Fun in Northern Michigan

We just got back yesterday from 2 weeks of camping in Northern Michigan. I don't have much time for an entry (lots of laundry, cleaning, planning and organizing to do) but I thought I would quickly share some pictures.

The first week was spent with my parents in Traverse City enjoying the Cherry Festival. We had a great time - ate cherries, watched the air dogs (one of our favorite events), attended the pet show, did lots of walking, watched an Indian Pow-Wow, ate tons of yummy s'mores, and spent time with lots of our old friends.

One of our favorite parts of the Cherry Festival is watching the parades. We were able to watch only one parade this year - the Children's Parade whose theme was the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osbourne (Lexie was so excited about that).




The best part of the parade was that we got to watch it with some of our old friends. It was so fun watching the girls together - it was like we had never left.


We celebrated my 37th birthday while we were in Traverse City. We went out to eat and then played putt-putt.



We were all sad when it was time to leave (some showed it more than others)...


Our 2nd week of camping was in Gaylord with Dave's mom. Unfortunately Dave couldn't go with us but Lexie, Sandy and I had a great time anyway. We ate s'mores again (this time with Reese's peanut butter cups - YUMMMMMM!!!), walked a lot (thanks to Sandy), ate ice cream,
enjoyed the beach (the water was MUCH warmer than TC),

Lexie rode her scooter a LOT (she got really good at it), and spent lots of quality time together and with Grandma Nancy.

We were all suprised to discover that the Alpen Festival was going on while we were there. So one night I took Lexie (Grandma Nancy babysat Sandy) and she went on a few rides and played some games. Her favorite part was when she played a game and won a goldfish!!!
She kept saying, "I can't believe I actually won a fish!" It was so cute. She named the fish Josefina - like the American Girl doll -and she now lives in a fishbowl on Lexie's desk in the kitchen.

We had a great 2 weeks but we're all glad to be home together. The next big thing will be Lexie's 6th birthday party - better start planning!!!

Update on the Birds

***UPDATE - A couple weeks after this entry all the birds were gone from the nest. Bye-bye birdies!!!***

Just wanted to give you an update on the three baby birds we found. They are growing fast!


On Saturday we noticed that one baby had "fallen" out of the nest. Maybe she was learning to fly and wasn't quite ready. I looked online for what to do if you find a baby bird. It said if the bird had it's feathers that you should leave it where you found it. It said that the mother bird would still feed it/take care of it until it learned to fly. (If it didn't have it's feathers you are supposed to put it back in the nest. It's not true that a mother bird will smell your scent and not go back to the nest.) So we kept an eye on the little bird (from afar) and by late in the day it was gone. I told Lexie that it must've learned how to fly and it flew off. This is much better than the other possible scenario - that a neighborhood cat or dog ate him. I really hope it was the first option! Good luck little bird!

Odds N Ends

It's been awhile since I posted anything so I thought I'd share a bunch of recent pictures.

YEAH WINGS!!! Dave was lucky enough to go to 2 of the games and he even got his picture taken with the cup a few days before they won it again. What fun!



Lexie's last day of swimming class was Saturday. She had a great time and will probably take lessons again in the fall.



Check out this cute pirate...no it's not Jack Sparrow, it's our niece Madalyn playing dress up with Lexie. :)



Last weekend we had a short visit (too short) with our nephew Joey who lives in Florida. We managed to get one decent picture of the 3 cousins together:



Check out what Lexie and a friend found in one of our trees. They are 3 baby birds. Can you say "AAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"?



Last but not least, Lexie was downstairs waiting for me this morning as I walked in from taking out the dog. Not only was she fully dressed but she had also put on her shoes and tied them all by herself!!! Dave and I are so proud of her! (Did you notice how tall the socks are? That was all Lexie's doing. Of course I couldn't help myself, I had to push them down a little before she left the house. :) )