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...