Not So Winter, Winter

It hasn't really felt like winter here, yet.  We have only had a few small snow falls, so we haven't been doing a lot of outdoor winter fun activities.  What we have been doing is getting sick.  One week Hudson was out of school for four days with a high fever and horrible cough.  The next week Audrey had the stomach flu.  This week Josh came down with the stomach flu and Marshall's nose has turned into a faucet.


I haven't taken many pictures as I've been living in a cloud of Lysol and habitually wiping down every surface with Clorox wipes.


A few fun, non sick infused notes....


Marshall turned three and I turned another year older!  He is such a big man and a ham.  He loves to make funny faces.  




He really loves dinosaurs so we'll be heading to the Field Museum in Chicago very soon to introduce him to "Sue". I made him the decorations on this sweatshirt to feed into his dinosaur obsession.


The boys are loving the PS3.


We had a Christmas celebration on the west side during a winter festival.  This is the first year I've gotten to Lake Michigan in the winter in over 10 years. I wanted to see the icebergs on the lake. Yeah...there was no snow.  We always have a fantastic time together, so the lack of snow didn't ruin our good time.  


My nephew Owen turned 3 a few days after Marshall.  We had a joint birthday party for them.  My sister in law, Nicole, has "mad" cupcake decorating skills!!  Her monsters were delicious.


I wish we lived closer because this group of kids love being around each other...even though some don't look like it.



Have a great weekend!

Our Last Summer Vacations!

We've been trying to fit in as much fun as possible before school started this week.

I took the kids to the zoo and we checked out the dinosaurs.  It was pretty cool.





We went to South Haven over Labor Day weekend.  It was beautiful, as always, and so much fun!  We swam in the big waves, flew some kites, met up with some family and just had a wonderful time.







My Uncle Bill designed these stairs down to the North Beach.  He never got to meet his great nieces or nephews, but I always think of him when we see these blue stairs.


This pretty much sums up our good time....


First day of school pics next week! Hope you have a great weekend!!

Going Fast

Our summer is going by way too fast.  Only four more weeks of fun until school starts.  I'm trying to pack as much adventure as possible into our last month of freedom.


We went to South Haven last weekend to see my brother and his family.  I LOVE South Haven, the beach, the family, the fun.  It can't be beat.


My brother has a kayak and my Dad tried it out right away.  He was promptly stopped by the Sheriff's Department.  Something about not launching the kayak from the public beach.


The water was perfect and we went early enough in the day that we got parking and a good spot on the lake.





We went back to my brother and sister-in-law's house for the rest of the day.  They have a beautiful and inviting home.  We were leaving their house around 8:00 pm so I cleaned up the kids and put them in their pj's for the drive back to my Dad's.  While I was packing up I found everyone getting hot and sweaty outside playing football or "driving" the jeep.



We had an EXCELLENT time, like always. Whenever we leave that side of the state Josh and I always talk about moving over there.  Maybe when we retire, start playing, and winning the lotto...I'll buy a wonderful house like this on the beach. 

A girl can dream...can't she?


Have a great weekend!

West Side

So the kids and I went to the west side of Michigan last weekend.  We made the rounds to visit my Dad & Step-mom, my brother and his family, and then rounded out the trip by visiting my Mom.  We all had a great time.  

We did a lot of playing and visiting with my Dad & Step-mom. The kids love all of Grandpa and Grandma B's toys and always get really excited when we plan a trip over there.

The kids really love their cousins and I'm pretty sure the cousins love my kids!  Owen kept saying, "Audrey, Audrey, Audrey".  It was adorable!  We had such a great time at the beach and hanging out at my brother's house.

My Mom is getting ready for her 39th year of teaching. After her 40th she'll retire. We just took her out to dinner and got out of her hair so then she could prepare for 30 second graders!!

Enjoy the pictures galore!









Every time we get together I try to take a picture of all of the kids together.  These are the BEST shots I got!  Ugh.  Next time I'll try earlier in the day and maybe some food as bribery.



We are headed up to the U.P. over Labor Day weekend to do some more camping. I'll have lots of pictures next week. Also, Hudson and Audrey start school on Tuesday. I'll post pictures of them too.