The Beach House

So if you read this blog at all, I'm sure you know that I spend A LOT of time at my parents place on Lake Michigan.  I LOVE it there.  It makes me happy and relaxed...and makes me feel safe in this world that seems to be heading in the wrong direction.  I love when we are all there and the kids all play, and we can all enjoy life for a little while.  So here are some more pics of one of my most favorite places on this earth. 

All 9 cousins ranging from 1 to 12.

Mols and Matt

Two of my favorite people

Us

Me with my Ma and Sis

SUP

He Loves it...but loves it more when there are waves

Mols and Mags

One of the beautiful (and sometimes strange) sky masterpieces

Grandpa Mike's 89th

My mom and I took the kids to Detroit to celebrate my Grandpa Mike's 89th birthday.  We visited with him at his retirement home and then went out to dinner.  I feel like he hasn't changed a bit since I was a kid.  So glad the kids got to see him and give him a squeeze.  So thankful that God has blessed him with such an abundant life!

Miss Patty

Miss Patty is the ultimate swim teacher.  Both of my girls did not have a clue how to swim when we started this summer, and they now can swim from the wall to me, and I am seriously impressed.  Of course, there was LOTS of crying to begin with, because Miss Patty doesn't really care if you don't want to go under water...you're going...crying or not.  So I had to walk away a few times, but it was SO worth it.  They are doing great and love the water.  

Charley swimming to Miss Patty

and back to the wall

Molly swimming on her back

All smiles now

Molly's jumping off the side

Charley's turn

And then the diving board

Charley always belly flopped...ouch

Mols doing backstroke

3 Cool Dudes...or 4

My dad has this t-shirt...that he has had since I was a kid.  It has to be 20 years old at least.  On the front  of the shirt is a vintage (or maybe it's just vintage now) picture of three guys standing in front of their surfboards and the caption reads Three Cool Dudes.  It's an awesome shirt.  It reminds me of everything happy from my childhood and of my awesome dad.  So we (my mom) decided to try to re-create the shirt with our own three cool dudes.  Here's what we came up with.  :)  (And yes, there are people behind holding those boards up. ) 

Three Cool Dudes

Couldn't leave Dad out...make that Four Cool Dudes

Aw...cute parents.

Molly's 4th

Miss Molly turned four this month.  Where has the time gone?!  We celebrated her birthday at the lake since we were all there, and its so much fun to watch her...since she HATES the attention.  See in that first pictures?  That's her being shy while we sing Happy Birthday to her.  She can be so sweet and innocent.  It's been fun to watch her change and grow.  She is starting 4s preschool this fall and playing soccer at the Y.  She learned to swim this summer and loves princesses and dress up.  She is a sneaky middle child and can remind me a bit of myself at times.  Yikes.  She still loves her ni-ni and sucking her two fingers at bedtime, and I think it's going to be a hard habit to break.  She still will take a two hour nap if I let her, even though she doesn't need it at all.  She is starting to take on the big sister role more now, but definitely does her fair share of fighting with Grant and Charley.  She loves gymnastics and drawing.  Her favorite things right now include her Barbie learning phone and Barbie movies.  She is still quite shy and scared of venturing out without me by her side.  But she is SLOWLY opening up to try new things.  She unfortunately can be very whiny and cry when she doesn't get her way, especially when it involves her siblings.  But her smile and bright eyes always warm my heart.  Her giggle is the best and I'm so thankful to have my little Mols in my life.  

"Why is everyone looking at me..."

"I'll try to blow this out as quietly as I can"

Cupcakes with a view

Presents!

 Pink Frosting is the best!

Birthday Morning with Big Brother

My kiddos

Sunset

We are so blessed to be able see God's beauty up at the lake. Just one of the many beautiful sunsets! Charley saw her first sunset the other day and was truly amazed. :)

Chi-Town

We went to Chicago to celebrate our (youngest) friend Joey's 30th birthday!  We had a blast and enjoyed some quality adult time.  Dinners, shopping, dancing...So much fun!

Matt and the Birthday Boy Joey

Lins and I

Yay for Adult Time!

Me and the Hubs

Matt sister and Wade joined us for some fun!

Good times in Chi-town!!

Fourth of July

We watched the fireworks this year from Boatwerks in Holland with Matt's family. It was a beautiful night and we had a nice little patch of grass to take in the sights. The fireworks didn't start until 10:30pm, so we had a lot of time to kill. What better way than to take pictures!

C and Aunt Bethany

Grammie and Grant

The Gang

Grantster and Me

Grant took this one...

and this one...

this one...

and this one. :)

Human pyramid...sure why not

Grandpa and C

Mark's First Birthday

There is a reason why I wanted to post these pics...besides the fact that he is the cutest thing ever. This will probably be the last first birthday that we celebrate in this family in a long time. Well, unless someone has a little surprise I suppose. So here they are. Mark turned one! Rach has outdone herself again with those awesome cookie monster cupcakes.

The birthday boy

Silly Charley

Yom Yom Yom

Papa (The Big Mark)

Mols

Cousins

Tasty