Tuesday, August 18, 2009

1st day of School!


It was the first day of school for the girls this week. Even Elli get's to go to school too! They both did a great job and love IA and their teachers! It has always been a dream of mine to take them to school with me and have them be in the same building with me all day.

Mack started 4th grade this year but has now entered the "too cool for a picture" phase. O well! He has adjusted well to his new teacher and class mates.
Everyone is having a great start to the school year.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Mackinac Island

Welcome to Mackinaw Island!




The entire side of my family took over Mackinaw Island this past weekend. There were 27 of us that stayed on the Island for a few days of biking, eating, shopping, horse back riding and relaxing.

The girls loved watching the all the horses and playing by the shore. Elli loved throwing rocks into the lake. Take a look at her form! Stepping with opposition! As a former PE teacher this brings tears to my eyes! She may be the ball player of the bunch someday! Bill and I took them on a bike ride around the entire 8 mile round island. I was hoping they would have taken a nap but they stayed awake giggling and enjoying the beautiful scenery.










It was great to have so many family members around to visit with and help with the kids. Mack loved biking and hanging out late at night on the porch with the adults and the girls got spoiled with lots of ice cream and of coarse, hugs and kisses from everyone!

My mom planned an Amazing Race activity for everyone. It consisted of many teams running around the island looking for certain landmarks and taking a picture of each clue and racing back to the finish. There was a cash prize so Bill and I were in it to win it! However, we ended up getting 2nd place to my brother, Matt and his wife, Jodi. O well, some things never change. In the end, it was a fun game and we have already started training for the next Family Amazing Race.

This was a wonderful family vacation and we are already looking forward to coming back to the Island when the girls are bigger so they can ride their own bikes around, ride horses, visit the Fort, hike the trails and sit through dinner! I have so many happy memories on Mackinaw Island from my childhood that I want to continue the tradition with my kids to inspire them that you do not need tv's or cars to have a fun time.