A Day at Michigan's Adventure

We had so much fun! And shockingly, Luke is our little dare devil...he will do anything...and Jake? Is our fearful one! Wow didn't see that one coming! They had so much fun and were very tired out after! Of course they didn't get to bed early like we planned as it DOWN POURED that night for many hours! The fun side? We ALL huddled into Grandpa and Grandma's camper for snacks and games till around 10pm.

The final camping trip for 2009

Well, just before we left for our final camping trip of the season, I broke my big toe...ouch! So, camping was a bit interesting...we went to Hoffmaster again as our final destination. (and it may be our last time as the bees were terrible!) The kids had a blast, we went miniature golfing the day Dan and Noelle brought the girls. To expedite the process faster we split into groups, Mike and I had the boys and we ended up finished about 10 minutes before the rest of the crew...could have something to do with the fact that our boys were really not PLAYING they were doing it their way! It was fun though! We also went to Michigan's Adventure (I will get those pictures up soon!). The kids had fun, it would have been a bit MORE fun, had our battery not died on the truck. Thankfully I noticed when we went to eat lunch and though Mike didn't get to enjoy the rest of the day, at least we didn't have to sit in a parking lot with three crabby kids waiting for a tow truck! Thank you Grandpa R. for coming to bail us out! :) As you can see, the boys were DEAD when we got home and took very LONG naps! I had to force Luke up at 5:15 so that he would go back to bed in the evening on time!!!

Visiting dear friends....

This week I was able to get away to visit a couple very dear friends of mine and their kids. Monday Mike brought me to Chicago to see Melissa. I stayed with her and her family overnight and we had a great visit. Molly is doing well, as you can see in the pictures. Her transplant has, thus far, been successful and she is thriving. She still has visitor restrictions, so I was unable to bring the kids, but it was still a great visit! Molly loves her new baby brother Drew, it was so much fun to see everyone again!


Then it was off by taxi to O'Hare to fly to Denver...alone!!!!!! A first for me, but well worth it to see Rebecca and the kids again!






Nick and Ellie started school the second day I was there, it was kind of fun to get into a school routine before ours actually starts up! Rebecca was a great tour guide and brought me to Boulder and Estes Park. It was awesome to finally meet Mr. William. I have seen many photos and heard him on the phone but this was our first meeting! He's sweet and really reminds me of both Nick and Elle when they were here in MI. I was a wuss, and after promising not to cry, I did anyways! (sorry Rebecca!) It was so much fun! Hope to see you again soon! The flight home was great, I got back to O'Hare right on time...and we got home to Michigan by around 2-2:30 am....augh! Kids were up by 7 am and ready to go! Welcome home Mommy!

Our little photo shoot

I hadn't gotten out to get pictures of the kids in the park yet this year. I think it was far easier to do them separately like I did last year, but the way the summer is speeding by, I thought I better just get it over with. I think they turned out o.k. Not as good as I was hoping...sigh....maybe another time!

The Beach

Our last full day of camping didn't quite go the way we intended it to. We got a call from the people caring for Reagan that he had potty issues all over our entire basement with Anna's carpet being the absolute worst! So, Mike and grandpa headed back to Hudsonville to get the dog to the vet. We headed to the beach on a beautiful sunny day and by the time we reached the bay, it was cloudy and cold! Uncle Danny, Aunt Katie and Anna had fun while the younger kids were all sleeping in the cars. When the boys and Calli woke up I got the boys dressed for the water. Luke said NO WAY! So, he played on the playground. Jake was timid at first but ended up having a blast with Uncle Danny! We then drove WAY out to Moomers for some YUM ice cream....next time we want it for free too Uncle Danny! :) Kidding of course!

The Campfire

The kids just loved the campfires this year. Calli had her own chair and just chilled with everyone. Too fun!