South Haven/St. Joe

A couple weeks ago John, Tony, Dustin, Shenira, Gabe, Josh, Darci, Nana & I headed out for a fun day on the lake. John's parents let us use their boat so we started off in South Heaven and then made our way over to St. Joe. My brother Josh was the first one to get into the FREEZING COLD water. This is him at the shore trying to get the rest of us to get in! :) It took a little while but we did all get in.

Uncle Josh being the nice uncle that he is gave both Shenira and Gabe a lift to the shoreline since the water was so cold. He was "Uncle Josh the Taxi".Once on shore the boys and Darci :) Had fun tossing the football around while the rest of us looked for rocks to bring back to the rock garden at home. Uncle Josh, Tony & Dustin decided that they wanted to climb the Dune the sand was SO hot but they all made it to the top and then one at a time than all ran down as fast as they could. This was pretty funny to watch. I thought for sure that we were going to be taking someone to the hospital but they all made it without falling. Josh went first
Then DustinAnd Tony was last. Tony came down SO fast that I never got a chance to get his picture until he was at the bottom!It was fun having people with us so that I could get some pictures with me in them.
This is my mom and brother. It was so nice having them join us for the day. My brother has a crazy work schedule so we don't get to do a lot of stuff together so it was great to spend a whole day with him.

I am head over heals in love with this man. He has such a love for the water and I think I pretty much love every picture that I've ever taken of him on the water. He is so happy when we are out here. This is a place where he can come and not have to think about anything and he can just relax and enjoy himself.

The rest of these pictures were taken at St. Joe which was our second stop for the day. The water there was much warmer and we could actually play in it. This is Tony getting the best of his "old man". I love watching the way that all of the kids play around with their dad and how much he loves to play back.

I always have a favorite picture of the day and this time this one is it. I wouldn't be able to get this shot again if my life depended on it.

My mom took this one and I love it to Tony, Dustin & Josh tossing the ball around.

Once we were back in South Haven we stopped for a little dinner and then it was to Sherman's for the best Ice Cream ever! We do not got to South Haven and leave without stopping at Sherman's. I hope that we will be able to make it back over at least one more time this year but we have lots more stuff planned and our summer is almost over :(

Maryland Vacation 2011

John & I took Dustin, Shenira & Gabe to Maryland for the week of July 3 until the 9th. We had so much fun while we were there and also had sometime to just sit back and relax.
This drive is suppose to take about 10 hours however we have never been able to do that. So for us it's about a 12 hour drive.

This is Shenira beating up on her big brother in the car! It was so nice to see them play around and having fun. Dustin, John, Shenira & Uncle David played the Wii for a while the first night we were there after I took Gabe up to bed. I got to have some quite time to myself and watched a chick flick!
On the Fourth of July we were able to hang out by the pool during the day and we had a cookout with family before heading to the fireworks in Hagerstown.

The fireworks display in Hagerstown was AMAZING this picture is of our blanket after the fireworks were done. We were so close that soot & cardboard from the fireworks kept landing on us. I can't say that I've ever in my life been that close.

Day 3 what better way to start off the day then with Mickey Mouse Pancakes. Uncle David made yummy pancakes for everyone and then we were off for some horse back riding.

My uncle has two horses that he owns so that guest of the Bed & Breakfast can do trail rides. There is also do horse boarding there as well. This trip was the first time that we've been able to work it out for the kids to be able to go riding and they loved it with the exception of Dustin who I think liked it once he traded horses. His horse wanted no part of going on a trail ride and gave him some trouble so they just got him a different horse and then all was good.

This is Gabe riding in the ring because he was to small to go out on the trial. Uncle David walked him around while the rest of us were getting a little bit of training before our ride.

Shenira LOVED this part of our trip. She was a little nervous at first but once they got going is was good to go.

After the ride they let Shenira help with rubbing the horses down and then taking them back to their pasture. She enjoyed getting to learn something new.

After horse back riding we went to the Washington Monument that is in Boonsboro Maryland. What a great site. I got some great pictures here.

This is John & Shenira at the top of the monument.

All of us at the outside the monument

My new favorite picture of John & Dustin.

Day 4 Hersey Park in Hersey PA This was a great day and a great park. I enjoyed this park more than any other park that I've ever been too. It was very family friendly. Food prices weren't so much in the way of family friendly but many other things were.

This picture below is John taking Gabe on his first big roller coaster and boy did he have a blast. His mama sat on a bench a nervous wreck but he got off saying "let's do it again". Then after this ride they took him on another one that goes upside down and he loved that one just as much. He rode that one 3 times.

John with the kids inside the park.

Gabe with a Hersey Kiss

This would be a 5lb candy bar that you could take home with you for the low price of $39.95. Gabe wanted to buy it for Kelly but I told him the only way that candy bar was coming home with us was in a picture!
Getting Dustin's shot with the huge candy bar
and of course we would never leave Sissy out.
After leaving the park at 9:30pm we stopped at Pizza Hut to get some dinner. Poor Gabe didn't make it to dinner he fell asleep right on the dinner table.
Day 5 we really didn't do anything. But Day 6 we went t DC and took Gabe & Shenira to the Aquarium & to see the White House.


Day 7 time to back up and head home but before we left I wanted to get some shots of Shenira around the farm. It's so much fun to have a girl to take picture of with the flowers and other spots that are a little to girly for the boys.
This is Gabe on one of the hills outside of he Bed and Breakfast.
Gabe & Jack. They have3 Jack Russell Terriers and they are all so much fun. The kids LOVE Jack he is so laid back an he really loved them too. He got lots of attention that week.
Beautiful sunset on our way home.