September 4, 2010

Family Fun

The wind was still around, and quite strong at times - but the rain retreated and let us get out and have some great time together.

Posing for a picture at the sign as we walked along the channel.

Climbing the dune that runs along the boardwalk.

Climbing up is one thing...coming down is another!

Back up at the top, Aunt Catherine got a great shot of Joshua and Gabrielle.

Group shot.

Saturday afternoon - Uncle Shawn, Aunt Erin and Owen came for a visit and surprised the kids with their new puppy, Mazie.
(after their first puppy Stella passed away a month ago).

Owen is so in love with his new puppy.

The boys also had a ton of fun playing with trucks in the sand.

Gabrielle and Joshua really loved playing Blokus in the trailer.

How about a boat ride in your jacket and your life jacket?

The first task at hand, however, is actually getting to the boat.

The first time we ever got to view the channel from the water perspective. Shawn, Erin and I took all the kids out and we got to wave at the others that stayed on the boardwalk.

And then there is getting everyone back off the boat.

Right before bedtime, we had to make time for the dune climb that we had been talking about all day.
Gabrielle and Matthew walked together.

When reached the dune, we left our
mark at the base with a great big pile of shoes.
(which by-the-way, Grandpa decided it would be really funny to hide some of them when we came back.)

Everyone climbing to the top.

They let Mazie off her leash and the boys had a great time running with her.

At the top, ready to come down.

And down they come...

Even Matthew got in on the fun of running down the dune.

September 3, 2010 Wind, Wind, and more Wind

As predicted the winds picked up during the night with sustained winds of 25-35mph with gusts up to 45mph.
It was quite the experience to be near the big lake during these winds. It was cold from the wind, but the darkness of the water and the waves reminded me of the lake during winter.
We spent a good part of the morning walking the channel, in awe of the power of the waves.

Nothing like waves crashing up against the lighthouse.

Although, most of us know enough to stay out of the water, these guys have just been waiting for a day like this. Some of them would get airborne and hang for what seemed like minutes.

We watched the Lake Express Ferry make it's way through the channel where the waters were already quite rough. However, nothing prepared us for what we saw when the ferry hit the open waters of the big lake. I've never seen a boat that size bounce around on the waves like it was a toy. I know it happens all the time, especially on the ocean - but I've never seen it. We later found out that it was a very rough trip to Wisconsin, and they cancelled all trips for the rest of the weekend. We didn't see the ferry again until the end of the weekend.

Gabrielle and Matthew had a great time playing some peek-a-boo with his stroller.

With the high winds not giving us a break, we did actually spend quite a bit of time in the trailers this trip. The kids played so well together.

It was a great night for soup - so we had 2 crockpots going. Chili in one and Broccoli/Cheese Soup in the other.
We fed 11 people (6 kids and 5 adults) in our trailer than night and actually weren't nearly as crowded as we thought we might be.

As it started to get dark, we loaded up the cars and drove down to the beach to check out the waves.
How menacing and powerful.

After baths and PJs, the kids all piled into our bed for a movie provided by Joshua.

September 2, 2010
A Rainy Day

We woke up Thursday morning to rain, rain and more rain. To make matters worse this was the day that Uncle Cory, Aunt Catherine, Joshua and Matthew were joining us with their trailer. Despite the rain, and the unpleasant setting up of the trailer for Cory and Catherine -- the kids had fun sloshing around in their raincoats and rainboots.

By afternoon, the rain had cleared out for a while. The winds that had started to pick up a little bit were starting to make the waves get bigger too. The Lake Michigan water was still warm, so after eating we headed over to the beach for an evening of water-filled fun.

If only these pictures included the giggles and laughter that went along with the moment.

Nicholas had gone out with his kickboard to "ride" the waves with Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and Uncle Cory. We couldn't believe how long he managed to stay out there. The waves were huge compared to our skinny little Nicholas and he kept getting pushed further down the beach and he would just keep pushing himself back to where he needed to be. He had a wonderful time, and I was so proud of his perseverance.

After getting tired out in the waves, they decided to build a sand castle and see how long they could keep it before the waves destroyed it. They were fighting a losing battle.

By the time we left the beach that night, the waves had continued to get bigger and bigger. We had a feeling that this was only the beginning, because the weather forecast was calling for several days of major winds ahead.

Day or Night, we have great fun at the beach.

September 1, 2010

Today was a little bit gloomy. Paul and Grandpa were both at work and we had plans to go home in the afternoon so that we could go to Open House at school. I didn't have the camera out much - but did manage to catch this cute picture of Allison reading a book after climbing into my bed in the morning.

August 31, 2010 Fire in the Woods

When we returned from Michigan's Adventure yesterday, we arrived at the campground to find several fire trucks, off road vehicles and a big red "canteen" bus just inside the entrance to the park. We later found out that there had been a grass fire just over the first rise of the dunes that burned approximately 1 acre of dune grass and a couple of trees. They were fortunate to get the fire out - but there was a lot of heat below ground that they needed to make sure all of the heat was gone before the winds picked up the next day. After dinner, we went for a walk to see the fire trucks from a far and I did not think to take my camera. Big Mistake! The fire was pretty much out, so Chief Bob and Chief Alan very graciously spent the next hour and a half answering every question that Sam could come up with. He got to try on Chief Bob's fire gear, climb on the fire trucks and everything. It was quite an experience and I have no pictures to remember it by.

The next day however, they were a few firefighters that returned to check for hot spots, etc and we got permission to go back and investigate where the fire had been.

Later in the afternoon, we had visitors. Missy, Eli and Matea came to visit again. They had been up with Jon and Aunt Barb on Sunday and decided to come back and enjoy some beach time. The kids had an awesome time playing in the waves and the warm Lake Michigan water.

Matea and Sam had a great time in the sand.

After a wonderful meal of french toast for supper prepared by Mom, aka Grandma aka Aunt Linda - Missy decided to treat the kids to ice cream when the little RuthAnn's ice-cream cart made it's appearance in the park.