August 2015

August 2015

This month marked the 25^th year in a row (yeah, my family LOVES traditions) that we have enjoyed a weekend up near St. Joseph, MI.  These weekends have always been a highlight of the summer and it is great to see another generation getting excited about this trip.  As the girls get older, the trip becomes much more enjoyable as they are able to play with their cousins and we are able to do more fun things with them.  We arrived on Thursday and after we unpacked the car, we went to town for a walk on the beach.  After our carousel ride, we found a great place for dinner and enjoyed some ice cream.  After that, we rented a 2 person bike with a bench for kids and drove it around town for a half hour.  It was quite the work-out for Deb and I, but the girls loved it and enjoyed waving at everyone.  Another benefit this year was Deb was able to get the “Kids Suite” room which for about $25 more a night, allowed us an extra room to put the girls.  This allowed for whoever put the kids to bed to have a place to sit and also allowed for people to come up and sit with them if they had put the girls to bed.  We spend the first day at a quiet beach in St. Joseph called “Lion Beach” and we enjoyed the playground and the water.  We spent the next 2 days at our normal beach and Allison climbed the dune all by herself, both days.  Sarah enjoyed being carried up the Dune, which wasn’t fun for Beth, Deb or myself. 

The next weekend we decided to go the state fair and enjoy all of the festivities that goes along with that.  We arrived relatively early and walked around a little bit.  We then found ourselves checking out all of the animals which the girls enjoyed.   After that, we took the tractor around the state fair, which was a nice way to cool off an also get around to different parts of the fair.  The girls had fun in the family area and enjoyed pretending to be farmers.  We also were able to go on a few rides this year.  Allison and I went on the Ferris wheel, the girls and I went down a big slide, everyone went on a Dumbo ride and then Allison rode a ride all by herself!  I thought for sure she was crying, but she enjoyed it.  We ended the trip with lunch and ice cream and then everyone went home for a nap! 

The following weekend, I took off on Friday with Jeremy and Ben W. to visit Brad in Chicago.  We enjoyed some great burgers on Friday night and of course, some beers.  On Saturday, we went for a run by the lake and then hit up a Cubs game.  We ran into a few more guys at the game and it was really good to hang out with Daran.  We proceeded to stay out all day and made our way back to Brad’s part of town by the evening.  The bar next to his place was a good place to hang out outside and hang out with everyone.  We definitely stayed out too long and probably should have crashed earlier.  I’m glad we were able to make this trip happen since Brad is moving to San Francisco in a few months.  I’m sure we will see him soon, but it was fun to hang out for an entire weekend.  While I was gone, Deb’s parents came to visit and enjoyed a weekend with Deb and the girls.  They went to the pool and had fun seeing how much the girls enjoyed it.  They took the girls around to pick up some things along with started working on their Halloween costumes.    

Sarah’s Things of the Month

            Sarah apparently is the most well behaved kid ever at the dentist.  I wasn’t there, but she just sat there and opened her mouth real easily for the dentist.  I find that a little hilarious considering how difficult she can be for us! 

 

Allison’s Things of the Month

            Allison got some new glasses this month.  They are “progressive” bifocal lenses and she is adapting pretty well to them.  Hopefully, they help her see better and it will help improve her vision.  Allison also went to Henry’s birthday party (neighborhood buddy).

A few more items from this month:

• We attended another Smokefest party at Brandon and Diane’s house.  It was another buffet of smoked foods that left you wishing you had a bigger stomach!
• I made another trip to Minnesota early in the month.  It could be a routine thing over the next few months.
• We had some random visits by Beth, Matt and Chelsea this month to visit with the girls.
• We took the girls over to my Mom’s for a few hours on a Saturday morning to catch up on yard-work.
• Deb went to breakfast with Julie Gebhart and they enjoyed catching up.
• I joined a fantasy football league at work.  It was good to do the draft with those guys outside of the work environment and have some beers.