swimming, birthdays, waterfalls OH MY!

It was pretty warm this time up at the cabin and so we spent a lot of time on the beach. I was actually forced by the amount of "glissening" (ladies don't sweat) to jump in the lake several times. The water was a refreshing 80*...ok maybe not refreshing BUT when you first stand up and the air hits you it almost felt cool.

LOL! I am not sure why Matthew  looks so upset in this picture but this was what happened almost nightly after dinner. Meijer had an excellent sale and we brought up two big watermelons that were sooooo sweet that we enjoyed every bite. See?!

Z

Lexi

KK

'Drea

Sweet baby K

Oh yeah! I forgot that some of us worked while we were on vacation...not me...or the kids but someone ;) Matthew finished the garage this trip with the exception of the door. However, someone (me!) forgot to take a picture of it as requested by my grandfather. I am not a very good grandkid! I do promise though to take a picture of it this time.

the best I can do for a front view of the garage

And so that you can see the relative lay out of our lot here is a view from across the road (yup I am trespassing by standing in the neighbors lawn)

 There is always a great time of cooking out and s'more eating so I took a few pictures of the fun. I know what you are thinking...and YES it is scary that Z is holding a sharp ended metal stick near a ring of hot coals. But sometimes a mom has to let a boy grow up a little and cook his own food :)

Pretty girls!

While most of us prefer to eat our s'mores the traditional way Kendra prefers to enjoy each part seperately but together. Please take note of her orange nails. I actually painted them.

:) I also painted her toe nails. I am sure you wanted to see this so I took a picture.

His first S'more with NO help (except putting the marshmallow on the stick, and off the stick into the crackers) a big step towards manhood.

 Life was all smiles...until, bum bum bum...the bee!!!!

Alexis and the girls went to the shed to get some thing to play with. They opened the door and upset a new hive of bees. One got Alexis twice in the arm and it swelled up really bad. Pictures do not do it justice at all but kind of give an idea of size difference. Anways, after a few days of taking benedryl and not having it do anything for her Matthew figured that it was infected and asked the neighbor's daughter in law who happens to be a Physicians Assistant. She said it was indeed infected and needed to be looked at. So we took her to Newberry and spent the bulk of the afternoon over that way. We didn't make it dull though we stopped at the gas companies open house and had pizza and pop and put in for the drawing for free stuff. Yes we are customers so it was perfectly ok :) We also went to the schools playground and let the kids run around like wild people for a while. After or before, I can't remember which, Zachary had a few injuries himself, and so did Matthew, and then Kayla. It was a very accident prone trip.

One of our favorite activities is to head to Sable falls and dunes. We have been there many times now and really enjoy it. There was some new steps in place this year and Kendra decided that she is no longer in need of help as we walk that she must walk on her own. I will add video of this painfully LONG trip to the dunes later. It was awfully cute to see her explore.

cute family! Zachary did this pose at every railing.

Look at that face! What a cutie!

Me and my little family

 Zachary at the bottom of the dunes. Boy was that kid red faced when he came back up!

    After the dunes we were all hot so we headed to the pier and Matthew decided to walk the wall...           

                                             so everyone decided to walk the wall.

Million dollar smile :)

cautious fun?

Then as we thought it was all fun and games the DOG showed up. See that dog in the picture with the man near the grass. He got closer and just as I put the camera away Z started barking at the dog, didn't watch where he was walking and fell off the left side of the wall. NOW that doesn't look that high in the picture but it was a good four foot drop onto concrete. He had a pretty scraped up knee and a sore hip. He only let it stop him for a moment though and hopped back up and walked the wall cautiously with me right next to him on the sand holding his hand.

To be continued...

How!

Ok so this is a bit shocking for some of you I know, because I am so prim and proper and always look classic and never goofy or wild. Well, recently I have been getting new clothes from my sister (previously owned I suppose should be the term, not used that just sounds so unpolitically correct) and this dress was in the bag. I love this dress because it is absolutely the softest and coolest dress I have ever worn. IT has this amazing design that looks fairly native american sooooo I went with it :) I mean I can not beat the Chinese night at the Ruse's but this is the best I got.

Yes I boldy and happily went to church like this at Watson. Matthew enjoyed my look so much that he crowned me with a sea gull feather and called me his squaw hahahahahaha!

Yes the pics were taken at the cabin. We drove straight up after gathering with our forever family.

Cabin Sweet Cabin

Our trip started out a bit slow and later than normal despite our good preparation but we finally got out of our house and on our way the morning of the 24th. The day was perfect for driving...overcast and in the mid 70's so it was pretty comfortable the whole way. We made our normal stops for gas and stretching out at the park. There is this sweet wooden park that the kids love to play yet this year held a sad suprise...we quickly learned that the gas station bathroom is cleaner than the one at the park HOWEVER the gas station bathroom is far more LUDE than the park bathroom even though they removed all the doors, YIKES! ..physical dirt or spiritual dirt...no brainer we hovered at the park and shielded each other :D Anyways, I am sure you all wanted to know that haha!  We did finally make it! So here are some pics of the inside as requested by a few friends.

 Here it is our living/dining/kitchen

The kids room :)

and a poor picture of my view out the front...I will see if I can do better next trip haha!

When we arrived we did the normal unpack and let the kids run like crazy people before bed thing which worked out good until evening when the great decision of who goes fishing with dad first. The winner was Alexis! She came back all smiles as she quietly told us of the CAT fish that they caught. Now I have never seen a catfish in real life before and I have to say Those are some U-G-L-Y looking fish hahaha! Obviously I took pictures. Each kid (except the baby, poor Kendra!) got their turn fishing with dad. Kayla noticed a rubber rat in the boat and asked if that was catfish bait...hehe goofy girl! I love that! I am so thankful for a husband that desires to spend quality time with his kids.

cute isn't he! EWW!

Oh but atleast that guy in the pic is a looker :)

Oh and look at that keeper! the fish is nice too :)

Of course mom has to have something special too so I started ladder ball (hillbilly golf to some) tournaments with the kids (sorry no pics of that I was busy wooping everyone haha.) Even Kendra can throw the balls onto the ladders. SOOO CUTE! We all perfected our "oh yeah" dances as we got better and better at the game. There was however a debate over who won the game between Matthew and I. I say I did. He says he did. We played three games and I won two, however, he won the final one. Hmmmmm!!!!! Apparently that makes him the "champion" because we all know that whomever wins last is the reigning champion right? WRONG! :D, I say I win, because everyone knows that in order to be in the championship you have to EARN your way there by winning a set number of games and proving that you are a worthy competitor ;) so therefore the best out three means round one is MINE! hahaha OK so this obviously is very important and the discussion will continue as the summer goes on.
Oh yes lets not forget that Matthew and Alexis celebrated their birthdays on this trip as well so now Matthew is a young 34 and Alexis is a very OLD girl the age of 5.

 As you can see, it was very eventful trip. So event-filled that much of it has flown from my memory. Kayla and I did make Matthew birthday cake, lemon cake with lemon frosting. We spread the celebration out a little and had his birthday breakfast the day after his birthday and waited to take him to ice-cream until the wind picked up and it was impossible to get on the lake to fish a couple days later. I am constantly amazed at how windy it can get up there and yet what a blessing it is because the cabin does not ventilate well without it. Alexis celebrated her birthday in the van on the way home. We had pizza in the park and then drove through McDonalds to get her and only her a birthday shake. This brought MANY grumbles from the back but hey a girl has to have something special on her birthday if she is to spend it in a van that is 96*...but that is jumping ahead to the end of our trip so lets back it up again :)

In the UP you never know what type of weather you will get so I am pleased to say it was beautiful!!!! I could not have asked for nicer days and cool evenings. Though it was breezy and didn't allow for much fishing after the first few days it was a balmy 80* most days and sunny. We swam and swam and swam some more. Each night our tub looked like we brought the beach back with us and it was a fabulous problem!

 The problem with five crazy kids....is no one ever looks at the camera all at the same time. Out of ten pictures in a row these are the two that turned out the best hahahahaha!

looking cool Z ;)

Then there was the lounging...

 Lazy bums LOL!

We did take time out of our extremely busy schedules to go sight seeing. We went to http://www.exploringthenorth.com/seulchoix/seul.html this light house and took in all the history and sights surrounding it. I even got my customary coffee mug to prove that we were there and remind me in the mornings of places we have been ;) fun little habit huh. We enjoyed the private beach that we walked down to and were rewarded later with poison ivy from our hike, but what can I say...some things just must be explored.

Kendra says "cmon mom quit being slow!"

These are oil storage sheds used before electricity

The light house

a wild rose

My loves!

as close to a group shot as possible right? take one with dad then mom hahaha!

Me and Andrea from the top of the lighthouse

KENDRA!

Z!

Ms. K and little A doing their water dance :)

All the white looking shells there...Zebra mussels! they were at least a foot deep! The kids kept pocket fulls much to the washing machines delight.

Matthew and I tried to do more work on our new pole barn but we didn't have the proper tools so that project will have to wait. We also did some more improvements in decor. Put in a new tv that takes up less space and put a dresser in place of the open shelving so that we can have movies out of sight and out of mind. And last but certainly not least we replaced the stove...It looks much larger and much cleaner in there now! We also put in a wireless weather station so that we know exactly how hot it is inside and outside of the cabin. A blessing and a curse??? Then we know how miserable we should be if it is hot hahahaha! JK! It is pretty great to have and helpful since it tells the forecast for the day too. Then we know if we should stick around the lake or go to one of the big lakes ;)  
I am missing all kinds of great news from the trip but seriously how do you write every wonderful detail right...We had a really great time as always despite our lower penninsula stresses following us up this time. Our life is blessed and we are thankful. Peace to you all as we are off on our next adventure in a few days and I have packing to do. <3