Happy Father's Day 2009

Well, it was another big weekend. It was Father's Day and we went up to Midland to spend time with Darren's dad. Saturday we went downtown to a little water park and let Brooklyn run around in the sprinklers. She had a lot of fun! I'm excited about being able to take her swimming this summer - she loves the water!

We got all cleaned up and after dinner we headed out to Dow Gardens. This is still one of my favorite places in Michigan. Such a beautiful little piece of the planet! We went to their new Children's Garden and let Brooklyn explore a little. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

This morning we got up and went to church and then went out to lunch. It was so sweet to see Brooklyn hand her daddy his Father's Day card this year. She is growing up so fast!

Afterwards, we all took a Sunday afternoon nap and then what else? We washed the car. :) Well, Darren and his dad washed the car, and as much help as Brooklyn is...we quickly made our escape to the backyard, where I let Brooklyn explore a little. She is so busy and definitely not afraid of getting dirty!

Happy Father's Day, Sweetie! We love you!

The BIGGEST Blog Ever!!!!

To all of our blog fans, I'm sorry for being such a complete and total slacker!! I totally blame my fantastic hubby, as he took my card reader with him to Europe, and I was unable to blog without it. Hopefully, this super huge blog will make up for my blogging insufficiencies!! :)

As you will see, we had a busy few weeks prior to Darren's trip! We went to a Tigers baseball game with our dear friends, Dan, Katie, and Nate.

This was Brooklyn's first little ponytail. So cute!!

... and so sassy!! :)

After the game, we had a little more play time with Nate at Ella's house. I love the post-ponytail hair!

They are all learning the importance of playing together.

Later the following week, Brooklyn and I were off to Arkansas to see my cousins, Andrew and Kelsi, graduate from high school. Brooklyn did great on the plane rides - thank goodness!!

Congratulations, Kelsi!

Congratulations, Andrew! We are so proud of you both!

We did a little car shopping with Mimi and Opa while we were down there for the week. Brooklyn quickly found her favorite!

She had the keys and was ready to go!

Car shopping can take a lot out of you.

Brooklyn learned a lot of new things on this trip. She discovered that everything can be a hat. (You will see this theme again later in the blog.) :)

She learned how to blow a whistle...very effectively.

And she experienced a ride on the lawn tractor for the first time.

She also got to listen to Aunt Katie's I-touch. I hope Aunt Katie is ready to pony up the goods come Christmas time! Thanks for continuing to spoil my munchkin! :)

As soon as we got back from Arkansas, Darren left for a business trip to Europe 3 days later. So, Nana came to visit for a couple days, and then we went to her house to see Aunt Kim and to go to the zoo. Here is Brooklyn and Nana making "moo" cow noises.

Brooklyn got to pet the goats...

...touch a pig's nose...

...and feed a peacock.

She slept through "Africa", so we will definitely have to go back to feed the giraffes.

We had so much fun with Nana and Aunt Kim!

Everybody was a litte worn out for the car ride home ... including Brutus!

The next day, we went over to Dan and Katie's to play with Nate, Ella, and our new friend, Jonah. They are all growing up so fast!

Nate ... stay out of the crate!! :)

And, like I said earlier, everything can be a hat. We love our little basket-head!!

I hope we have been forgiven for our lack of blogging. You are all caught up. I'm sure there will be more to come this weekend for Father's Day!