Father's Day Weekend

Only have a few minutes but wanted to get some pics on from our Father's Day weekend with Shelly's parents in Wakeeney. We made the short 180 mile drive last Saturday morning and got there for a nice lunch. Relaxed and talked in the afternoon then took Shelly's dad out for a Father's Day dinner. Here are some pics with Grandpa and Grandma Deutscher.We also went to the nursing home and visited Great Grandma Hillman.This is us before church Father's Day morning. Shelly and Anderson got me some grill accessories for the grill on the boat, some shoes, and a couple of nice framed pictures of them to put in my office. It was a great first Father's Day for me!Here, the boy shows off his two teeth. We think he may be getting another one on top now.And the result of having two teeth is he gets to make a big huge mess each day eating crackers.Gone are the days we could give him a bath every other day. He's into so much stuff now he just gets too dirty during the day. So my task each night at 6:30 is to plop him into the tub. Then he gets handed off to Shelly who has drying duties while I go dry myself off from all the splashing he just did. In this picture, he's looking at himself in the mirror.I see him every day and looking at these pictures really reminds me of how big he's getting. So I'm sure he looks like he's changed a lot for those of you who haven't seen him in a while. 8 months old tomorrow!
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Big boys need toys too

After a few years of fighting off boat fever I finally gave in this past Monday. This is the newest addition to our family, a 25 foot Sun Tracker Party Barge Signature Series.It holds 14 people, has a grill, sink, and even a bathroom/changing room.We plan to keep it at Tuttle Creek Lake, which is about 7 miles from our house. We went there last night and picked out a boat slip. I took the boat to a boat shop today to get it serviced and ready to go. I'm also in the process of getting it registered in Kansas. So we'll be ready for visitors within a couple of weeks.

Today we went to a picnic sponsored by my Army unit on Fort Riley. Anderson and I decided to dress in a Hawaiian theme.After a couple of hours there eating and visiting friends he was ready to get back home and kick off his sandals for a while.This picture was taken at the pool just before his swim lessons last week. It was like he was really thinking and getting his courage up before getting in the water.And finally, this is from our date night this week, something we plan to do once a week. We got a baby sitter and went to a nice Italian restaurant.Heading to visit Shelly's parents tomorrow for the weekend. Be back Sunday evening.

Mike
Manhattan, KS

Pool time

This week Anderson started swimming "lessons" here on Fort Riley. It's called "Mommy and Me" and it's a neat program they have to get kids used to the water. He is the youngest kid in there but he absolutely loves splashing around and kicking. He even goes under water and comes up grinning. Here are some more pics.Here he is modeling his new body suit before heading to the pool.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

The move, part II

Well, we've spent the past three days having the rest of our worldly possessions moved from Kansas City to Manhattan. Since we moved about half our things last month to set up this house, pretty much all the remaining stuff in our KC house went straight into our garage here. So our KC house sits completely empty tonight, we signed the closing papers on Wednesday and the new owners begin to move in next Tuesday.

Moving can be a stressful time. But as you can see and hear in this video at least one of us has remained cool and happy this week.

Overall, we shipped a total of almost 15,000 pounds of household items from Kansas City to Manhattan. I'm amazed it actually all fit here in this house and the garage.

For those who have been in our KC house, these pictures will show a much different look with nothing in it. Here are a few from the top floor and of the garage.For old times sake, Daphne went ahead and destroyed a bag of trash during a time we were away from the house on our last night in Kansas City. The tally included multiple diapers, leftovers from Sonic, Chipotle, McDonalds, and Thai food since we had shipped all of our cooking supplies. She had also eaten baby food, packets of soy sauce, and coffee grounds.Here's a before picture of our garage in Manhattan yesterday morning.And a couple of pictures just before we finished.Last night we went to Wal Mart and bought Anderson a couple of big kid toys. Since he's now standing all the time he needed something to play with while standing up.He's also started using his little tunnel more often.We're now in the middle of a 4-day weekend! Goodnight for now.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

The proud stander

I returned yesterday from Virginia to a boy who loves to stand! We put him on the floor and he immediately crawls to some object and pulls himself up. Then he stands there and laughs and smiles at his accomplishment.

Here's a short video clip we took this afternoon.
Today Shelly took Anderson out to Fort Riley and spent the morning at a play date group designed for new mothers. He had a great time playing with other little friends.After that we met at a park near my office. Once again, the boy enjoyed being in the swing. But this time he got to show off his new hat.And once again I found myself enjoying the rides also.We're all going to walk around the mall here in Manhattan in a bit. Then we look forward to a nice and relaxing weekend.
Mike
Manhattan, KS