Summer 2011 part two...

Izzie had her first of three riding lessons right at the end of the summer, and she's of course totally in love and can't wait to get back to it. Matt and Audrey enjoyed watching for mice, swallows and cats in the barn and were really good during Izzie's special day.

A big part of her lesson was learning to care for and tack a horse. She did great, although I doubt she gave much thought to exactly what she was cleaning out of her horse's hooves. :-)

The teacher said she's a real natural, which is not really a surprise. She's wiry and athletic and did a great job. I honestly can hardly believe how grown-up she's getting so fast, and it was startlingly clear watching her take her horse around the ring. So proud!

Erick was able to participate in Parkway School District's Strings Camp this year. The students go every morning for a full week where they gain instruction and the chance to listen to and enjoy guest speakers and performers. Erick loved it. The photo was taken at their concert at the end of the week. Can you pick him out in the middle looking at the camera?

We made our annual pilgrimage to Six Flags. Each year the kids earn passes by completing reading goals at school, so they were excited to enjoy the fruits of their labors. I had asked them to show me just HOW excited they were in this picture but I don't think they quite captured it.

Matt was a good sport and went on a lot of rides he wasn't especially thrilled about. We'll see if he's as willing next year but this year it was nice to enjoy a few things all together!

These two could ride just about everything in the park this year, and they rode everything they could.

Including this ride. The Superman. Izzie hated every moment of it - the going up and the coming down - but still went twice because her dad asked her to. I think he thought maybe she'd like it better the second time?

Anyway, it didn't work. In fact, she may just be more afraid of heights now than she's ever been. :-) I asked the kids to show me how they felt about the Superman ride and I think Izzie was more honest than Erick was. I saw both their faces coming off the ride. Audrey is authentic, she was pretty bored.

So we moved on to a smaller substitute where I think Izzie relaxed a little and Audrey giggled constantly. She talked about this ride for days!

And we met a few friends on the way out of the park. A year ago anything in a costume like this would have put Audrey over the edge, so she must be coming out of that phase. And I LOVE Marvin the Martian so I was thrilled they wanted the picture with him! It was a pretty fabulous day. Oh, did I mention how HOT it's been this summer? We picked just about the hottest day of them all to do this, but quite honestly it was an amazing day to go. We enjoyed the water rides, the misters and the shade, and we walked on every single ride. It was awesome.

Soon after Six Flags came our big trip this summer. We rented a little house on Lake Michigan and met my sister and her family and my mom and dad out there to spend some time together and I think we all had a great time! I didn't get any pictures at the beach on our first day there, but the second day we drove to a town called Kalamazoo to an air museum. Here's the only picture I have of all of us together - I can't believe what a ham Audrey is all of the sudden.

 The "Airzoo" had a bunch of kiddie rides, a play area, and a lot of really old and amazing airplanes in a large hangar. It was well designed and we all had a great time - the kids on the rides and the adults really just reading about all the planes and helicopters in the museum part.

 This is one of the walls in the play area. The murals are amazing and made me wish I could paint. I'd do something like this on the walls in our playroom! They chronicled the history and legends associated with flight.

Audrey and her cousin, Hannah, on one of the rides. They are similar in so many ways, like two bugs in a rug, and Audrey was so excited to see her. Hannah was a hot commodity in fact with all three of my older kids at the airzoo because they all wanted to ride every ride with her.

I love getting to spend time with my sister! I truly wish she lived closer and plan to work hard to make that happen at some point in the future. She's really amazing.

And I know this is a blurry shot, but I can't help but think how lucky my kids are to have such wonderful grandparents, and to know how much they are loved. I think the photo captures something so special.

And all the oldest kids together. :-) Audrey was thrilled to find her favorite ride here, too!

One of the Blue Angels planes in part of the museum area.

I wish I could remember what this plane was called. They only built seven and none were ever shot down. I guess you could figure out they were used for reconnaissance, and I wish I could have gotten the whole thing in the shot. It was huge! You see Matt in the front.  UPDATE: The plane is called an SR-71 Blackbird. It's an incredible piece of aircraft and I'm glad I looked THIS LINK up to learn more about it and see more photos. My little dark shot just doesn't do it justice. This plane did London to L.A. in just over 3 hours. 2,145 MPH. Amazing.

 And this is as close as Matt would get to the helicopter. He loves them, but I think he was still reeling a little from the six flags rides and was keeping his feet on the ground. Although this helicopter wasn't going anywhere he wasn't taking chances.

One day in Michigan we went blueberry picking and Daisy developed a real love for the tasty fruit.

The kids each got a bucket to fill of berries. We thought they would maybe pick half a bucket full but we were wrong. When all was said and done I think we left with something like 25 lbs of berries! Shelly, mom, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was a lot!

Priceless!

The beach was different every day we went. This day came after a thunderstorm the night before, so the waves were enormous! Most people said it was their favorite day there because the water was warm and the waves were so fun. Justin spent most of his time in the water with Izzie and Erick and the boogieboards. They felt like professional boogie-boarders, but someday they might understand how much help their dad was getting them off at just the right time.

Matt loved the waves, but stayed a little closer to shore with grandpa.

Although true to little boys everywhere he was knocked down eventually.

Audrey never really got in much this day, but wore her lifejacket a lot just in case. The waves were still fun as they offered a challenge keeping her sand castle safe from the tide. Grandma's quite the sand castle architect, but I think by the end of the day the lake was just too powerful.

Matt's such a sweet, easygoing little boy. He literally sleeps everywhere these days. We have people tease us because they only ever see him sleeping - all through church, on the cement in the shade at the pool, in the car, and here, in a beach chair on the beach. We sure love him and his charms make life so much fun!

That evening we went out to dinner and then played at a park called Kids' Corner. The play area looks very like a castle made of huge wood timbers and the kids had fun climbing around. Then we enjoyed the spectacular sunset over Lake Michigan.

This, incidentally, is the last picture my camera ever took. I dropped it just after this shot and it never worked again. Sniff. At least it went out with a bang, right?

Our last beach day was spent at a small, secluded beach with a river nearby. The water was much colder but the sand was great, the water was shallow and the smooth rocks were plentiful. It was also fun because we were able to bring Daisy, who has never been the same since. She used to be a little afraid of water but after this trip she's now chasing the sprinklers and is wet every chance she gets. I guess that's a good thing although sometimes I wonder! Anyway, this place was a dog paradise with water, sand and kids to play with everywhere! She was really sweet and good.

Erick dug a hole the size of a small hot tub. Here it's just in the making, but it got at lease three times wider and was twice as deep when he finished. I kind of wondered just how long it would last after we left!

Thank you Sam and Erica for discovering these shade tents! They were perfect!

And another shot of the kids. Dave and Shelly brought this canoe and we were happy to be able to finally use it this day! The girls thought it was really awesome. And check out how beautiful this area is in the background. The first beach day felt like a so cal beach with fine sand and gentle waves as far as the eye could see. The second day the waves were much bigger and that made the day feel much different, then this final day felt more like northern california or oregon with the greenery and cooler waters. We really had a blast and hope to visit again sometime!

After Lake Michigan, my three oldest children embarked on another adventure. They flew home with grandma and grandpa and participated in just about the funnest thing EVER.... Grandma Camp!!! They were gone for a week, so Matt and I spent some quality time together just us. He was pretty excited to see them get home though, and I think watching the planes take off and land from the terminal while we were waiting for them to arrive was a highlight of his life. Here he's staring down the kids' plane that's just arrived.

Then we had to wait for-EVER for them to get off! He watched patiently until everyone else was off, and I think was starting to get a little nervous...

When they finally arrived! They made it, and we were so happy to see them! We had a couple of days left before they'd go back to school so this really felt like the end of summer vacation. We had a lot of fun but I was actually kind of excited to get back into a school routine, and I think they were looking forward to seeing friends again.

There's so much more to say it just seems unfair to leave things here, but thank you to everyone who helped make our summer so wonderful! Friends and family are the real reason just about anything in life is fun and we've been very blessed with both. Thank you!