Just to Remember...

Eliot is on a mission to have a conversation on the phone.  Any chance he gets, he makes a bee line for the cordless handset or a cell phone.  Often times he'll pick up random things and use them as his phone.  He even has the beginning sounds down..."Lo?"  We all are getting a big kick out of watching him pick up a toy, use it as a phone and say, "Lo?"  Too funny!

1st Day of School :)

Today was the day we've all been waiting for...school started!  Emery was up at the crack of dawn...6:15!  I told her it was too early so she went back to bed.  Around 7 I got her back up and we started working on her hair.  She wanted it curled and pinned back.

Big time 2nd Grader!

Elijah gets on the bus from our house each morning.  He's in first grade this year.

Good friends!

Heading out for the bus.

They switched the corner of the bus stop this year so we were all kind of scrambling to get to the right corner.

Off they go!

After lunch it was Eli's turn!  He is in afternoon kindergarten and will ride the bus home with all the other kids.

Scott was there too!  He flew all night from Seattle and arrived at 6:30 this morning.

Group shot (minus sleeping Elese & Eliot)!  We woke Scott up so he could see Eli get on the bus...that's why he looks a little out of it. :)

One last shot before the bus took off!  Eli didn't hesitate at all...I was surprised because at times he gets a little nervous.

Gearing Up!

On Wednesday we started gearing up for school to start.  We had the annual "Bus Stop Breakfast" @ 8am and the kids were all having a great time.

Here's the pitch in spread!  We were all in our pajamas...even the Mommies.

Emery & Jenna hanging out while Jake, Eliot & Elese look a little startled that I'm taking a picture!  It was early for us all.

Eliot was just happy to have some donut holes!

Yummy stuff!

We did have some fruit & bacon but mostly I saw donuts...the kids weren't complaining.

Eli enjoyed the donuts too!

That night I continued the celebrating with brownie sundaes!  I guess I didn't think about all the sugar they already had.  Every once in a while doesn't hurt!

Eliot wasn't about to be left out...he loves sweets!

And the little princess too!  Elese doesn't quite understand why she isn't going to school tomorrow.  Her school doesn't stat until after Labor Day.

Michigan Adventure (Part 2)

Our adventure continued with more fishing!  Trip would go down every night and fish in the dark for a couple of hours...he really enjoyed it.

On Thursday Grandma & Grandaddy rented a pontoon boat for the day.  Here they are heading to our dock to pick us up.

All the kids loved the boat.  Eliot loved standing at this door and checking everything out.

Our master captain!

I decided to bring the car seat if Eliot or Elese wanted to nap.  Here we are heading out for the day!

Look at me...such a big boy!  He was kind of like a dog hanging out the window.

We stopped for a swim.  Gun Lake is very shallow and most of the lake you can walk around in.  We found a nice rocky spot without plants and jumped in.

Elese & Eliot taking a turn in the boat.

Scott decided to use the boat to retrieve our beach ball that had blown away.  He barely fit and we were all cracking up laughing.

Here he is in action...funny thing is he could touch because it was so shallow!

After swimming and a little snack, Elese was ready for nap.  We put her in the car seat and off to sleep she went.

 Enjoying the ride...

Grandaddy was getting a little help with the steering wheel...Eliot was all about pushing all the buttons. :)

An hour later and Elese was still sleeping!

We took a break for lunch and naps back at the cabin.  Before we headed out again Scott and Eliot were doing a little net fishing.

Scott & his babies!

Round 2 on the boat!

Elese was enjoying letting her hair blow in the wind.

  Chilling with Grandma

Several days of fun with no naps and Eli was starting to wear out!

Our cabin didn't have a bath tub so we usually washed the kids up in the sink.  Kind of weird but it worked!

Not sure what he was going to do with the bike pump and a baby...

All cleaned up and ready for bed!

Friday finally came and we were off to get Emery from camp.  This is when we first walked up.

Emery & her camp counselor Maddie.  Emery has talked non stop about Maddie and how much fun they had.

The whole gang...Karie, Emery, Eli, Scott, Grandma, Elese, Grandaddy & Eliot

Maddie told us that Emery told a lot of stories about Eliot and was afraid he would start walking while she was gone.  These two have a special bond for sure.  She was happy to learn that he still wasn't walking!

The Jackson 6 Pack all loaded up and heading back to Cincinnati!  What a fabulous trip.

Michigan Adventure (Part 1)

Last week Emery was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend a gluten free summer camp in Michigan.  Since it was so far away, we decided to make it our annual camping trip and go along to be near her.  It took us a little over 5 hours to get to Gun Lake but the drive was worth it. 

Here's a shot of Gun Lake from our beach.  It is so beautiful!

This is the view to the left of our beach.

An exciting thing happened while we were there.  Eli was given his first knife from Scott.  He was really excited and he and Scott have been talking about getting this knife for a while now.  Check out Eliot in the background!

A "man moment"...a funny side story about this knife.  Eli dropped the knife in the lake one night while he, Grandaddy and Scott were fishing.  It was an extreme moment to say the least...Eli was really upset!  Luckily they were fishing in the shallow water and after some looking, were able to find it.

Grandma, Grandaddy, Emery & Eli headed up to Michigan on Sunday.  They dropped Emery off at camp and then headed to Gun Lake nearby.  For 2 days Eli had the grandparents all to himself!  During this time Grandma bought Eli this boat.  I was a little surprised since she's so nervous around water.

Then I saw how she managed it...the rope!  Eli had a ball in this boat.  Grandma was relaxed because she could pull him back at any moment.

Guess who is helping Grandma with the boat?  Elese had it all under control once we arrived on Tuesday.

Elese's favorite thing to do was roll around in the sand and then run and jump in the lake.

This waterlily was so beautiful I had to take a picture.

Late afternoon and here's our set up.  We spent most of our time hanging out at the beach and fishing. Fishing was among the favorite activities.

Any chance Eli got he was widdling sticks with his new knife.  He thoroughly enjoyed using his knife on different things.

Elese rolling around in the sand again.

Eli really improved his fishing skills that week.  He's a master caster and caught several fish.

My boys!

Eliot got his chance to try out the boat.  He would climb in and out and drag the ores around.

I was really amazed at how well Elese & Eli took to the lake.  I wasn't sure they would swim but they LOVED it!

Chasing in the sand.

Grandma helping her red head get a drink of water.

This is one of the bigger fish that Eli caught.

Eliot loved the freedom we gave him at our cabin.  He was able to go out the door and crawl around on the deck.  I'm taking this shot from inside while he was out there roaming around.

One morning Grandma & Grandaddy took Eli horse back riding.  It was an hour long ride through the woods and Eli rode by himself the entire time.

Giddy up Grandma!  Grandma went on the trail ride with him.  I'm sure it's an experience he'll remember forever.

Fun in the sand!

I had to laugh at this.  We called Aunt Michelle to wish her a happy birthday.  This is Elese talking to her.  She's really turned into a talker on the phone lately!  Yes, she's wearing that dress up at the beach...are you surprised?

Our first camp fire!  A little smoky but it worked for smores. :)

Father & Son

My only complaint about the trip was the mosquitoes!  Honestly, I have never seen them like they were there.  Grandaddy has a fogger that helped out a bunch.  Grandma was fogging so we could make smores.

Yummy!

I finally made it into a picture!  Eliot LOVED everything about the smores...the chocolate was his favorite.

How cute is this?

My girl & me...

More widdling...I told you he was busy with that knife!