Visiting JuJu and PaPa

Hannah was so excited to visit JuJu and PaPa in New York this summer. We broke in our new-to-us minivan and it was fabulous! (It certainly helped splitting up the trip into 2 days, too!)














We discovered all kinds of fun activities to keep Hannah entertained. She fell in love with this rocking horse at a woodworking store and also enjoyed feeding the ducks at a local town. She had a riot watching the "birds" peck at the seeds.













We were also able to enjoy an afternoon at the zoo. Unfortunately, this butterfly is just about the only creature we saw there besides an elephant and a couple of monkeys.













Hannah found some interesting ways to keep herself entertained in the car. She is sporting a mustache just like PaPa in this picture. :)













JuJu took Hannah on the carousel at the mall. I think Hannah enjoyed the spinning, but JuJu got a little dizzy on that 2nd deck!













We drove by a local farm one day and stopped to let Hannah jump. And she jumped her little heart out. She kept up with the big kids and just couldn't get enough. Daddy had some fun, too!













It was sad to leave and think about returning home with family 400 miles away in either direction from Brighton. We often wish we had grandparents (and aunts and uncles!) closer to spend quality time with. Hopefully someday!

Knock Knock

The Friday Five: July Update

5. Daddy's becoming a pancake expert. Hannah's favorite concoction is his new "Dora" complete with a M&M eyes, a chocolate chip smile, and cocoa hairdo









4. We recently bought a slightly larger kiddie pool for Hannah and she LOVES it. There's only one thing to watch out for though, the hippopotamus that lives on the bottom! Don't know where Hannah comes up with these things, but the swim shoes were a must so it wouldn't nibble on her toes.













3. Hannah learned the joy of licking the beaters when mommy makes cookies! She also helped pour each ingredient into the bowl and turn the mixer on and off. I'm not brave enough to teach her how to crack the eggs yet!

















2. Hannah had a blast at Vacation Bible School! Whenever I went to check on her or give the nursery workers a little break she demanded that I "GO AWAY!" Hmmm. Is someone ready for preschool? She loved every minute of every day and reports that her favorite activity was the bounce house. We had over 150 children attend!









1. I went in for my 13 week check-up this morning and brought Hannah along. She was so excited to hear the baby's heartbeat. But....more scares. The doctor couldn't find it! We heard plenty of swish swishing but she said that was me because it wasn't fast enough. So....I ended up with an ultrasound and the baby is JUST FINE!!! I couldn't believe how much he/she had grown in just a couple of weeks! It was exciting for Hannah to see the picture of the baby and watch it's arms and legs thrashing about. We also got to see the flickering of the heartbeat which is always very reassuring. (Turns out that the doctor was listening too low--kind of the same scenario as my first ultrasound so I guess I'm carrying high! Boy?)

Sleeping Bear Dunes Camping Trip

Over the 4th of July weekend we went camping at the Sleeping Bear Dune National State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous with a million things to do and see. Our campsite was spacious and relatively private. The bathrooms were also amongst the cleanest we've visited while camping :)

















It took quite a bit of coaxing, but we got Hannah into the water this year. She enjoyed feeling the waves splash on her legs and even waded out fairly far from the shore with daddy.













I thought Hannah would be too young to appreciate the dune climb so I sent Caleb up on his own. What would mommy know? She ran chasing after him and made it all the way to the top! She decided that crawling was the best way down which landed her head first into the sand at one point so daddy carried her the rest of the way.













One morning we decided to try a float/canoe trip. The first hour or so was great! We were all having a nice, relaxing time and Hannah even sat in the middle by herself. Unfortunately, when we got to the lake portion of the trip, we tipped over. Hannah was mortified and I don't think she'll be going near a canoe for quite some time now. Thankfully, we were only in about 1-2 feet of water when we went over so it was pretty easy to get upright again. The last 2 hours of the trip were spent with me holding Hannahs' hands and trying to console her. We topped it off with ice cream so hopefully she won't have only bad memories of this trip :)











We spent a lot of time at the beach enjoying the beautiful coastline and perfect weather. Hannah loved her little turtle floaty that we got her in a cute little town nearby.














We will definitely be making another camping trip to this location again soon. It was one of the best campgrounds ever!

Balloons!

Last Saturday, we headed out to the Howell Balloon Fest. We went a few years ago and the balloons never launched so we were a bit skeptical. It was a hot evening, but there was a nice
breeze that made it bearable.



































The balloons did launch and they were beautiful! We liked the Sandra Boynton, out favorite children's book author, the best.

Baby Coddington Update

I had my 9 week ultrasound this morning and got quite the scare. The doctor was looking at the monitor and I could tell by the look on her face that it was not good. The tears started streaming down my face as I waited for her to say that the baby had no heartbeat. But, she turned to me and said that there was actually no baby. The tears came faster as she offered to try again.

Praise the Lord that she found baby Coddington hiding at the very tip of my uterus. She decided to try zooming out on the screen and caught a little glimpse of something. Once she got in the right spot I saw the reassuring flicker of the heartbeat and the .90 inch Teddy Graham-looking blob. I've never been so relieved in my life! The doctor said that the baby's measuring about 9 weeks and 3 days old which gives me a due date of January 28th.

















We are just so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with another little baby. He is always so faithful to our family. I am constantly reminded to turn my eyes to Him to guide our family. He knows the perfect timing for His plans and I need to learn to trust Him more.

Our family would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers. We feel incredibly blessed!

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4

The Friday Five: Camping

My only experience with camping during my childhood was Girl Scout camp somewhere in rural Missouri during a rainy, cold week. When I married Caleb he was always sharing fun memories of his family taking camping trips over the summer.

Before Hannah we did some tent camping, but once she joined the family we thought that camping might be a little more pleasant if we had a pop-up. So, about 3 years ago, we bit the bullet and purchased a new (older model) camper.

(Worth every penny, wouldn't you say?) LOL

The first two years of Hannah's life I can't say were too fun camping, especially when she was just learning to walk and, therefore, wanting to toddle this way and that but not having the stability to do so. We somehow managed to entertain her at the campgrounds during those years.

But this year is a different story! Every morning she wakes up and asks if we can go camping again. Our first trip of this season was up to Mackinac with JuJu and PaPa and a few weekends ago we went just north of Lansing with families from our small group. She LOVED both trips!

We have found camping to be an economical way to explore new cities and spend quality time together as a family. Caleb's mother even gifted us a camping journal where we can record our adventures. As Hannah gets older, it becomes even more fun.

Our favorite campgrounds so far are (some of these pictures are a few years old):

5. Sleeper (Michigan thumb area)--had a fun Halloween program with petting zoo, parades, decorations and more












4. Sleeping Bear Dunes (pretty sure we'll like it...first time here will be next weekend)

3. Sleepy Hollow (just north of Lansing)--private, spacious sites












2. Wilderness (Mackincac)--location is great!









1. Hoffmaster (Muskegon)--beautiful sites within a short walking distance to Lake Michigan








Hopefully we will be able to start exploring beyond the state of Michigan as the kid(s) get older!