Independence day!

Flashback time!

Here's Mackenzie last year at the Northville Parade:


Mackenzie really loved the parade! She clapped and waved her flag and waved. She looked a little confused when the fire trucks went by with their sirens on but they didn't phase her. Here are a few pictures of the day:
Mackenzie was " helping" Aunt Meg with the fruit salad. By helping, I mean, she was shoving fruit in as fast as Aunt Meg was cutting it:
Mike had to work ( again! ) but here's a picture of Mackenzie and me enjoying fruit salad, waiting for the parade to start:


Mackenzie sat with Aunt Janet for most of the parade but she did play musical laps a bit near the end:
Here's Mackenzie recharging after the parade. I am amazed that she actually slept since she's partial to sleeping in her crib and generally doesn't sleep anywhere else. Of course, Aunt Meg's house is very peaceful!
She was hungry after that nap. Here she is trying to get Janet to sample her potato salad:
Reading with Aunt Meg:
What a fun day we had! Thanks to Aunt Meg for having breakfast and lunch and for spending the day with Mackenzie and me!

Ann Arbor Hands on Museum

Mike and Will both had the day off , so the Long family and the Wilson family headed to Ann Arbor to visit the Hands On Museum. While our girls were still a bit too young to fully appreciate ( Olivia did more so than Mackenzie since she's almost 3), they have a lot of fun pushing buttons, playing in the water and watching their daddies play ( I think Mike and Will would love to go back with out the girls) . Both Mackenzie and Olivia loved the toddler play room, though, and spent a good amount of time there. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Mackenzie loves to explore and has perfected her get away plan so we decided to try out the child harness we were given as a gift. While Mackenzie loved the backpack part, the harness wasn't much help. It worked out that Mackenzie was much happier on daddy's shoulders.

Here she is after daddy chased her down the hall way:

Trains!
Daddies like to play , too!
Mackenzie and Olivia playing with the bead box:
Water play!
It getting near lunchtime and Mackenzie was wilting:
One last stop: Mackenzie got to sit in an ambulance just like the one daddy works on!

Oh Mackenzie....

Waste not, want not.....

Thanks Grandma!

A series of unfortunate events lead us to a pet shop to waste some time. Ouronly intention was simply to pick out a puppy toy for Mary's friends new puppy. Here's what we came home with. Thanks, Grammy- Duncan and Mackenzie are both very appreciative!




P.S . One gold fish is named " Dorothy" after Elmo's goldfish. The other remains nameless but by the looks of things, maybe Whiskas would be appropriate?

Ann Arbor Farmer's Market

Grandma Mary needed to pick up a few things at the farmer's market, which is one of our favorite places to be. So of course, we didn't pass up the offer to ride along. Here are a few pictures of from our morning:

Having breakfast at Zingerman's is the BEST way to start any morning in Ann Arbor. Mackenzie was too busy trying to catch the attention of the sparrows (who were begging for bread crumbs) to take a picture. Here she is with a mouth full of fresh fruit:

The market is not as busy on Wednesdays but I like it better that way.

Mike and Mack checkin' out some fresh cut flowers:

We snacked on fresh sugar peas as we roamed. Mackenzie loves them as much as I do:

All the excitement was a bit exhausting for Mackenzie:
Here's Grammy buying Mackenzie a QUART of blueberries. She ate a good portion of them on the way home. She's a big fan.


This is a painting that hangs across the street from the market. It features all the high lights of Ann Arbor, including University of Michigan Hospital , where Mike works. Here are Mike and Mackenzie posing at the painting:

This picture is for you, Mom. It's the sunflower version of the Crazy Daisy! Wish you were here so we could by a big bouquet of them! Wouldn't they fit right in on your kitchen table?

Sum-sum-summertime!

Not much new is going on around here. We're trying to find ways to beat the summer heat...well, not so much the heat, but the humidity. We celebrated my good friend Glo's son's first birthday over the weekend. Wouldn't you know that BOTH of my cameras had dead batteries! Mackenzie had so much fun playing with the other kids there, even in the midst of all her teething.

Here are a few random pictures:

Dont' you think the pipe completes the outfit? This kiddie pool is so much fun! Mack likes to lay on her tummy and kick her feet. She tries to lay on her back but it's a bit too deep for that yet.

Wheee-eee! Swinging at Grammy's! There is a gorgeous pear tree just close enough that Mackenzie can touch it's leaves when you give her a good push. She says over and over " Hi tree! Hi leaves!"

Mackenzie and Duncan eating my herbs.

Mackenzie is wearing the dress that my mom made her before she was born! We love it..


Maybe in a few more months, she can kill that bad guy on Mario Brothers for me?!

Nikki and Taylor wanted more pics of me. This is the best I can do! I'm always the photographer so there are no pictures of me actually doing anything exciting! And of course, there's my ever present cold sore in the shot, too.
My mom surprised Mackenzie and me with round trip tickets to Colorado in Mid-September ( Mike won't be able to go since he's had to use up his paid time off when the patient census was low. ) . While I'm nervous about the two and half hour flight with a one and a half year old, I'm so excited to go and catch up with all my family and friends that I miss so much!

Fast forward 12 years.....

I sometimes catch Mackenzie doing things and my mind automatically flashes forward 10 or 12 years, imagining her doing those same things as a young adult. Admittedly, it probably won't as cute in 12 years but here are a few of those moments I've managed to catch on camera: