Big Star Lake

Last week Sunday I left with my 3 kids and 2 of the nephews and headed to Big Star Lake to a cottage my parent's were renting. My dad had to work Monday and Tuesday as did Mike, so my mom and I had the luxury of watching 5 kids. Actually, it all went well. Mike and my dad came up Wednesday afternoon and my brother Jason & sister-in-law Shelley came up with their remaining 3 kids Wednesday night. We had a great time and beautiful weather. We spent our mornings playing by the cottage and our afternoons on the beach. My family loves to play games so we spent a lot of time playing dominos, cribbage & golf. The week went by too fast and I am looking forward to next year!

For some reason Slide.com isn't letting me upload pictures here - anyone else have this problem? Here are just a few of pictures:

Ella playing Littlest Pets

Austin, Jake & Justin playing Monopoly

Sitting in their water "chairs"

The PJ Princesses: Sophia, Emma, Sidney & Ella

Our little fish

Pentwater

Last week we stayed with Mike's parent's and his brother & sister-in-law, Steve & Lynn, at his aunt & uncle's cottage in Pentwater. We had gorgeous weather and a great time. Our days were spent on the beach, swimming in the pool, golfing, a little shopping & playing games with the kids.

I was so proud of myself for remembering the camera but when I started taking pictures I realized the memory card was in our computer at home (surprise, surprise). Because I hate posts without pictures, I decided to do a little searching on the Internet to find our body doubles. I thought these were perfect.

Mike taking his morning run on the beach*
Me frolicking in the water

*side note: Mike did run on the beach one morning, without shirt or shoes, and yes, he did get mocked...a lot!

Sick Again

Remember this post? Yup, Ella once again has a right ear infection and most likely a case of pneumonia. The doctor couldn't tell for sure if it was pneumonia without an x-ray but since she had the ear infection she just decided to treat both (and saved us some time & money). So much for staying healthy during the summer months - ugh!

Catching Up

It's been so long since I've posted I don't even know where to begin. We have had a couple of fun filled weeks. It started with my girls week at a cottage on Paw Paw Lake, then we went to a Detroit Tigers game and finally ended with our church campout at Wabisis Lake.

GIRLS WEEK OUT
There were 5 of us from our neighborhood (Donna, Laura, Jodie, Amy & myself) who stayed at Donna's brother-in-law's cottage on Paw Paw Lake near St. Joe. We left on a Wednesday morning and stayed until Friday evening. It was soooo much fun! I haven't gut laughed that hard in a long time, if ever. The "lake house" was awesome. It had a beautiful porch overlooking the in-ground pool and lake. We relaxed in the sun every day and even paid a man to take us out for a booze cruise around the lake. It was great to get away without the husband or kids, no one asking for a snack or drink or to wipe a butt and just have a good time with friends. Hopefully this will become a yearly event!

DETROIT TIGER'S GAME
We went to a Tiger's game with our neighbor's Brian & Amy. I didn't really know what to expect with this game since I'm not a huge baseball fan but boy did we ever have a great time. We got to our hotel (the Sheraton downtown) and had enough time for a pre-game party of munchies, drinks & cards. The game was great even though we missed a couple of the best plays of the night...(1) eating hotdogs while Raburn hit a grand slam & (2) left the game early because it started to rain & the Tiger's were losing only to see Cabrera hit 2 runners in on the big screen outside the stadium. We headed over to Cheli's and had a good time on the rooftop patio.

CHURCH CAMPOUT
Every year our church does a weekend campout at Wabisis Lake. This was our first year going and there were 4 of us who decided to come on Tuesday instead of the usual Thursday. Mike set up camp for me on Tuesday but then went home since he had to work both Wednesday and Thursday. Two other husbands did the same thing so Jon Meengs was a husband for 4 of us and father to 9 (thank goodness because I would never have been able to start a fire at night!). I survived living in a tent for 6 days and actually think I could have lasted longer. We had great weather except for some rain on Saturday morning and the tent leaking because of it (not happy since we applied seam sealer to it and it's brand new!). The kids all got along exceptionally well and pretty much kept busy playing on the beach, in the water, on the playground, riding bikes or playing card games. We had a couple of very sleep deprived girls on our hands and there were many moments of crying & carrying-on but we managed. Next year I think Mike will take the week off of work and stay the entire time with us (although I'm pretty sure he thoroughly enjoyed a couple of days just by himself at home).

We are now back home for a couple of weeks before heading to a cottage in Pentwater for a few days with Mike's parents. Sophia started swim lessons with my sister-in-law yesterday and is very excited to learn how to swim. She loves the water and is a little fish! I will try to get into the grove of posting again but I'm not making any promises. This summer is going way too fast!

Camping + Friends = FUN!

This past weekend we camped at Silver Lake with our friends Jodi & Brian & their 2 kids Austin & Hannah. What fun!! Other than a couple short-lived rain showers we had gorgeous weather. This was the first time we used our new tent and I was a little worried the kids wouldn't sleep well. Thankfully I was wrong and worried for nothing (story of my life)! We had a great time swimming in the pool, going to the beach, playing on the sand dunes and sitting by the fire. Our kids are at the age where they don't need to be entertained by us and we can actually relax and have a good time (other than the numerous trips to the bathroom with the girls). It went by way too fast and we are definitely going to stay longer next year.

My Bragging Rights are Gone

I think I got too cocky. I may have forgotten to knock on wood a few times. I've gone 32 years with no problems. It snuck up on me. Six months ago all was fine. And now, now all I know is I'm scared. My heart was racing when they confirmed my suspicions. I have my first cavity and I'm not proud of it.

Giddy Up!

Sunday evening we went to my aunt & uncles house for a Father's Day celebration. My aunt & uncle have 2 horses and the kids got to ride them for the first time. Jake wasn't too fond of it but I think that's because it was a little too snug in front (if you know what I mean) riding with my aunt. Sophia and Ella both LOVED it! It surprised me how much Ella loved petting and riding the horse since she was scared to death of their harmless, old dog. She climbed my leg in fear when the dog started walking towards us. So now instead of asking for a dog, my girls want a horse. I don't think the neighbors would mind too much...at least they don't bark constantly!

Jake and aunt Laur

Sophia & Grandpa

Ella & Grandpa