Camping on the Beach

One of the things that I take for granted around here is Lake Michigan.  It's such a beautiful lake and we just don't get out there enough!

On Saturday we headed out to one of our friend's parent's house on Lake Michigan.  We had talked about doing this before but it all started coming together last weekend.  So after filling all our vehicles until they were stuffed (boy there was a TON of stuff to take for one night!) we took off.  Wow!  Just the first view of the lake was enough to get the kids ready for this adventure. 

After getting all set up, we needed to cool off in the lake.  What a pleasant surprise we had when we discovered that the lake wasn't too cold.  Even us adults ventured in.  Then it was boating time.  Megan's parents came down with their boat and took some of the group tubing while the others were able to ride in the boat.  We were blessed with a perfect day on the water as there were hardly any waves! 

When dinner time rolled around we started a fire and did some got dogs, pizza sandwiches and ham and cheese sandwiches.  The kids were super hungry after a day playing on the beach and devoured tons of food!  As us adults then sat around talking and enjoying the ability to just talk, the kids played in the sand again and did some more swimming.  Jackson actually stayed in the water until it was dark!  He is a fish! 

"Dark time" rolled around and we enjoyed our fire that Luke continued to make bigger and bigger and bigger.  After the kids went to bed we sat and talked more and then it came time to actually attempt sleeping out there.  Our air mattress (which has served us well for 10 years) must have a hole because halfway during the night Luke and I found ourselves sleeping on the hard sand.  Oh well ... we can handle that for one night :)  Thankfully all the kids slept well and we survived. 

After breakfast in South Haven the next morning it was time to pack up again and head home.  We were all EXHAUSTED but honestly, both Luke and I said it was one of the best weekends of summer.  Here's hoping for a new tradition!

Tent City

Our "home" for the night

Grace and Lydia loved being buried in the sand ... and yes my girl is not wearing a swimsuit ... the girl is comfortable in her own body :) 

All the kids burying each other. 

The fire.  Do you notice the huge branch sticking out ... that was one of many that went in the fire.  Let's just say we cleaned up the driftwood on the beach :) 

Sunset on Lake Michigan

One tired boy ...

Traverse City

It's been 7 years since Luke and I were in Traverse City.  This past weekend we went back up for a fun weekend with friends.  It's also the first time we left all 3 kids for 2 nights.  Needless to say we had a blast... dinners without kids... a fabulous wine tour...late nights..campfires..and so many laughs that my abs hurt.  I'm thinking this will now be a yearly trip.

We're back!

 Kiera, Brendan and Grant watching their brother's play t-ball.

 My favorite little t-ball player ... I LOVE how he shares his dad's passion for the sport (although I don't understand even half of what he does).

 Celebrating the June birthdays - Jackson (June 26), Grandpa (June 22), Cohen (June 1)

 Our big event of the summer - THE BROKEN ARM!  He feel out of his bunk while we were camping in June and had this lovely thing on for 5 weeks.  Thankfully all is healed and he was able to have a waterproof cast so swimming in pools was still okay!

I'm just realizing how few pictures I've taken on my camera - probably time to pull that out again!  Luke surprised me with a new phone a few weeks back so now my pictures have been taken with that.  My non-techie self needs to learn how to use those pictures in the blog.  

Our summer in a nutshell ... Family time :)  It's been a blessing so far to have so much time together (well, most of the time!).   We spent much of June camping at Sandy Pines and now July has been spent at home (staying out of the heat and now staying warm inside!). 

Merry Christmas!

Waiting for presents ... Notice Brendan's black eye???  Baseball incident :)

A huge hit!  Fruit snacks from Grandpa and Grandma!

Santa knew EXACTLY what he wanted!  That smile says it all!

Luke went a little crazy finding stuff around the house to give as gifts.  Eric truly did open coal (however it went with a charcoal grill that he had wanted). 

Cohen was hilarious with his present - he even did a little dance when he opened it. 

Look at that mischievious smile!

Trying to get a family shot

Brendan's ornament for 2012 was a replica of his "bike" from Sandy Pines!  He loved it!

Poor Lydia didn't grasp the present concept this year - however she certainly love the excitement of it all.

My little golfer - is it summer yet?!

Has Christmas truly come and gone already?  We had a whirlwind of a weekend (and start of the week) as we finished our shopping and prepared for the family Christmas parties.  There's something about watching Christmas through the eyes of a child that helps you remember the significance of it all! 

What beds???

Our boys are typically pretty good at getting to bed alright at night.  Yes, there are nights when we ask them several times to get back in bed but I had to laugh at them lately.  In the busyness of the last few weeks, the boys would want to stay up and hang out with Mom and Dad rather than go to bed.  Actually they wanted to "cuddle" with one of us.  However, twice in the last month, I would hear "noises" on the stairs and then silence.  And this is what I found ....

Christmas Card Pics

And this is why I DREAD the picture each year....

Is that excitement or frustration?

Is it just me or does Brendan look like he's ready to beat someone?

Lydia pulled "her" chair over and declared herself DONE!   Brendan and Jackson ... near the end.

Now officially done!

I don't know why we take the Christmas picture every year ... wait .... yes I do.  We take it because it's fun to look back at how much we've changed in a year.  And to laugh about the chaos that surrounds the picture.  The first year we sent out a Christmas card, we had just gotten Rudi and so Luke and I spent an HOUR! trying to get a shot where we were all looking.   I remember Luke throwing a ball at the camera just at the point when it was about to take.   I now laugh at how easy that was compared to the kids.  However, I have to admit, Lydia did a great job with our picture this year ... she was the easy one in the family picture.  It was the boys who wouldn't sit still or had goofy smiles.  Regardless of all the insanity that surrounds it, I'm going to be the mom who insists on the picture each year and in all honesty, I'll enjoy the ones that are not perfect the most:) 

Happy Birthday Lydia! And Brendan!

We spent her birthday evening at Craigs Cruisers with Keunings ... our second family in the summer!

Give me cake!  The girl LOVES birthday cake.  Takes after her mother!

A present from Jackson - wrapped with love and a whole roll of tape!

Lydia received so many wonderful gifts

Wow ... two birthdays in one weekend makes for a lot of singing!  And of course Jackson struggled because his siblings got all kinds of presents but he didn't get anything.  We had to remind him that his birthday is special too and they don't get anything then.  Being the big brother that he is, he convinced Brendan to let him play with all the new toys too!