A day with Grandma Niecey

We had a wonderful visit yesterday with my grandmother who is visiting from Florida. My sister and I picked her up and took her to lunch on the Grand River where we could see the Coast Guard boats still tied. Town is cleaned up after the carnival left overnight and the fireworks the night before. (More on those later!)

We played at our house for the afternoon and let the kids make s'mores inside since it was dreary outside.

We had a good dinner and then took some pictures. Our kids are hams....it was so much fun!

Coast Guard City USA

Grand Haven is busy celebrating the Coast Guard Festival. The boys and cousins went on a tour of the cutter Mackinaw and climbed all the way to the top. They also got to try on a helmet from their much adored big red helicopter!!

We made our way across the bridge and visited with the Blakeslee side for a bit afterwards. They have a full group at the Coop this week. Happy birthday today to Young Bill who tried to claim he his 39 but we weren't falling for it!

Traipsed back to Cozy Corner and down to the beach for the afternoon. Have I mentioned that Lake Michigan temps are in the 70's this week??? It's been awesome.

We stayed and enjoyed a Highland Park cocktail party on the beach and then enjoyed a pizza dinner and beautiful sunset with the Stoepkers. We didn't come home until nearly 10pm and enjoyed every last bit of the day, just the way it should be.

The boys have been having fun exploring the boardwalks around the cottages with their cousins despite a splinter or two and a fall off the boardwalk for Matthew that nearly caused Aunt Mareman a heart attack! They had a great time night before last with Pied Piper Tim Stoepker as he took them all for a walk and back to their cottage for popcorn.

Today is the grand parade and fireworks and we'll be in the thick of it and dinner at the cottage. Tomorrow is our last day with the cousins and Aunt Mary Anne and Uncle Doug. We are going to pick up Great Grandma Niecey from Grand Rapids and bring her out for the day. We had planned an afternoon at the pool tomorrow but there is rain in the forecast so we'll see.

Jeff has already been up and out to the Farmer's Market this morning to get 3 dozen ears of corn for the next few days. The corn has been outstanding as usual this summer. The kids can't get enough of it.

After the Newman's head out on Monday the boys have a busy week ahead. The are going to Big Truck Camp at the YMCA and will see a trolley, dumptruck, tow truck, cement mixer, police and ambulance. They are so excited! Wednesday they have a physical for preschool, they will not be thrilled about that. They are going camping Friday with Grandma Cindy and Papa Terry and the Henry side of the family. On August 23rd they will start their new preschool/daycare at our church and a whole new adventure for their last year before they head off to real school, so hard to believe!

Meanwhile, there is much more summer to enjoy here on the shores. We have to get more adventures in and we will!

Tubing in Spring Lake

Yesterday Papa Mark was very nice and took us all tubing in Spring Lake for four hours. The kids all took turns and had a ball, I think Uncle Doug had almost more fun than they did as you can tell by the grin on his face!

Thank you Papa Mark and Grandma Kris!!

The boys spent the night last night with Gma and Papa and learned to dive down and pick things up from the bottom of the pool. This morning they went with Daddy to check out the carnival rides, I think the three of them were scoping them out for later today.

Keeping up with the news!

The boys are so excited it's Coast Guard Festival time! They have been eagerly looking at the paper here every day because there are so many fun pictures of all the activities going on, the ships and the big red helicopter. This is what I found them doing at breakfast yesterday, it was soooooo cute!

Pretty in pink?

Jonathan has a new accessory, much to his father's and grandfather's dismay. I actually think he looks very pretty!

He wore his bow that cousin Ella gave him to the beach, all around the cottages and home and was furious we would not let him wear it to bed. He didn't care that his grandfather he is named after called him "sissy boy" all day. He was pink and PROUD of it!

He still wants the bow back and is not very happy that Daddy made us return it to cousin Ella today, especially since he picked out a pink shirt to wear with it today!

Rain, rain, go AWAY!!

BIG NEWS!! KATY NEWMAN IS NOW 9 YEARS OLD!!!

Today was the big celebration and she made sure to announce the celebration to anyone she could as often as she could. I also got her into making a big deal of her "birthday eve" as I like to call it. She will also have a big party back home in Ohio when they get home so she's learning quickly to make each birthday into as long of a celebration as she can like her Aunt Laurie is known to do.

It was a rainy, not so nice day but the sun came back out late in the afternoon just in time for the party and then a good storm rolled through once we got home. Two very tired sleepy boys in bed dreaming of the HUGE pieces of cake and pile of ice cream Uncle Doug gave them saying it was revenge for the sugar I may or may not have ever given their girls. I plead the fifth.

A day with the girls

Aunt MaryAnne and Uncle Doug and the girls are here. They will be in Grand Haven for two weeks, spending a few days with us and then moving to the cottage.

This morning the boys had swim lessons, only one more week left of those. We played at the Imagination Station at the Y afterwards and then had the must have Pronto Pup lunch and walked a bit downtown before hitting the beach.

All of the kids played really well together today, it was fun to watch them. A lot of people are in GH now for their annual visits and it was fun to see so many people MA and I played with as kids and their kids playing with ours. Another generation is building memories and friendships. Our family is now 5 generations into the cottage association, there are many other families who have ties for years as well. It's very special.

A big day!

Yesterday was a very big day. First, it was the boys' first dental appointment. I was a bit nervous that they would be scared but they were real champs and did very well. They actually got CHOCOLATE flavored tooth polish and loved it. No cavaties and a great report from Dr. Bill.

Then, we hit the farmer's market and picked up some corn. Michigan corn is in and it was really good last night. We will have to go get a lot more Saturday. The boys each ate 2 ears and wanted more!

We spent the afternoon in Papa Mark's pool yesterday. It was Grandma Kris's birthday and Papa's is next week so we had a joint celebration with Grandma Kelley and Kris' mom Jane here too.

The boys love the pool and that is an understatement! They are now jumping from the sides and steps and going all the way to the bottom of the pool and back up. Repeat 1000 times. No wonder they were able to eat such a good dinner. Dad made his famous ribs and the boys went to town.

The best part of the night was the cake candles. The boys had never seen the ones that keep relighting and they were laughing so hard. It's really hard to take video of this when I am laughing and shaking the camera!

Happy birthdays Grandma Kris and Papa Mark, thanks for the fun day!

Now, we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Aunt Mary Anne and her girls on Sunday. They will be with us for a few days and then move over to the cottage for a little over a week. We have lots of fun planned on top of Coast Guard Festival events. Can't wait!

Lazy days of summer

Well, Matthew recovered from his bug. Yesterday at the beach Jonathan came down with it and by the time we got home he had a 102 fever. He's feeling better tonight after a day on the couch so lets hope he is ok to go tomorrow.

Matthew and I headed to the beach for the afternoon. The GH pole vaulting event is this weekend with competitors from around the area and country and they are right on our beach. It's quite the setup that seems to get bigger each year.

We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and the water was clear and warm as can be. There have been some big waves this week so there is a huge sandbar and it's made a nice little swim area, then the big sandbar which is only about ankle deep goes out a good 15-20 feet. Matthew spent hours running across the sandbar and jumping into the swim area. He had a ball, singing and laughing the whole time, all by himself. I had to force him to come home and it was six o'clock!!!

We had some quick storms come through last night. There were some water spouts in the lake just off GH and a huge rainbow when the storm ended. Pretty gorgeous.

We watched a great deal of the funeral for the Grand Rapids PD officer today, they did a wonderful job with organizing that huge event. It was very emotional and touching and difficult to watch. They had officers from over 125 departments in the US and Canada and even one from Glasgow, Scotland. It has been a tragic week but the GRPD should be very proud of the day today and how they have handled themselves. Rest in peace Officer Kozminski.

One other note. Having the boys take turns being sick this week has given me a chance to spend some time alone with each of them. I have really enjoyed this rare one on one and talking to each of them. They are a joy to be with and they are such happy little boys who are growing up FAR too quickly!! I wish I could keep them four for a long time. We're having so much fun listening to them and watching them learn and grow. Every year they seem to age alot in the summer from spending time with all the bigger cousins and kids at the beach. They are confident and getting better at being more outgoing around adults. I just love my boys, I can't even explain it.

Family time, vacation time!

The cousins on the steps. Ella was in bed and Matthew was sick. In the lower one we told them to all make a silly face.

The big group of family has left. Just my dad and Uncle Tom are at the cottage now and it's pretty quiet! We took Dad out for dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday belatedly. Had a little rain coming in but not near what we NEED, it's so darn dry!

Today was my last day working for a couple weeks. I go back the last weekend in July and work 3 days and then I get another week off. It's been really busy in the 911 center the last few days. They had a big fire, a bad fatal accident, a drowning and other calls galore. It's really the busy time of year with all the tourists in the area too. Our hearts also go out to Grand Rapids Police Department who lost a young officer in the line of duty in a shooting this past weekend. What a horrible tragedy.

VACATION TIME!!! Can't wait!!

Want more photos???

Rather than upload so many pictures here, which takes a long time, I have put a link to our Flickr website off to the right side of this page. I will upload a lot of pictures there. There are now new pictures from the 4th, our trip to Michigan Adventure, the beach and the pool with all of our cousins.

We have had a wonderful weekend with family. My uncle, his three daughters (and their families) and my sister and her family have all been here. The boys have lots of cousins to play with and have had so much fun.

Sadly, today Matthew woke up with a bug and got sick and has a fever. Daddy stayed home with him and Jonathan and I went to the beach for the afternoon. Hot, hot, hot! Water is still a bit chilly but tolerable. We went back tonight for a big family dinner, we brought spaghetti sauce. We celebrated cousin Emma's 5th birthday and Uncle Tom's birthday. We also had a show late tonight on the deck with songs from cousins Katy and Katie and friends Sophie and Morgan. I will load pictures tomorrow. Neighbors from many cottages came down the hill to attend the standing room only show, what a night!

Tomorrow we part ways. I have promised to take Lainey to the movies for her birthday so that may be in order in the morning. There is a high wind warning for tomorrow so while it will be hot the sand may be too much for us. We'll see.

Matthew in the pool.




I love this picture of Jonathan.










This is how quickly the boys move, it's actually them on the spinning teeter totter!







Summer is just flying by so quickly but what great times we are having! I am suddenly very far behind on posting about our adventures. I will try to recap with the highlights.

I need to be more careful how I phrase things

Yesterday at the beach Matthew let out several very loud burps in a row.

I told him that girls wouldn't want to be around him if he kept doing that out loud.

He looked at me for a moment and then said, "Cooooool."



The boys had a great time playing with cousin Katie Schmidt and her friend Morgan. They built a large sand castle, made friendship bracelets, tried to learn how to cartwheel, enjoyed piggyback rides, played in the water (not for long, it's only about 55 degrees!!!) and enjoyed a long lazy day at the beach. We had dinner at Cozy Corner with all the cousins and family, Sarah made delicious ribs for all.

Today, it is cloudy and we are going to try Michigan Adventure for a few hours. The Newmans should be on their way from Cinci and here this afternoon. It's looking to be a chance of rain for the 4th but there will still be lots of fun. I have to work but the boys and Daddy will have fun and then the boys get a day with Aunt Mary Anne on Thursday.

I have been slacking on pictures but I will take the camera today to Michigan Adventure. I am hoping the kids will join up to go on the rides and I can excuse myself so I can take pics. I twisted my ankle on the beach yesterday so it will be slow going for me, never fails!

Stay tuned.....things are really heating up here on the shores of Lake Mich!