Mentos experiment

When Grandma and Grandpa Baughman visited in August we shared one of our favorite science experiments with them. When you add Mentos to Diet Coke the result is explosive.

Aubrey, Lauren, and a baritone

Aubrey chose to play baritone in the Lawton 5th grade band. She often combines her love of Lauren with her practicing. This time we caught it on film. Aubrey then though it would be fun to put the baritone in Lauren's car seat and Lauren in the instrument case. This actually went well until she gave Lauren's blanket to the baritone.

Cubscout Day camp

Carsten attended his first cub scout day camp. He learned to shoot a BB gun, wrist rocket, and bow and arrow - in short - all the things boys want to do and parents worry about them doing. Pam was able to be a chaperon for one day. She even ran the obstacle course.

Girl's night out

Pam's sister Caren came to visit us in Ann Arbor for three very fun weeks. During this time she and Pam got cute new summer hair cuts and donated the clipping (10-12 inches each) to Locks of Love. They also continued their tradition of enjoying a night out and some very fine desserts at La Dolce Vita . Here they are sporting new do's and satisfied palates.

Aidan's peewee soccer team

Aidan started soccer this Spring, playing for the Pittsfield township Leopards team. Merrill was an assistant coach. Aubrey and Carsten took turns dressing up as a leopard to be the mascot.

Aidan enjoyed the end of game tradition where family members make a tunnel and the players run through it.

The Spiderman car

While Ethan Day was visiting us in Michigan he mentioned (a few dozen times) that red and blue were some of his favorite colors. Aidan recently spotted a car that he thought Ethan would like to have.

Lauren's first birthday

Lauren celebrated her first birthday on 04 June 2009. Aunt Caren was visiting (with Joshua, Ethan, and Sean) and made her special homemade pizza for dinner. The kids decided Lauren would like canned green beans and cantaloupe for her sides. Aidan chose a chocolate cake with pink sprinkle frosting. The video of everyone sharing it is fun.

April Fool's Day 2009

Merrill and Pam have a tradition of playing a fun trick on the kids each April Fool's Day. This year they packed Aubrey and Carsten's school lunches full of plastic toy food. Pam got a picture of each of them after opening their lunch boxes. Our tricks always end well though and they got to enjoy cold cantaloupe and hot pizza after recovering from the shock.

Family weekend vacation

Aubrey came up with a program to encourage family exercise. She tracks how many miles we walk/run on the treadmill or in the neighborhood. Once a cumulative 80 miles is reached, we do a fun activity such as mini-golf, bowling, sledding, etc. This time we waited till 160 miles to earn a weekend at the Holiday Inn. We had lots of fun and even a moment or two of relaxation.

Lawton Science Fair 2009

Aubrey and Carsten did a joint science fair project at Lawton Elementary school. They researched the cycle of cotton from planting to production of cloth. Their project got two blue ribbons.

Lauren's Hospital Visit

On March 4th Lauren was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital because her oxygen level was too low. She ended up having RSV. Four days later she (and Mom) were finally released with only strep throat (Pam) and two ear infections (one each) remaining. The whole family passed a respiratory "thing" around for the month of March. Hopefully we are all on the mend now though.

Jump City

Jump City is one of our favorite cold weather activities. During the kids' mid-winter break last week we took Lauren there for her first time. She isn't quite old enough to enjoy it. Aubrey, Carsten, and Aidan jumped for about two hours straight though.

Ground Hog Day in Ann Arbor

Our Ann Arbor Great Harvest Bread store has an annual Ground Hog's Day celebration. If you bring in a picture of a groundhog you get a free mini loaf of whole wheat bread made to look like the day's namesake. If you dress up as a ground hog you also get a free cookie. Being the thrifty, carbohydrate loving folk that we are, we were there! Lauren is sleeping and Merrill is still at work, but the rest of us were smiling in anticipation of our treats.

Meet the Wrights

Welcome to the Michigan Wright blog. Although we reside in Michigan we were enjoying some beautiful Phoenix weather this past Christmas. This picture is from a massive family photo shoot that actually went surprisingly well.