Vacation (Take 2)...

After an afternoon of walking around Ludington, we came back to the lakehouse and sat on the porch with Mom, Dad, and Papa (Mom's Dad)...

Of course , then we get a brillant idea to take the kids down to the beach for some pictures. Grace wore Nina's hat and Seth wore Grumpy's...

We promised the kids smores on Thursday night, but I think they were more interested in the marshmallows than the smore. Seth would cook them up and then they would eat them off the sticks.

Friday, we decided to head to Grand Haven, Mi. The Coast Guard Festival was underway and we wanted to take the kids to see the ships. First we walked around the HUGE craft fair and then headed to downtown for lunch. Downtown Dogs was the choice...

Then we walked around downtown looking at all the cool buildings like this one (thinking Stacy would have a field day...LOL).

Here we have Coastie, the remote controlled boat. He was wandering around the docks talking to all the kids about wearing lifejackets when on boats and other boat safety tips.

That is the end of our, if you can believe it or not, very relaxing vacation. We ate dinner at about 6 o'clock every night, kids were in bed by 8 o'clock, and the adults enjoyed some quiet time playing Phase 10 twist every night. We don't know where we want to go next year, but the kids are already looking forward to it!!!!

Vacation Time...

This year we decided to go to Lake Michigan for vacation. We rented this house for the week with Mom and Dad in Pentwater, Mi. We arrived on Saturday and got settled in and then on Sunday we went into town to check it out and walk around.

Monday it was time to be a tourist. We went to Silver Lake, Mi. to the Mac Woods Dune Rides.
http://www.macwoodsdunerides.com/.

Tuesday we went to New Era, MI to Rainbow Ranch for some trail rides. The kids really enjoyed this and got to ride their own horses (they were lead by a trail leader).

http://www.rainbowranch-inc.com/. Grace's horse was Chief and Seth rode Odie.

This is Sue and she does the wagon rides.

Wednesday we went to Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, Mi. This is an amuzement/waterpark. We all had a blast.

Thursday we went to Ludington, Mi. We visited Sandcastles Children's Museum, ate ice cream while watching fudge being made and walked around downtown admiring the buildings...

Here the kids are singing "Take me out to the ball game" while Richie is playing the piano. The lady at the museum even asked him if he would volunteer a couple hours a week there playing.

Seth took this picture...

After all that walking and ice cream the kids and I laid on the hammock at the lakehouse.

There is more to come of Thursday and Friday...stay tuned!!!!

Peaches...

This morning all of us were well rested and ready for the day. We have been waiting for pick your own peaches to be ready so I called the "Harvest Hotline" at the local orchard and there you have it...

I called Mom to see if she wanted to go with us and we went. The kids really enjoy picking fruits at the orchards, well at least they like to eat them...LOL

On our way back to the tractor with our goodies!!!

Here are our prize peaches...

A first that Daddy was actually here for...

Today was a big day for a big boy...Seth lost his first tooth!!!

Here's to hoping the Tooth Fairy brings you good fortune!!!

Farm Fun at the Fair...

Richie took Grace to gymnastics on Wednesday and Annie mentioned to Richie that farm fun at the fair was that afternoon. She contacted me and of course, we are alway up for a field trip. We went last year with them as well and the kids had a blast. This year Seth got to go with us and he was looking forward to seeing the animals and trying something new. They started out stamping farm animals on a coloring page and coloring...

Then we moved on to seed spitting...LOL Only on the farm...hahaha Grace was not very successful, but Seth went right over her shoulder and made it in the hula hoop!!!

Next was calf roping. I will have to say, I don't think my kids are farming material. hahaha

Grace roped her ponytail. LOL

Abby was the only one to make it!!! Go Abby!!!

The final project was soy bean planting. Each of the kids planted 2 soy beans in this bag that we now have to plant them in the backyard according to them...We will see how that goes!!!

As always we had a great time with Annie, Abby and Olivia. Thank you ladies for inviting us and we look forward to next years fun on the farm!!!

Baseball...

Richie has been playing on a baseball team this summer and Seth is usually at ALL the games with him. Well, I was joking with Richie one day about how we need to get Seth a jersey with their logo on it or something...well, the team did exactly that!!! How cute is this...

Yes, they both have the same number, "10"!!!

The kids really enjoy watching him play...Grace is finally getting into going to the games now, where we can actually sit and watch. Pretty soon she might have a jersey of her own...LOL