Disney World!

It is hard to believe that our trip to Disney World is already over; we have been planning this trip since March...pre-Owen! In that span of time, while the planning and anticipation was occurring, Tatum morphed into a 3 year old GIRL who is obsessed with princesses. While taking in all of Disney World can be overwhelming, Tatum definitely warmed up to the idea of meeting and hugging the various princesses from her night time stories. We could spend countless hours typing about our experience, but figured that some pictures would serve much better! An added bonus to the trip was the we had the opportunity to meet our friends from Maine, the Orletski's, for a short play date at the Fort Wilderness campgrounds.

Tatum excited to meet Belle

Tatum eats Pork Sausage while hugging Piglet!

Tatum and her favorite non-princess character at breakfast

Grandma Liz, Mom and Tatum on a classic ride!

Owen enjoying some "down time" at a playground

Riding the ferry from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom

Tatum excited to get to the pool

Owen happy in his stroller

A bat at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Owen trying to take a nap

The Magic Kingdom at night

The remainder of our pictures are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsmiley1979/DisneyWorldPictures2010#

Owen goes for a swing...

Owen's first time in a park swing; he had a great time!

Gotta Love Puppy Love!

Tatum and her four-legged b.f.f. Sadie...

chilling on the deck with chocolate milk

Dancing Queen!

First Day of 3 year-old Preschool

Another year of school has begun...

Ready to go...

Probably the first of many school pictures together!

Tatum and Carter

Look at the difference...

What a difference one year makes! Here is Tatum on her first day of school last year compared to today (the quality is not so good - sorry!):

Age 2

almost 3!

Labor Day Weekend

Compared to some holiday weekends in the past, this Labor Day was overall very low-key and quiet. Mike worked both Saturday and Monday but we were able to squeeze in some beach time on Sunday and a BBQ on Monday night at our friends home. Now it is back to reality with school starting for Tatum as the summer is officially over!

Cuddling with Daddy before bedtime

Bubbles!

Tatum has always enjoyed going to one of the local parks here in town to blow bubbles - the combination of lots of green grass and a good wind blowing from the water makes for a lot of fun. We headed out to the park the other day as Mike was working late and Tatum was requesting a trip out so here are a few pictures and a "silent" movie of her blowing the bubbles...

Owen watching from the stroller

some of her bubbles

Summer Fun!

Just a few pictures from some of our August adventures...

At the zoo with our friends, Abby, Allison, and Maddy

Tatum and Abby

At the "Y" pool on a hot Sunday afternoon

Sandbridge Beach with Grandma Karen and Aunt Kara

Eating ice cream at the U.W. Madison union with Missy


A future Badger?

Meeting the Crossman-side of the family

Saying goodbye is no fun!

One of the biggest drawbacks to a life in the Navy is the fairly regular coming and going (i.e. moving) of friends which can be very sad when one has to say goodbye. Tatum experienced this for the first time this summer when we had to say goodbye to our great friends the Arthur's as they embark on a new journey...life in Italy! They were our family away from home as we saw them almost daily for the duration of our 14 months together in Norfolk. As with the regular comings and goings, one does never know what the Navy will bring, so this may not be goodbye for long as we said our goodbye's to them 4 years ago as we all embarked on journey's elsewhere after intern year. It has been hard to explain to Tatum that she will not get to see "Leesie" on a regular basis but we know that she will not forget her first b.f.f.!

Tatum and Elise saying goodbye

Watch out...

...Owen has a tooth now and he will bite whatever is in his way!

Some Summer Pictures

We can't believe it that it has been nearly 3 months since we last updated the blog! Owen was merely 2 months old and summer had just begun. Now we find ourselves at the end of August with a 5 month old boy who won't sleep to save his life and summer coming to an end. It was been a whirlwind of a summer for sure! Lindsey and the kids spent close to a month of it in St. Louis and Wisconsin visiting family while I had the pleasure of working nights at the hospital. We have included a few pictures from the summer, but stay tuned....we have made a pact to update this more frequently for all 3 people who look at it!

At St. Anselm for Owen's Baptism

Tatum tackling cousin Roman in church

Tatum and Owen relaxing at Uncle Mark's and Big Al's

Tatum looking for a goat to torture at Grant's Farm

Tatum finds her victim

Tatum trying to carry the goat!

Lindsey and kids at UW's Memorial Union

Enjoying the waves at Sandbridge Beach

A few images of Owen...

Just a few images of Owen that were recently taken while he laid on his back...he loves to be on the floor looking around!