King Tut

We finally managed to mesh our schedules, Marion and I, so we could take the kids to see the King Tut exhibit. Suzanne joined in on the fun, and we all had a great time! The only reason Jake was available was because he just broke his arm, and he's temporarily out of sports. So sad about the broken arm, so sad that we don't get to see the boys much because they belong to sports! Anyway, feeling lucky that we got this special day with them. Before the exhibit, though, we had to stop at the famous "train restaurant" that every kid loves! Here's a collage I put together of our kids a few years ago when Kayli was just a toddler, and again on this outing...man, time sure flies by! Just look at these "babies!"...

then, we walked across the street to the King Tut exhibit...

finally, a walk through the Crown Center and a few pictures in front of the waterfall...

Great choice for the last "field trip" of the summer!

Annual Lake Vacation

Boy, this lake vacation has grown to be the most popular event of the year, attracting more and more cousins every time. This year, the total number in attendance was 50! So many pictures, so little space, so hard to choose...

we had a fun outdoor movie night, thanks to Ellen...

I brought some really cool glow in the dark bubbles...

Oh Yeah, Kathy always has something magical in her bag! The funny thing we discovered about these bubbles was that the liquid glowed in the dark but not the bubbles that floated into the sky. So, the girls discovered that they could dip the bubble wand into the solution, then paint it on each other's skin for an awesome glow-in-the-dark effect! Too funny!

we had a huge waterballoon toss...

we had sooo much time just hanging out in the lake...

or on the beach...

Uncle Gerry buys all the girls slushies!

we had BINGO and pinatas...

and grilled hamburgers...

and silliness...

and...

cousin closeness...

and the bubbles were fun no matter how many times we pulled them out!

even when you were just an observer...

one morning Aunt Karen took all the kids on a nature walk to the lakeshore, where everyone collected and identified a variety of, well, whatever you find on the shore of a beach at the lake...a comb, a dead catfish, a skeleton...

we hung out at Eileen and Gary's new place for a few hours, one day...

Suzanne took a turn on the waverunner...

it was so nice to just relax and hang out here for a few hours, even though I should note, for the record, that my car died on me yesterday, on the way down the road, to the grocery store! I have 165,000 miles on this wonderful car, that I have hoped to drive forever and ever, loving it so much, and loving not having a car payment. Luckily, it broke down right by a car repair shop, and they are holding my car "hostage" at this very moment, as I carry on with my vacation, hoping they find the issue and fix it by the time we need to check out of our resort, giving them only two days, yikes! 

this lake vacation, with the large number of people in attendance, can feel a bit frenzied at times. But, we just had to remember to take time to kick back in between the craziness! Although I loved spending time with this huge family of mine, and enjoyed all the conversations and activities all week long, all that go-go-going, just made the quiet mornings all that much sweeter, spending extra time on our deck overlooking the lake, sipping coffee, and watching the comings and goings of the people, boats, and ducks. We had NO INTERNET in this condo, which was difficult for me. Suzanne and Kayli played games on their ipads...

the nights, after go-go-going all day, were pretty sweet too...

we'll be back again next year!