Boyne Vacation...camera one!!!

Surprise...I am here and blogging again. We went on vacation to Boyne City, and Lake Charlevoix. This should come as no surprise to you but I took a few pictures. I think the easiest way to catch you up and not drive myself NUTS sorting through them all I will just take each disk and break them down!!

Dave and I went up first and set up camp. There were a few challenges in the process, but all in all it went well! After the home was established it was time to head to the beach and put the boat together!! Dave has worked soooooooooooo hard over the last few months to get it repaired and painted and here it was finally ready for it's true maiden voyage!!

We found a spot on the beach and started putting it together!!

Yup, it's a big beast!!!

Dave was VERY excited to get it ready for sailing......I will tell you right now that we were graced with GREAT weather the whole time we were here. And, for northern Michigan that is saying a ton. Yup, I have pics of him sailing, but they are on the other disk...so the story continues!!

After we were here for a couple days, Dave's mom and dad came up for a few days. I will admit I was a little worried , being they are 85yrs. young and haven't been camping for a few years!! Right away dad suited up and went out sailing with Dave! I was beyond impressed!!

I think he enjoyed it!

Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day and not too much wind.

Way to go dad!!!

T-Rex found a spot on the beach to rest.....and let me tell you that was no small feat!!! Every time the boat left the beach they moved the swim buoys and we had to move the boat....this went on for 2 days. Finally we moved about 1/4 miles down the beach and all was well. I was very disappointed in this as I had called the campground back in January to make sure there was a place to keep the boats....I was informed when I went to complain, that he never saw cats before and didn't know what I was asking....DUH!!!! Then ASK?!?!?

Mom and dad were great company and other than a little incident with the neighbors who were chopping wood and purposely shooting the wood chips at the trailer....to which WARDZILLA made a brief appearance....all was well!!

After they left and headed off to a few days in Traverse City, Jesse, Amy and Lukas arrived.

The boys stayed back to sail and move the boats :), refer to previous paragraph! Amy, Lukas and I were off to TC ourselves to watch Amy's niece participate in the Cherry Festival Parade!

Lukas got a card with a picture of a German Shepard police dog on it and could not have been more excited. Here he is showing his cousin Rachael!

They were very intent on watching all the action!

The excitement level reached it's MAX when a whole line of TRACTORS went by. Lukas does love him some tractors!!! :)

Lukas, Rach, mommy, Noni, and Papa watching the parade go by!

Cousin Madison waving as the tractors go by! As you can see we are not to far away from welcoming another little one into the family!!!
Still smiling even though it was HOT!!!

A piece of the Twin Towers from NYC....

Back to the campground and yes we had good neighbors that moved in!! They had about 4 sites and a lot of family!! One of the evening activities was a pinata and they invited Lukas to participate.

First he watched how it was done!

Grandpa was more than happy to help Lukas take a swing!

Mommy and daddy watching the action. It was one tough cookie to crack!!! Finally, the candy was freed and there were some happy campers...get it....happy campers....heheheh!!

Sorry, buddy but I couldn't resist!! A little buddy butt crack!!!

Back at the camper and who knows what these boys were cooking up back there.....

Next up on the agenda was a little bike riding...Gma wanted to make sure he was safe and she may have gone a little overboard with the protection!! Gpa got him all suited up and he was ready to ride!

He LOVES to ride his bike, and his gpa loves taking him around and around. They spent tons of time checking out all the trails and paths, gpa also spent time teaching him how to brake!!!

(Just yesterday Amy mentioned that he is all over the place on his bike now, and hard to keep up with now!! :)..)

More sailing and time on the beach were next in line!
Getting ready to go sailing is a little harder these days!!
Amy sure is a trooper.

And they were off....

Gpa gave chase...

Aunt Ya and Lukas having fun on the beach!

He does love his aunt Ya......and she loves him too!!!!

Even when he is pushing her in the water!

Or licking her face......where could that come from???? :)

They are great buds!!!

Waving at mommy and daddy!

Heading in!

Then it was time for the boys to head out and play....a little friendly racing!!

Lukas keeping watch!

Bulldozers on the beach!
It had to plow down all the castle's that could be built!!

Sweetness!!

Jesse and his toy!

Sarah and Dave spent some time sailing together. She even got to try out the trapeeze farness!!!! She Loved it!!

And although I didn't get a picture he was able to finally try out his trapeze farness too!!!

Dad and son head out for some fun!

Lukas chatting with little sissy!

The weather was perfect for sailing and the guys took full advantage!

One evening before bed someone decided to hang out on somebodies shoe! The next morning he and gpa went outside to start the day and gpa found this toad IN his shoe!! Brought a big smile to someones face!!!

Gpa surprised Lukas with a fishing pole and after they got all the parts put together they headed for the dock. Makes you want to whistle the theme song from the Andy Griffith show doesn't it!!!???

Learning to cast the line!!

Then reeling in the BIG catch!!!

Ok, so maybe it was a little cardboard cut out of a fish.......we hadn't seen one fish in this lake from the day we got there!!!

He didn't care he had a ball!!!!

Jesse gave it a try......and Lukas had a hard time getting his fishing pole back!!

Sarah did get a chance to give it a try!!!

With that I am caught up with the sd card out of camera one.

More stories to tell and a whole other camera to download!!!

I promise it will not be that long!!

Lucy and Desi come visiting!

It's about time I get caught up on Desi and Lucy. This year again we have been lucky that they are spending a lot of their time near the house. We have gotten so that we see them at the weirdest times. You find yourself always glancing out the windows to see if you can spot them.
As you can see they are looking at us too!!

Sorry, about the quality of this picture, it is from quite a distance. Hootie is still feeding them. She will get them to follow her and work for their meal though. The other day I saw one of the owlets playing with it's dinner and drop it!! :)

A few days later Dave noticed Hootie and Lucy sitting and lunching just outside the dining room window. This is maybe 15 ft. from the house!

Another morning when I was headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Dave!!!!......I saw Hootie sitting outside the living room window. It was still early and a little dark so i was glad I could get the shot. I hoped she would stay until it got a little lighter so I could get another one!

She did stick around and seemed to be watching something quite intently!!!....

Must be she was interested in the morning weather report!!! :)

I thought it was so funny that the reflection of the TV on the window looked like this!!! I sent a copy into TV8 and Terri, but never heard anything.....OH, well I thought it was fun!!

Desi dropped in for a little visit a few days later!! It had rained a bit the night before so his feathers were a little wet still!

Again, apologies for the pic quality, but I have been saying that I hoped the owlets would land on the swing set so I could get a picture for Lukas......and they did, unfortunately it was after dark and this is the best I could get.

A short time after that we heard something outside the deck door and sure enough Lucy came for a visit. Dave spotted her first and he grabbed the camera off the table and quietly handed it to me. I didn't want to scare them away, so I tried to sneak to the door. She was sitting on the railing and I was able to slide open the door and stick the camera out for a picture. I kept looking around because I could here Desi screeching somewhere close......so I looked and looked at the trees(remember this is LATE at night)......DUH there he was sitting on the bird feeder looking down at me!!

You all need to know what lengths I go to to bring you these pictures!!!! It was after dark, check... the deck light was on, check...It was a warm summers night, check....WHAT disgusting creature flies around lights on warm summer night?!?!?!?!

YUP, MOTHS...my skin is crawling just thinking about it!!

So, just for you I risked my LIFE to take this picture!!

Yesterday going from one room to the other I spotted both Desi and Lucy sitting near the deck. I wanted to make sure to get a picture before I scared them away. So, this one was taken through the kitchen window.

A little closer!!

Desi flew into a branch a few feet away, but Lucy was willing to hang out for a bit. She spent some time stretching out her wings....Hehe I love how tall they get and the legs kill me!! :)

Another pose while shaking her booty and fluffing those wings.

Zoomed in on her face to watch her eyes. If you follow me on FB you can see a couple of videos I took of them up close. I have issues tyring to upload videos here on blogger...sorry. It is so cool to watch the double eyelids, a clear one comes in from the side and then the other closes down!!

Looks like Lucy wants to have a conversation with me!!

The talons look a little intimidating!!

Next, I turned my attention to Desi. A little FYI..... by this time I decided to try and get out on the deck and as close as I could get!! I slowly slide the door open and stepped outside. At this point they were maybe 12 ft. away. I was shocked that they stayed where they were!!

Notice that Desi is so confident with his balancing skills that he is sitting one legged!!!

We started our stare down!!

I was out there with them for about 15 min. when I heard Dave coming home from work. I was sure that they would fly away when they heard and saw the truck. They didn't....he was able to park the car, go into the house and join me out on the deck!!! Desi did take off a few min. later, but Lucy stayed put for awhile. Dave even went into and out of the door before she finally took off too!

So happy they are feeling comfortable around us and am hoping they return for some deck time soon!!

Baby it was a hot one!!

It has been REALLY HOT here all of a sudden...like HOT!!! The humidity has been really high too and so what happens when I go over to Gma's house for the day.....she puts me to work!!!! We were out trimming some bush in the front yard!

It's a good think I had some "tweezers" in my tool box to help out!! Gma would" pawapt" it and then I would carry them away!

Gma note....he said that was the noise the clippers made when I would cut them!!! hehe

One good thing is that along with all the work I am expected to do I also get to PLAY! And what better way on a hot day than in the sprinkler!!

What!?!?!? I had a bug flying around my head...so I sprayed him!!!!

I know I look a little pensive here.....and why you might ask??
I was a little nervous that I might just be in some trouble!!


Because.........While I was spraying the flowers!!

Someone may have gotten in the way!!! hehehe

I MOST certainly did NOT do that on purpose....:)

Sorry!! REALLY!!!

Time for a little refreshment!

I was tracking a chipmunk here!!

I never did catch him....but it was not for lack of trying!!

Time for a little lunch break....so off with the wet shoes!

Later Gpa came home and I was once again put to work cleaning off the deck...we were blowing off all the junk that fell out of the trees...I swear today it looked like it was snowing!!

What am I looking at you ask?!?!

Gpa was being naughty and using the leaf blower for no good!!!

What was the result of his misbehaving.....it was my shoes, gmas flip flops and the place mats all on the ground!

Gma made Gpa and I go down and pick them up all by ourselves with NO help from her!!!

I tried really hard to throw them up like Gpa did!!!

OK, so we picked everything up and headed to the shed to put the blower away!!....Like how I carry my ear protection!?!?!

All in all it was a really fun day....A little work and a lot of play.

I may have been just a little worn out after all that and so while I was waiting for daddy to come pick me up ........

I CRASHED!!!