"Vacation in August - We play in the sand"

(That's a line from one of Mikey's books.)

We had a great time in Bluffton/Muskegon. Even though our place was more "cottage" than we expected, we enjoyed our vacation and are looking forward to another week on the lake next year with the family :)

A couple "Funny Face" kids

Days at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes.

I didn't realize there were stairs up the dunes. Oops.

That little speck is Mikey.

More "Silly Faces" for the camera.

The kids were making "sand angels."

The Dunes with Derek.

Yup, that's Mikey and Katie way off in the distance. When they had energy to run.

Potty training on the dunes.

The quiet ride home. We had lunch and went to a beach on Lake Michigan in Pentwater after the dunes. It was the first time both kids napped at the same time :)

Lots of pictures on Lake Michigan.

The little speck is Derek and our beach umbrella :)

Here we are strawberry picking on the way home. Blueberry picking had just finished the week before. But I did buy fresh blueberries to freeze for this Christmas' Blueberry Pie.

Katie was sleeping, so Derek carried her the whole time we were there. She missed out. Next year we'll have to look for a U-pick place.

Last Days of Summer

Sleep-over with Minh! Popcorn picnic!

Afternoon at the pool, eating Cheezits. Yum.

Go Kart World - loud and crazy place! Perfect for 2 boys!

Yes, Ian's slick-track car IS PINK - but it was FAST!

Sporting the racing helmet, of course!

August Update

(It's a lot of pictures... bear with me)

It's been a while, so I wanted to get some stuff on here before we went on vacation. I hope you enjoy the pics! We had a great first 1/2 of the month and we hope our vacation, Derek's Birthday, and the rest of August bring lots more fun and great pictures!

The kids and I had fun at the zoo. We made it to see some stuff we haven't the past couple times we visited the zoo - the butterflies, the amphibians, and dinosaur exhibit.

(this is how I pushed the kids in the stroller for the second hour and a half we were at the zoo.)

Here are a few pics from Derek's work picnic. The kids had fun... it was HOT.

I took the kids on a nature walk through one of Royal Oak's Nature Centers. Mikey was our tour guide. He went on hikes there during Summer Camp. Not sure when we'll go back. Poor Katie was eaten alive by mosquitos.

(yes, Katie wanted to wear winter boots.)


Here are a couple crafts from this week.

#1 - Recycled Crayons.

I was going to throw out a bunch of crayon pieces away, then remembered how the library had "circle" crayons. So, I looked up how to melt the crayons and make new ones!

#2 - Caden's game day blanket.

This one's for Bri Bri's little guy, Caden. Yes, it was hard to make a UofM blanket, but I think it's pretty cute. (It's yellow and white pinstripes on the back)

(Where's Katie???)

Ah... that's it!