Brandon to the Big Hill Climb

This hill is about a mile from our house.  I assume by its location that the top of the hill is the top of the dune that leads directly down to Lake Michigan.  I wouldn't know, I haven't been to the top, but if it doesn't, its close.

We drive by it regularly and the gate to it is locked, but there's a sign above it that mentions a motorcycle club.  There are a few acres of empty land.  

We've wondered about this area for months.  Some friends of ours finally explained the situation.  It seems there are hill climb competitions all over the USA.  There are two hills - this one- and one in Ohio, that are used for the championship hill climb.  They alternate every other year, so riders only get to ride up this hill in one competition every two years IF they make it to the championships. Its a race from the gate at the bottom on your dirt bike to the people standing at the top.  Not everyone makes it.

Brandon's buddy and family were attending.  We had thought about going with them for the experience, but we had company and were enjoying them.  We decided to drop Brandon off, and oh did he have fun.  They sat close enough to the starting gate that when the dirt bikes took off, they got sprayed.  Our friends were talking about how it was nice that it was dry, there have been years where you sit there and get caked in mud. Nice.  

Brandon had a great time.  Thanks for giving him the experience.  Maybe in two years we'll all join you!

MN comes to MI

We have a crazy family.  Our neighbors shake their heads at us.  First, we live day to day here.  Never before has 'give us this day our daily bread' had so much meaning.  We rarely plan ahead, and if we do, its always preceded by IF or MAYBE.
I have run out of baking supplies more in the last 6 months than ever before.  Its good to be a planner, but I'm learning to live life this way, too.  And, its good to know the neighbors who provide the flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate chips when I have forgotten to plan for 'this days daily bread' or brownies.
They also shake their heads at us when its a red flag day.
Colored flags were a new thing for us.  Green means no current, safe swimming.  Yellow means slight current, swim at your own risk.  Red means, large waves, bad current NO swimming.  We LOVE red flag days.  In fact, the kids get quite excited when we get to the beach and see a red flag.  Now, we don't love all red flag days.  There was a red flag day when the Shields were here and we lasted at the beach a whole 5 minutes.  We've had that at least two other times since.  The wind is so bad you can't stand up, let alone enjoy the water.
BUT, there are some red flag days that the wind is whipping the waves but the sand and the beach are calm and comfortable.  This picture doesn't really do it justice.  But the other pictures I have only have one or two people in them because the waves were rolling in and some would be in front of the wave and others would be behind it so you can't see them.  See that grin on Jon's face.  That was me the first time we had a red wave day.  It is SOOOO much fun to jump and dive and swim and do everything in the waves that can get to 8 feet tall.

Jessica hung out with Jon and thoroughly enjoyed the time.  He would push her tube into a wave and she LAUGHED the whole way to the beach, riding it, and grinning. It was too funny.  They all managed to catch a few rides on those tubes. I have since purchased boogie boards, but I'm not sure they'll get used this summer!  Its getting chilly here already.  I love that, too.

Laura made special circle designs with chalk on our driveway.  They had a name, but I of course don't remember them.  My girls thought that was very cool.  They even decorated the neighbor's driveway.  Again, crazy neighbors that we are.

Kroeze's left and Amanda and Grace showed up. We took them to the beach, too.  Linda and Myrna showed up for lunch on Sunday.  It was a great weekend.

Ice cream with friends

I got to have ice cream with friends two different nights in two different weeks.  It had been three years since I had seen one of the friends and almost twenty years since I had seen the other one.  Facebook is a funny thing, but without it, ice cream would not have happened for sure with one, and maybe not with either friend. And, they couldn't have happened if we still lived in MN.
I had an amazing time.  The kind of time when you feel all filled up when you are driving home.  Not from the ice cream, but from the joy of knowing that some friendships are just plain wonderful.  They stand miles and time and just keep filling you up.
I'm not sure there was a moment of silence in the hours, yes HOURS, we spent together.  Both evenings ended because of time constraints, not because we were finished being together.
Sara, Kelly, thanks for taking the time to meet me half way.  I hope it can happen again next summer!

Family Camping

Camping.  Not sure who invented it, or why it has been handed down from generation to generation.  Very sure I am glad I never lived in the wild west and would use a rock for a pillow and no tent, air mattress or blanket.  But also sure the damp, stuffy insides of a tent where five people spend 10 hours all breathing the same air is not high quality sleeping.  Nor is the car alarm that goes off or the baby screaming 7 campsites down the road.

If you can't tell, I'm not much fond of camping.  I tolerate if for 36 hours or so because my kids think its quite the event.  I went to Calvinette camp growing up so I probably spent 5 or 6 nights of my life in a tent before marriage.  I loved Calvinette camp but I was young and don't even remember not sleeping well, waking up with a wet sleeping bag, or barely breathing oxygen.  Ok, I'm catastrophizing.

My kids LOVE camping.  I have promised them one night a summer and this was the third summer I have carried through on my promise.  They think its sheer torture that I won't go on long trips or last for more than one night, but I stand by my promise. I tell them they can whine about having one night, and I'll take it away, or they can be grateful they get one night at all!

I do get better at it every time.  We remembered a welcome mat and flashlights this year, so that was a definite improvement. I even made a list of 'must haves' so hopefully next year it won't take much thought at all.

The first camping trip was with 5 families from MN and we just picked a campground and a weekend and went for it.  The kids had a great time.  It was a huge playdate sleepover.  Last year, we went with friends and a few people from church.  Again, a great time and a huge playdate sleepover.  This year was Celebration church's first annual church campout.  I was a bit worried that that allure of camping would be lost in the fact that there weren't any friends.  I figured the kids liked camping because of the excitement and when the excitement was removed, camping wouldn't be so much fun.  Maybe I was hoping that.  Anyway, I was dead wrong.  They still love camping.  And there were people there to play with.  I had to work so I came late and the first thing Jessica said to me - Mom, there are like 1,000 kids here'.  So much for not having people to play with.  A couple from church were in the site next to us and they have a girl Jessica's age and a 3 year old boy. Brandon loves to play big brother to him and Matt and I enjoy their company as well.  Another couple from church have spent years camping with their kids who are now grown but still have the huge tent.  Matt and I stood around and watched them put up the huge tent that we slept in.  We were very encouraging and even held up things and pushed and pulled when told.  They brought the tarp and took it down for us, too. 

So, all in all, it was a good 24 hours.  And, it was the first time Matt had ever come with us.  They had a service at the campground on Saturday evening that Matt led and had pulpit supply at church on Sunday morning.  From what we understand, both services were about equally attended.  Matt, Brandon and Jessica went fishing and Anika and Maria went swimming.  We ate pudgy pies and smores and barely slept.  It took 3 days to catch up with the laundry.  The kids loved it, we tolerated it, and maybe next year I'll last 30 hours.  We'll see.

Muskegon County Fair

Muskegon County Fair

Sounds exotic doesn't it.  This may be one adventure that is not repeated next year.  BUT, it was an adventure none the less.  Its free to get in and all the activities are free - except the Grand Stand which is more like the bleachers on the visiting side of a high school football stadium.

There was a swine and goat barn, an arts and crafts barn, a bird and rabbit barn, and a beef and dairy barn.  In the middle of the cow barn there was a petting zoo with several animals to investigate. There was a free face painting booth but the line was more than I had patience for so I told the kids we would come back to it.  When we got back to it, it was closed for the evening.  Not the best mommy moment.  And there were pony rides, but you had to pay for those, so we didn't do that.  We looked in the arts and crafts barn to see if we should enter their school art work next year. It would be very doable, so we'll have to see what next year brings. We spent most of the evening at the horse arena - the open air fenced in sand area with picnic tables and a few bleachers on one side.  We watched reining (the riders had to tell their horse to turn, back up, etc) and we watched barrel racing.  Jessica and Maria LOVE horses so they thought it was a good time.

Fun with Cousins

Kurt and Sheila and family came to play.  It was a crazy weekend with all my hours working, but they endured my being gone, took our kids with them on adventures, and we got to do several all together!  Brandon loved having a boy around and the girls had fun.  Brooke went to volleyball camp with Anika two of the days.  We played kickball, wii, went to the Grand Haven musical fountain (the highlight was the HUGE barge that went through in the middle of the show) and went to the beach - several times. We LOVE the beach.  We went for a walk to Pierre Marquette which is Muskegon's prime beach. Its actually rated one of the top 10 beaches in the USA.  There are LOTS of sand volleyball courts, a light house, and the day we were there - a few kite surfers which are plenty of fun to watch.

Thanks for coming guys! It was great to have you.  Come on back anytime!

Let the fun begin

I started working at the airport.

Matt turned 46.

The youth group from MN came to visit.

All on the same day.

It was a good day.

It was a busy day.

It was a fun day.

Matt's birthday was really pretty much ignored.  The kids all said Happy Birthday to him and I gave him a box of fudge covered Oreos a few weeks later.  The youth group showed up with scotcheroos for him and we had ice cream sundaes with the youth group.  We took them to our friends house that live right on the lake. They are an amazing host and hostess.  Food galore and wonderful ice cream sundaes. I even got in on the fun after my first shift at the airport.  The kids were impressed with our little ocean and the house on it!

The youth group was on its way to SERVE in Toronto, Ontario. Seems they had a good trip, which we are thankful for, and we were glad to have seen them!  They slept on the floor in our church and were off the next morning.

The airport job is kinda fun and it definitely keeps me busy.  I actually started two jobs.  They are both very different but I enjoy them both.  We'll have to see what happens to our schedules once school starts and with it all the practices and things.  I still have 3 weeks of training to do in Denver which could prove to be interesting as well.  The airport is small and there are only two flights a day.  Around noon a flight comes in from Chicago and then flies back.  The same thing happens around 6:30 PM.  We do the ticket counter, the gate, and all the loading and unloading of the plane outside.  Four people work a flight.  I am only trained to do the outside work, so I unload and load luggage and I marshall (use the cool orange wands to tell the plane where to go).