More from Traverse City

Some ducks joined us for a swim at West Bay on Monday. It was a cool day, but when the sun shone, it was lovely.

Tuesday was rainy, so we headed to the Children's Museum. Elisabeth caught a big one!

Waiting for the train. Note Henry's new crocs. Can you believe it?

The steam and whistle made Henry a little nervous, but soon he was waving to the onlookers and signing "truck" or "car" (same sign for both) that he saw as we went.

This was Elisabeth's second trip. The first one was 3 years ago.

See--getting more excited.

The turtles. This whole area used to be the Clinch Park Zoo, but now it has gone the way of the dodo. Rumor is the train will go the same way.

Here's Henry at Grandma Marva's house, eating his lunch like a big boy. But there was jelly all over the chair when he was done. We had a nice visit. Believe it or not, at one point both kids were sitting on armchairs and looking at books. They are in good company, because Grandma Marva loves to read. Later Elisabeth asked if there were any other toys, and Grandma asked if she would like to hold her doll. Elisabeth's eyes got big, and she held her as carefully as she ever held a doll. When Grandma was telling me about the doll's original dress, Elisabeth said, "Maybe Grandmere could make her some new clothes--some dresses and some other things . . ."

Elisabeth would only consent to be in this picture if she got to hold Grandma Marva's doll. Henry had had enough.

Henry's language has exploded on this trip. He is signing boat, ariplane, hi and car, and saying words that sound like Grandma, Grandpa, bye bye (always waving), ball, cracker, tractor, hello (when he's pretending to talk on the phone), dog, . . . He has also entered the tantrum stage and throws himself around the room for no apparent reason. Then he'll be so sweet and happy.

He imitates Elisabeth all the time.

Dad/Grandpa let Henry get on Elisabeth's MI bike one time, and Henry's interest has never waned. Fortunately he knows he must wear a helmet, and he is pretty cool with it. This picture is disconserting, however, since Henry looks awfully old here. He is 16 months. His feet don't really reach the pedals. That's a camera trick.

On our rainy day Elisabeth got to watch the first half of Mary Poppins which she had never seen before. She enjoyed it and it was fun to see her laugh. I wanted to catch Henry dancing to "Spoonful of Sugar." It brought back memories.

Goodnight! We're off to the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) on Saturday, so don't expect another update until we get home (August 4th).

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