Back Yard Adventures

The kids thought it would be fun to sleep in the tent.  Since we were not planning to go anywhere that would require us to sleep in a tent we decided to put it up in the backyard.  It got pretty cold the night we decided to sleep outside.  We all had on long clothes, socks, and 3 blankets.  The boys were so excited I wasn't sure they would ever fall asleep.  Sutton of course was the first to go.  Leland on the ohter hand wanted to know when the bugs would be going to bed.  Then a dog started barking and he wanted to know who the dog belonged to and why were they letting it bark!  He eventually went in the house to get the ear muffs he uses when we go to Monster Jam, but they didn't help.  He did finally fall asleep.  And surprisingly enough they both stayed out there the entire night.  Leland wanted to sleep out one more time before we took the tent down (Sutton decided he was not interested).  This time he insisted he wanted the dog to join us.  I was finally able to coax the dog into joining us (he wanted no part of it!).  Once Winston got out there all he did was pant.  And of course Leland wanted to know when he was going to put his head down and go to sleep.  At about 10:00 pm Leland decided he wanted to go back to his bed!!

Way Up North

We were able to get away for a long weekend recently to visit with Nates Aunt Carol and her friend Shelia.  Carol lives on Lake Leelanau, which is about 30 minutes past Traverse City.  Nate and I have always enjoyed the area where her place is, it is beautiful!!  We were able to enjoy many of the areas attractions, good food, and ice cream.  The boys thought it was fun to spend a day in "their towns" (Leland and Suttons Bay).  Carol told us about a very nice beach in Empire, so we enjoyed an afternoon there after doing the big hill climb at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes.  The boys also kept Carol busy with fishing.  Our last evening there we enjoyed a camp fire on the beach of Lake Michigan.  Of course as we have experienced at the end of our other trips no one really wanted to come home, especially Sutton who even asked Carol if he could stay with her!!  Thanks Carol and Shelia for letting us stay with you, we all had a great time (evident by all the pictures)!! 

Bobbing And Back Stroking

The boys recently completed a 2 week swim lesson at a nearby pool.  They both made quite a bit of progress!!  They both improved floating skills and Leland did a nice job with his back stroke.