Ian is so very close to crawling, but he has not yet. He can get into what we call a “table-top” position, and then juts back and forth with his torso, as if trying to determine where his weight ought to go next. Thus the child-proofing of the house has begun! We won’t be going overboard though, we’ve already decided that he probably needs to learn what a table edge is… otherwise God forbid he goes to somebody else’s house and they don’t have foam on every surface. See this image larger.

Family member sports fans will be pleased to know that the next time they visit Ian up in Michigan no less than 4 different versions of ESPN await on our upgraded cable package.

Here’s a quick image of Ian’s first piggy-back ride. He’s still tippy enough that I don’t think I’d want to let go of him up there… but he was smart enough to grab some of my “mane” and hold tight. That hurt. 😉 See this image larger.

So many things to tell you, but let’s let the captions tell the stories!

What good would Ian’s blog be if he couldn’t surrender the spotlight to his family? Let’s start with one quick shot of the reason for the trek! The newlyweds! See this image larger.

Ok, now let’s turn the clock back to the beginning of the journey… Ian – “We’re still on the ground, nothing to worry about, right Mama?” See this image larger.

Ian — “We’re only at 10,000 feet, nothing to worry about, right Papa? RIGHT PAPA?!?” (gulp!) Ian’s first flight! See this image larger.

Ian — “Oh heck, Grandma Barb, I’ve been in a plane, this thing’s easy, lemme show you how it works. Where’s the flaps again?” Grandpa Ray and Grandma Barb were kind enough to pick us up at the Sanford Airport and shuttle us back to The Villages for Ian’s first visit to Florida! See this image larger.

Grandpa Ray uses up his annual “Get out of trouble free” card on sneaking Ian some ice cream. Ian — “What’s this stuff? Who needs carrots?” See this image larger.

Tuckered out from so many adventures, Ian grabs an arm/pillow on the swing and dreams of playing golf the rest of his life for free. See this image larger.

Grandpa Ray’s fishing buddy stops practicing his casting technique long enough for a quick photo op. See this image larger.

How much fun is Mama, kiddo? Everybody — “SOOOO FUUUUUN!” See this image larger.

This is the smile that will make you try again and again for a repeat. Good luck! See this image larger.

Ian — “PAPA!! STOP IT. I said NO pics while I play with this cool exersaucer!” (Thanks to Papa’s Aunt Vicki for letting us borrow that! Thanks to Grandma Sue for sharing!) See this image larger.

Ian — “Saaay is that the Canon EOS 20D? Generous LCD on the back there, what kind of memory card you got in this thing?” (Thanks Grandma Barb for snapping this one!) See this image larger.

And now back to the beach with Chris and Annemarie! The happy couple exchanged vows during the setting sun at 7 o’clock on the seventh day of the seventh month in 2007… (Thanks to Papa’s Cousin Tara for this shot!) See this image larger.

So happy were Annmarie’s parents with their new son-in-law, that they broke into song periodically throughout the evening! See this image larger.

Grandpa Dave takes Ian for a stroll while Grandma Sue catches up with Great Grandma Betty, who made the trip up from Naples to see her Grandson married! See this image larger.

Ian — “Murmf.” (Thanks to everyone who made their arms available to let Mama and Papa have moments of freedom during the evening. Papa’s Aunt Leslie went the extra mile tho!) See this image larger.

Grandma Marcia and Grandpa Dave cut the rug in celebration of the happy evening. (In the background: Still sleepin!) See this image larger.

Papa’s Uncle Joe, Aunt Vicki, Cousin Tara, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gordon all made the trip to wish the newlyweds a beautiful night and many years of joy to come! See this image larger.

Look at this picture larger and try to tell me that my wife isn’t secretly royalty. You won’t be able to convince me, I promise you. See this image larger.

My queen and our prince. They have my heart. See this image larger.

After the wedding, we go back to The Villages to spend some quality time with Grandma Sue! See this image larger.

Although not nearly enough time, in Ian’s opinion. Don’t worry kiddo, we’ll see everybody again soon! (This face has the ability to rend Papa’s wallet from its safe harbor, rip his credit card from its moorings and make cash flow like a mighty river to appease whatever hardship caused it… it’s not Papa’s fault, seriously!) See this image larger.

Time to fly back, kiddo, you ready? Ian — (gulp!) “We have to fly BACK too?!?” (Thank you Grandma Sue for the before-dawn airport drop-off!) For those of you wondering, Ian handled both flights like a real champ… not so much as a peep, particularly compared to some of the older children around us! See this image larger.

I’m typing this to move some of the other entries into later pages. That ought to help you folks with low bandwidth get all the images above! If you ever want to check out old entires just scroll down and choose “previous entries.”

If you’re wondering where Ian’s Canadian Adventure disappeared to, that’s where it went! Click “previous entries” below.

Cousin Kaylee was baptized on the 17th of July, and Ian, Melissa and I went to Ohio on Saturday to see the ceremony. It was a beautiful day and Kaylee was a very patient and happy baby throughout. It was also a special day because it was father’s day! One other quick note: We’d like to congratulate Roscoe United Methodist Church for the dramatic “yay” vote on the controversial grand piano!
Here’s some pics from the trip!

The star of the weekend was happy baby Kaylee! “You think they’ll ever stop taking pictures of us, cuz?” See this image larger.

His happiness is absolutely contagious; sadly most of his colds are as well. See this image larger.

Connor was a sport to share his old exersaucer with his cousin. If I could find this exact model I’d probably buy it.See this image larger.

And here’s why; one look at that kid’s face when he’s interested, and the credit card leaps from my pocket. See this image larger.

It was SO nice for Connor to share, in fact, that he deserves a bonus picture! This is from when he visited us in here in Michigan during Ian’s baptism… isn’t that a great shot? See this image larger.