Gull Lake Camp

We just returned from Gull Lake Ministries family camp which, although only the second year, will continue to be a family tradition for us. This was an amazing trip filled with rest, fun, bonding time, and good food. We opted to stay in a condo this year and it went OK, but I think that we need a little more private space and we are going to try a cottage next year. I included some pictures and I don't have enough time or space to go into all of the details of the week, but the pictures should speak for themselves.

Happy Birthdays

This past week was filled with birthday celebrations. First we celebrated the birthday of a two week old snow leopard at the zoo. Isn't she cute. The zoo keeper said that the mommy was not very good at being a mom so the baby had to be taken and put in this incubator. She seemed to look right at us and say "please play with me". We also fed the giraffes at the zoo and as you can see, Claire was not afraid to stick her chubby little fingers into the mouths of these tall animals with REALLY LONG tounges. YUK. We also celebrated Nana and Earl's birthdays at our house with a BBQ and some yummy Coldstone cake. My brother David was in town to visit so he was able to celebrate with us. The last picture reminds me that my girls are not filled with sugar and spice. In fact, my children have spent a good portion of their summer capturing creatures in our back yard. Our official critter list includes: tadpoles, frogs, snails, caterpillars, ticks(not by choice), praying mantis, grasshoppers, earthworms, ants, butterflies, moths, tent worms, and many others I am forgetting. The kids follow the "may not keep as pets" and "not aloud in the house" rules pretty good so far. I just hope that I never hear the words "look mom, we found some baby racoons."

Busy week

Before school was out this year, I feared that we did not have enough planned to keep the kids from saying "I'm bored" for three months during vacation. This past week, however, has proved me wrong. When Haylee woke up this morning and asked "Do we have to go anywhere today", she was thrilled to hear me say "Nope, we are home all day". The week started last Saturday with Kevin and I at a beautiful wedding while Kenna and Haylee enjoyed a sleep over at the neighbors after they went and saw Wall-E. Claire had our favorite babysitter all to herself and had a ball. Sunday, the girls sang in church with the vacation bible school that they had attended the previous week. They did a fabulous job and I think that I could actually hear Haylee over all of the other kids. (or maybe just wishful thinking). We had some amazing homemade pizza after at church for the Shalom Ministries fundraiser. Monday was mostly busy for me with a full day at work and then a trip out to Gull Lake to hear Josh McDowell speak with my two girlfriends. He was interesting and very charismatic. Tuesday was busy first with a neighborhood craft day at my house followed by a picnic outside for the kids and some yummy salads for the grownups. Haylee had to see the dentist for a cleaning that afternoon followed by a well child check the next morning. (what a trooper) Because both she and Claire had check ups together and both had to get shots, my mom came in to help Kevin with the visit while I was at work. I was able to get home a little early and we (mom, Kenna, Haylee, and I) went to a late lunch, followed by a trip downtown to shop, eat ice cream, and meet some friends at the new downtown theater to see Kit Kittredge American Girl movie. This was adorable. Five little girls sitting in a row all holding their American Girl dolls and eating popcorn. Definitely a Kodak moment. The movie was excellent and was especially exciting for Haylee because the only doll that she has is Kit. She of course wants her friend Ruthie and the tree house from Santa, but Santa is not sure that he has enough money for both. Wednesday evening was not particularly fun with a horrible storm that knocked out our power and knocked down our garage door. We were without power through the night and we just called it a indoor camping adventure to alleviate the children's fears. Since we were still powerless on Thursday, we decided to take a trip to Michigan's Adventure. The kids had a ball on the kiddy rides and even a small roller coaster. The hit of the day was the water park with the big water slides for Kenna, Haylee, and Kevin and the little wading pool for Claire. She splashed around for 2 hours. Our power returned shortly before we got home and so EVERYONE slept better that night. The 4th was very traditional for us with the Lindsey run in the morning for Kevin, followed by the Richland parade, and finally a day at our friends pool for the rest of the day. When we arrived home, our next door neighbors had started some fireworks, which were obviously not from Michigan, and we sat out and watched them until almost 11:00. Whew! No wonder Haylee was hoping for a day off. I guess sometimes I over schedule, but I do have to say that we are not hearing "I am bored" from anyone at this house. Hope you enjoy the pictures.