Monday, August 29, 2011

It's happening.....

My little man is taking up new residency in a week and I am not sure how I feel about it. He has been occupied in a nice rental at the building next door to me for the last 5 years and I have LOVED it. But now he is a big man on campus and needs to upgrade to a six year lease, larger square footage, a gym, bigger backyard, and better furniture. This guy, who does he think he is, getting all grown up on me?? You see Brady is one that I always have worried about, I don’t know why…. he always seems to step up to the plate when it matters, maybe because he is my youngest and my last, I don’t know, but I continue to treat him delicately because “I” think he needs it……Well………I think the start of school may be harder on me than him since he is starting to make “me” see that he isn’t such a delicate flower after all……..

Case in point – Y5 Orientation last week……..I took time off work, because he needs me there right (well for other reasons than the obvious transportation) – he will need me to introduce him to his teacher, point out his new friends, give him the lay of the land right??

Well we show up he held my hand in the parking lot and all the way to the classroom and then let go and he goes like this to his teacher:

“Hi my name is Brady and you don’t have orange hair!” (Now let me remind you this is the same kid that hasn’t spoken to an adult on his own free will in the last five years) (Oh yeah and the orange comment, his teacher got switched last minute and we kept telling him she would have orange hair)

Then it continued – he went on his scavenger hunt to find things in the classroom and school and did it with enthusiasm and passion.

He introduced himself to a few buddies in class and started giving hi-fives to them, saying how awesome it was going to be, especially that there was another Brady in his class.

He rode the bus with his hands up in the air like he was on a roller coaster and just turns to me and says “This is fun, but I still think the Mac Dune Ride is better”
He opened his locker and immediately told me what each shelf and hook will be used for.

He ran out to the playground and I heard him yell to a kid “Do you know they have a computer lab here, pretty awesome huh”

It was a relief and a proud moment to watch him be so confident and happy about the start of something new. I hope we can enjoy this ride all year long.I still did take off of work for the first day of school, Just in case I need him………I mean if he needs me ………..







Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Silver Lake

This year we tried somewhere new for camping, and really loved it. We headed out to the Yogi Bear Campground in Silver Lake, It was fun to experience a new town and all that it had to offer, our only down fall this trip was a Storm like NO OTHER that occurred on Friday night. Luckily we were able to enjoy the full day but come 11:30 p.m....... WATCH OUT.....this storm was fierce, Chris and I laid awake for the better half of the night trying to guess which tree would fall on our pewney little tent, so besides a bad night of sleep and a few drips a rain a the foot of our bags (I say this because when I saw the campground the next morning we were the lucky ones.....) we had a great time, did some new things, enjoyed some great company, and had dry weather the rest of the trip!

The kids really got a kick out of the Yogi Bear festivities, I have never seen a more active and crowded campground.....but lets just say they were entertained more that they imagined.....Wagon rides, pools, arcades, concerts, face painting ......you name it Yogi had it planned......



The big draw at Silver Lake besides the water, both Michigan and Silver lakes is the sand dunes. They are vast and wide and the thing to to there is climb them and ride them like you are on a roller coaster......So we did. These are the portals.....

The kids were hyped as you can tell.....


The girls waiting for their ride!


All aboard.....



The kids had a blast, they hooted, they hollered, they held their hands up like they were riding a roller coaster.....It was hard for the adults not to do the same......


The tour guide stopped fro some photo ops......




The camping gang 2011......We loved having the addition of a few more families!

This picture sums it up.....yup it was worth going......

Back to the campground and the 101 activities that they were having.....here....face painting..

We climbed up the lighthouse - some 130 steps.....and then Chris and I ordered the kids to immediately climb back down..... seven kids .....that high......with only a tiny little bar to hold them back.....wasn't my idea of comfort.....especially when the kids thought it was cool to stick all their body parts through the bars........"Great view....yup its purty.....now lets head down..."
So they headed down.....phew.....

We hit the beach next, enjoyed some sunshine and some water!


The Dad's hanging.....The kids hit the pool at night to rinse away the day.....they called it fun....the parents called it a shower.......

Airborne.....
We had two families host a dinner each night......this was the Allen and Doyle's Mexican fiesta that put our salmon to shame.....It was delicious......

The kids all got along so well......then again what is there to be mad about.......

Ms. Beth brought along a surprise - Rock n Roll make over kits for all the kids......Here is my little Ke$ha.....The girls thought it was the best thing ever.....

Three little rock stars......

Dad wasn't as "impressed" with the look.........
Betta get used to things like this Daddio.....
Somehow the kids came up with this "great" idea to make over the mommies......I think they went a bit overboard .....I am not sure when a full mustache stood for "Rock n Roll" But we went with it.....
The crew getting ready to head down to the yogi bear concert at the pavilion.......face paint and all.......I can't even imagine what the other campers were saying......

But we didn't care......we boogied and danced the night away.......
We capped off the trip with some Craig's cruiser time .......conveniently attached to the campground.......you really couldn't escape it.....

And topped it off with The Chicken Shack.....starting out at a joke and then realizing we would all drive the hour and a half back just for these wings.......Brooke included......who knew......

Good times......thanks Allens, Doyles & Damuths!!

Trying out T-Ball....

Brady decided to give T-ball a whirl this summer. I am not going to lie, it was sometimes painful for Mom and Dad, just for the fact that the game is soooooo slow. Then you add 15 kids with the attention spans of fleas and the ability to only advance one base at a time, lets just say sometimes it makes for a long hour. Despite the pace, Brady seemed to enjoy it, he hit the ball, he would throw to first base, he would laugh with friends, and he would run his heart out, that part was easy to watch......





And then sometimes that attention span thing I mentioned would set in.......and funny enough this stuff was also pretty funny to watch...... It included eating gravel, talking to his mitt, being the funny guy for friends, climbing the dugout cages.......


And that my friends is T-Ball with a five year old.....



Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pure Michigan

In the week that Grandma and Grandpa came to visit we went on a whirl wind West Michigan Tour. In a matter of a week, we hit Torch Lake, Grand Haven, Saugatuck, Traverse City, and Holland. All such great beach towns within a day trip radius. So as the commercial goes we…..set our compasses to all these beach towns and found ourselves in the magic and the moment of ……Pure Michigan…….

Grandma and Grandpa who came in for a visit and prompted the WM tour....
Annual Boating trip in Torch Lake with neighbors...

A Beautiful day on the lake with friends!
The infamous "Tippy Tappy Toupe game that turned into Tippy Tappy Tackle"
Then we were off to Grand Haven to spend some good beach time on Grandma's lake!


It always surprises me how much time these kids can spend in the sand....
Out to Blueberry Hill to pick some of the best berries I had all summer.

We froze 7lbs of them to enjoy them all winter long!Only 1/3 of the berries made it into his bucket - open mouth insert berry.
Off to Saugatuck for some shopping and lunch out on the water.

Back "up north" to Traverse City for some shopping, sight seeing and wine tasting......


Everyone takes their kids to wineries .....right?

Off to Pirates Cove to ease some of the adult activities for Brooke.

Then finally out on a boat tour from Holland to Saugatuck with some friends.The guys climbed and climbed and climbed while the girls made sure their life insurance policies were up to date.

The payoff running down......and straight into the water!Another beautiful day out on the Lake.

All all of this right at our fingertips, within a few hours of each other..........
Pure Michigan.