Fisher Turns 2!

We celebrated Fisher's 2nd birthday on the 16th. We had about 20 guests join us for a selection of homemade soups, smoked salmon, assorted snacks, and Dora cake. The biggest suprise of all was when Derek's mother showed up on our door step right before the party! She drove all the way up from Iowa just to partake in the festivities. Fisher has been asking for "gamma" ever since.

Sneaking a taste of his cake.
We had to light the candles about 5 times because he got a kick out of blowing them out.

Posing with Grandma Brenda.

See him holding up two fingers? He even says "two" when asked his age.

All the cake and root beer had him fired up. He laughed and ran about all night.

He finally understood, and a bit too well, how to open presents. He'd rip one open and say "more"?

Then he wanted every toy opened so he could play. Check out that grin. He's finally starting to play with toys for longer than 10 minutes.

Showing off the rampway to one of the neighbor kids.

I love that he loves to be read to. I read about 50 books a day, so it was nice for Grandma to give me a break. He's even snuggled up with his new teddy bear from build-a-bear.

We continued the celebration this weekend at Bay Beach. Here we are on the Ferris Wheel.

And the train.

This kid loves all things transportation for some reason. He always gravitates to trains, cars, airplanes, tractors, you name it.

I totally freaked when Derek wanted to take him on the scrambler. He loves the Tilt-a-Whirl so I relented. Of course Fisher couldn't get enough!

Check the hair ball whizzing buy. Derek said he laughed so long and so hard that drool was whipping him in the face.

Guess what he said when it was over..."more"!

More Firsts for Fisher

Fisher took his first airplane ride. We flew to St. Louis for a friend's wedding. He loved it!
From the airport we hopped on Fisher's latest obsession: a train.

The snake charmer. After leaving at 5 am to drive 2 hours to the Milwaukee airport, hopping on a plane, then a train, and then a shuttle to the hotel, we walked to the zoo. All of this by noon and me having slept just 3 hours the previous night. One of the longest days ever.

He called the elephants "poo-poo" due to the massive piles they left behind and the subsequent stench.

Caught his first 3D flick--a Dora show!

Yet another train ride, this one around the zoo.

Taking a break.

He loves rolling down hills these days. Any size will do.

The zoo as well as several museums and lakes were all located in Forest Park, which is even larger than Central Park. Here we are in a paddle boat. Can you tell Fisher says "cheese" every time we take a picture now?

A family shot at the wedding. It was a beautiful event in the park with good weather, conversation, music, and Indian food.

We stayed at an authentic old English hotel, complete with grizzly.

And our room was "camelot" themed. Note the mirror above the bed! Fisher has been asking to sleep in a hotel ever since we got back.

Derek took him to his first Packer game. Here he is sizing up the crowd.

They didn't make it to the first half because of Fisher's bed time, but they had a great time.

More good times.

Fisher and Neko both love popcorn night.

Packing It In

We've been packing in the fun while we can (before the next baby comes and throws us for a bit). We went swimming and camping up in Door Co. last weekend. Not the best idea to sleep in a tent at 8.5 months pregnant, but it was worth the sleepless night to see Fisher have such a great time. Before that we had a visit from Nana and Papa and before that we took a little trip to Milwaukee with some friends.

This kid should model. All snuggled in his "baby towel" on the beach.
Dads have a whole different way of playing.

It was a long hike to the dog beach but I think Neko appreciated it! It was his first time swimming all summer. Check out that 34 week belly. I can't believe there's just about 6 weeks to go (give or take).

Poor D had quite the load to carry for the 2 mile trek.

Fisher helping haul wood for the fire. It was definitely less stressful on us than last year. He did a good job of staying back from the fire and the poison ivy and whatnot.

Neko keeping watch of the hot dogs.

Enjoying dinner...

and especially dessert (smores!)

We finally checked out the National Railroad Museum when the folks came up. Here's Fisher putting on the charm.

His affinity for his Papa has not dwindled in the least.

This kid wanted no one or nothing by Papa.

They were here for the Tall Ships Festival. Here we are in the belly of a ship.

Some of the ships.

The double P effect: Papa and Pirate. What more could a boy want?

Sporting a pirate flag. It was about 100 degrees that day and I got food poisoning so I only lasted about 30 minutes at the festival before Derek took me home. We ended up taking a trip to the ER that evening as I was in a lot of pain and we needed to make sure the baby was fine. I was out of commission for a few days--terrible timing with the parents visiting! Everything is fine now.

Nana managed to snag him.

Eating lunch at the bacon fest that is Comet cafe in Milwaukee.

Some fun at a cheese bar.

I guess this kid will always be considered a cheese head having been born here!

Fisher and Crystal hamming it up. This kid has such a crush on her!

We took an historic boat tour.

More tour action.

Closing July

Fisher and I met my sister and her kiddos (Payton, Cooper, and Zoey) in Dubuque a week ago. The cousins were loving on Fisher.

Most of the day was spent at the hotel's waterpark, but we did manage one excursion...the old grainery trolly ride.


View from the top.

After dinner we walked along the Mississippi. Such cuties, all of them!

Just the two of us.

Fisher cuddling with Payton in the morning. It was a long night!

Sporting some undies, though he's already back to diapers. We tried starting potty training last weekend and it didn't go so well. We were giving him a small candy treat after each 'go' on the potty and he became obsessed with treats. So we had to put it on hold and will try again using a different method at a later time (once he gets treats off the brain). He's too smart for that kind of bribery.

It wouldn't be summer without sweet corn.

He hangs!

Belly shot at 29 weeks. I'm ready for this to be over now! Even though I'm not too uncomfortable yet, I have terrible insomnia and wicked mood swings. Things were going along rather quickly and now it seems the time is dragging. Gotta love the 3rd trimester!