Home!

Ah, how wonderful to have such a great place to stay in the summer.  And how sad to say goodbye when the summer comes to an end. 

Here are some pictures in the hopes that someone might want to take good care of our home while we are gone. 

The living room. 

 The downstairs bedroom. 

The view from right outside.  What a peaceful view. 

 

The downstairs bathroom. 

Horse Riding at Oak Openings

Horse Riding at Oak Openings has been a highlight of the summer the last two years.  Loralie (sp?) does an amazing job of getting all the horses ready and having things set for the three girls, Doug & Tracy and Jacob.

I may not remember all of the names, but there was BW, Mirage, and maybe Jack. What a wonderful day!

We had a nice wonderful hike around Oak Openings on a surprisingly cool day.  My goodness, do those girls sure love their horses!

Slip'N Slide Video

How fun when Auntie put out the Slip'N Slide.  The kids sure had a great time!  Of course, one cousin, with a bit of posing for the cameras, did a LOT more talking than the other. 

SlipNSlide

Aunt Carrie got out the slip'nslide, and wow did we have fun.  The younger kids especially LOVED the chance to taunt the water, dance, mimic each other and have a ball.  It was fun watching their antics and their enthusiasm. 

Reeve Cookie Case

One of the epic movies from the summer of 2012.

Aunt Marcia's Condo

How great to make the trip out to Lake Erie.  It was absolutely beautiful and so wonderful to get to be at Lake Erie.  Of course, the site of our honeymoon is a whole lot different with the bombardment of kids and a full group.  Marcia always is such an amazing host and we had a delightful time swimming, kayaking, and playing games.  Of course we also had a wonderful lunch!

So Little!

It is hard to remember that kids were once so little!  Can't remember the last time I've had a kid fall asleep on my shoulder.  So sad that mine are all too big for that.  It is sure nice for nieces and nephews to fill the cuteness bill!

Sandlin Photo Op

Despite having zero confidence in being a photographer and having trouble with my lens (it needed cleaning, it turned out), we took a few pictures outside in an attempt to get something that looked semi-nice.  Here are the three of the better ones from each.

We had some fun afterwards.  The Woodwards gained a kid and the whole lake basked in the glory of a radiant pose. Despite spending much of the summer reading Stacy Wasmuth's photography book, let's just say that we've got a ways to go!

Adults Dinner Out

Keeping a favorite summer tradition, we found a time when adults get away for a nice dinner while the kids had sitters.  Michael did the honors for the Woodwards and Sandlins.  The Quockerts took advantage of Nicole's family. 

Sleepover

After Rania's disastrous sleepover earlier in the summer, (She twice got Aunt Nicole up in the middle of the night to read her books because she was scared or couldn't sleep.) we decided it was time to pay back a small portion of the time.  Of course Kaiden and Bryson were model kids, sleeping over quite well and barely making a peep.  I guess we still owe Aunt Nicole quite a bit more!

Rania was thrilled to give Kaiden way more attention than he wanted.  And Reeve spent time on the computer playing Minecraft, one of his favorite pastimes of the summer. 

Up the Hill; Goodbye Camping

We made a little jaunt up the hill to a lookout over Lake Michigan.  It was nice to see the beautiful scenery and enjoy a short little hike before heading home.  In the end, due to the intense heat, we cut our camping trip short by a day.  The boys headed home in one car, and the girls made their way to Saugatuck to enjoy the quaint shops and beautiful old city layout before making their way home. 

Saugatuck Dunes State Park

 

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For the second day, we made a little day trip to a quieter beach, to Saugatuck State Park just south.  It was a short walk to the beach from the parking area.  Since there were a lot of different paths, we tried to leave a little sign for the correct direction. 

 

At the beach it was considerably less crowded.  We had a great time along the beach, with the kids playing and splashing and enjoying the very cool water.  Races down sand dunes (with some spectacular wipeouts!) was also a highlight.  We were glad we made the drive to enjoy a much more scenic and less hectic beach!