Update

Charlotte is doing much better. We went back to the dentist this week and the tooth is still a little bit loose but it's not bothering her anymore. He wants to see her in about a month and said he might pull it out if it's still loose. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but oh well if it does. It'll grow back, right? In a couple years anyway.

Last weekend we went on a road trip. We wanted to go to Lake Michigan but the weather was not cooperating as it was 60 degrees and raining. We wanted to go somewhere so we decided on Traverse City which is about 2 hours to the north. On the way, we saw the sign for Sleeping Bear Dunes. Nathan had been there for school once and thought we would like it so we decided to stop there too. He remembered where there was a lighthouse so that is where we stopped first. Charlotte was too little to go up so just Brooke and I went up in the lighthouse. It was very steep and narrow, which is why you had to be a certain height. Nathan and Charlotte walked around while we were up in the lighthouse. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to show for the day. The girls would've had tons of fun playing in the sand dunes if the weather would've been nicer, but we didn't even go to that park of the park. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and got some postcards and looked at some pictures and learned about some of the history of the dunes.

After we left we drove to Traverse City. We really had no plan, we just wanted to drive through. It is also right on the lake with lots of nice touristy shops and hotels. We never even got out of the car. But we did get lost. We kept driving and driving to find our way back to the main road but kept finding all these little lakes and river. I think we were driving around with no idea where we were going for about an hour. Oh well, we got to see parts of Michigan we had never seen before.

We haven't been doing much of anything else. The kids are getting reacquainted with all their neighborhood friends. School starts for Nathan tomorrow but not for the kids until after Labor Day. Hopefully Labor Day weekend will have better weather so we can go to Lake Michigan.

Cuts and Scrapes

My kids have had lots of "accidents" this summer banging up faces, knees, and hands. Right before we left Indiana Charlotte fell and scraped her chin which finally healed this week. But then today she fell face first off her bike and scraped up her whole face, including almost knocking two top teeth out. We took her to the dentist but they thought it best to wait and see if they fall back into place or fall out on their own. It's just so sad to see my kids fall down and I kept wanting to stop Charlotte from running the rest of the day so she didn't hurt her teeth anymore. Here is the best picture I could get of her.
If you click on the picture you might be able to see the tooth on her right side of her mouth (left side of the pic)that is hanging down a little bit. So sad.

We're Back!

Well, we're back in Michigan. It's nice to be back with our own things. The girls were so excited when they came into the apartment, they kept running from room to room finding all of their toys that were left behind. It was like Christmas. Charlotte and Peyton picked up right where they left off. They were so happy to be able to play again and have been playing great together. Hopefully it lasts.
A couple nights before we left we went the Barker's to use up some of our Great Times coupons. We ended up playing putt putt and doing bumper boats. Not much golfing was done, but the girls had a great time. And whose idea was it for me to get in the bumper boats?
Life in Big Rapids is not very exciting. I've seen more deer since we've been back than I saw all summer in Indy. Maybe about 10. The most exciting thing that has happened is that Nathan found a part time job at a golf course 20 minutes out of town. He'll be doing maintenance work, like cutting grass, fixing golf carts, etc. That puts a damper on our plans to go to Lake Michigan as much as possible. Oh well, we have to pay the bills. We haven't even been to the Riverwalk so Nathan can try out his new bike he bought before we left. One of these days we'll get there. Anyways, that's all I got for now!

All Tuckered Out

Need I say more?

Playgroup fun

Wednesday was playgroup and because of all the rain on Tuesday, I decided it would be the best time to go to the indoor playground at Great Times. Thanks to the library (have I mentioned I love the library)we had free admission to that. A lot of people showed up which was great! The kids had a blast and played and sweat for 2 1/2 hours! Nobody even cared that there was other fun stuff to do outside. It was great!

Backyard adventures!

So this past Tuesday it rained, rained, rained. There was lots of wind and our power went out for a little while too. Whenever it rains a lot, we get a "lake" in the backyard. I remember when I was little and going out and playing in the water. Lauren got the girls to go and play in it that evening. They were a little hesitant at first, but then decided it was fun!
At the same time, Nathan was cutting down part of one of the tree's in the backyard. Not because the storm got to it, but it was dead. I don't know how he does it, it scares me to even climb a ladder, let alone a tree.

Bonfire!

This was our last weekend in Indianapolis (yay! we'll be in Michigan on Saturday!) so we decided to have some of our friends over to have a bonfire and roast hot dogs and smores. It was great to visit with all our friends one last time.

We actually had about 12 little girls mostly between the ages of 3-6. They had a great time on the swing set, but this is only half of them.
I got the wiffle ball and bat out for the little boys but the "big" boys seemed to have a good time.
Cannon (on the right) was an expert at ladder bowl so I think he is probably showing Jerod how to do it. :-)
Roasting our marshmallows! I love Ryan's face on the right.
Yummy!

Haley is definitely enjoying hers!

It was a great time! The guys also played some football and horse shoes but I didn't get pictures of that. There were women at this party, but we were all just sitting around just talking. I'll miss my Indiana friends!

Take me there!

One last post about the Children's Museum...I promise! Nathan hasn't been there in YEARS so we went on Saturday. We went to the new exhibit about Egypt. First we took a plane ride there. :-)

The girls drove in a little cart.
Brooke took a ride on an alligator.
They played in a tent.
Next we went to the trains. I always try to get a picture at this point, but they are always fighting over who gets to drive.
Brooke being a preacher.
Nathan at the barber.
For once, there wasn't a line to get in the race car.

There was a Star Wars exhibition going on while we there so all the Star Wars character were out.
Charlotte wanted to give this statue a "high five" and have her picture taken.
Only 2 more weeks left until we go back to Michigan so no more visits to the Children's Museum. It only took 3 visits, but I think we finally saw everything!