Fall craziness begins

Last weekend we spent several days/hours at Unity Fest. It's the Christian Music Festival in town. Anika and I aren't so into it, but the rest of the family is. Matt was ready to leave with the others when our neighbor offered us another ticket, so off I went with them. We watched Toby Mac - and I wasn't so impressed even though we have a CD and enjoy many of his songs. But Saturday evening we went back and Laura Story sang in the afternoon and Matthew West was the evening concert. He was funny and engaged the audience which made it a much more enjoyable evening. Jessica hung out with a friend much of the time. There is a kids area with free activities so our kids hang out there and do a climbing wall, bounce houses, blow up jousting, 9 square and other stuff. Jessica and her friend waited in line for face painting!

WAY in the back ground you can see the roof of the main stage

When in Rome...

So, Muskegon Lake is one of the top sailing inland lakes on Lake Michigan. We have a yacht club and a youth sailing program. A good friend of Maria sails. I know MANY sailors. Last year we signed Jessica, Maria and Brandon up for lessons. This summer, Brandon opted out of lessons for a lacrosse camp. After the lessons this summer, Jessica and Maria participated in their first racing regatta, and this past Saturday, they raced in another one. Matt talked his way into the captains boat and went out on the water and watched for a while. Maria placed third and Jessica placed 5th (I encouraged her to say 5th instead of last =) which got them both three hours or so on the water and a free t-shirt.  We shall see what next summer brings.

These little boats are called Optis. Here they are heading down to the water - ready to launch.
Maria is in the pink life jacket, Jessica the green.

Monday was Brandon's birthday. He started with a birthday donut and had a detailed scavenger hunt made by Jessica and Maria to receive the two presents he had previously picked out - and used. Saturday, we all went out to eat together at Buffalo Wild Wings. We counted the number of times our family has gone out to eat together, and we didn't get very high. AND it won't be happening again anytime soon. All I can think of is how many groceries I could buy with that amount of money!

When we got home, we had Snickers ice cream bars. The lighting in the picture is bad, but I was trying to show Sam, Brandon's friend from MN, is on Brandon's phone, setting on the wall; he helped sing Happy Birthday.

Before heading out for supper, we toured the local lighthouse. It isn't always open, so I hauled everyone over there. It is a VERY short tour, but you do get to go to the top and look out. You can see their enthusiasm (insert sarcasm font).  We have a beautiful beach and a gorgeous view.

And fall sports have begun. For the next six weeks, all four have somewhere to be every Tuesday and Thursday, plus some other days in there. I think my neighbors are going to have to get involved in this one! Anika is playing varsity volleyball. There are 5 seniors and 3 very talented under classmen, so she isn't positive she will see much playing time, but she enjoys volleyball and I told her it gives her a great workout each day!

Brandon is playing JV soccer and there are 14 seniors on the varsity - which is crazy! There are 16 players on the JV team so there is plenty of playing time. He got a bloody nose on Saturday so had to sit much of the first half, but its fun to have him playing soccer again.  

waiting for the game to start

Tonight, all six of us are home again - this is the third night this week. I don't know if that has happened all summer. Tonight, we are each doing our own thing and its nice to not be running all over. Although, I wish I had gone down to watch the sunset!

Have a great week!