OK...where were we??? ......Wait, we need to take a minute to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog with an update ... I have to apologize, as I read over the last few months of blogs, they seem to be getting dry-er and dry-er. This was fact made particularly more clear as I read a friends blog who was lamenting about the same strange form of creative absence as we have been feeling. Hang in there, stick with us. We don't want this to fall into being another mindless, self promoting family site. I think the emotional and intellectual exhaustion of raising 3 kids, being in school and working full time are starting to deplete any creative brain cells we have left. We'll bounce back, I promise! The other foot note is that blogger did something to the functionality behind posting photos and now, once you post them, its nearly impossible to move them in the blog to the "right" spot, so.. I am giving up. We picked the best photos of vacation but they aren't necessarily going to coordinate with the commentary beside them.
Kay has become a master of temporary tattoos and the boys are loving the attention. Kay even wrote Billy's name in Sharpie above the tattoo on his arm. They returned the favor by COVERING her back in tattoos. Nice.
OK, back to "where were we?" ...The next few days of vacation were great, we did a picnic swim lunch at Lake Michigan, we went tubing, we rode bikes, we went on a hike, we played badminton and basketball and went to the park. We ate ice cream and chips and slept until 9 every day. It was exactly how vacation should be.
Backing up a bit, I am not sure that I gave a good background to this place. Glen Lake is where we spent 2 weeks every summer as kids. My aunt/uncle/cousins would rent a cabin right next to ours and we'd spend 2 weeks doing everything I just listed above. It was magic. Now, my parents and aunt own 1 each of the cabins we used to rent. They are on the same piece of property and share lake shore. Its magic all over again.
Not sure about you, but bringing your kids to a place that was special to you growing up and then being able to see/experience it again through their eyes is unbelievable. You feel old and young all at the same time. How lucky/blessed are we that we can give our kids the same magic summer experience we had ?! A big thank you to my Mom and Dad for providing this!!
(photo of Mom & Dad:)) OK, on to the main event. Each day we woke up to..."5 more days to my birthday" "4 more days to my birthday" 3 more days to my birthday".. finally Grandpa starting asking each morning "Kay, how many more days until your birthday?" Until, finally, the answer that was shouted through the land?! 0!!!! Yep, Kay celebrated her 6th birthday in grand style. She had 2 parties (a breakfast monkey bread party with Kara, Grandma & Grandpa, Sue, Lynn, Dadu and us and THEN a kids only party at Tammy's country club where they could watch movies, do arts and even order their own dinner. All while the grown ups ate a nice peaceful meal on the other side of the country club. Now, that's what I call a good plan".
Kay is not your typical 6 yr old girl. Yes, she asked for colors, crayons, paints, sparkles, makeup, etc. But, there were no requests for clothes or shoes or hair stuff or the like. Nope, Kay had her heart set on 1 thing and 1 thing only. You guessed. A hermit crab. Yep, she hounded us for 8 weeks prior to her big day with this request. Lest you think us bad parents, we finally relented, so on her 6th birthday we went to the pet store and brought home Gladys, the hermit crab. Why Gladys? Glad you asked. Kay has been missing her Kindergarten teacher in India, Gladys Ma'am. So, there you have it, a tribute to her 1st teacher. I am sure Gladys Ma'am would be proud.
We ended our trip with a quick 2 day visit to my sisters house in Grand Haven. It was the perfect ending. The kids got some intense play time with their cousins, the dad's got to golf and the mom's did a mini spa afternoon (hair cuts, eye brow waxing and pedicures). We even indulged in a few late night movies for the kids and I will never forgive Jeff for getting me addicted to Mad Men. Go check it out on AMC, its good!
Here's our final vacation snap. All the Murphy/Basil cousins sitting still and smiling.
It was a good no great vacation!!
