A boat ride

Grandpa Ted took us for a nice little boat cruise a couple of weeks ago. We saw a lot of geese and ducks, which the kids loved.

John stood right here for most of the boat ride (with Grandma Carol close behind).

As we were cruising by Schumacher's Island, Brielle kept asking to go there. So we stopped for a little while. We didn't bring swimsuits, but that didn't stop these 2 :)

John loves to drop down into the water like this. He'll do it over and over and over.

Brielle's favorite shoes at "Gamma's"

Brielle & "Gamma" spotted a mother duck & her ducklings:

Here's a little history about the shoes...

Kristen wore these heels when she was a bridesmaid in her aunt Nancy's wedding!

Look what 4 teeth can do!

Around here, everyone eagerly awaits the arrival of Fincel's corn, fresh picked every day by the Fincel family. When we started bringing home Fincel's corn in early July, we cut it off the cob for John. He enjoyed it because who doesn't love Fincel's corn, but he was very interested in how we were eating it off the cob and kept "asking"--- the way a 1 year old can ask, pointing and saying "eh, eh, eh"---for the cob. We didn't know how he would do with just 4 teeth- 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. Well, he does pretty well, and he wouldn't choose to eat it any other way:)

Theater of the Sea

We had a wonderful time at Theater of the Sea, a beautiful marine animal park in the Florida Keys.

These water pools contained large fish and sea turtles, and the kids were able to get so close, they had a great view.

We saw a parrot show,

a dolphin show, and a sea lion show. Brielle is still talking about how the girl was swimming with the dolphins and how the sea lion put a ball up on its nose.

"Turtle" is one of the newest additions to John's vocabulary, after getting a look at these sea turtles.

The whole gang in Florida

What a great timed photo! There were 4 cameras set up on a table, and Anna (far left) and Dan (far right) were in charge of 2 apiece. They'd push the buttons at the same time and run. Nice work everyone!

I saw this "bent" tree

while we were in the Keys, and I took a picture of it. Just below the tree there is a small cliff of rocks that go down to the shoreline.

A little while later, I saw this:

Jenny & Jef walked Brielle up and down this tree several times. She shouted, "Look Mom, I'm walking on the tree." Brielle was loving it :)

Feeding the Tarpons

While in the Keys, we went to Robbie's Marina in Islamorado to feed the tarpons. Around 50- 100 tarpons come to Robbie's every day to be fed. They are big, and they are hungry! Tarpons can grow to be 5 to 6 feet long.

After we reassured Brielle that the baitfish don't wiggle, she reached in and grabbed one.

She tossed this one in, and 2 other buckets full of baitfish, to the tarpons.

I don't think the baitfish even hit the water surface-- the tarpons snatch them up so fast!

Wagner Family Reunion

This year was our 8th family reunion with my mom's side of the family. These trips started in 1993 and have been in: Oregon, Wisconsin, Iowa, Montana, Minnesota, Washington, California.... and this year in the Florida Keys.

Here she is with her 4 sisters: Susan, Jane, Nancy & Kathy.

Jenny, Brielle, John, Alexia, & Kristen after lunch one day on IslaMorada.

Brielle was in the pool every day, usually twice. The pool water was warm so she could spend a couple hours in it without wanting to get out. It had this great step all the way around the pool, so she had many places to play. She went all the way under the water by herself multiple times, and was excited to show us her new skills.

John played in the sand... and ocean, sometimes in his swim attire, but sometimes in his clothes. He was on the lookout this week for fish, crabs, geckos, and other sea creatures we saw. He learned a few new words this week including "turtle" and "dolphin".

Eileen, Julia, Brielle, & Maggie. Brielle enjoyed all the attention from these girls. Her fingernails & toenails were painted 3 separate times during the week. We think all the time in the pool water wore it off quickly!

Here's a family photo in the pool on our last day.

Kristen, Jenny & Alexia with their cousins (& Tim, Brielle & John too).

He's on the move

The day after his 1st birthday, John took 5 steps. A little more than a week later, it seems he woke up one day and decided that he "gave up" crawling.

As if walking wasn't enough, he has mastered going down the stairs on his own also. Some big accomplishments for a 12 month old:). For us, it's nice not having to climb around the gate at the top of the stairs anymore.

Our camping vacation- part 2

We had a fantastic 3 days at Timber Lake Resort. Here is the whole gang:

We spent some time in the pool:

John walked a couple laps around the pool with his Grandpa... and his football.

Brielle's participation in the water balloon games consisted of carrying around her balloon for about 30 minutes, until it popped:).

Here are Emma, Josie, Karley & Brielle in front of one of the cabins.

A family photo in front of the lake.

The one year olds: Karley, Lincoln & John, all in blue by coincidence.

Here is Brielle catching her first fish, with a little help. There were a lot of fish biting while we were there, so she didn't have to wait too long!

Camping Trip 2009

There's over 200 photos on my camera from our 3 day camping trip... here's just 1 for now:)

back row: Karley, Grandpa B, Carter, Grant, Grandma B, Brielle

middle row: Elly, Lincoln, Emma, Josie, Sam, John, Max

front row: Wilson, Pierce, Dorothy, Willa, Connor

Our 4-year anniversary photo

It has become a tradition that we take a self-timer photo on our anniversary. The 1st year, Tim & I did this, each holding up "1" finger. We did the same thing the 2nd year with "2" fingers each. We later realized when we looked at the photos in our album, that Tim wore the same green shirt by coincidence for the first 2 years! So now he puts that shirt on each year for our photo:).

Happy 4th...

...Anniversary, Tim & Kristen

It has been a wonderful 4 years... filled with so much love and so many blessings :)

4 reasons why Tim is the best husband:

1- He knows how to make me feel special-- every, single day of the year... and he sent me flowers at work today!

2- Besides a husband, he is also my best friend. He is a great listener and advice-giver, and we have a lot of fun together... especially when he lets me win playing Scrabble ;)

3- He is the best dad for our kids-- he is so fun, spontaneous, creative, loving, patient, and generous. He's a stay-at-home dad this summer, and doing a fantastic job. He's also a good handyman around the house and has been doing a lot of projects at home.

4- He packs my lunches! Not only are they healthy lunches, but he sometimes sneaks cute love notes into them to surprise me.

I love you, Tim!

The kids & Amy

"Amy, come here. Amy got whiskers. Daddy, Amy got whiskers. Eat, Amy, Eat, Amy."

"Amy, Amy hungry. Amy wants some doggie food."

John gets pretty excited to see Amy. Listen to how he squeals!

He seems to be developing a liking towards Amy just like Brielle.

May 31st at the farm

Just catching up on some photos & videos I didn't post yet. We were so busy packing up our house to move, and then moving, and then unpacking... and we're still unpacking. But these are too cute to not go back and post them.

This was the day of Penny's high school graduation and her graduation party.

Elly & Max are carrying Lincoln & John through the calf barn. The big cousins do such a great job playing with the little cousins and watching out for them around the farm. Brielle & John sure are lucky... so are Mom & Dad!

Max & John found a calf willing to get extra friendly:)

12 days ago...

These were photos Tim took of John on his actual birthday... a trip back in time to look at those curls!

Introducing...

Brielle's first pet, a Betta fish, or as Brielle says "My dish."

The first day, Brielle said to me, "Look the dish is swimming- it's moving its wings."

Thanks, Nancy... This fish has provided Brielle with a lot of entertainment. She's so excited to tell everyone about it and show it off:).

"Hey, look at my pig, hey- see my pig? see my pig? see my pig? over this way..."

She made sure to show her fish several of her toys and her blanket! See how the fish darts around the tank? ha!