Fall Foilage

We all were able to enjoy some beautiful fall weekends recently. Last month we drove to northern Michigan and explored some areas in the middle of the state: Tawas City, Oscoda, and Bay City to enjoy the fall scenery. A lot of beautiful sights alongs Lake Huron & the Saginaw River. And then more recently we checked out the Plymouth Orchard to see the pumpkin patch and delved into some fresh apple cider and pie.

Happy New Year!

Samantha is just such a happy girl. She's all dudded up and ready to go. Common Mom! Our friend Rosine made this gorgeous sweater for her. As you can tell, Samantha's a fan.

We're eating FUN foods

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Samantha is moving from only infant foods to regular "people" food. Cheerios, cottage cheese, yogart... the possibilities are now endless!7

Tampa/Orlando

Michelle & I wrapped up the end of August with a reunion of sorts in Western/Central Florida. We stayed for two nights outsdie Tampa reuniting with our cousins and seeing colleagues from residency. We then spent the rest of the week in Orlando as Michelle attended her ACCP Pulmonary Review Course. Yours truly was her chauffeur as well as babysitter for little Samantha. We all rented a villa for the week, staying with my mother as well as Aunt Gladys and her grandson Julian. All in all a great time!

Sweet times ...

Michelle, Samantha & I were able to catch the last weekend of Chocolate Exhibitation at the Henry Ford Museum. Very fun & interesting learning about the history of chocolate, how it's made, etc. etc. We then walked around Greenfield Village for a while before heading home for the day. Samantha got in some arts & crafts time with Mommy :-)

Graduation time!

For the past 8 weeks we've been taking Ginger to our local Petsmart store for some basic obedience training. It took a while for her to learn, but we think it was a worthwhile investment. They had a cute ceremony for other dogs in attendance, Ginger did very well obeying commands!

Random park shots

Samantha has been quite the outdoors-lady, attending a childhood class reunion for when she was in utero. We also made it a family affair by having a picnic at the Kensington State Park in Milford. She had fun at both outings as you can tell!

Ginger's Graduation Night!

For the last 2 months Ginger has been going to school in the evenings. She was learning all sorts of great things and Samantha was getting into it as well. A whole family affair. Last night, Ginger GRADUATED from her beginning class. We have a ways to go but we're really proud of our little girl!

We highly recommend http://www.petsmart.com/ classes.

Our new evening routine

She's a brusher like her Daddy. Samantha brushing her "almost teeth."

The Spag 2008

We attended a golf tournament banquet together after I played my first round of golf - a full 18 holes! Yeah, I PLAYED GOLF. I had a great time. I maintain that golf is definitely a GAME and not a SPORT. A game, however, that does require a tremendous amount of skill. I'll definitely be trying to play golf again in the near future! As usual on her best behavior for the dinnner.

Mozart at the Meadows

Spent a terrific evening with our cousins Larry and Naomi...

Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

Yesterday we spent the day in Ann Arbor walking the University of Michigan campus streets, as part of the annual Street Art Fair. Vendors from all over the country lined up their booths, we walked around for hours browsing some beautiful and interesting art pieces. There were also entertainers of sorts (fraternity guys selling water, and this one great mime artist). Of course it rained most of the afternoon, but we still had a great time!

July 4th Weekend

We all had a great time celebrating Independence Day weekend (aside from being off from work on Friday). That evening we attended the Greenfield Village "Salute to America," which included live music by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and an amazing fireworks display. Got home pretty late, but had a relaxing time on the lawn in chairs and having our own little picnic. The next day we hopped in the pool, as little Sam went swimming for the first time. Mostly in the shallow end!! :-)

Samantha ... she's almost 7 months

Samantha loves discovering her environment and entertaining herself while we're trying to get some work done on the computer. I had to shoot this quick video of her usual activity.

NY Visit

Samantha had her 3rd flight in 6 months, as we visited family and friends in NY. We saw a lot of people in a short amount of time. Highlights were taking the Long Island Railroad into NYC, using the subway, and spending time in Central Park ... Samantha was a trooper as mommy used the bjorn with great results. All in all a great time!