We love summer for some many reasons......

We're having the best summer! There are so many things fun about this summer......and some not so fun! Mike's Grandpa has has some tough times with his health this Spring and Summer and due to a fall, he had to spend time in a rehab center, some time in the hospital with some infections and back to the rehab center. The hopes were and ARE that he will be able to move into Senior apartments not far from our house.......but for now he moved to his son's and daughter in law's house .
Aunt Joann is a go getter and if anyone can get Grandpa on his feet and in good health again it's her! (smile) She's already lined up Dr's and rehab for him and we really all hope he will get back to some better quality of life soon! Joann is a superb gardener so I can already picture Grandpa out in a chair enjoying the yard! She's a good cook and I already heard he requested LIVER AND ONIONS...I think she said she made it for him today! (BLAK...shh don't tell her I said that!)
This photo was a cook out we had just last week a few days before Grandpa headed to his son's to stay. We had alot of great food, alot of fun, some tears but alot of laughs! Mike's brother and wife drove up to stay for a few days with their boys and that was nice for Grandpa and all of us!

Here's Grace hamming it up behind aunt Jill and Grandma Sharon (My mom).....as if they didn't know she was soooo cheesy! haha

The pool is a constant source of daily entertainment for us.....that pool has paid for itself over and over by now! I remember when Mike wanted to get a pool when we moved here 9 years and ago and I said no way, not until Grace was 5 and I could trust her a bit more and she had lessons. So poor Mike waited a long time and now we just love it!

It's been a great summer for the pool, nice hot temps......

If you can picture it, here's Jordan and the girls yelling to me "LOOK MOM!" and I glance up to catch someone doing a cannon ball or see a snorkel sticking out of the water......I'm usually in my favorite lounge chair, table aside of it with a cold water bottle, my favorite book on my lap and in my glory! Sunshine beaming down.....I'm what the kids call "a dipper!" ha I like to dip and sometimes float....wow I sound like an ice cream shop! I NEVER get my hair wet(I used to have alot of ear infections so putting my head under chlorinated water somehow makes me uneasy!) and the kids just love to try to beg me to do that......one day I plan to just go under and go for it right in front of them and shock them all.....haha

We laugh and laugh because Mike rarely is OUT of the pool but when he is it doesn't take long to find him in a chair head back, mouth open, soft snoring and sound asleep.......I do my best to keep the kids from bothering him or trying to "drip" on him.......I usually can for a while anyhow! Mike LOVES to be under water and in the pool......so of course he's deemed the "fun pool parent" ......but hey I can live with that!! haha

We're finding as Jordan gets older, he's working often or busy with his "social life" so when he does join in the pool fun the girls enjoy it.......he and Mike can get pretty wild in there and if the girls can pick a partner to get on their backs and ride around they do it! I'm savoring this summer especially with Jordan because I already imagine next summer he will have more hours that he will work, he is saving for a car that we said he could buy after his Jr. Year which is next summer......makes my throat tight thinking about it.........so FIDDLE DEE DEE as Scarlett would say I'll think about that tomorrow! For today IT'S SUMMER!!!

And more......

This was one of my favorite houses....and to think, someone LIVES there in summer! wow....

Grace, living the dream....she and Mike took a carriage ride around part of the Island!

What can I say?

Butterfly house......Macy was freaking out but I was able to snap the picture! ha

Gorgeous church.......and the skyline above it made it more spectacular!

More vacation pictures....

A statue in front of the Fort on Mackinaw Island! they all saluted him!

Another gorgeous gingerbread house on the Island, I still can't get over how quaint they were...wonder how that would go over here in town if I painted our house in pastels with white pickets?

Gorgeous view from the top of an arch ....the water is so clear! someone wrote in stones a love message to someone! haha so cute...imagine asking someone to marry you like this?

View of the bridge from Mackinaw City. Gorgeous! the water is crystal clear!

A Bed and Breakfast in the city.....AHH the gorgeous-ness of it all.....I told the kids I was going to take a picture and say this is where we stayed! haha I wanted to go on the porch and my kids were begging me "MOM NO DON'T!" HAHA I should've!

Vacation.......

We just got back from vacation to Mackinaw city and Mackinaw Island! We had a great time.....Mackinaw Island is so quaint and the views are breath taking.......It's amazing to me all the gorgeous areas that are tucked away on that Island.....I wish I could fit more pictures.... I think I will have to post another set of pictures to show! Isn't it amazing too, how God creates such beautiful pictures in nature for us to look at and enjoy......Sometimes we would just stand there staring and saying "Wow!"











This is a picture we took on the Island with a view of the Mackinaw bridge in the back ground......the water is just pure sparkling blue.....you can see right to the bottom in the shallow areas it's so clear! Amazing that the people on this Island have this view on a regular basis......there was a beach here and the kids were enjoying sticking their feet in it after walking around the Island so much.....it was a hot day so this area was refreshing!

I HAD to have my picture taken in front of the Mackinaw Island library. We love going to the library at home so I was thrilled to see this there. I could just imagine living on that Island and riding my bike down the hill and checking out a book and sitting at the beach reading! How lucky the people are that do that! Every building and house are painted the most gorgeous colors, and the gardens are impeccable.......flowers do make all the difference in the world....and the sidewalks in this area are boardwalks so it adds to the charm.

The Island does not have any cars on it, the only modes of transportation are horse and carriage or riding bikes. We rented bikes for a few hours and rode around the scenic areas and later in the day Mike and Grace took a carriage ride way up into the high parts of the Island. Grace is such a horse lover that she was in her glory to take a ride with her daddy! Macy and Jordan opted out and so they walked with me through the shops and along the beach! it was so lovely! There were times Grace was naming the horses and she'd say "OH look there's an American painted horse!" haha so she was in her glory every time a horse and carriage passed.......She did have a few pouting moments when she saw people riding horseback through the Island and she said "OH I choose to do that, that's all I want to do!" Unfortunately that was not an option this trip...and since I'm very allergic to horses I wouldn't be able to do that anyhow.......She finally perked up and said "When I'm an adult I'm doing that!" haha and I'm SURE she will!

This was a gorgeous rock ark at the top of a trail above the water......you can see through it down to the water. See how you can see right into the water....it was just gorgeous and again it's amazing to me this has stood in this formation for years and years without falling! Gorgeous view! It was a LONGGGG narrow hike up a hill to get to this and we were breathing deep by the time we got there.....it was worth every step!

And last but certainly NOT least......The Grand hotel......it's the most gorgeous hotel on this Island. They hold Governors meetings on this Island and it was the setting for the movie Somewhere In Time (a great old movie) years ago with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. The porch seems to go on for a mile and if you look closely on the picture you can see underneath the awnings it's painted light blue and the tour guide said that was to trick the birds into thinking it's sky so they will not try to make nests in there! Pretty clever! If you weren't staying at the Grand you had to pay $10 just to walk onto the porch or into the flower gardens.....so we passed since the view just standing in front of it was breathtaking enough and there were stunning flower gardens in front of it as well. Again I need to do another post with more photos......so stay tuned.........

This post doesn't nearly describe the beauty of the Island......if you've been there things will be familiar to you.......if not I hope you can go someday!! Our kids have never been so it was fun to see it through their eyes.......Macy and I just were in AWE of the gingerbread homes and the gardens.......See I just have to post more pictures of the homes alone! haha Hope you're enjoying your summer.......this was a nice part of ours!

Summer.......

We're loving the summer at our house for certain!! Starting with summer foods....you have to love pulling out the grill or tasting the fruits and veggies of the season!! Mmm raspberries and blueberries in my cereal in the morning, and salads with fresh veggies on top and one of my favorite summer sandwiches!
Cut a loaf of Whole Wheat baguette in half and then cut those in half as well, spread lightly with butter and toast under the broiler just until slightly browned on top. Slice fresh tomatoes and layer on top of toasted bread, place cut up pieces of fresh basil over the tomato and sprinkle with salt and pepper, sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella cheese and return to broiler just until cheese is melted. Add a slice of fresh Avocado on top! MMM delish!! you can add a light drizzle of Italian dressing, Olive Oil or put mild banana peppers on top! (Macy and I have this weekly I think, she won't try the Avocado on hers though! ha)









We are thoroughly enjoying our pool......it's been so so SOOO hot this week especially! I love to lay out on the lounge chair and read and take a dip in between chapters! The kids love the pool and spend hours in there. This is a rare moment of no one splashing me, or saying "WATCH THIS!" or swimming underneath me.......haha I don't stay in long usually so they are right back at their games and diving!










And can I tell you about the Smores?? oh my the smores......I've had WAYYYY too many.....many many evenings out at the grill toasting up Marshmallows and squeezing their melty yummy goodness between graham crackers layered with CHOCOLATE SQUARES! OH MY..... and I know I've had too many because Sunday morning I was buttoning my pants.....well that's another story.....I've backed off for now and hiked up the exercising! I'm going to do a whole post on different ways to make a Smore to die for!! I found these Marshmallows that crack me up every time I see them.......so stay tuned!!










Our house is the party house in the summer which I love.......we have alot of Birthdays and we always host since we have "kid stuff" here for the cousins to enjoy and the pool is a fun way to have fun together! Yesterday we celebrated my nephew Jacob's 13th Birthday and July 4th all at once.......we had a blast and it was a HOT HOT HOT day and everyone enjoyed the pool!!

I hope you're all having a good summer so far.....Mike's on vacation this week so we're enjoying being lazy with him.....In the mornings we make special breakfast and the kids love it when he plays in the pool with them.......and of course we're late nighters so it's just all good!

Enjoy your summer everyone!!! I know I am!!