182:366 - Tubing

We thought we would ease into the day; we thought wrong! The kids were up after a restless night and excited to go. A quick breakfast at camp was followed by a hike along the Coast Guard Trail through the woods and back to our car. We decided to try tubing the Little Sable River with the kids for the first time. It's a shallow, slow (i.e. barely moving at a snail's pace) river that leads out to Lake Michigan and was a great first tubing experience! By 10:30, we had hiked the trail, had the tubes blown up and were in the water. Beckett could not get enough of trying to catch whatever he saw on the bottom of the river bed and Zoe giggled the whole way! After reaching Lake Michigan, we stopped and had snacks and played on the beack before the short walk to return the tubes to our car and hike back out to camp. We took another dip in Lake Michigan before dinner and walked the mostly deserted beach looking for weather-worn rocks and driftwood. The kids played card games by the fire and bedtime tonight was a little easier tonight for all!

181:366 - Backpack, Backpack

I always get the Dora the Explorer "backpack, backpack" stuck in my head when I see the kids take off with packs loaded! This weekend, we headed north, despite the insane 95+ degree days, and went on our annual packpacking trip to Ludington State Park. The kids love it! It's getting easier to do and is 100% worth it but the lack of sleep and overabundance of craziness from overtired kids can made a 2-nighter a challenge. There is a short hike in to the walk-in tent sites. Lake Michigan is just over the dune to the left. Beckett loves his new backpack and the Camelbak for it.  Zoe is out water bearer for the trip and knows where the pump is to refill our bottles. She also got her first lesson in how to swing a hatchet (which made me a wreck). After dinner, it was time for a trip over the dune to swim and then, finally, marshmallow time!

180:366 - Don't cry over spilt...honey?

Each week, our CSA has a pretty decent variety of fruits and veggies. This week, we had the added surprise of honey from a local source. I promptly put our half into one of my favorite Weck canning jars (a gift from my mom). How pretty. Three days later, the jar slid off the counter and I was left cleaning up a sticky, glass-shard filled mess from the floor.  Not sure yet which made me more upset: the loss of the honey, or the loss of the beautiful little jar.

179:366 - Hot air balloon

We caught a hot air balloon floating over the top of the house tonight....

178:366 - Chicken!

Stopped down to visit our good friend Ken's farm today.  He let the kids collect chicken eggs from the coop to bring home. The had as much fun pulling weeds and feeding them to the "girls".

177:366 - Our monkeys

Took our "monkeys" to see the real monkeys today.  We have a great little zoo nearby and a trip there in the summer is always on the kids' "we have to do this" list. We spent hours getting face painted, feeding and petting the stingrays, feeding the budgies, riding the camels, and Zoe rode the zip line.  Not a bit of nervousness on her part! She was so proud!

176:366 - Morning run

This morning's run took me along Lake Mac and past the Heinz pickle plant.  The boardwalk that they have built is a great addition and the entry way using the wood from one of the old pickle barrels was genius. 

175:366 - And then there were two...

The dude gave up his training wheels today and I restocked the bandaid collection. He is wobbly and slow but oh so proud of being a "big boy"!

174:366 - I Dig Dirt

Beckett loves to dig. He is constantly trying to excavate a potted plant, the wood chips on the playground at school, and, more recently, the dirt under the porch steps. We decided finally to give him his own place to dig on the side yard and he is in seventh heaven discovering worms, roly polys, tree roots and other "treasures".

173:366 - Bike camp!

Today is Zoe's last day of bike camp with Mr. De. I felt badly for her as the temps this week were in the upper 90's each day and these kids were riding 8-10 miles in an afternoon! She came home every day with a big smile and an empty water bottle. The highlight, funny enough, was Mr. De's pit soaker. Zoe never missed an opportunity to get a good soaking!

172:366 - CSA...a week later

This week's CSA photos are a lot "prettier" than last week's. The variety is great and we're hoping this continues through the summer.

171:366 - Push up

It was a great day for spending some time at the pool after work and having a little "treat" in between dips.

170:366 - Strawberries!

Visser Farms had their annual strawberry patch pick and so we headed out, despite the wind storms, to get our share. The berries were smaller but sweeter than last year's and the picking was so-so but the kids love the jam it always yields...and I love my gorgeous daughter's sweet smile when she finds a berry she likes.

169:366 - Father's Day

A beautiful sunny Father's Day filled with ice cream, swimming in the pool  and lots of hugs and kisses.

168:366 - Rainy day

We haven't had too many rainy days this summer. Sitting on the front porch, I watched as each drop clung to the branches of the red maple before giving way and falling to the ground.

167:366 - Sprinklers

Beckett has a budding love for water it seems. He is thrilled with the squirt guns, the sprinkler, the hoses...and he will seek out any little vessel he can find to fill up.  

166:366 - Friends

Girls can be sweet or sour. They either play really well together or fight like cats and dogs. Or both. Zoe had her friend Lauren over today and they had a rough start. However, after a stern "you be nice to each other" lecture, I turned back around to find them skipping hand-in-hand down the side walk. Sweet.

165:366 - CSA

A very uninspired iPhone shot of our CSA haul in the back of the car.  In fact, this wasn't meant to be my photo of the day, it was just proof to Krisanne that I picked up the "goods". However, with no other photo to use, this is it.

164:366 - Heading home

While I love Chicago, I love heading home. I miss my hubby and I miss my kids. And so, here is a last parting shot before I headed to the other side of the lake.

163:366 - Magnolia Bakery...yum

One of my closest friends came and spent the night in Chicago with me tonight. It was a treat for her to get out of town for 24 hours, and a great treat for me to have a great dinner without the work crowd! We have traveled quite a bit together and one of our favorite bakeries is Magnolia Bakery in NYC. When they opened one in Chicago, we knew we had to make a trip post-dinner and then spend the next hour walking it off!

162:366 - Morning coffee run

One of the things that this trip affords me is the abilitiy to roll out of bed, throw on my running clothes, and hit the pavement solo...typical mornings usually involve trying to schedule a run a few days a week.  The 3 mile look from the hotel, out around Navy Pier and back is the perfect way to start what will be a very very long day. And the cup of coffee at the end tastes that much sweeter!

161:366 - Good morning Chicago!

Yup, it's that time of the year.  The last day of school for the last 15 years has been followed the next AM with the annual trek to Chicago for work. The 5:30 departure came a bit early this AM but it was well worth the complete LACK of traffic entering the city and arriving by 7:30 AM Chicago time.

160:366 - last day of school = summer plans

The kids have been working on their summer wish lists: all the things THEY want to do this summer.  Rather than try to remember what happens when, I decided to try something new this summer and so a few big pieces of poster board later, we had the months of June - September semi-mapped out with the events we KNEW were going to happen. The fun is going to be in filling in the rest!

159:366 - Fly boys

Rodger has a real passion for anything that flies and has passed it on to the dude.  When Grandma Jeannie gave Beckett this awesome little heli just for him, it was a match made in heaven.  With calm winds tonight, the flyboys met in the back yard to work on their manuevers.  I couldn't tell whom was more proud!

158:366 - Muscles!

The dudes were doing some yard work. Shirtless. Beckett was all about showing off his "muscles" (aka elbows) so Daddy showed off a few muscles of his own. The "outakes" from this are too hysterical to post!

157:366 - The nuclear family

Tonight was the last Transit of Venus that we, or our kids, will likely be able to see in our lifetimes.  Thanks to my brother Matt for sending us the nifty glasses to safely watch the tiny spec of Venus pass in front of the sun!

156:366 - One more time

The last Little Kickers soccer practice and game for the dude.  Seems like the end of soccer season for us heralds the beginning of summer.  Bring it on!

155:366 - Bike ride

Needing a little exercise and some fresh air, we took a bike ride out to Windmill Island this afternoon. 

154:366 - Not my photos

Every parent knows that there are times it is crazy hard to get anything done. So, this AM when I needed to pay a few bills, I begged Zoe to please keep Beckett occupied so that I could wrap things up quickly.  She, in turn, begged to use my camera.  Hmmm. This made me nervous. But, I was desperate and she was curious. The end results were precious. The dude at his sister's level, hamming it up.  Zoe had put "fake smoke" on him using black eye shadow to make him look like a real fire fighter.  But what I found the sweetest in all of the images, is that she captured him being him: giggling on the Sit 'n Spin, hiding under all the coats in the over stuffed cloat closet, and (his latest habit) chewing on the front of his shirts. There are days when I struggle to get ONE image I like. Maybe I ought to give her the camera more often.

153:366 - Snuggle Time

The dudes love to snuggle. B-man clean out of the tub in his infamous mis-matched pajamas. Nothing could be finer.