Daddy Dolls

~~ We interrupt the vacation posts for the introduction of Austin & Abigail's Daddy Dolls! ~~

Before Michael left for Iraq, I knew I wanted to get the kids Daddy Dolls. Had I better planned, they would have arrived before Michael left so he could give them each their "Daddy". But, vacation and preparation for deployment got in the way. I ordered the Daddy Dolls the day before Michael left and they arrived in the mail yesterday. I could have kissed the mail man when he delivered them to the house while I was home for lunch. I couldn't wait to get back home and see the kids faces when they pulled them out of the box.

They didn't disappoint me, THEY LOVED THEM!

Waiting for their surprise!





Austin took one look at his and exclaimed, "Daddy!"





Getting Daddy out of the plastic



Abigail ~ "That's my Daddy"





They wouldn't even look at me so I could take their picture. They couldn't keep their eyes off of Daddy



I told the kids that they could hug and kiss their Daddy Doll whenever they were missing Daddy.

Austin started right away, with a hug first.



And then a kiss



Abigail got her kisses in too



Austin wanted to wrestle with Daddy, just like they do when he's here!



Then Austin wanted me to take a picture of just Daddy.



Abigail again ~ "That's my Daddy"



And more kisses



Daddy even got to go for a ride in the police car



And shopping with Abigail



Of course they slept with Daddy last night when they went to bed. I have a feeling that Daddy is going to be going a lot of places with us over the next year!

Michigan ~ Part IV

When we headed back to the campground for some more camping the weather was pretty gloomy. Instead of being cooped up in the camper we decided to head to a near by town for some bowling!

The bowling alley only had 12 lanes!

The kids bowled on the lane with the bumpers up and Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy & I bowled on the other lane.

Here goes Austin

Such form for a 5 year old!

Then it was Abigail's turn, after she got the hair out of her eyes

Go Abby!



I think Daddy was saying, "What the heck!"



There goes Grandpa & Abby



It must have been a good one!



We had so much fun bowling, and it was a great way to get out of the gloomy weather!

I have so many Cedar Point pictures that I have to save them for the next post!

Michigan ~ Part III

Mowing the grass with for Grandpa! Grandpa let Austin steer the tractor while they were mowing.





Of course Abigail had to get a turn too! She was waiting very patiently for Grandpa to pick her up.



And of course Daddy had to have a kiss before she could get on the tractor with Grandpa.





Look what Grandma & Grandpa had in their yard



There were a ton of them





It wasn't long before Grandpa got out his trailer for behind the tractor. Daddy had the honor of giving the kids their first ride.





They went all over the back yard



What a look!



Then Austin & I drove Grandpa & Abigail around





Look at that cute family!



Grandpa got behind the camera lens! (I don't think Grandma was too thrilled about it!)



Grandpa picked up one of the bunnies so the kids could see it up close







After spending a couple days mowing the grass and catching up on dirty laundry, we headed back to the campground for some more fun activities...bowling & Cedar Point. Those pictures are up next!

Michigan ~ Part II

Once we got off the plane we picked up our rental car, stopped for a bite to eat and headed to Grandma & Grandpa Ringman's campsite. Of course we had to stop at Wal-Mart first so the kids could pick out their very own fishing poles!



It wasn't long after they put them together that Austin caught his first fish.



Even Abigail tried fishing with her fishing pole.



She even caught a fish!





Even Daddy caught a fish!



Just a sample of their fish bait : bread & hot dogs! They also used corn!



Austin fell in love with fishing.



Fishing with Chris



Austin got so comfortable with fishing that he learned how to take his own fish off the hook!





Chris & Christine stole Abigail's heart with the bubbles they brought her. I don't think she put them down the entire time we were in Michigan!



And Austin loved his bat and ball... until Grandpa swung so hard he threw the bat in the lake!!!



We decided to head to Grandma & Grandpa's house for a couple days to get a break from camping and so Grandpa could mow the lawn. Those pictures are coming next, stay tuned!