Joyful Notes

God has just blessed us with this wonderful vacation!  We are enjoying our family time so much, and having a wonderful time!  Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon shopping in town at the little stores there.  Lots of fun things to look at, and Abby got a few little souveniers.  We also stopped at House of Flavors and had some ice cream ~ Abby had wanted to try the Hokey Pokey sundae…and even though she loved it, she only ate about 1/4 of it! 

After some games with the family, Tony & I took off to meet our friends from college, Matt & Sarah Bright, for dinner.  We had not seen them since they were married about 13 years ago, and we had the BEST time talking and laughing with them and getting caught up on our lives! 

Today we ate lunch at a fish market where you choose your own fresh fish and they cook it up right there and serve it with fries and slaw.  We took our food to a picnic table where we could overlook Lake Michigan…my Walleye was delish!

Then we went down to the beach where the girls and dads swam and built sand castles and flew kites.

Mom thought it was a little chilly! 

Tonight we are looking forward to grilling hot dogs and bratwurst, then making a bonfire for S’mores!

Wow!  What a great vacation this has been!  We are having the best time…lots of playing, lots of relaxing, and lots of laughing!  Here is the house and porch:

Yesterday was a beautiful day…except for the temperature.  It was pretty chilly out, but we managed to have lots of fun.  Some people went shopping in town while we spent the afternoon trying to teach Abby to ride her bike.  We made a little progress…  Then we went to the grocery store and got some food for a couple of meals.  In the evening, we and the Kraus’s ordered sandwiches and pizza in and played games throughout the evening.  When the others got back we kept on playing Euchre and Farkle.  Lots of fun!

Today was still a little on the cool side, but after lunch we decided to take the girls down to the beach and let them play in the sand.  Well…it turned out that not only were they IN the water…but we had water fights at the shore and Aunt Jenny and Uncle Tony ended up VERY wet and sandy!  :-)  But it was lots of fun.  This evening we are grilling steaks, chops, and fish and probably playing more games!  You can see the entire photo album of the past few days here.

So yesterday was our first full day of vacation. We actually had a very nice, uneventful trip up here on Saturday, and after unpacking we all went out to dinner in town.  The house we are staying in is very, very nice…I’ll have to take a picture today to post for tomorrow…and we have been very comfortable here.  So yesterday was Father’s Day and we all woke up at our own pace, ate breakfast, then handed out cards and gifts to the fathers. 

After packing a picnic lunch, we and the Kraus’s headed to the beach where the girls had the absolute best time playing in the sand and water! 

Chloe even had fun playing on the beach blanket and kicking her toes in the sand. 

The guys played soccer and football and Christy and I talked and read our books.  The rest of the family joined us for a while late in the afternoon before we all headed back at different times to shower and change.  We ate dinner at a burger restaurant in town.  After dinner, the Kraus’s and we went for a walk around town and back to the house.  Our evening consisted of reading, talking, etc. before most of us fell dead asleep again!  It was a great day!  Today everyone has plans to do lots of various activities.  I’ll try to post again tomorrow!

Our sweet dog Peyton had to leave us last week, because he was just a miserable dog in our little apartment.  We were heartbroken, but realized it was the best thing for him.  We brought Peyton home as a tiny puppy, and from the very start he was a loyal friend.  Abby loved him most of all, and for Mommy & Daddy the worse part of the whole situation was hearing Abby yell tearfully, “Bye, Peyton!” as Daddy took him to the car!  :*(  It was a horrible day, but we hope Peyton will be happier in the days to come.  Here is Abby and her beloved boy right before he left us.

I have been looking at this site for a long time, and even though we can’t buy anything right now I’ve been keeping it on my radar for Abby’s birthday.  Emily Rose sells adorable dolls, clothing and accessories that all fit with the American Girl dolls or similarly-sized dolls for a more reasonable price…and they also have frequent sales!  Their “pick of the week” outfits are all under $12!!  They just started their new blog called Raising American Girls and they are giving away a doll trunk!  If your daughter loves American Girl like mine does, check out this wonderful site!  They have the MOST adorable outfits like this graduation outfit, this pink parfait party dress and this Snazzy Lime Outfit!

Kailani over at An Island Life is sponsoring a great giveaway just in time for Father’s Day!  You can enter to win a 30GB Microsoft Zune Digital Player from Best Buy!  I’d love to win one for my oft-travelling husband! 

Another great giveaway this week at My Wooden Spoon!  Up for grabs this week are:

Hop on over and enter and check out some of her great recipes!

This past Sunday we were so excited that our best friends, the McCrorie’s, were coming into town!!!  They stayed with us overnight, and let me tell you…it was the BEST fun in the world and hilarious to see their five kids plus our one all sacked out on the couches and floor in the living room!  Then they made a quick trip to Dayton, but two of the girls decided to stay here with us, and I’m so glad!  Abby’s had the best time, and so have we!  The whole family is coming back tomorrow and staying with us another night, and the four of us adults are going to dinner tomorrow night!

This week has been a little chaotic due to the fact that Waters Edge Church (where we are currently attending) is having backyard Bible clubs this week.  I was asked to help out with one of the clubs, so we’ve been driving back and forth to New Palestine every afternoon and enjoying our time there.  We even got to stay and swim on Monday.  Here are a few pics of the fun!  You can see all the pictures in my album here!

The craft today was snakes! 

Learning verses ~

And swimming!

Last Thursday we were glad to join my niece on her “last day of school” picnic!  The kids enjoyed playing, then eating, and then we saw everyone get their awards.  And Missy & I were able to have a FEW moments of actual adult conversation!  :-D 

Abby, Daniel, and Sarah…We were proud of Sarah for receiving the Peacemaker award because she is so kind and loves to help her classmates get along!

My gorgeous nephew Alex.  Don’t you think he’ll break a few hearts in the years to come?

I saw this fun meme over at Are We There Yet and decided to play along…enjoy!

A is for age: 36

B is for burger of choice: Bacon cheeseburger

C is for car you drive: Oldsmobile Bravada

D is for your dog’s name: Peyton (after Peyton Manning of course!)

E is for essential item you use every day: Insulin!

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: The Office

G is for your favorite game: Canasta

H is for hometown: Indianapolis

I is for instruments you play: piano & flute (both a little…)

J is for favorite juice: grape

K is for what you’d like to kick: my habit of procrastinating.

L is for last restaurant you ate at: El Rodeo

M is for your favorite muppet: the Swedish Chef

N is for number of piercings: one in each ear

O is for overnight hospital stays: several times with diabetes when I was young and then when I had Abby.

P is for people you were with today: Abby, Tony, Mom, Mike, Ren, Grandpa & Grandma

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: read, computer, drink coffee on the porch

R is for biggest regret: I don’t like looking for regrets, but rather prefer to look toward the future!

S is for status: Married to my wonderful husband, mom to my 7-year-old daughter

T is for time you woke up today: 7:45 a.m.

U is for what you consider unique: my daughter!

V is for vegetable you love: broccoli, brussel sprouts

W is for worst habit: procrastinating!

X is for x-rays you’ve had: hmmmm, 9 ultrasounds with Abby

Y is for yummy food you ate today: watermelon

Z is for zodiac sign: Capricorn

Leave me a comment if you play too, so I can read your answers!