Bowling

This summer I took the kids bowling for the first time. We met up with a friend of Olivia's from Girl Scouts, Katie Kline, and her mom and little brother Ryan. Olivia and Ethan absolutely loved bowling! The guard rails along the gutters were perfect -for them and me. Ethan loved rolling his ball down the ramp too. But by far Ethan thought the best part were the "king shoes" he got to wear. Huh??? So fun! Can't wait to take them again.

First Days of School

I love September. I love the beginnning of fall, well, all parts of fall actually. I love seeing school buses drive by and stacks of notebooks at the local grocer. I love how a gusty wind can prematurely blow leaves from their branches leaving them scattered in the road and lawn. I love seeing pumpkins on doorsteps, albeit a little early. Midwest living at it's absolute finest. However, this year September brings new feelings as both of my children head to school - Olivia all day in 1st grade and Ethan to Preschool for a few hours a week. These new feelings range from excitement to what this year will hold for them and all they are destined to learn and experience, sadness as I face my first pangs of loneliness without them (it has been 6 years since I have not had a child at my side), and just a hint of gratitude for my few hours of independence.

Ethan's 4th Birthday!!!

At 4 Ethan...

* loves God, his family and friends, home, camping, and the beach

* is very athletic...he can hit a baseball (and field it) with amazing talent and can throw a frisbee perfectly



* makes us laugh all the time

* his favorite color is blue, like Anakin's light saber



* likes Star Wars, playing restaurant, and hearing Berenstain Bear stories - again and again and again

* can do an amazing cartwheel




* thinks his Daddy is the greatest thing ever

* is verrrry ticklish




* wants to be a tree worker when he grows up and own an ice cream truck, he will have ice cream and Star Wars popsicles, Superhero popsicles, Fairy popsicles and Princess popsicles

* is so excited about starting Preschool in the fall




* is caring, loving, kind, funny, smart, sensitive, thoughtful, compassionate, handsome, loved beyond compare, and absolutely fearfully and wonderfully made!

Camping Trip 2010

We took an 8 day camping trip for our summer vacation! First we headed to Straits State Park in St. Ignace. It is on the other side of the Mackinac Bridge on Lake Huron. Scott had gone there camping with his family when he was younger. There was a gorgeous view of the bridge! We could actually see it from our campsite! At night, the stars were so amazingly bright and close that I felt like I could reach right up and pluck one out of the sky! I have truly never seen anything like it. Despite the fact that the campground had seen better days (like in the 80s), there was poison ivy everywhere, mosquitoes and spiders were everywhere, there was no playground, and there was no beach (except for painful rocks) - we all had a fantastic time. We took advantage of being somewhere we had never been and did a lot of activities we didn't plan on doing...walking the boardwalk to the lighthouse, having breakfast/lunch at Java Joe's, visitng the Ojibwa Culture Museum (really great)and Father Marquette memorial, climbing Castle Rock, visiting Mackinac City (a couple of times), eating pizza at Mama Mia's and exploring the Mackinac Bridge Museum (including watching the exact same movie Scott had watched when he was younger), having a blast at Colonial Michlamackinac, eating delicious fish and chips at Scalawag's, and driving all the way to Sault St. Marie to see the Soo Locks - for all of about 15 minutes. I think we all had the best time skipping stones and roasting marshmallows.

Next we headed to Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs. What a beautiful place - Harbor Springs and the farm! olivia and Ethan loved seeing the month old piglets and running around the place. Scott enjoyed his angus burger. Their cafe had some delicious food - gotta love farm to table eating! Shortly after being there Olivia announced she wanted to be a farmer and Ethan said he wanted to be a "flower garden." It really is a very special place. We then stopped at Harbor Springs and I felt like I was walking into an issue of Midwest Living (one of my absolute favorite magazines)! We had some scrumptious ice cream cones from Kilwin's - worth every penny. Then drove through Petoskey (a little too busy for me - I prefer Harbor Springs).

We finally arrived at our next campground...Young State Park on Lake Charlevoix in Boyne City. What a perfect campground for us - our campsite was close to the bathrooms, there is a beautiful sandy beach, a great playground, fishing pond, and camp store! Scott said on more than once that he wouldn't have minded if we were at Young State Park for the whole time! We spent alot of time at the beach - Olivia loved the water and Ethan loved the sand. We visited Horton bay General Store where Hemingway used to visit, had Kilwin's ice cream again, went out to dinner at Red Messa Grill (which really was featured in Midwest Living Magazine)and had the best sandwich int he world at Lake Street Market. I think we would all agree that our favorite part of Young State Park was the beach and telling stories around the campfire. Ethan would probably say that he also enjoyed his "s'mores" - s'mores(that's what he calls marshmallows)not roasted, chocolate bar broken up, and potato chips. Gotta love that boy!

Swim Lessons

The summer started off busy with swim lessons every day for two weeks! Olivia was in Level 1 (same as last year) and Ethan was in Pre-Level 1.

Olivia learned so much and improved greatly from last year! Some of the things she learned how to do: head bobs (a very frightening thing for her), blow bubbles from her nose, go down the slide (although she only goes half-way), and jump off the diving board with someone catching her (usually someone had to lower her into the water), kicks and arm strokes (ice cream scoops), and safety with a life vest. We are very proud of her and can't wait to see how much more she can do by the end of summer!












Ethan was such a good listener and followed directions so well, the only problem was that he was miserable and crying the entire time. He just looked so little and hearing him scream and cry to me, "Mommy I need a kleenex...hurry...help...I need you!" or some version thereof just broke my heart! I can completely understand his fear, the water must seem so vast and deep to his small self. So after a couple of days we took him out. He just wasn't ready. We'll try again next year. I think being members and being able to swim a lot will help both Olivia and Ethan become confident swimmers.







I have to say that both kids had the best instructors...patient and encouraging, yet challenged them.


And here is Ethan in the kid pool - he jumps in, dives in, and goes under water for quite a while...and some of Olivia practicing, both kids playing...