Another fun summer weekend for the Grahams

A little background first for those of you who may not know.... We purchased some land north of here about 2 months ago. It is on Lake Michigan, zoned "non-buildable", and needs a lot of work. Warren has been going up and clearing the land for on a few weekends. (He didn't want me to take a picture of it. It is not picture ready yet. And I forgot the camera anyway.)

This past weekend we went up with him and stayed at a campsite in Algoma (about 2-miles down the road from our land)on Friday night. Warren left us at the site and went to work on the land Saturday morning. The girls and I just hung out and played at the playground. Ella made a friend and they chased butterflies and played in the sand. I tried to start a fire for lunch. (Notice I said tried - It would help if the wood wasn't wet and barky.) I succeeded in creating smoke signals and enough flame from the fire starter to roast two smoky hot dogs.

Warren came and helped us tare down camp around 1:30. The kids fell asleep in the car, so I dropped him back off at the land and drove to a neat park about 3-miles up the road to rest in the shade in the car with the girls. They woke up and we went for a walk down to the lower park and beach area. When we were walking back up the steps to the car, I was huffing and puffing and slow. Ella said "Come on Mommy. You can do it." I told her that it is harder for mommy because I was carrying two babies, Sophie and the baby in my tummy. She said, "Mom, the baby in your tummy is really little!" I explained that that was true, but the baby is growing and taking my enery to grow. We got to the top, and she told me that she was carrying two babies too, her baby doll and her baby from the sky. I asked her what she meant by her baby in the sky. She said that God has a baby in the sky for her for when she is grown up and that He and Jesus are taking care of it until it is time for her to. I thought that was so sweet. I pray that God does have it in his plan for her to get married to a wonderful husband and have children of her own someday.

After the park, we went to this neat place a few miles back down the road called "The Flying Pig". It is a garden center, art gallery, and coffee shop. It is a really neat and fun place. We had coffee and a cookie. Then we walked around the gallery and the gardens. The people who worked there were very friendly! There was a lot of neat/interesting art. They had a pond outside with a sand island surrounded by ralings with Adirondak chairs and sand toys for the kids. Ella and Sophie loved it. Ella especially enjoyed all of the fountains shaped out of metal to look like fish, frogs, crocodiles, etc. She said "This place really likes kids." I think we will end up frequentint "The Flying Pig" on our many visits up that way.

We picked Warren up around six and got subs and headed home. This has been long enough, so I won't go into Sophie's antics in the car and at bath time. Let's just say, "She certainly is a stinker."

Sunday Warren and Ella went to a Brewer's baseball game in Milwaukee (It was his Father's Day gift). It was Ella's first game. She just loved it. She expecially enjoyed the sausage races. She was cheering for the hot dog to win, and it did. she also thought that it was really cool that they fired off fireworks during the day every time there was a home run. Of course, she loved getting a hot dog and lemonade too. Warren said that she did real well until about the 6th inning (I thought she might make it to 4), but they stayed for the whole game. Too bad the Brewer's lost on a walk (arghhh). Warren said the worst part was that they parked far away and had to walk about 40-45 minutes both ways with him consequently carrying Ella most of the way. All in all, I think they had a great Father and Daughter day.

Father's Day

Sunday was Father's Day and we went to the Madison Zoo with Grandpa and Grandma Graham. Papa and Grandma Foht were going to meet us there, but Papa had a bad cold. (We are praying for you to get better soon Papa! We missed you!) The weather was hot and sticky, but it was a really fun day. "Thank you Lord for my husband. He is such a great Daddy! Also thank you so much for our fathers. We would never be where we are today without them." Thank you Dads!

The Lord's many blessings

So much to say this week. I guess the first and most exciting thing is that Warren got a job! He started Monday and is very excited about it. It is at Franklin Energy right here in Port. His title is Energy Advisor. Basically, he will be working with businesses/companies to figure out how they can save money by becoming more energy efficient. It is pretty cool. He has always been interested in energy conservation and renewable resources.

We had a really great week. We went and had a picnic at the park and flew a kite Friday afternoon. It was so much fun. Ella even flew the kite on her own. She did better than I would. I didn't take a turn. I was busy with Sophie and it was kind of a Daddy teaching Ella thing.

We kept busy being social with the neighbors this weekend too. Ella played a lot with the next door neighbor's granddaughter, Ellie. She was visiting for the weekend. They get together whenever Ellie visits and they really have a great time. They get along really well and enjoy playing the same things.

Sophie learned a new word this weekend. It is shoes. We went to the Allen Edmonds tent sale and she kept saying, "Shoe, shoe, shoe." Then that night when I went to take her shoes off and get her ready for bed she wined and pulled at her shoes and said "shoe!" I think she likes shoes.

That is about all that is new. Just keeping very busy. Thanking God for all of his blessings: Warren's new job, our friends and neighbors, our family, and our home!

5-year anniversary and Pirate Fest

Warren and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary on Friday, June 1st. It seems like longer, but I guess we have been together for 10-years! Also having two and a half kids in five years can make it seem like more. It hasn't all been wonderful and great, but I can say that I still think that my husband is wonderful and great and I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with him in my life! I couldn't ask for a more faithful and loving companion and a better "Daddy" for our kids. Warren, you are wonderful! (Let's see if he actually ever checks out our family blog;).

It was Pirate Fest in Port this past weekend and Warren and I went on a sunset Pirate cruise for our anniversary. It was soooo foggy, we did not see any sun! I was a little nervous (Ok, kind of a lot nervous) at first - not being able to see and all..... But, it was pretty fun and the fog lifted (thanks to a storm blowing in) just before we went back in. We were able to see Port from the lake. They had people helping hoist the sails and everyone had to yell back commands and they even fired the cannons. It really was fun. Afterward, we just made it to the restaurant before it started to storm and downpour. Later we wrapped up our pirate night with Pirate's of the Carribean 3. I thought it was pretty good.

The next day we took the girls and went with some friends from church down to Pirate fest for the entire day. They kids had a blast. They were sword fighting and saying "arrrgh" and enjoyed seeing all of the pirates. The pictures are of the ship and some from pirate fest.

Ella's 4th Birthday

Ella turned 4 on May 28th (Daddy's birthday too - although he didn't turn 4). She had a party on Saturday the 26th with Grandma and Papa Foht, Grandma Graham (Grandpa Graham was sick), and a few friends. It was a great party. Ella did end up with a virus where she lost her voice for two days and had a fever for 3 days starting with a sore throat about 2 hours before her party. She still had a great time though. She loves her friends and enjoyed being with them and playing a lot! Thank you to everyone who came and Ella thanks you all very much for the gifts too. I think I can honestly say that she loves them all.