Erie Basin Marina

The Buffalo weather turned hot the day after we arrived. We went from our cool 55 to a hot 80. Nice. Anyway, Tom desired for Charlie to see Lake Erie. Thus, a small Wagner outing to Erie Basin Marina to look at the water, catch some sun and see Canada on. The land in the picture below is Canada. We were able to grab a piece of the lake for Charlie as they were clearing driftwood off a local beach. He enjoyed chewing on this until we realized what he was doing. This was a fun outing.

The gang - from left to right: Charlie, Tom, Andy and Grandma (aka Marge). I didn't get shots from the back side of the marina. However, we must have come at lunch time for the fish. We saw lots of "Sunnies", carp, Northern Pike and large mouth Bass swimming amongst the moored boats.

Grandparents backyard fun in Buffalo

The Seattle Wagner family just returned from eight days of family fun in Buffalo, NY. Tom really enjoyed introducing Charlie to his home town. The big highlight for us all was that Charlie got to meet his uncle Andy, Aunt Debbie and cousins Rachael and Nicole. I took many pictures, and will post several posts from our time together. First, Charlie was welcomed by exploring his grandparents backyard, watering cans, and bubbles that were purchased specially for him. Of course, all this was after we enjoyed our typical welcome home dinner of wings and pizza. Bring on the fried food!

Charlie would not let go of that orange watering can most of his trip. One would think that the bubbles Rachael has in her hands would put that can on the ground, but it didn't.

Grandma and Grandpa watching the fun.

Uncle Andy got to be an expert at putting those shoes back on the kid. They did not like to stay put! Tom and I really enjoyed seeing Andy as an uncle!

Charlie liked the big watering can as well. Tom put a few long grass pieces in at one point and the little guy got his arm stuck. So, we didn't do that any more.
His first look at bubbles. I have a feeling this would be his quote if he could speak: "Why do those darn things disappear when I try to pick them up?" Fun times.

Des Moines Beach Outing

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather, so packed ourselves up and headed down to our local beach. The picture below shows Charlie ready for some fun:

There were lots of people on the beach, as well as birds and tons of rocks. Here Charlie is looking off at something that caught his eye. Additionally, Tom had to keep his eyes closely on the little guy because he kept trying to walk right into the water.
We kept having to move back several feet as the tide was rising really, really fast! I think Charlie is bored by the teaching moment...

Our serious boy...

Touching the salt water.

Lemons and Apples

We had lots of fun out to eat for Mother's Day. Charlie tried some big people food. The lemon sure was tart, but he kept going back. When he tried the apple, he didn't want to stop. How fun!

This past weekend we had a first birthday party for little Charlie. I can't figure out how to load the pictures in the order I'd like. however, here are some cute shots from the party.

All the kids out on the front porch digging into the little cake we had for Charlie to try out.

Charlie is chilling with his grandparents. He loves that blanket!

All the little kids on the front yard. From left to right: Ella, Rose, Auggie, Emmett, Charlie, Madeline. Fun times!

Charlie put his fingers in the cake a few times. However, he ate the most frosting off the fingers of the other kids. Germ sharing is so fun! After he tried the cake, we gave him pieces of roasted red pepper and cheese. This was a welcome change for him from the cake. He likes those peppers so much more than cake!

This is a shot I took shortly before everyone got here for the birthday weekend. We were excited for the weekend ahead. The party was sure loads of fun. Great family, friends and celebration. Little Charlie loved every minute of his party. He loved seeing all his family, playing with new toys, showing everyone how cute Vinnie the dog is and lugging around helium balloons that we got for him to give all his friends. We sure had a great time!

Trip to visit Grandpa Bud & Grandma Patsy

Mommy and Charlie took trip to see Grandma Patsy and Grandpa Bud for an extended weekend. We had a really good visit and had lots of fun playing at the ranch. Charlie got a huge kick out of Moses (the dog pictured below). I think it is official that "daaa" is his first word. Charlie uses that consistently when he sees a dog. Now, back to the trip. We enjoyed seeing extended family, playing blocks, with grandparents, Moses, taking a walk and riding on a tractor. Here are a few shots from our weekend.

Telling everyone about Moses.

Our walk through the orchard.

I tried to get them to look at the camera, but both were focused on Pete (another dog that is really, really cute!)

Talking to Grandma.