Last day of school!

The last day of school the whole primary village (K-3) went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a field trip. My mom and dad came along too which was great because they could hang out with Maya and I could actually help out with the class stuff. It threatened rain all morning but never actually rained until later in the day when the kids were all done.

the last of the hot weather?

We stopped at the state park after school one day because the forcast was calling for much cooler weather the rest of that week. It hasn't been above 70 since so I'm glad we went!

Memorial Day weekend

Our goal for the weekend was to get all the gardens planted. The kids played in their little pool and sprinklers while we worked on Saturday.
We have veggies, herbs and even some strawberries all in, we built a teepee frame for some of our vine type plants to grow up and even found time to get to the beach on sunday.
I can't believe the difference in the water temperature even from just friday to sunday. Those few nights in the 60's really helped warm it up.

Quick before all the tourists come!

Last friday we thought we should go check out the beach downtown before it gets so crowded in the summer. Once tourist seasons gets into full swing we never go to the beach there because you end up having to park so far away and walk a long way to the sand.
It was fun - the marina is right there so we got to watch some pretty big yachts come in when we first got there.

"Wildlife"

We were infested with caterpillars this year. Big time. Way worse than the tent caterpillars last year. Even the kids thought it was gross at times this year. We had the tent worms plus some other kind of moth larva that eats the tops of the trees in the evening/night and then sits in these huge clumps on the tree trunks, your house, etc during the day. I had to stop using my clothes line because it was pretty much raining caterpillar poo all the time. They seemed to peak the weekend before Memorial Day (of course that was the weekend of our rummage sale) and now today I see a lot less of them on the trees.
Despite all the chewing my rose bush that was planted new last year bloomed this year! We also have some irises in the front yard that have never bloomed before.

Yes.....more beach!

Last week was really hot and sunny. Some days almost too hot to sit at the beach since at the beginning of the week the water was still pretty cold for going all the way in or sitting in. Maya and I went with some friends on monday - I was impressed how well Alex handled to idea of us going to the beach without him while he was at school.

Ahhh...the beach!

The weekend before last we started our summer of beach days. Sunday afternoon we met some friends and hit the state park.
Maya and I learned some tough lessons about long hair + sunscreen + sand + water. From now on the hair goes in a ponytail or braid before we even exit the car and begin with the sunscreen!

Randon silliness

Rummage sale

We had a rummage sale a few weeks ago. It was a lot of work - I spend a ton of time in the garage working to get ready so the kids spend a ton of time occupying themselves in the front yard.
Alex can finally reach the pedals himself on his Green Machine - he is so excited. So he spent most of that time riding circles around the driveway!

Trilliums

I have always loved Trilliums. Last year I was so excited to have one show up on the woods in our back yard. The woods all around our house is full of them but the first few years we didn't have any in "our" woods. Well - this year we had about 15 of them!

Oh my!

Mayday!

What a beautiful weekend! My dad came to visit friday afternoon - it was hot and sunny and we played outside all afternoon. Saturday morning we visited the indoor farm market at Bldg. 50 and then went for a walk on the trails there. After lunch Alex got to try out his slip and slide he got for Easter. The kids had a blast with it!

Outside

"You Don't Know the Power of the Dark Side"

PS - anyone interested in the "vintage" couch you see in the background? It will be needing a new home (yay!) I do have a khaki slipcover that is in ok shape but it does not fit it very well.