What a Difference a Year Makes...

Quinn on the motorcycle ride last year at the Algonac Pickeral Tournament...

Quinn on the same ride this year!!!

My little girl isn't scared anymore (which scares me now)!!!

I Went to Michigan and All I Got Was This Lousy Swollen Eye...

My poor kid!

You should see the other guy!

On the last night of our annual Fourth of July trip to Michigan, Quinn got bit by some nasty mosquitoes! Yep, that's all they were. Mosquitoes. You can't tell, but her left hand is as swollen as her eye was! She looked like she'd been through a war!

Quinn always has a more severe reaction to mosquito bites than normal. Nothing to be terribly concerned about, but enough to feel bad for her. Well, this was the worst reaction ever. When she woke up Tuesday morning as we were packing to leave for the airport, I noticed her eye and her hand. We figured it would just go down on it's own as the day went on, and we were right... until halfway through the day, on the plane we noticed she was rubbing eye more than she had been all day. We got her home, gave her some Benadryl and put her to bed. Well, she woke up Wednesday morning and the poor kid couldn't even open her eye it was so swollen! The picture I took up top there? It didn't hold a candle to the following morning's puffiness! So I ended up taking her to the doctor just to make sure everything was ok. And it was - Dr. Potter didn't even prescribe any medication, just told us to keep her on the Benadryl regimen until the swelling went away. So I brought her to daycare and by the time I picked her up that afternoon, she looked SO much more like herself! By Thursday she was back to normal.

Oh, by the way, the rest of the trip was great! But I'll save that for another post.

Time with Daddy

Kirch has had the great pleasure of Quinn's company for the past few Sundays. Of course, we all spent Father's Day together, starting out at the Silver Diner in the Kentlands for breakfast. We then went to "the Wall" which Quinn has dubbed the Kentlands Town Square, and then over to another area with a pavilion in it. It was a good day. I got Kirch Crocs for his gift and Quinn picked out (by herself) a fishing lure and a bobber (which she called a robber until i corrected her).

This past Sunday, we started out together at Rio and walked around the lake, played in the playground and shopped in Dick's Sporting Goods. After some time there, we headed to Wendy's for lunch (yep, we feed her fast food here and there) and I wasn't quite up to par, so Kirch took Quinn back to the Wall and the Pavilion while I went home to get some rest. Father - daughter quality time is so much fun, as you can tell in the pictures!!!

Dancing Quinn (Queen)

See how I made a pun?

This spring we enrolled Quinn in a Creative Dance class through the Gaithersburg Community Center. It was a 7 week class (that I have incidentally enrolled her for again, starting next weekend) that took her about 4 weeks to get comfortable enough to actually participate in! This is a class that parents can't participate in, so we wait outside the door, looking in from time to time. Week 1 went bad - she took one step into the room and cried her eyes out, running back for the door. This went on for about 3 more weeks, each time, a little more time spent in the class, and less time running back to my arms making sure I was still on the other side of that door waiting for her! By Week 5 another little girl named Maho came up to her, took her by the hand and BAM! That was that - Quinn never looked back! She absolutely loves the class now!

Well, on Week 7, the last class, the parents were allowed to come in and watch the show. Man, was it CUTE!!! I managed to get a few precious shots of my kiddo in one of her many leotards, having a ball with Miss Myia!

Circle Time - Before the dancing starts...

Lookit that BELLY!!!

Sweetness in motion...

Fun with hula hoops!

The Camping Trip

I took Quinn camping a couple of weeks ago. But it's cheating camp - I don't tent camp anymore. We got ourselves a nice dry cabin with a queen size bed and MAN, that's camping! Tons of people went, and despite the nasty rainy weather we had on Friday when we got there, we really managed to have a great time over Saturday and Sunday!

Can I eat my cereal in peace, please?

On Saturday we hooked up with the Kastbergs for the day and went sightseeing. We hit a park where Quinn and Meredith became BFFs very quickly... check it out!

Let's help each other up this hill!

We also hit Harper's Ferry, which is a very cool place! We went and had lunch and my Little Miss Quinn surprised me by sharing a tuna salad salad with me! she ate everything in that salad except for the red onions (Mommy, they're spicy!). I love, love, LOVE that she loves salad!!!

On Saturday night we had a big pot luck dinner and watch Game 5 of the Red Wings/Penguins Stanley Cup Series. Quinn learned that rolling down a hill is great fun - man, that girl had fun!

She talks about camping all the time now. I guess we are going to have to start doing it more often!

A shout out to all of my camping peeps!

Happy Wedding, Jessica and Eric!

Well, my little brother took the plunge on May 15 and married his longtime girlfriend, Jessica. It was a perfect day for a wedding. We took pictures outside, and the weather cooperated beautifully. I hadn't been back to Michigan in May in years - I enjoyed the late spring weather!

This pretty much resembles our younger days together, too!

Eric, Jess, and Flower Girls Madison and Q-Bug!

Fast Friends

The ceremony went very well - I was a bit nervous about Quinn walking down the aisle, but she did fantastic. Which was better than I can say for myself! I was the first one to walk down and as soon as I saw Eric standing up there, I started sobbing. He was so funny - after the ceremony, he came up to me and said, "I about killed you up there, first you made me almost cry, then you made me almost laugh!" That about sums up our whole relationship...

The Happy Couple

The Happy Family!

After dinner, we packed Quinn up and Carrie took her to her house for the evening. Then all hell broke loose and Kirch and I had an adult night with our friends and family. It was such a fun party! Everyone let their hair down and we all paid for it Saturday morning. But it was so worth it.

Pop and his kids... Missing Mom

Who thought this was a good idea???

After the reception was over, Kirch, me, Pat, Carrie, Chad and Brenda went out to Ram's Horn for a late dinner. Kirch and I didn't get into bed until after 3am! It was a well-deserved adult night out and we were happy to see our little Q-Bug at Pat and Carrie's on Saturday afternoon!

Another Mother's Day

As in years past, we headed over to Mike and Rachel's for their annual Mother's Day barbecue. We couldn't have asked for better weather! It has been a very soggy spring here in Maryland, to say the least. So when it started to clear up on Friday, I was hoping for a nice day by Sunday. Well, I got it. Sunny and 75. Can't get more perfect than that.

Quinn had a great time, especially with her Uncle Mike and cousin Jodi (or as she likes to say, her "friend" Jodi). She spent hours playing ball with Kenny, Chris, Bill and Matt, and dug in the dirt with her Aunt Rachel. Man, she has some great family!

She and Kirch got me some very cute tank tops and a great Mother's Day 2009 frame. So I had Mike do the honors of taking a family picture so I can put it in the frame very soon!

We're a handsome bunch!

The whole gang was there - all 4 Beaver Boys, the other Kirchers, and of course, Mom K. Mike grilled burgers, chicken and rock fish, and the drinks (both non- and alcoholic) were a-plenty. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day!