Happy 89th Birthday GG!

Skiing with the Wheaton's

We certainly are grateful for the invitation from the Wheaton's for some seriously cool skiing fun. We are so proud of these kids who are ready to try anything. So brave and talented.

More Cookie Decorating

We did some cookie painting and sprinkles for pre-school activity. These bright sprinkles were like glitter. Oh so cute...and look at that smile.

U of M Fan Day

Tyler and I and the Hawkins family bowed out on going to Fan Day this year. Jim and Ryan were true blue and went to cheer on their team. The lines were long so they opted to enjoy the beauty of the new stadium and some pretty girls too:)

Go to this previous post to see Ryan's past reactions to the cheerleaders:)

http://carolschatterbox.blogspot.com/2009/09/fan-day-then-now.html

Pac Man Mania

I was able to pull both boys away from the video games to make these cute little Pac Man cookies and ghosts. We used a circle cutter and the edge of a star cutter to make the Pac Man Shape. The ghosts were made from a tulip cutter and we cut the stems off. The Wilton Royal Icing is perfect for these treasures and a little blob of white with a sprinkle in the center makes for some really cute puffy eyes. Ryan enjoys mixing the batter and Tyler really enjoyed cutting them out. Of course, the whole family enjoyed eating them!

Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island Fun

We scored a good deal to stay at Mission Point on the Island and went a day early to Mackinaw City. Clouds were threatening rain so our initial cheap motel idea kinda hit the fan and we booked at a waterpark (Northpointe Inn) to salvage some fun. Fun indeed. Ryan thoroughly enjoyed the slides and Tyler enjoyed the lazy river which was small enough and slow enough from him to run around. It had an exceptional breakfast too.

We spent some time on the beach and crossed over the bridge so the boys could have the experience and the adults could win $20 at the casino! We had a nice dinner at the casino buffet and the kids ate free.

The boat ride was fun and we loved the outdoor pool at the hotel. The water was colder than Lake Huron but it was actually refreshing as the days approached 90 degrees. Ryan mastered the putting green (he says this was his favorite thing about the trip) and Tyler gave it a go before deciding that throwing the ball in the water was more fun:) The marketplace was our favorite pit stop and the kids ate free so it was a real bargain. The BBQ Chicken pizza was definately a favorite.

We stopped at Soaring Eagle on the way up and again on the way home to break up the trip. They have a fabulous arcade for the kids and they won enough points to get some seriously cool spikey footballs that they shared with all the kids at the pool and it was great fun. The Casino offered me $10 in birthday cash that was lost in a hurry but jim put in a dollar and paid for the video game fun. The bathrooms there are phenomenal....so the stop was much more welcomed than a stop at a station. As a matter of fact...we had to make a couple of roadside stops for Tyler's "that was close" potty needs.

All in all, we had a good time. We saved money...but the trip to the island is an expensive one.

August 10th

What a wonderfully enjoyable day spent with cousins on Tyler's 3rd Birthday. I printed out Mario themed pictures and made them stickers for Tyler's cake. We swam and jumped off the boat and ate a wonderful meal prepared by Grandma Cathy (BBQ ribs, cheesy taters, and baked beans. ). I was so caught up in the fun that I hardly took any pictures. Oh Happy Day.

Camp Papa's

Tyler got pretty excited when he scored in the bean bag toss!

I think Papa might have taken a water balloon for the team.

What a great tradition we've begun by camping in Papa Ralph's back yard during Homer Days. A good time was had by all with endless fun....waterballoons, campfire, smores, roasting hot dogs, bean bag toss, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, fireworks, sparklers, parades, ponies, and Sorry! And best of all, the company was good. What else could you want from a perfect summer day?

Celebrating 3!

It was such a cute few moments watching Tyler blow out his candles for his 3rd Birthday! I cleared some pictures from my memory card to catch just the right moment and sure enough...I ran out of room. It does leave a little suspense! Yes! He finally gets it blown out and the crowd goes wild:)

The kids spent the next 20 minutes playing minute to win it games. The turned their backs to the candle lit cupcakes and on 3-2-1 beeeeep...it was a race to see who could blow out the candle first. Lots-O-Fun.