Travel & Family Fun

It's been a few days since our last post but we've been on the road and have been busy with the first few days of vacation.


On Monday, while we were still in Allen Park (Joe was at band camp), Ian and I enjoyed some time at the water park. Ian is getting more and more daring each time we go to the pool.



Ian and I made our way up north during the day on Tuesday. We visited the beach in Harbor Springs in the morning on Wednesday and enjoyed the pool in the afternoon before Aunt Stephanie, Owen and Molly arrived in the evening.






Today, Owen wanted to go to the pool first thing this morning so we all played in the pool for most of the morning. A lunch at Cormack's filled our tummies so we could come back to the house and have a long rest. Tonight's dinner was a luau themed dinner and everyone enjoyed the festivities. To wrap up our night we played at the Trout Creek playground.






Not sure what tomorrow holds for the gang but Andrew is coming up tomorrow night and then Joe will come up on Saturday morning.

More pictures

Getting back to his old self

Ian is definitely getting back to his old self. We've been able to get back outside for a few short play sessions without getting too hot and tired. One sign of his old self was what he said as he was looking through his birthday and Christmas photos on the iPad. He came across a picture of him opening up Christmas presents and he said, "I want presents, please". Explaining about when he gets presents wasn't nearly as clear as his request.


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Best friends through thick and thin

If you haven't met Jojo, Jimbo, Zelda, or Ruby yet, they are Ian's stuffed pals. He sleeps with them every night. We started out just with Jojo because I thought he would be a lovey I could handle carrying around. Then we found Jimbo (he's bigger than all the others) and he was a stuffed animal that had personality from the start. Zelda and Ruby have been welcomed additions given by Grandma D.

Ian frequently reads to all of his friends in his crib in the morning.


On Tuesday, after I got back from Casters Ian woke up from his nap and wanted everyone out of the crib with him. Then Ian and I decided to walk to the library and check out new books and Ian wanted everyone to come with us.

So everyone piled in to the chariot and we made a trip to the library.


Then this morning when Ian woke up feeling under the weather he was especially attached to the gang. So much so that when we got ready to go to the doctors office Ian insisted that everyone (except for Jimbo - the oversized on) come with us. This led to the comical scene of carrying around a toddler running a 104 degree fever and 3 stuffed animals (usually by their legs because that's the easiest way to carry them all).

When we arrived home Ian was so low key and just wanted to rest with his friends.


All of his friends have been at his side for the fun times and the less than fun times. Certainly good examples of true friends and I can only hope I can teach Ian the skills necessary for having "real" friends like his current stuffed animal posse.



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Heat activities include:

• Going to the splash park
• Staying inside in the A/C
• Walking to the ice cream store

Ian and I participated in all of these activities today.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of any of the activities.  At the splash park, Ian wasn't as active as he was last year, he mostly walked around the outskirts or waited for the water guns to be available.

We were surprised in the evening with a visit by Aunt Caroline.  It wasn't a surprise that Ian didn't turn down walking to the ice cream store so we ended our evening with a leisurely walk enjoying our ice cream.

Joe and Ian are on their own tomorrow for heat wave activities since I'll be in Albion at Casters.

Sandbox

The heat kept us inside for part of the day but we enjoyed a walk in the evening and Ian was animate about coming back to play in the yard. He favorite activity now is using his diggers to dig in the sandbox.



Ian really enjoyed himself. Note all the sand on the sides of his face.



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Playgrounds, playgrounds, playgrounds

Our week has centered around playgrounds, both near and far.  We played in Ann Arbor, Rochester and Allen Park.

County Farm Playground - Ann Arbor

 Tot Lot - Allen Park

Bloomer Park - Rochester

We didn't necessarily intended to end up at a playground in Rochester, instead we went there to see the Velodrome.  

Ian could only watch a few races before asking about the playground we saw on the way in. 

With the heat on its way, I believe swimming is in the near future.  Don't forget, more pictures in Ian's Summer 2011 album.  

Weekend Update

Joe and I attended a wedding in Traverse City this weekend so Ian spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Verbeke. Grosse Pointe Shores was celebrating their centennial so Joe's band marched in the parade. Ian enjoyed waving to the people in the parade but he was asking to go to the car instead of the ceremony. I didn't blame him. We visited the playground and the marina instead of listening to the keynote speaker.



As you can probably tell, the exhaustion and heat were getting to Ian. All he did was walk up and down into the play structure. In between asking to go back to the car he asked to go in the water, both of which weren't things we were able to do. Once we were able to get back to the car, Ian was asleep within minutes.

After coming out of his coma and getting some food in his belly we were back out the door for a bike ride/walk that ended at the Tot Lot




With the heat and rain today we spent most of the morning inside but we were able to meet Ian's request to play in the "poolah" during the evening.

Hopefully we'll be able to find some "exciting" things to do this week even though I know reading over and over about pool time is extremely exciting.

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Location:Park Ave,Allen Park,United States

Sheesh

Recovery day

Today can be described as a recovery day. Ian slept in and I slept in even longer. Ian and Joe played inside and out before a monster nap. We were back outside after dinner. We got the pool out for Ian to play in and of course he enjoyed it.



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Few bumps in the road back home

The gang enjoyed a last breakfast on the deck before heading down state to resume normal activities. Dad left mid-morning so he could get back to home and to CCI. The rest of us started packing, cleaning, organizing, etc. We wanted to go in to HS to look at a hardware store in hopes of finding cabinet door knobs and a no leak faucet. Ian really wanted to drive Grandma's big truck so he drove while Grandma packed up somethings in the car. He apparently played so long that he wore the battery down because the car wouldn't start when we were ready to heading to town. The Trout Creek maintenance man came and jumped the truck. It's a good thing Ian hadn't done any more damage than just wearing down the battery. That's all the playing Ian will do in Grandma's car no matter how much he "insists".

We hit the road heading south about 2. Ian didn't fall asleep until after 3 which surprised me greatly.

We stopped for a short time in Albion and we saw Stephanie, Owen and Mollie and Ian got to stretch her legs and then Caroline brought Ian and I all the way back to Allen Park.

Here is a short video of some of our 4th of July weekend activities.


http://youtu.be/BHgiPvibQAw

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4th of July

The Dobbins clan has pretty strong 4th of July traditions since we started going to "the hill" for the holiday but we've be changing and modifying our tradition over the past few years. Previously we always went to Harbor Springs for the craft show and parade, back to the house to catch a nap before the evening fireworks back in Harbor Springs. This year we engaged in a few more toddler and adult friendly activities which I think I can speak for everyone that they were all good changes. Caroline and Dad participated in the Paul Revere run in HS. Caroline had to be her typical overachiever self and run 19 miles. Dad ran his second race ever and completed 3 miles in under 30 minutes. mom, Ian and I came down to watch them both cross the finish line.

Since Ian had a late night the night before we thought maybe he'd take a quick snooze before we were off to our next activity. Instead of attending the HS parade we decided to enjoy a Roast and Toast lunch in Petoskey. this was an outstanding idea because we were the only ones enjoying their back porch. Athens we walked up the street to purchase treats for Dad. We were close to the gelato store so we had to buy gelato. We enjoyed our treats in the park next door. I off course chose the plain vanilla for Ian because you just never know what a 2-1/2 year-old is going to like but he ended up eating most of my blood orange gelato. stinker! We thought Ian might enjoy puttsing in the sand at the beach so we walked down to the Petoskey beach and we were right. Ian played in the sand, waded in the water and fell in the water a few times.

After a while we loaded back in the car and headed back to "the hill" so Ian could have a nap. The rest of the crew went back in town to visit the craft show. We enjoyed dinner on our deck. We took a quick trip to the pool and had a great time.

Since I didn't know how Ian might respond to the fireworks (he's been extra sensitive to loud noises recently) we took both cars down so I could bring Ian back. He surprised us all and sat in Grandma's lap for the entire fireworks show. He even started to fall asleep during the grand finale. Guess it wasn't too big of a deal for him.

It was clear that this was the latest Ian had been up (last time he would have only been up in order to eat) because when I laid him on his back to change his pants and put on his pjs he immediately rolled over and assumed his sleeping position. He did this every time I'd turned him back over on his back.

I really enjoyed the less busy 4th of July activities and I think we had a happier toddler in the end.

For extra pictures go back to Ian's Summer 2011 Album

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Another day, another playground

Today was a new day but many of our activities were "regular" up north activities. Ian rode in his chariot this morning while I accomplished my workout. The morning was perfect; not too cool and not too hot. Then after breakfast Caroline, Ian and I went in to Petoskey but we went shopping for a new TV for the downstairs. We accomplished that task and headed for lunch and play time at the Petoskey playground.



Ian was pretty tired by that point and so he mostly just walked around the perimeter of the two playgrounds. Unfortunately the Flat Iron Grill was very busy so we picked Caroline up with lunch instead of eating at the playground. On the way home Ian snacked on some Teddy Grahms but part way home he started to fall asleep with the Teddy Grahms in his hand. You know a kid is tired when he falls asleep with cookies in his hand.

After a monster nap, we headed towards Charlevoix for dinner. We enjoyed a picnic by the marina complete with white fish and chicken strip dinners from Villager Pub. I should clarify that the people included in the "we" who were enjoying dinner are Dad, Mom, Caroline and I. Ian mostly ran around but he had lots of fun.





Ian enjoyed checking on the boats but he especially enjoyed feeding Fish Grahms to a group of ducks. On our way back we couldn't help but stop for an ice cream cone.

I've uploaded some new pictures as well as a short video to Ian's summer album.


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Swimming and Ice cream

It was a pretty standard day at "the hill". Mom and I unpacked more things to settle the house more and then before lunch we went swimming. The water was pretty cool so Ian was in and out of the water lots. After lunch, Ian took a monster nap. While he slept Dad and Caroline arrived. Ian woke up in enough time to make it to church. We enjoyed square pizza for dinner on the deck and then we went in to Harbor to walk and see the boats and enjoy an ice cream cone. Certainly a perfect end to the day.



More pictures to hold you over until next time.

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Missed a day but for good reason

I missed a day of blogging but only because Ian and I traveled with grandma for about 6 hours in order to arrive "up-north" around 11 pm. We stopped in West Branch to stretch our legs. Ian chose to ride in a car.






This morning Ian enjoyed an "up-north" wake up time of about 9:30. We ran a few errands to get some things to help with the re-settling process for when the moving crew showed up. Ian was outstanding while the team moved furniture back in to the house. He played and hopped around the house like a frog. After a nap Ian declared that we needed to go in Grandma's car to go shopping. So off we went to cross a few more things off of our shopping list. On our way back to the house we stopped at the Trout Creek playground to play.












Grandma and Caroline will arrive tomorrow and who knows what adventures are ahead of us tomorrow.

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