GBS Lake Weekend

This weekend we headed down to the Lake of the Ozarks to the Cowan's lovely lake house. We had quite the house full, both in adults and children. We took a vacation day on Friday so we could get some extra time with our friends who had flown in from out of town and really enjoyed the relaxing.


Here is Megan with her first time in the pool. Ashley and Brogan aren't helping out much with all the splashing but she loves baths so she did just fine.
Hanging out in the pool. We did actually put her in the lake for about 5 minutes. She wasn't that happy but she was also in a life vest and baby float so she might not have been that comfortable.

Ashley and Abby hanging out with Megan.

Megan and Abby together in the pool

Here are Dave and Tim taking the paddle boat on it's maiden voyage. I believe there were some steering issues but they overcame them.


Jenn trying to get the Party Barge canopy up. It's a lot harder than it looks!
Here are Leann, Colleen, and Jenn chilling in the cove. This was pretty much our afternoon activities. I don't have a picture of all 7 girls together unfortunately. At this point and time we were still waiting for some others to show up.


Dave and Casey resting on the barge.
Saturday morning before the Taris clan arrived. They were watching some cartoon. From left to right it's Ashley, Brogan, Megan, and Abby.
Jenn & Dave took Abby and Ashley out for a spin on the paddle boat. The girls are pretty much inseparable when they are together.
It was a little hot and my camera fogged up really quickly. The dogs were helping protect the paddle boat.
Here is Tonya with Chase (in her lap) and Emmit is in the car seat. Or it could be the other way around too. They look very similar. Of course all the babies were very entertaining for the toddlers.


Finally on Sunday Abby was brave enough to go out on the waverunner with Tim. She was pretty much against it but we felt the need to force her to do it and once we were down there she was all about it and had a great time. They just stayed pretty close to the cove.

Here they are coming in.
Abby was helping drive.
She enjoyed the trip but was ready to get off so Ashley and Dave could go out.
There goes Ashley and Dave!

The weekend was great. I think we'll be recovering from it for a couple days as well. A little too much partying, sunburns, and some sore muscles from skiing will wrap it up. I have no pictures of Jessie, Jess & Rob, or Tom, Coty, and Axel, but they were all there. Once we got the kids down for naps all the adults were in the water enjoying what time we could get being all "kid free". So not a lot of picture taking there. Unfortunately the weekend had to end, but I bet we'll be back down there before you know it. The water was really warm and so relaxing to be in. Abby swam in the lake as well, she just likes to have a good hold of you. I think she'll get better as we're down there more.
We'll have the Taris family visiting tomorrow so I'm sure we'll get some good pictures then.

Megan 4-1/2 month update:
Height - 25-1/2 (>95)
Weight - 16 lbs (>95%)
Head - 16-3/4 (90%)

She is happy and healthy and that is all we can ask for. Believe it or not, we're staying home for the weekend of the 4th. Jenn & Dave will be in Springfield so no lake action. But I think we could use some relaxing and catching up with things at home. We'll be leaving for NY for Andrew's wedding the following week so we will probably need plenty of time with that as it will be the first time flying with both kids.

Andrew's Bachelor Party

This weekend we headed up to Iowa for my brother's bachelor party. It wasn't really just a party it was more of an event since it seemed to last all weekend. From the few details that were shared it sounds like it was a good time. Andrew has a good group of friends. 7-11-09 will be here before you know it!

The evening started off at the Airliner, a local IC bar that we've hung out for years during our college days. Even sisters got to attend this part, probably the latest evening I've had for about 15 months!



The Papke kids back together again. You can probably figure out which one is Andrew and which one is Tony. I remember when I used to be taller than them both....

Had to have a family photo with Dad. He was hanging out with the boys as well. My mom stayed home with the girls for me so I could go hang out a little bit.

The "Outlaws" hanging out. This is Andrew's fiance Rebekah Knight, and of course Tim.

Then of course an Abby picture. On Saturday during the bachelor golf/BBQ/gambling/bar activities we had a very nice girls day. We went to the mall since it was really too hot to be outside with Megan until it cooled down later that afternoon. Abby of course found the rides, we also took a ride on the carousel. She got to go swimming in a little wading pool later that afternoon and we had a very nice girls night out dinner at Monica's.

This weekend is time at the Lake with my GBS girls. Everyone is coming in to town, we'll have people from Wichita, Denver, Chicago, Raleigh, and Hoboken! We are looking at a total of 12 adults and 8 kids (3 and under if you can believe it), it should be a little crazy but fun. I'm looking forward to a weekend relaxing and catching up with the girls.

DJ' Birthday Party

Just another weekend for the Schmidt Family - busy as usual. This weekend was our neighborhood garage sale. Our neighbors Barb & Frank were kind enough to put some of our "treasures" in their sale and we probably made $30. It's out of the house though so that makes me happy. However now I'm finding more things I wish I would have tried to sell. Maybe next time...

Saturday was DJ's 3rd birthday party. She goes to the same daycare as Abby and Megan so Saturday afternoon I trucked the girls out to Auxvasse for the sprinkler party.

Here is Abby splashing Nell and Claire.


DJ is in the t-shirt and she is adding to the fun. Thankfully the sun came out and warmed things up, however for as much as the girls were running around I doubt they could get cold.

They had a slip and slide as well. The girls didn't quite figure this one out. They wouldn't play on it when the water was running either. They still had fun either way.
Here's DJ blowing out her cupcakes. Her friend Carmen is next to her. Our babysitter attended the party as well so that is where Megan was. She snatched her up as soon as we got there, which helped me out a lot so I could play with the girls. Of course I didn't get any pictures of Megan, again...

Saturday evening was our neighborhood block party. Good food + good neighbors = Good Time.

Sunday was Tim and my 6th Wedding Anniversary if you can believe that. We didn't celebrate with much. Went to church and there was a couple celebrating their 40th anniversary and they renewed their vows during mass so that was kind of a nice thing for us. Tim got to go fishing, we took the kids to the park, and watched our wedding video with Abby. She was very good at pointing out all the people, but wanted to know where Megan and her were, and her friend Ashley since her Mom was in the wedding.

On a sad note. Alicia Weiman's son Ethan lost his battle with cancer on Friday. He was 4 years old and had been fighting neuroblastoma for the last 2 years. Alicia attended UMR with Tim and I and was a member of my sorority Gamma Beta Sigma. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Weiman family.

Megan's Baptism Weekend

This weekend was pack full of activities just like every other we have it seems. However, this time we didn't travel!! That was a first for a couple of weeks it seemed. Instead everyone came to us for Megan's Baptism on Sunday.

It wouldn't be a Schmidt weekend if we wouldn't have tried to shove a couple other items in so here are the girls with Tim at the Bass Pro - "Reel" Time for kids. They do this yearly and Abby had fun with it last year so we attended again, plus Tim will take any chance for fishing he can get, even if it's with a Sponge Bob fishing pole.

Here's Megan, not quite the fishing queen that Abby is. We hung out behind them and watched the fun.


Here is Abby and Tim working on casting. Abby has a problem leaving the bobber out there to sit. She likes to reel it in as soon as it's cast out.
Patiently waiting......
Success!


Abby was holding the fish all by herself. The MO DNR guys said it was a 7" Hybrid Sunfish. It is now back in the pond by Bass Pro.


That afternoon, the Papke's arrived. My parents and my brother Tony and his wife Colleen (pictured with Megan) showed up in the afternoon.
My brother Andrew (The Godfather), flew in from Texas around 4. It was a beautiful day to hand out on the deck and we were out there until about 1030 just talking. It was the first time the whole Papke family had been together for almost 2 years. With our distance and alternating holidays it's hard to get us all in one place. So I think everyone enjoyed our time together.
Here is Uncle Tony with Megan. She was just hanging out.
Here we are at Our Lady of Lourdes church for Megan's baptism. She is wearing the same christening gown that Tim and Abby wore.



Here is Megan being baptized with the Holy Water. She didn't cry at all, she enjoys baths so it probably didn't bother her.

A little action from the Godparents. You can't see Colleen, but she's helping Andrew light the candle.
The Schmidt Family
The Papke Family
A little photo I thought was cute. We all went to brunch after mass and this was Tim, Abby, and my Mom walking back to the truck after we had ate. Abby had a great time with all her aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

This weekend we are home AGAIN! Hard to believe, I know. We have our neighborhood garage sale on Friday/Saturday so we'll see if we can make a couple bucks, Saturday night is our block party, and then on Sunday it is Tim and my 6 year anniversary. Hard to believe that 6 years have gone by that quickly. We don't have any plans really yet, I'm just hoping for a nap :).

Carrollton Party Weekend

This weekend we headed up to Carrollton, IL for a graduation party and wedding. Friday night was Matthew Schmidt's graduation party. He's the last son for Sarah and Dan Schmidt to wrap up high school so they'll have an empty nest this coming fall when he heads up to college. They shared the hall with some other graduates and there was a DJ. I posted a video of Abby dancing at the end. She likes to party to say the least.


Here's a picture of Katelyn with Megan. She had the touch and Megan fell asleep in her arms despite being next to a speaker. Megan can sleep through about anything thankfully.


The next evening was Phil Schmidt and Tracey Young's wedding. For some reason I did not get any photos of the bride or wedding party. Tracey's dress was beautiful and she made a lovely bride. The bridesmaids dresses were also beautiful along with the flowers. It rained a little in the morning but then turned in to a nice sunny, warm day for the afternoon wedding.

Here's a photo of Abby, Aunt Betsy, and Grandma Schmidt. They are trying to teach her how to do the chicken dance. I think she was wearing down for the evening though.


Here's Great Aunt Janet and Megan. Megan did really well being passed around all night and was a really good baby. Janet is looking forward to her first granddaughter - who should be arriving in a couple of weeks.
Abby, as usual, giving out some kisses, and yes, they are in matching outfits. I unfortunately didn't get a better picture of them together so show off the dresses.
Megan has been pretty hungry in the evenings so we decided to try cereal a couple weeks early. She wasn't too keen on it but mostly was crying when she didn't have cereal in her mouth to play with. Overall I think she did pretty well and wasn't that messy.
Here she is a little more content. She'll figure it out eventually. Abby was there to help as well showing her how to open her mouth. Such a good coach.



Here is Abby dancing at Matthew's graduation. Imagin "Pour some sugar on me" playing in the background. The video is much darker on the computer than on my camera but you can kind of see her.

This weekend is Megan's baptism and we will have the whole Papke and Schmidt families together on Sunday to celebrate it. We're looking forward to having a full house and our families together.