Boom!

 Mark LOVES to put on a firework show for his family.  He spends time researching the best fireworks and watches videos of them online.  I thought it was funny that there was a firework tent in the parking lot of his work.  I think he got to know the workers there pretty well during his lunch breaks. We love Mark and that he loves fireworks.  We put the kids to bed so that we could enjoy the show without them crying (despite Mark's efforts to show them videos of the fireworks, they still cried when they saw/heard them).  The kids slept through the show and I didn't take any pictures of the fireworks.  But you can take my word for it that all of Mark's hard work paid off.  He had another amazing firework display and everyone loved the big fireworks!

Izzy, Kari and grandma Pam wait for the fireworks to start (which didn't happen until 10:30 because it stays light so late).

 I love these pictures of us. Mark's hair isn't that grey in real life. :-) Maybe it was just more gray from our crazy week of traveling.

Happy 4th of July!

Every year we head to Munising (in the Upper Penisula) to spend a few days with Mark's extended family.  We always have a great time and this year was no exception.  When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon, the weather was a bit cool and I was worried that it wouldn't warm up.   Thankful I was wrong and we were able to spend the rest of our days outside at the beach. 














The kids LOVED swimming in Lake Superior and didn't seem to mind that it was cold!  Cousin Eric bought a huge raft and we all spent many hours floating the lake and enjoying a few cocktails.  Mark tied a rope to the raft that allowed us to float without floating away.  Will loved going on a kyack ride, but Erin cried and wanted to 'get off, get off!' So she just swam while Will went for a ride.

At one time we had 11 adults on the raft! Thank you cousin Eric and Julie for providing so much fun for everyone!

 

I over heard Erin say, 'we're going on an abenture (she can't pronounce her v sound)' and they kept swimming all around.  We went around the boat house and they kept repeating about going on an abenture.  Will kept saying 'swimming, swimming' and they were both having the times of their lives!

Walking on the beach and skipping stones was fun too!

4th of July Parade

Munising has a great 4th of July parade.  We always sit in our same spot (which is at the end of the parade route). The kids get tons of candy and this year was no different.  Will and Erin have gotten the concept of a parade.  They love Tootsie Rolls (Erin at 3 of them when I wasn't looking because she figured out how to open them herself).  Will was excited to see the fire trucks (or 'sire trucks' in Erin language), but cried when they sounded their horns.  We all had a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again next year!



 This is our tradition 'pre-parade' picture. It's fun to see how the picture has changed over the years. I always feel bad for the person who we select from the crowd to take our picture because we hand them 7-10 cameras. 

The 'cousin's picture' that will have three more babies in it next year! Aunt Sarah's baby (due December 11th), cousin Christine (due September) and cousin Melissa (due in December).

 Family picture minus Uncle Matt and Kristin who stayed in New York this year.

Strawberry Picking

Erin had to wear this red hat. She also picked out her butterfly shirt.

Last week we went strawberry picking with my friend Wendy and her girls. Erin loved picking strawberries with Kyra. Will and I worked on filling a bucket. I was too busy picking the big berries and didn't notice that Will was picking mostly yellow berries. Whoops! We came home and had two bowls of delicious strawberries for lunch. Fresh Michigan strawberries are the best! 

Phone Dump.

Yes, I've been lazy about Blogging. I promise that I haven't forgotten about it. Updating the blog on a regular basis and publishing my blog book from last year are on my list of things to do this summer. But for now, here's a few pictures of what we've been doing. 

Erin's wearing her 'Twinkle, twinkle little star shirt' (her name for it, not mine). She can sing the song too. 

'Driving' home from the gym. 

As I've said before, Will is a silly boy. He came running out of the playroom with their glasses on. You can see that Erin wanted a turn too. 

Schools Out!

I

It's summer vacation and the kids and I are having fun together. Today we walked to "mama's school" and played on the playground. Will loves the slides and claiming on everything. Erin needs so coaxing when it comes to going down the slides. She likes to catch Will at the bottom. Once she builds we confidence she loves going down the slides. It's fun to take them to the park because they as able to play more independently.