Good Harbor Beach

We found a really nice little spot just south of Leland, MI called Good Harbor Beach on our vacation last week. Matt's brother Chris built us a beach fire and we made s'mores and watched the sunset. It got windy and cold very quickly as the sun went down, and the little ones and I ended up watching a movie in the van for the last 45 minutes of our time there, but Matt and I took turns running back to the beach to take pictures of the beautiful sunset.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

One of the highlights of our vacation in northwest Michigan was seeing the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Did you know it was voted the most beautiful place in America? America has so many unique, breathtaking landscapes that it doesn't seem fair to label just one place the most beautiful, but there is no denying that these dunes are really, really special. 

23 / 52

Portraits of my kids, once a week (mostly) - for a year.

(Sometimes I get way off track when life gets cray cray. Wink.)

So long time no see. Summers are a little busy. We just got back from a week up north with Matt's whole family. Next week my whole family's rolling into town for a week of fun in the sun! So posting will be sporadic at best. For now, here's a few favorite snaps of my cuties vacationing in Glen Arbor, MI.

What-a-Yacht!

We had a bit of excitement a week or so ago when an enormous yacht docked at the restaurant down the road from our house. The kids and I had to walk over at least two or three times to gape at it. 

We had heard that a small cruise ship was going to dock in Holland several times over the summer, so when I first saw the boat I immediately assumed it was the cruise ship, but it was actually just a luxury charter yacht. (Cue Fiddler On the Roof's: "If I were a rich man...")

It was such a spectacle that we're really excited now to see what the cruise ship that's coming in a few weeks looks like!

22 / 52

Portraits of my children once a week, for a year.

Olive: Loving "spinny" dresses, the Betsy-Tacy & Tib books, riding her scooter, watching "The Adventures of Milo & Otis" and splashing around in Lake Michigan.

Silas: Loving his ultra-strength Desitin, (seriously, he begs for it and calls it the "feels good meh-sin,") riding in the stroller, playing at the beach, jumping, and blueberry smoothies.

Oona: Loving the vintage dress I found for her downtown for an easy $5 (shown above,) chewing on her toes, swinging in the swing Matt hung for her on the back porch, and trying to escape her cradle. (It is time to move baby Oona into a bigger bed!)

Ladies Night

I had a group of friends come over one night last week to paint wooden beads and make necklaces. It was so nice to just relax, chit-chat, eat and be creative together. 

Something that I genuinely love to do is play hostess. Observing my mom's hospitality had a major impact on me during my growing-up years. I learned from observing her that you don't have to have a perfect house or lots of finery to have a great get-together. You just need good friends, a place for everyone to sit comfortably, and always a pot of coffee brewing ready to serve. (Oh, and some chocolate never hurts an occasion either!)

This is something that I would love to do again before summer ends!

The One Where I Basically Just Talk About My Kids' BMs.

So the past week kind of sucked. (Language. I know, Mom.)

Let's see... Matt was sick for a solid 8 days before he finally, (very grudgingly) obliged me by taking himself to Urgent Care where he was told he has a bad case of pneumonia. (Will someone enlighten me why men, even with the blessed benefit of health insurance, make such a fuss about going to a doctor when they're sick?) Don't worry, he's loaded up on all kinds of drugs and it seems like he will live. (If you detect a strain of bitterness in my report, it may be because I'm still brooding over the fact that we had to cancel my birthday dance class AND a visit from friends for the holiday weekend.)

Oh but it gets better.

Silas has had the runs for a couple of days (and by runs I mean I'm constantly running him back and forth from the tub and running his poopy laundry up and down the stairs multiple times a day.) And the diaper rash - oh my word, this kid's diaper rash. We've gone through almost two tubes of ultra strength Desitin in just two days. 

Ironically, our littlest one could not poop the last few days and yesterday she slept maybe 20 minutes all. day. long. (Don't worry - a little prune juice solved the problem, resulting in a blowout that rivaled the worst that Silas could do.) 

Ok, now that I've ruined your appetite for the rest of the day, I'll stop. (Thanks for letting me vent, though, I do feel better.)

I promise I'll be back with a less gross post soon.