor!

This was the second year that my family made the trip up to the island and we're so glad they did. We had SO much fun. Unfortunately we were missing two of my brothers and their families, hopefully they'll make it next year! The cousins have a blast and it's so much fun to see them play together. On our shore front we have a large rock that rises above the water's surface. Last year it was quickly named "Mermaid Rock" by all of the cousins. There was also a flat rock nearby that became "Cousins Rock." They were such appropriate names and they stuck. This year the kiddos were old enough to do some serious swimming at the famous Schoolhouse Beach named for the 1850 Schoolhouse nearby. It's famous for its smooth white rocks, there are only 4 beaches like this in the world. So aptly enough, this beach became "Schoolhouse Rock!" We had the best time there this year. Nana & Papa bought washable watercolor paints and a ton of paint brushes. The kids painted rocks and put them back in the water at the days' end.
Early this spring George and I found a beautiful plank of driftwood on our shore that obviously found it's way to us after the lake thawed. We decided it would make a great bar on our deck so we attached it to the banister, made a place for the umbrella, and added some bar stools. Since it was right off the kitchen we took down the screen so the window could open for service. The kids loved this and quickly named it the "Snak Shak." They made signs for it and one day even wrote out the menu. The Snak Shak was only open twice a day; lunch and dinner. The kids would line up outside and I would stand inside taking orders and shouting out the orders to the adults. After the orders were handed through the window, they sat at the bar with a beautiful view of the lake and NO parents!

With all of the little children at our place so suddenly the woodland fairies must have decided it too is a wonderful place to visit. One day without ANY warning a gold necklace was discovered in the woods. With the prospect of finding more jewels there were shrills of excitement and the gathering of the cousins to discuss this possibility. With further hunting more and more jewels and tiny little trinkets were discovered! This has boggled all of us and left us wondering how we came to such a good fortune of being visited by the woodland fairies!
On the last day we were all sad to part. While cars were getting packed and houses cleaned the kids decided to take their watercolor paints and do some face painting.

Bye! Hope to see you all again next year!

Picnic in the Park

Magnolia and I celebrated our Family Day yesterday by going to the park and having lunch. She's wearing this dress that I finally finished for her! It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here so I'm behind on postings. We had a fabulous week on the island with my family and Magnolia still calls out for her cousins hoping they'll come around the corner. I have a ton a photos and I will post them soon!

Dearest Magnolia,

One year ago today was the most magical and amazing days of our lives, the day we met you! You came through the doors in that building in Guangzhou and you were placed in my arms. I never even saw who it was who gave you to me. I couldn't take my eyes off of you. You were beautiful and sweet and we looked at each other like we had been waiting for each other our whole lives. You had such a look of sweet curiosity and even amusement on your face. You put your tiny little hand on my shoulder as if to say, "it's okay mama, I'm here now." You continued to stare at us and we stared at you. You were neither scared nor affected. The room fell quiet and I didn't hear anything but us telling you we were your mama and dada forever and ever. We took you back to the hotel and you fell asleep and slept soundly for 13 hours! We stayed up the whole night watching you and listening to you breathe. We couldn't believe we were all together. We couldn't believe we were complete. We still can't believe we have you. You are a constant joy in our lives and we have never been happier.

I love you sweet Magnolia. Happy Family Day! xoxo We celebrated with a Chinese dinner & cake.
We gave you your first gift that we collected in China to give to you on each anniversary. This year it was a bracelet made from Mahjong pieces.
Here we are one year later.

John H. Lobeck

January 27, 1918 - July 28, 2008

I will miss my grandpa. He lived 90 years. I'm happy he's not suffering anymore. I'm sad he's gone. He was such a fun and energetic grandpa, a man seemingly made of steel. He survived the Depression and understandably the experience seemed to shape every aspect of him. He really taught us how to save, how to be frugal, and how to be so grateful for what we had. He had dentures for as long as I could remember and to our delight he would take them out and show what would happen if we didn't brush our teeth. Most of my childhood summers were spent at my grandparents lake cottage in Michigan where we learned to swim across the lake, fish, row a boat, catch minnows, roast marshmallows, and skin fish. My grandpa was the best fish fryer ever and we would look forward to his fried bluegill every summer. My grandpa loved his children and grandchildren very much and we loved him very much. He will be greatly missed by many. (The above photo is of my grandpa with my mother taken in 1944)My wedding day in 2000

The last time I saw my grandpa and the first time he met Magnolia, May 2008

7.25.08

Dearest Magnolia,

Tomorrow you will be 21 months! I'm sorry I missed your 2o month update so this is going to be long as I have a lot to say about you!

You look and feel bigger. You are definitely stronger and you've grown a half inch. You are 31.5" but still holding steady at 21-22 pounds. You have 12 teeth now, your incisors are your newest.

Your vocabulary is growing more and more. You say"no" a lot which is typical for your age. You continue to grunt or say "ite" for "yes" even though you can say "yes" as "ses." I'll ask you what your grunt means (trying to get you to say yes) and you'll say "ite." I'll ask what "ite" means and you grunt! You are using 3 word sentences like, "I don't know" & "where are you?" (when playing hide and seek). Your Nani taught you "slippery" and you say it "slipipipipery." You also say "c'mon" which is the cutest thing when you want to show me something. You are really good at your manners too. You say "thank you," "please." and your latest, "excuse me." You also say "bless you" when I sneeze and also when I cough. :)

You love for me to sing the ABCs and you can repeat all the letters after me and you say them with such clarity! You love your shape sorters and puzzles. One day you sat down to your puzzles and did them all. It really happened overnight, you surprised me very much with that! You love to sing songs and you just love music. As soon as we get in the car you point to the speaker and say "music." You also have recently learned to match things together. Mostly with your shoes. You love to get your shoes from your basket and you always bring me the right pairs.

Your daddy taught you somersaults when you were 19-20months. One day he asked you to show me a somersault and I almost fell over when you did it perfectly with no help! Apparently at bath time you also do gymnastics on the bed with daddy, I'm guessing you love it! You are such a daddy's girl. He cannot wait to come home everyday to see you. When you know he's home you get so excited, almost speechless, and then when he's in sight you act so cool, like you aren't excited to see him at all! Then you want to show off everything that you've been doing that moment. You LOVE to ride on his shoulders, you now say "show show" to get up there. Recently we hiked 3 miles on Rock Island with you riding on your daddy's shoulders!

You are starting to express yourself! You push your legs out from under you and land on your bottom when you feel frustrated. Although I don't tell you this now, I always find this so cute and can't but help laugh when you do this. I tell you that you look frustrated and ask if you can tell me what you want and that's the end of it. So far, so good. :) Recently we have been going to the pool which you love. You jump off the edge and don't even care if you go under water, you are such a little fish! You do imaginary play with your toys. You'll ask your baby doll if she wants to go for a walk and then answer "yes" for her. You are getting better and better at stairs, we no longer have to keep the gate up and you rarely go up the stairs without me. You are so good, truly. For some reason, you really listen to me and you really follow the rules. Is this going to change soon? :)
You are the light of our lives, we love you so very much and every night when you are sleeping, your daddy and I talk about the many ways you delight us. Happy 21 months Maggie Pie!

-We're going back up to the island for the week. This time Magnolia will have 9 of her cousins to play with! Have a great week everyone!-

Like Mother Like Daughter

Magnolia loves watermelon as much as I do!

I have been meaning to do a Magnolia update as I missed her 20 month update. I'm going to make up for it on her upcoming 21st month birthday. We are also approaching our first Family Day Anniversary so I've been busy working on a book for Magnolia on our journey to each other. It's taking me a lot of time but it will be so wonderful to have. Hope you are enjoying your summer!

The Madlingers

Our longtime friends, the Madlingers, came for a visit. We had not seen each other in over 8 years! Jennifer and I quickly became friends waiting tables together just out of college. I was in their wedding and soon after George and I became engaged, we moved away. It was so nice to see them again and meet their darling boys. We had such a nice time catching up & Magnolia loved playing with Matthew & Michael. Hopefully we won't go so long until we see each other again! Thanks for the visit Madlinger Family!

Wink Eye

"Wink eye, wink eye. Pink eye, pink eye. "

Magnolia learned to wink after reading this Dr. Seuss book. She loves to give me her wink eye out of no where and every time I laugh my head off.

We just got home from the island. We had so much fun up there and saw so much wildlife. Magnolia's Nani left this morning. We are all sad to see her go. Magnolia had so much fun playing, painting, & doing yoga with her Nani, she will miss her so much! Farewell Nani, come back again soon! xoxo

4th of July

We had a very nice 4th of July here on the island. Magnolia loved the parade and promptly said "more of this" when it ended. We didn't see the fireworks because Magnolia decided she was too tired, said bye bye, and started to walk towards the car. :)
Below are pictures from dinner at The Washington Hotel and story time at the Red Barn next door. After stories all the kids blew bubbles. It was so much fun!
We are continuing to have a wonderful time up here, doing a whole lot of nothing.

I don't have a lot of time on the internet up here without having a connection so I'll be back to blogging next week. I have some Magnolia updates I want to share and hopefully more pictures. Thank you everyone for all of your sweet messages and taking the time to stop by, I look forward to checking in with you next week!

Taking A Break

Magnolia & I are taking a break at the Take-A-Break Cafe on the island. It's about the only place to get online so we're here sharing an Italian soda and peanut butter crackers. We're up here for two blissful weeks. Here are some photos so far...

Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July!