Vacation--Second Stop, Part Two: Big Sand Lake

Click on picture to enlarge and enjoy

What a blessing to have the entire family in one place for an entire week!  We had great weather and just so much fun.  We can tell the kids are getting older as we were even able to relax and have some meaningful conversations with my siblings/spouses and more interaction with the nieces and nephews.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the week:

The annual pontoon fishing trip

Dayle and Seth

Seth and Andrew

The next generation of Bocce players

Did I mention we had a few humid days?

Finally, a northern...

I love that little face!

Rachel, Andrew, Jaron, Seth, and Reese

Vacation--Second Stop, Part One: Lydia's Birthday

From Wausau, WI we made our way to Big Sand Lake in Park Rapids, MN.   On Monday, August 1st, child #4--our feisty, huge-hearted, loving, emotional, accident-prone Lydia Gabrielle turned 8.  She is finally losing her baby teeth (two on this trip alone!) and looking just like an 8 year old.   She loves celebrating her birthday at Big Sand (she did last year, too) and insisted on ice cream in a bag with candy toppings.  We had made this at home several times and thought we had it down to a science, but it didn't work so well on her birthday.  We made up the rest of the ice cream a few days later and it worked much better as we had more ice and it was a little cooler outside.  The idea came from Family Fun magazine if anyone is interested.   I love how Anna is right there by her in the pictures as if to say, "What did we get for your birthday?"

Becca, you were such a trooper--how long did you shake bags?

Vacation--First Stop

Because Park Rapids, MN is a 14-15 hour trip from Grand Rapids we decided to take small detour and stay in Wausau, WI for a few nights to see my aunt and uncle and cousins that live in the area.  While there, we made an afternoon trip to the Dells of the Eau Claire and later in the day took a pontoon ride down the Wisconsin River.   We had a great time--thanks so much Doug and Joanne and family!

Enjoying the relaxing sound of running water...

Looking for frogs and other animals.

Taking a turn in the driver's seat.

Are we safe?!?

The river looking so pretty at dusk.

A beautiful hot air balloon in a perfectly clear sky.

Home Again!

After a little over two weeks away from our home in Michigan, it was good to be back.  Our cat didn't exactly wag her tail and jump on us when we got home, but she did cuddle and purr so we think she missed us(?).   We left on July 28 and came back on August 14.  While on the road we celebrated Lydia's birthday and our anniversary, and were able to see all of my family and all of Russ' family!  I will gradually post a few pictures of our travels to Wausau and Big Sand, our time in Sioux Center, and our adventures with Russ' family at Raccoon River Bible Camp in Scranton, IA. 

Now we are getting in the "back to school" mode.  Caleb starts at Northpointe Christian HS on August 29; Russ starts August 30; and the rest of us will probably start that week too!    Caleb started JV soccer practice today, with his first tournament on Saturday.  And so a new school year begins...

How to Make a Wooden Sword

Supplies:

• A sword-shaped piece of driftwood from Lake Michigan
• A 4 inch circular tree branch cut in half with dad's help to make the grip area
  
• Electrical tape to reinforce the grip area
  
• An used piece of leather for the handle
• A bit vision and imagination 

And you have the following...

Happy Birthday Caleb!

       






Hard to believe that fourteen years ago today at 11:17 pm our firstborn entered this world.  I remember having this overwhelming feeling of responsibility of caring for someone that was totally dependent on me.  I was reluctant to leave the "safety" of the hospital!   It truly has been a joy to parent this child and thank the Lord for blessing us with Caleb John.

They All Finished!

What is summer without a library reading program?  The kids enjoyed filling out their sheets--they either had to read 20 books or 300 minutes (Caleb had a different requirement in the teen program).  They all received t-shirts, free personal pan pizza coupons, tickets to a Whitecaps baseball game, and tickets to a Griffins hockey game.  Guess we will be busy this fall!