Bike Time

Its an occasion here - a big one.  People take time off of work to experience bike time.  Think mini Sturgis. We took in bike time in the afternoon and from what we hear, that is the gentler time of day.  At night, there is some good people watching - maybe next year.  They expect 30,000 - 40,000 motorcycles come through downtown Muskegon between Thursday and Sunday.  I've asked around a bit as to what is the attraction? some like the shows (tattoo contest, bike tricks, burn out contest), some like seeing Muskegon busy and not empty as it is on a normal daily basis, some like the people watching, some consider it a high school reunion of sorts.  We enjoyed seeing all the different styles, paint jobs, sizes, etc of the bikes and Matt and I both bought really nice sunglasses! We hit the pool on the way home, which was a good incentive for the kiddos.

Saturday morning entrepeneurs

I got a phone call from our neighbor one night explaining that the neighbor across the street from her was having a rummage sale the next day and it would be a perfect opportunity for a lemonade stand.  We had all the stuff stored up from the several lemonade stands we did in MN with the neighbors, so we dug out the supplies and started to get it ready. It wasn't super profitable ..... mom had to put in a bit and then when the money was divided, $2.25 went to each child.  Our street isn't nearly as busy here as it was in MN, so they haven't been able to set up a stand until now.  We even used the neighbors yard so we were close to the rummage sale.  It was hot, but they had a good time making a memory.

Do your ears hang low?

After years of begging, I succumbed.... 

I actually don't mind it at all. My rules were that they had to be able to clean their ears themselves - I was not going to mess with it!  And they had to not be in any sports because I was also not messing with covering their ears every game with bandaids!  So, off to the mall we went one night. And out of the mall came two very smiley girls!

Fun with cousins

We played at the beach, we walked out to the lighthouse, and we had a treat at our favorite ice cream place. We enjoyed homemade cherry cobbler with some of the cherries we picked and purchased (we got a few of the tart variety), we toured Muskegon, we enjoyed some time together.  Thanks for coming to visit!

Cherry Picking - literally

Last year, because of the late frost, much of the fruit crop of MI was destroyed.  This year, we have fruit on the trees.  Our family had never been cherry picking, so we did some research and found where the cherry orchards were - and oh my - acres and acres of orchards.

My brother and his family were over for a visit and so we trekked to meet Aunt Kathy in the cherry fields. We were not disappointed.  As you can see, there were PLENTY of cherries in the trees. You could stand on the ground and pick plenty, but of course the challenge of climbing the tree to get the 'much better' ones at the top was not left on our children! I'm not sure if we bought more than we ate, but it was a fun experience. Stained fingers, lips and shirts, but well fed and a good time.  I tried my hand at canning some when we got home and I wasn't as successful at that - I only got 4 of the 9 jars to seal, but we still ate up the produce!

Rockets

We have become rocketeers.  The three oldest kids are members of the rocket association here - card carrying members, and the fourth would be ...  except you have to be 7.  The friend that got us into it is a HUGE Michigan fan and has dubbed us Team Wolverine.  The kids wanted to try tie - dyeing so I suggested we tie dye Team Wolverine shirts - and they were all about it.  The shirts turned out great and the rockets will fly better now I am quite sure.  They even have two way radios to communicate to each other where to find the rockets that have landed.  So funny!

Yes, the rocket is that big, Maria is holding the bottom third, Jessica the middle third, and Brandon the top - or nose cone.  Matt has the parachute.  They are the retrieval team.  The rockets are set off in a water treatment facility.... LOTS of flat space, but lots of creeks, and some not so pleasant.  This particular time all the rockets stayed out of water, but not out of the neighboring corn field.

One of the guys at the rocket club loves to shoot off crazy things, this flamingo is an example.  He didn't fly so well.

Team Wolverine

Sand Sculpture Competition

Isn't this cool!?  I think this was the Dr. Seuss castle. There were some pretty neat designs out on the beach. Grand Haven hosts a sand sculpture competition each summer and this year we decided to check it out.  The  MN youth group was on their way to SERVE in Grand Rapids and had spent a few hours with us. We took them to the beach for some fun, but the beach was yucky from turning over and the weather was cloudy.  We still enjoyed looking at the fun sculptures and they enjoyed the ice cream at our favorite little shop back in Muskegon.