Vacation Highlights

Here is George taking his turn as captain of the "Star of Saugatuck", the paddle wheel boat that we rode on Wednesday night. It goes a little ways up the Kalamazoo River then out into Lake Michigan - where both kids got to take a turn steering.

Here is Estelle taking her turn. Lucky she didn't run us aground or flip us when we turned.

And this picture might be too dark, but after we met up with Dave and Marty, the kids got to ride their scooters. When the scooters were actually moving, the kids rode behind and held on tight. Here it looks like they are driving though! :)





The day after we took these pictures was a very windy day and the kids got to body surf in 6 foot waves with Gumpy. If you sat out on the beach for long enough in the sugar sand you'd never have to pay for exfoliation again!



This is the family picture that is similar to one taken two years ago when we visited Dave & Marty - but everyone is a different size than in that picture!


Finally, here is George. Game Boy Addict. Pokemon aficianado. If we were looking for George and couldn't find him, we discovered his new favorite pasttime. Sitting - for hours - playing his gameboy. If that isn't bad enough, his favorite spot to play caused him to have a circular mark on his bottom. Boys will be boys, right?

Summer Vacation

One summer project that John actually finished is our new deck. Last night for dinner he grilled pizza. They work great on the grill believe it or not, and then we don't heat up the kitchen. Tre'sja's sister Tavia was on a roll playing with the kids yesterday afternoon so she stayed for dinner too. They walked her home about 9:30 last night while I was at a neighbor's impromptu porch party. I got to enjoy talking with a new "transplant" to the neighborhood from San Francisco - she's missing being able to walk to a coffee shop the most. We have places relatively close, but not really walking distance... Toledo hasn't got Starbuck's on every corner. Sigh.

We're heading out this afternoon for a week at Lake Michigan with some of our cousins, Grandma Muffin and Gumpy. We hope the temperature will be just right and that we packed enough sheets, towels, and pillows to be comfy at the rented house. We're looking forward to dinner in Saugatuck with Dave and Marty (they're buying the ice cream, we're buying the dinner - considering how much ice cream is consumed in this house, I think we got the better end of that deal).

We talked to Krystal yesterday and we're excited that she'll be coming back to Toledo in August and will be able to do afternoon babysitting 4 days a week. Thinking of signing back up for gymnastics on Tuesdays and trying to find someone to teach George piano lessons who is close by.

Nice to hear that our new cousin Emelia is doing very well. We sure wish we were closer so we could visit and hold her for a little while.