Brody playing at the Children's Museum

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Visit to Ann Arbor!

Aaron had a conference at Cabela's in early August, so we took the boys down to visit Kim & Peg!  We were able to stay in the brand new house and it was gorgeous!!  I was a little stressed having the dog and boys there but I don't think there were too many damages!  While Aaron was at his conference and Kim and Peg worked, I took the boys to Target, then to lunch with dad, then to Cabela's and finally the children's museum. 

Here they are checking out the animals at Cabela's:
 

Brody and Jacob:
 

Austin checking out some fish:
 

Austin made it quite clear we were not leaving without another Bobber bear.
 

Brody picked out a baby Bobber:
 

Jacob picked out some small fish toys, here they all are with their loot:
 

Foam pile at the Children's Museum:
 

Making Towers:
 

Ambulance driver Brody:
 

Water tables are always a big hit:
 

Another water table in the preschool area:
 

Fire Truck Driver Austin:
 

Camping: Interlochen State Park

The second weekend in August we went camping locally at Interlochen State Park, about 10 miles away.  We picked out our spot the day of and were lucky enough to grab a lake view site on a bluff.  Thankfully the kids were great about not getting too close to the drop off (!).  The weekend was an emotional one since Saturday was the funeral of our Asst. Minister's 6 year old son, Zeke.  Zeke was struck by a vehicle backing up at the Northwest Michigan Fair.  Parents should never have to lose a child, and this family has lost two.  Heartbreaking doesn't begin to describe it.  We continue to pray for them, as well as the man who hit Zeke.  Zeke will forever remain in our hearts as we remember to never take a moment for granted.  It was a difficult funeral service, but our minister did a wonderful job and the amount of people who attended was really moving.

We returned to the campsite after the service to enjoy our boys and took them out on the water.  (Nice thing about camping close is that it was easy to go get the boat).  While we were out there, Austin began to complain that his penis hurt and continued to grab at his lower abdomen and groin.  I tried various things to releive his pain (removing the life jacket strap that goes between his legs, changing his diaper, letting him go without a diaper) and nothing seemed to help.  The pain came and went in waves and he was literally trying to crawl out of his skin when the pain came.  After 3hrs of this pain coming and going, I called the nurses line who advised us to take him to the ER.  We met my mom there and she was able to take the older boys back to the campsite while we waiting at the hospital.  Austin had about 2 more incidents of pain (and 2 more on the way home) but otherwise acted COMPLETELY NORMAL.  Aaron and I felt like idiot parents trying to waste the time of the doctors and nurses but we were thankful he was feeling better.  The doctor diagnosed him with a bruised penis (seriously, wth?), but after some internet searching and thinking about things Aaron and I really suspect he might have had a kidney stone.

Thankfully our ER visit was quick (less than an hour!) and we were back to resuming a normal camping weekend before packing up to get ready for a big week of visitors!


They had a great little playground by the beach:
 

Austin does his best to keep up with Jacob!
 

Fishing!
 

Jacob reeled in a master angler rock bass!
 

 

Brody's turn!
 

 

Girl Time: Silver Lake Recap!

Katy was kind enough to invite us (Kerry, Amy and myself) back for another amazing experience at her place on Silver Lake!  This time a great friend from Connecticut, Karin, joined us as well!  It was the first time we all met her in person and she was every bit of fun we expected her to be!  We spent the day visiting the Lighthouse and Lake Michigan, laying on the sand dunes and foolishly climbing them, swimming, chatting, eating and laughing.  And there may have been some cocktails here and there, too.  After some delicious burgers, we capped our night with some fireside drinks and good conversation.  I'm usually sad when an event like this comes to an end, but since Karin came back home with me for 2 days, I had more to look forward to!

Here is the lighthouse, first three images are all courtesy of Amy ;)


 

Our group at Lake Michigan:
 

Our group at Silver Lake, just before we parted ways:

Our sunset view from the fire:

We took Karin to our favorite sandbar in the bay (Petobego):
 

The boys absolutely LOVED her and called her "Sharon".
 

The boys checking out the beach:
 

We also took her to our favorite beach, Peterson Beach at the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  The boys took her for a LONG walk, you can hardly see them in the distance! 

 

Karin & Brody:
 

Sadly, this was the best pic I could get of the two of us!
 

Sunset at my parents place, after Karin and I had a fabulous meal at the Lochenheath clubhouse:
 

Austin and Karin:
 

East Grand Traverse Bay:
 

Camping in Muskegon

The boys had fun fishing, but not much luck catching!

 

Austin and his dump truck.  Our campsite was perfect for loading up lots of dirty sand in it!
 

Austin smiling for the camera:
 

The older kids slowed down for a minute so I could get a photo!
 

So cute!
 

Camping = S'mores!
 

Complete coincidence that Mike, Marnie and family were there!  We enjoyed taking a couple bike rides to their site and visiting with them and Uncle Brian and Aunt Betty.  Here is Uncle Brian and Mike coming through the channel on their Hobie Cat.
 

Sunset stroll after a busy beach day resulted in 4 skinned knees:
 

The lake sure calmed down after a wild day of waves!
 

 

The three of them lasted in there about 2 seconds (Aaron was grateful):
 

 

Beautiful full moon:
 

The kids swimming while the Lake Express Car Ferry Cat went by:
 

Our campsites were right at the corner of the channel and Muskegon Lake, so the kids loved watching the big boats going through.  In the distance is a freighter  and the car ferry:
 

The kids playing in Lake Muskegon:
 

Austin and Owen played pretty well for a couple of two year olds.  The even shared once or twice.  Their conversations were hilarious.
 

Team work filling up the water bottles:
 

We spent Tuesday at Lake Michigan.  There were red flag swim conditions with HUGE waves (the pictures don't do it justice!  Austin and Brody mostly stayed out of the water but the other kids LOVED swimming in them, with life jackets.  The kids liked it almost as much as the adults did!
 

Jacob and Leah: