We will not forget you summer....

The Morin family had a GREAT summer together and we loved every minute of it! We will cherrish all of Luke's new discoveries and wonderments and hold onto these precious memories for a lifetime. Who knew that being a parent would be SO awesome. As Ben puts it, "This summer was a 10 out of 10!"

My boy just looking so cute and so big.
Mr. TrOuBlE

Luke loves his new Elmo chair! Luke loves pretty much anything Elmo. :) Ben and I will be on the couch watching TV and Luke has no problem making himself comfy too. :)
Having fun with Grandpa and Grandma Uitti! Grandpa bought Lukie his very first basketball hoop. Luke is still a 100% shooter on it!
So fun with Grandpa and Grandma around!
Lukie and Ben enjoyed a guys day together at the races in St. Clare. Ben's buddy was in car race and the guys had fun cheering him on!

Yup. I think Lukie even surprised himself.

Luke loved seeing the big moving truck pull into our driveway with Dad behind the wheel! While Ben was packing up my teaching stuff that I stored at home over the summer (due to school renovation) Luke had a blast being a driver of such a big truck!

Now behind a set of wheels that fits Luke a little better...for now. :)

While I was taking pics of Luke he posed for me in the position! I was dying laughing!

Lukie hanging out with Lauren Moore and her FIANCE Masoon! They are getting married on New Years Eve this year and they asked Lukie to be their ring bearer!!! We are so excited for them to get married and to have Lukie be apart of their special day. Hopefully, Luke will make it down the aisle...either way, we couldn't be more happier for our Lauren!

Luke enjoying the last bit of his very first Cook's Dairy Farm ice cream cone (of course, in chocolate)!
Living large with Grandpa and Grandma. "Hmmm, let's see....I'll have a little bit of this...and a little bit of that..."

Luke loved seeing all of the animals and he even petted the baby calfs. :) Luke loves to look at animal books and have us name the animals. Then he'll say the sound the animal makes. He says moo, bah, oink, neigh, and rarrr for lions. (GO Lions, by the way!)

Luke's favorite part of the play-scape is this little house underneath one of the slides. He can open the little door, shut the door, sit on the little bench, and peek at you through the door's window.

Luke's first (of many!) picnic lunches at Bloomer Park. We enjoyed the afternoon of our last summer day together as a family. Luke loved eating at the picnic table and enjoyed a PB&J (on a hamburger bun!), tortilla chips, pickle, and blueberries and raspeberries. He ate it all!

We enjoy going to Dad's Lakeview JV soccer games! So far Ben is undefeated with a

7-0 season! Below are the Coach's biggest fans!

A little water break with Dad.

Watching the team with Dad and making sure everone is doing what they are supposed to.

Lukie was a little hesitant about going down his new slide at first, but that didn't last long! He loves going down it now!

Luke's 15 month check-up went great! Dr. Antone was even impressed when Luke grabbed his stethascope and put it to his own chest.
Here are Luke's stats at 15 mos...

Height: 33 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs. 8 oz. (50th percentile)

Head Circumference 18 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

Luke's FIRST Tigers Game! All Grandpa wanted for his birthday this year was a chance to take his grandson to the ballpark for a game...and Grandpa's birthday wish came true! Luke loved being around all of the people, watching the game, walking around the stadium, riding the Tiger carousel, and nibbling on some yummy treats. Here is our little Verlander tuckered out after lasting 8 innings!!!

One of Luke's absoulte favorite things to do is "drive" one of our cars. He will press every single button in the car. He has even taught his mama a few things on how some things work in her new car!

The Cottage: Summer 2011
We LOVE staying at Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy's cottage every year. We usually stay the week before Ben begins his soccer try-outs for the season, we call it our last hurrah of the summer. This summer was so fun with Luke being a little older and being able to enjoy the outdoors. We took a trip to the springs, to Lumberman's Monument, to the pizza place, to the Cove for ice cream, spent time with Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy, went on lots of runs and walks, swam everyday and had fun being together as a family!

The sweetest little beach bum...

Heavenly.

Luke and Ben went on a kayak ride to find the old shipwreck...they found it!

The Morin Family!

Luke at the beginning on his stairway of life...deep.

Enjoying the fresh water springs .

Even though Luke isn't talking fluently yet his non-verbals are clear...to the beach!

Luke was very entertained with a pail filled with water, a shovel and sand. Ahhh, the little things... Lukie just a little excited to play in the rain at Lumberman's Monument. I also think he likes his new Smokey the Bear sticker.

According to Dad...you can never start 'em too young. :) Here they are hitting golf balls into the lake.

My boys are feeling tuckered after a fun filled day!

Enjoying the water with NO one else around. Shark Week was on the week we were at the cottage. We'd watch it at night and be in the water all the next day. We were feeling VERY thankful for the fresh water Great Lakes!!

Loving spending time at Uncle Tom & Aunt Cathy's cottage!

Kayaking on beautiful Lake Huron with Uncle Tom!

Luke getting camera shy while going potty (sorry buddy!). Luke is doing a great job going potty each night before he takes a bath. He is able to go most nights and he gets very proud of himself. :)

Mid-Summer 2011 Update!

We are loving our summer together!

Lukie spending Father's Day just relaxing with his Dad. Above the guys are checking out one of the trees that Luke gave to Ben last year for his first Father's Day!
On Father's Day Luke wok up with a swollen, egg-sized bump in between his eyes...poor guy. The doc said that he had been bitten (probably by a skeeter) and had an allergic reaction. Thank goodness it wasn't infected and within a few days the swelling started to go down. I'm sure this is the first big bite with many more to follow. :)

We cheered on Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy as they completed their first 5K in Northville!
Luke wanted to get in on the action and kept on crossing the finish line.
Luke is loving having both mom and dad home for the summer. The mornings that we are home usually start off with all kinds of excitement playing outside before it gets too hot...we've had a very hot July.
Luke playing at his water table and checking out the garden with his "choo-choo".
Luke having his night time snack before bed. Let's just say, he REALLY likes Cheerios.
Luke started playing hide-and-go seek with us this summer! He would hide and wait for us to come and find him. SO cute! Do you think you can find him in the pic??? He also loves to hide behind the rocker and in his closet!
We had a great family trip that started in Cleveland, then off to DC, and ended in Dayton. We drove over 1700 miles and Luke hung in there every single mile. :)
Ben had a work related conference that took us first to Cleveland. We met up with one of his buddies and his family. While Jim and Ben were at the conference Darcee, Rylee, Drew, Luke and I hung out. THe first day we all went to the Cleveland Zoo. This was Luke's first trip to the zoo and it was a hot day! Both boys were zonked by the time we left. The second day Ben and Jim got kicked out of welding school for the day (you can ask Ben about it) but it worked out great because then both families went to the beach for the day!

Darcee and Jim were so kind to watch Luke so Ben and I could go on the dinner cruise. Behind us is the beautiful scenery of Cleveland, Ohio. :)

Our last meal together before we left for DC.

Enjoying the pool with Auntie Nae at her place in DC. Mom and Dad met us there too!

Enjoying DC together...

Luke loved seeing all of the fish at the National Aquarium!

We were able to stop and see the Lounsbury's in Dayton! (Pic out of order of trip)
Family shot at the aquarium...

We also spent time with the Frost family in Dayton!

Luke helping his mama sweep up the mess!

Luke is all about feeding himself these days. Meal time is just a little messy. :)

Luke hanging with his best buddy Carson at Bloomer Park.

Luke took his first bike ride! We love taking Luke all around the neighborhoods and park trails. He loves to look all around while we ride and when we get off... he points at our seat and grunts like he is saying, "Come on, let's get on with it!"

We have had a great summer so far! We have been able to spend lots of time with family and friends and we feel blessed to have this sacred time to just be together. We hope everyone is enjoying their's as well!!!

We've got a walker!

Our Memorial Day weekend was filled with lots of fun times! We had the Beagles over and we were so excited to meet sweet baby Addi! She's beautiful and absolutely perfect. Luke fell in love right away and loved pointing at her and smiling or he would tickle her feet and giggle. :)

Showing off his driving skill on the ramp trying to impress Addi.

Grandpa and Grandma Cooley gave Luke his own table and chair set to get him all ready for school. Ben and Luke will eat breafast together at this table before Ben leaves for work in the morning. :)

Reading his books and looking all grown up!

Over the weekend Luke enjoyed his first "swim" in his pool. We spent lots of time getting in and out fo the pool as well as blowing bubbles outside.

Enjoying the last few moments of our long weekend before getting ready for bed.

Luke took his first official couple of steps on Saturday, May 28th! He looks like a tipsy dinosaur as he waddles with his arms bent at the elbows. We are so proud of this little guy! The video is on the Monday evening afterwards...this is when he really started cruising!