Off to Camp

The little E's have been busy this summer, sometimes too busy for this mama.

Soccer camp

Drama camp

Underwater Robotics and Math Camp

Basketball Camp

Baseball Camp

Bible Camp

YMCA Day Camp

All have been enjoyed, some will be repeated next year.  We are trying to figure out this whole 'mom is working - what do we do all day?' thing. I really enjoy my job, but I miss the days of adventure we used to enjoy all together. I also don't like how much TV they have consumed in the last months.  But, overall, it has been a good venture and we have weathered the season.  I am always sad when summer comes to an end. I like having the kids around - even if they drive me crazy with their noise and fighting some days. But I also love it when school starts. I love a schedule and a planned day and knowing what each day holds.

Home Improvements

Every fall the kids send their favorite pieces of art work to my parent's county fair to be judged, and every year, they come away with a few ribbons and a bit of cash.  A friend from the airport is huge into Pinterest and showed me a great way to display their work.  I love it when other people do pinterest and give me their ideas.  The frames are from Hobby Lobby - love that place - and they have little cubicle clips stuck to cardboard, so I can change the art work whenever the spirit moves.  How cool is that!

Matt masterfully made these lockers for the kiddos to keep there shoes/coats/hats/mittens in the garage! And he made the shelves for all the STUFF that accumulates - including the scooter docking station.

Merry Christmas - the whole summer through.

I now have a clothesline - YEAH!  No more gas spent on drying clothes!

new curtains over the patio door

new roman shade over the kitchen window

The beginning of an organized garage

and organizing the basement, too

And organizing the new desk!

I'm sure we'll have basketball stars now!

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!