Uncle Andrew and Uncle Jamie come to visit

That's right, our L.A. uncles flew in for 36 hours to spend some time with Remi and me. The poor guys didn't know what hit them! After arriving on a red-eye, the boys got maybe 2 hours of sleep and then it was off to the races! Yes, we took the uncles to the pediatricians office. There was a flu shot clinic and it was the only time we could get in, then it was off to hockey practice, home for lunch and nap, time to play in the park, a walk in the arboretum, dinner out and then the hockey game. This was uncle Jamie's first foray into sports at a university with a real sports following, and I think he liked it! At least he was chanting cheers the next morning while playing hockey in the living room...

Sunday morning was bagels and lox, swimming at the Y and fun at the park. By the time we took the uncles to the airport Sunday night, I think they were tuckered out, but hopefully they had a good time. Once again, we would like to thank them profusely for taking the time out of their crazy buys lives to come spend a bit of time with us. Thanks again guys! We love you!

Waiting to get poked at the Dr's office

Reading to uncle AG while we waited our turn

Walking down the ramp to the locker rooms

Remi and Uncle Jamie hangin' out at hockey practice

a quick trip to triangle park to play football

Little miss p0uty...

heading to the Y to go swimming

Beignets for Breakfast!

When daddy was in interviewing in New Orleans, he picked up a box of beignet mix and then presented it to us up on his return. Remi and I both had the same initial thought... "you went to New Orleans and you brought us home a box!?!" Yes, we were thoroughly confused, BUT daddy redeemed himself when we actually made the Beignets. They were so yummy and plentiful that we called up our neighbor and she and her son, Ben, who was visiting from Boston, came over in their PJ's and helped us gobble them up. We made lots of Ben - Beignet jokes, licked off lots of powdered sugar and in general had an awesome time. The lesson of this gift... Looks can be deceiving!

Dusting them with powdered sugar, ok, I dusted more than just the beignets, but hey, I'm 4! What do you expect!

Enjoying the fruit of my labors

Pictures from a LONG time ago

Yes, we are behind in our blog posting, way behind... We've been to the zoo several times since these pictures were taken, the hockey pictures are from my 2nd ever practice (by the way, I'm MUCH better now), pictures from when mommy took me public skating and sent me out on the ice alone (she had to stay with Remi), and last but not least, an adventure we took to Timbertown, which is about 30 minutes away (unfortunately, the pictures mama managed to take show nothing of the amazingly giant play structure, all made out of wood of course.) Enjoy and we'll try to be more timely with our posts in the future.

Hanging out in the polar bear cave. Yeah, it was cold, about 50 degrees, but we had the ENTIRE zoo to ourselves!

Waiting in the non-existent line for the carousel

Yup, you guessed it, our own personal carousel ride

Even the penguins thought it was cold, they wouldn't even go near the water

Is it an elephant or is it Remi?

"Woof Woof! Look at me mommy, I'm a giant dog, I bet I would have giant poops too." followed by hysterical laughter, Yes, Tyler has entered the "bathroom humor" stage

Making pancakes for breakfast

That's right, we both got a turn to mix. If not, all hell would break lose, and when it's that early in the morning, mama does what she can to keep the peace

Remi has apparently learned how to "use" the microwave. It's sad, but true, the microwave gets used at least once a day in this house...

Practicing my hockey game face. I think I look mean, mama just says I look cute. Mothers, what can you do with them!

"water, must have water, I'm thirsty, water please, please..."

Remi is the little hockey sister, at every practice, yearning for the day when she's old enough to take the ice

Daddy was traveling and for some reason, mommy thought we should go to public skating. Mama's not allowed to carry Remi on the ice and Remi can't skate. That's right people, I was the 4 year old out on the ice without an adult. All in all, it went pretty well, I skated for over an hour.

swinging with aaron

The ladies, relaxin' in the swings

Jenny's Farm Stand

A couple of weeks ago, we headed to Dexter, a small town, just west of Ann Arbor, our destination... Jenny's Farm Stand. We've heard of this place since we've lived here, but never actually gone to check it out and since this is most likely our last fall in Ann Arbor, we figured we'd better check it off the list of things to do.

Jenny's was great, we got to feed various animals, climb on a straw mountain, complete with tunnels, pick out pumpkins, ride horses and go on an extreme hayride. This was not your typical meandering through the woods, these horses were running up and down hills. You had to hold on or you were flying off the ride. It was SO much fun! Remi and I loved it and Remi kept saying, "again, again, more turn, more turn."

We met up with our dear friends the Lu's, climbed the mountain, drank some cider, ate some donuts and in general enjoyed a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Remi feeding a goat

Climbing the straw mountain

"punkin, punkin. I want punkin."

more mountain climbing

tunnels

our friend, Elyse

yeah, I rode a donkey

Rite of Passage

The time had come... I had finally turned four and I knew this momentous occasion would be coming soon. Then, it happened! Two weeks ago, I became an official hockey player. Not a living room hockey player, not a backyard hockey player, but a legitimate "lace 'em up" hockey player. A hockey player that has to wear a cup! Like I said people, this is no joke, this is the real deal

I am a Timbit and proud of it! I proudly wear #2 for the blue team and am happy to say that my jersey actually stinks! It already has that hockey smell, the one I've heard of, but never really experienced! Mommy has now experienced the stench from the "other" side, the parenting side. Yes, she appreciates the stink, but nonetheless would like to thank her parents for putting up with it for over 15 years!

I have hockey practice every Saturday from 10 to 10:50am, which requires leaving the house at 9:15 to get to the rink by 9:30. That's when mommy descends upon me! It takes us 1/2 an hour to get ready and after that 1/2 an hour, we're both exhausted. You want to know the hardest part about getting dressed? No, not the skates, but the GLOVES!! Those buggers are tough. Getting 1 finger and 1 finger only in each finger hole is proving quite challenging. So much so that mommy is contemplating creating a hockey mitten!

My teammates and I work hard! We fall down quite a bit and we're all pretty quick to pop up at the beginning of practice, but after about 25 minutes, we start to fade... Some of us are crawling around on our knees, others are perfecting their snow angel technique for the upcoming snow, and others, well some just stand there, as if they are frozen. Sure we hear the outbursts of laughter from the stands, but when ever we look up, we see our proud parents giving us thumbs up and raising their hands in the air in victory. As a team we usually take break in the penalty box, while the coach orders us to open our mouths so he can squirt some water in our general direction. By the 50 minute mark, all of us are clamoring to get off the ice. Our feet hurt, we're all sweaty and most of us are hungry and thirsty. As our parents peel our gear off, we look around at each other and ever so slightly smile, the smile of pride.

My buddy Gordy and me

now with our mascot, the reminator

Mommy giving me one last tip before we hit the ice

It's go time!

I'm the blue guy where you can't see my number

Right in front of the coach between the center circle and the M

Yeah, already have my "hockey" smile perfected!

Michigan Football Game

Two weeks ago, I got to go to a Michigan Football game with daddy. No people, it was not the Michigan/Michigan State game. Those tickets were going for thousands of dollars. Our tickets rang in at a solid $50 total! Thanks Mac! Anyway... We were going to bike down to the game, but daddy's bike had a flat tire, so we ended up walking, which may be fine if you are an adult, but let's just say it's a struggle for a 4 year old. We finally got there, after daddy broke down and carried my 50 pound self to the game, we tailgated with friends, watched the band march in and then found our seats and enjoyed the game up until the 3rd quarter. That's when I said, "I've had enough, can we go home now?" Maybe in a year or two, I'll be able to sit through an entire game. Either way, I had an awesome time with my daddy.

View from our seats