Change of plans...

This calm week turned into upheaval with a single phone call. Originally, we

had planned for Brian's folks to come out and help with Tam while I traveled

to Utah for a science conference. This was to be a great time for Tam to

play with his grandparents from Mars :-)

However, Brian's grandfather inconveniently passed away...not that death is

ever convenient. He was a great man. I am really glad that I got to meet him

and that he got to see Tam last year. He will be missed by many, many family

and friends.

Brian was asked to sing at his funeral service this weekend. This means we

had a frantic couple of hours figuring out how to make this work. We are in

Michigan, I am traveling to Utah, and the service is in New Jersey. What are

we going to do with the cat? What are we going to do with the Tamlin? What

about work?

In the end, I booked airplane tickets for Brian and Tam to NJ while I am still

heading in the opposite direction. Kiddo is still young enough to ride in the

lap and not cost additional money. Brian is already steadying himself for the

chaos that is traveling with a wee one AND having a queasy stomach in a plane.

On another odd note, because this is last minute solo-parenting trip, we

decided to leave the cloth diapers at home and utilize disposables for

convenience. Brian didn't want to lug dirty diapers on the plane (and I'm sure

others will appreciate this). Off to the store we tromped.

I had NO REAL IDEA that there were so many disposable diapers. I admit I

know they exist, but previously I just skipped this aisle in the store. Different

brands, sizes, absorbancies, elastic-ness, soakablity, etc. I was overwhelmed.

Thankfully, another mom wandered down the aisle to purchase her own diapers

for a kiddo. I pounced on her (not literally). I stated that I cloth diaper but

needed diapers and what did she use on her 2.5yr daughter. She was quite

helpful and I left the store with the exact same type she swore by, but a size

smaller for our little guy.

Goodness... I am still very glad that we use cloth diapers!

Tamlin's First County Fairs

This past week we had our first ventures to the local summer fairs. Last Tuesday, we went to the Berlin County Fair and last Sunday, we went to the Ionia Free Fair. I personally really enjoy going out to the local gatherings...tasting fried food, seeing farm animals, people watching, riding sketchy rides...it is ALL GOOD! Back growing up, I totally remember the county fair as a prime spot to go when on a date. I recall snuggling close on the Ferris wheel and sharing popcorn or cotton candy. Oh, and then winning silly prizes at the games for our significant other too :-) Good times...

While in Minnesota, we lived across from the state fair grounds so we went over there every year. This fair was HUGE! TONS of animals, people, and deep fried food on sticks. I have tried fried alligator (ugh), fried corn on the cob (ok), and fried snickers bars (rich). I loved going to see all the farm animals, especially that year's largest pig which was always freakin' huge. The arts, crafts, and vegetables were also a big hit with me. My favorite was checking out that year's "crop art" constructed out of beans and seeds. I'm sure that this year there will be some Obama portraits in seeds :-) And the people watching at the fair was fantastic! All sorts of folk in all sorts of outfits cruising around the park area.

Our first fair here was the Berlin County fair. Brian, Tam, and I headed out in the early afternoon after nap time. Since this was a county fair, it was not large at all and was not crowded, which meant that it was a great place to take the little one and not worry too much. We, of course, did all the traditional fair tasks:

• Climbing on farm equipment we didn't recognize or know how it worked

• Petting and feeding animals

• Admiring how huge cows and pigs are in real life

• Touching the bunnies

• Sanitizing Tam's hand after touching things before they got into his mouth

• Eating crap-tacular fried food

• Laughing at the misspelled words on the rides

• Sleeping in the car on the ride home (oh, wait, I was driving)

Tam seemed to love touching and watching any animal about his size or smaller (babies and bunnies). He started to freak out a bit while Brian was feeding the llamas and sheep and they started to crowd him. He didn't know quite what to think about the cows.

We also went to the Ionia free fair, which was much larger. Multiple barns of animals to look at, and a gazillion sketchy rides. (However, no miss-spellings that we noticed). We also got to go this fair with my mom and step-dad. Tam seemed to like this one just as well especially just hanging out in the stroller watching the people go by. What a great way to spend a summer day.

Nostalgia

My last post on Lake Shore Park got me choked up for other great outings back in my home town.  We also got to stop at Eddie's Grill, a hot dog joint near the Lake.  We've been stopping out here for hot dogs, lemonade, and ice cream since I was small.  I remember staying up late while hanging out here with the family...then I would fall asleep in the car on the way home.  The booth seats all have mini-jukeboxes with old hits on them.  Plus the food trays have fun mazes and hidden pictures on them to amuse the kiddies (and grown-ups).  The food is simple but good, and who are we kidding?  We all went to this joint to see friends and family and be seen :-)

Here's a couple of great pics from Tam's first time out to Eddie's.  

He's not really allowed to eat hot dogs yet but he really wanted to try!  

Family resemblance

The top shot is of me at 6months. I too had lots of hair, though it didn't stick straight up off of my head. And, hey, I'm in overalls too!


The bottom photo is of my grandmother at 11month (I think)?

And then there is Tam at 6.5months.

Our faces look so similar at this age!

Tam's first outing to a playground - 7months old!

It's warm; the sun is shining; and we are looking for a new adventure for Tam... So off we go to a nearby playground!

The park is right next to my school, but still about 1.5miles from the house, a little too far to walk there and back again. It is a nice, small park with lots of grass and a great little playground. After kiddos afternoon nap and bottle, we all grabbed our hats and headed out the door into the sunshine.

The play equipment had several pieces of various sizes, plus swings. We let Tam try just about everything with our help. He has finally mastered sitting up with out support and so really enjoyed just sitting and watching the other kids around him. There were about 5-6 other children all around the ages of 1-6 playing too. One of the 3 year olds was really friendly and often came over to try to talk to us and to Tam. Tam, of course, just squealed and grinned, but who knows, that might mean "Howdy, Partner!" in baby-talk. There was also a puppy on a leash, which captured Tam's attention too. Nice doggie :-)

We would let Tam sit on one of the levels with one of us, and then the other would go higher or lower to give him different perspectives on the world. Giggles all around.

We let him try the really short slide on his back and he wasn't too sure about that. Not really a frown, but definitely a "I'm confused" look on his face. We then took him down the larger slide sitting up with one of us and he liked that better!

Then, we tried the swings. They had a baby reclined swing and the bucket swings with lashes to hold him in. He again wasn't too sure if he liked it or not... He did like going forward and having the wind in his hair but didn't like going backward as much.

There was also a merry-go-round that I was excited to try with Tam. Unfortunately, it was off its axis due to too many wood chips piled under it. I guess that means it was a merry-go-stop.

We also saw that they had little kiddo cages! These were two "pods" connected by an enclosed plank. The pods really did look like little cages :-) It was the perfect size for Tam to sit and stand in to look out at the world at our eye level. He really liked this spot!

All and all, it was a great little outing for us and we had some quality family time together. I know that goober won't remember this stuff yet, but I also know that we're grateful for starting to make these awesome memories together already.