Summer Vacation!

Last week the Baranko Family was on vacation!  Woo hoo!

We kicked off the week of vacation by hosting a party for our friends on July 9th.  We were super happy to have a perfect hot & sunny day for our pool party.  So many wonderful friends came to the party and we loved catching up with everyone.

Monday marked the first day of Matt and I's staycation.  We were eager to have a couple days at home, spending time with Luke and enjoying some downtime.  Not 15 minutes into our morning we experienced a short thunderstorm that knocked out our power!  Since this just happened a few weeks ago, Matt was an old pro at getting the generator up and running to save our fridge and keep the sump pump running.  This time was more of an inconvenience for us because (a) we didn't just leave for work all day like last time, and (b) it was much hotter outside so the lack of air conditioning was more of a problem.   Fortunately the power came back on by Tuesday night, in time for our trip to Wisconsin Dells on Thursday.

We did a few fun things around town, power or not.  On Monday we visited Lamb's Farm, on Tuesday we took Luke to his music class and visited the dog park, and on Wednesday Matt and I went canoeing while G&G Baranko watched Luke.

The lack of rain made the river shallow so Matt had to help free us.

On Thursday we headed up to Wisconsin Dells with Kristin, Cory, PJ, Mom and Dad.  Aunt Susan generously gave us the second half of her week of condo rental, thanks so much!  We did so much in just a couple days:  we went go karting, we went on a Duck Tour, visited Noah's Ark, had breakfast at Paul Bunyan's and spent an afternoon at gorgeous Devil's Lake beach.

Finally, on Sunday we helped Kristin & Cory throw Paige's 3rd birthday party.  What a fabulous party they had, complete with a giant Bounce House, craft table and Slip 'N Slide.  Miss PJ had a blast with her friends, and we had a blast with the adults.

All in all, we had a fantastic week!  Sad to see it end.

We loved having Luke all to ourselves for 9 days straight.  As usual, he was adorable and fun the whole time.  AND he has totally became a walker, now walking more than crawling!

The 4th of July (aka Luke's 10 month birthday)

Isn't summer awesome?  After a couple weeks of some questionable summer weather, this past week was just one amazing summer day after another, and we took advantage of it!  Having a three day weekend makes for such a great break from work.  I highly recommend it!

Saturday we vacationed at home.  Matt and I hit the pool as soon as Luke went down for his morning nap.  We all soaked up the rays for several hours before going for a walk in Open Lands.  It was very relaxing and fun to have a day to ourselves at home.

On Sunday we went to WI to hang out with the family for the day.  Another beautiful day of sunshine compelled us to visit the local watering hole, Fox Lake.  Sunday evening we were lucky enough to go the the US Bank fireworks party in downtown Milwaukee.  Unlimited food and drink, fun music, and the fantastic fireworks display made the evening very enjoyable to say the least!  Luke wasn't scared of the fireworks at all, like we thought he may be.  He watched them and squealed and smiled with enjoyment.  By the end of the hour long fireworks display we had snuggled him into his stroller and he viewed the show with tons of smiles, before drifting off to sleep just before the grand finale!

On Monday morning we went home from Mom and Dad's in WI straight away to prepare for the 4th of July barbecue we were hosting.  Matt's Aunt Diane and Uncle Garry, Uncle Mike, Grammy & Boyd and Donna and Emil all came over for the party.  My parents and Grandma came down too:)  We had a lot of fun together.  We had so much fun in the sun all weekend that by Monday night we all were pooped!  Matt and I watched the Lake Forest fireworks from our backyard, and I couldn't keep my eyes open. 

Luke has been walking up a storm.  He can walk pretty long distances now, and can get up and start walking from a seated position (we used to have to stage him).  Take a look!

He still prefers to crawl, especially when he's tired of "performing" for us, like in this case:

Luke's 10 month at-home stats are as follows:

Length: 29 inches

Weight: 20.5 lbs

Cuteness:  110%

Wearing my hand made sweater from Jeannine

Just A Day at the Beach

Our pool was out of commission for a couple weeks getting a new paint job, so we took the opportunity to hit the beach last Saturday instead.  Just one mile away from our house, our beautiful community beach on the shores of Lake Michigan is an under-utilized asset.  The Carpenter clan came down to join us, and we had a ton of fun.

"My two Dads"

Going down the kiddie slide all by myself!

On Sunday Lukers and I headed up to Wisconsin for Inge's baby shower.  Kip and Inge are having a baby boy in just a few weeks!  Another cousin for PJ:)  Kristin hosted the shower for her sister in law, along with another family friend, and it was gorgeous.  Actually, it make me nostalgic for the beautiful shower Kristin and Katie threw me at this same time last year.

I'm a little sad to report that Luke is a little boy now, not a baby!  I have been in denial, but with the walking and the babbling and the expressions and opinions, I have to come to terms with it.  He's such a big boy:)  He is so curious about everything, and loves to climb on top of/under/through everything.  This week he also took 6 steps in a row.  He just laughs and smiles when walking toward you, so proud of himself.  Adorable.

Taking a knee.

Climbing up my dragon to climb on top of the table.

Hanging out in my little chair.

Sliding toys when climbing = splits!

Crazy hair!

Superhero

Standing is my new fave thing

Sorry for the delay in posting this week, our computer crashed and we're in the process of getting it fixed.  If I may offer some advice, back up your computer!  Now!  Today!