4th entry - Pentwater, last day

Harrison and Henry sported their spandex speed suits at the beach today.  As soon as we got there and parked the bikes, an older lady asked us why they were wearing wetsuits.  I gave her my "back off" eyes and all was well after that.  Both suits are a bit too small.  Henry looked like a Slav power lifter and Harrison had a considerable wedgie all day. 

We played in the sand, flew kites (got a new one today), and actually got in the water a bit.  Weather and water were both considerably warmer today.   We also enjoyed beach nachos with synthetic nacho cheese, which was dispensed by way of a hand pump, from the beach concession stand which were as good as what you can find at a typical county fair. 

Harrison tripled up with a popsicle, then ring pop, then ice cream today, plus pizza for dinner and of course the beach nachos.  Not too bad.  None of us have lost weight on this trip.  The fried fish dinner from Bortell's when Don was here was enough to prevent weight loss. 

Harrison experimented again with the training wheels off his new bike (a 16 incher if you were wondering, hoooo rahhh), but it didn't last long.  He cruises all over town with the training wheels but he has requested knee pads and elbow pads before he is willing to really get serious with just two wheels.  He IS talking about popping wheelies and ramping, but he understands that he has to ditch the wimp wheels if he is ever going to ride a wheelie down the street like the cool kids. 

We forced ourselves to use the full manual mode on the camera during the entire trip (for all the photos I've posted this week) and we're getting pretty good at it.  Danza has taken some killer shots...see below, the closeup of Harrison's eyes while he was eating his ice cream on the bandstand.  You'll know the picture I'm talking about when you see it. 

Anyway, we spent the evening packing things up and we're taking off after breakfast to get back to our normal lives.  It's been great up here.  And we can't wait to get back in August. 

Michigan 3...flying kites, flying sand

Grandpa Don left this morning after a two day stay.  We were so happy he could make it and we all had a really great time.  He kept saying over and over what a great job my Mom (and Dad) did in picking the house and location.  And I think he meant it.  We were sad to see him go.  But he did check out the campground (a three minute bike ride away) and we talked about getting more of the extended family up here all at one time, especially with the help of the RV. 

About the sand - it was a warmer day today and less wind so the boys took full advantage of nearly optimal beach conditions.  Henry threw sand, ate sand, wiggled his fat little toes in sand, and squealed with joy about the sand.  The sand cleaning machinery had just worked the beach a day or two ago and it really made a difference.  The boys got serious digging and dumping and constructing little unidentifiable sand things.  There were a few more people on the beach, but still not many.  It's nice being up here before the really busy season has started...especially with warm weather to make it comfortable on the beach.

We kept them up late tonight and did an evening jaunt to the ice cream parlor with them clad in their PJs.  Now that I'm looking at these pictures I realize that they were dressed alike all day and then had matching PJ's.  This was not done on purpose...we aren't that family.

Tomorrow is our last full day and we're bummed about it, but we're back in seven weeks for another week-long stay.  It's wonderful to have the house up here, and both boys are now at an age where they really, clearly enjoy it.  Especially Harrison.  He loves the beach, and kites, and riding his new bike all over town, and just having a full week without daycare and with both Danza and me fully engaged in family activities from morning to night. 

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