Harrington Beach State Park

We spent our Saturday exploring a new park with some friends. The day was jam packed full of dangling our toes in Lake Michigan because it was SO cold you'd get hypothermia if you submerged more than that, building sand castles (aka throwing sand), eating a sand coated picnic lunch/eating just plain sand (Cass and Lu? Yep Lu ate it too... not sure why... ), collecting and playing with sticks and attempting to fish at a nearby quarry (but where were the fish? There seems to be a theme in lakes/quarries near the city... people all over but no one catching anything).

The 'campfire'. Jack builds campfires all the time.

Starting her young

Jack's inch worm

Jack found this tiny little inch worm at the park today. Gotta love the detail and clarity of the digital macro (click the pic to see it enlarged-- I'm no pro but sometimes I get lucky:) ) Check back later for some more pics from our outing today!

Splish Splash

Today we spent the day with some good friends playing in

the summer sun
making mud pies, running through sprinklers and enjoying our time together.

While the kids frolicked Shalet and I talked about future plans- and how crazy it will be when things change. Exciting and sad at the same time. Right now we have other friends who are in the same circumstances as us- spouses in school- living meagerly- with families of small children. We have leaned on each other- knowing perhaps these friends have been there - or are willing to go there to help with whatever is needed. And how special that is- I treasure these friendships. It dawned on me how little time left we will actually have with our good friends here. Right now there are about 9 months before Andy will be all done with school. Many of our good friends have recently left- or will be moving within a year--- us included. Where we will end up is up in the air right now.... but what I do know is that these special friendships will come with us (We will just have to visit Utah and Idaho once in awhile :) ).

We used to always joke that Lucy and Daxton would get married because she would cozy up to "Daaaaxton", (and how that would be so nice if they did).... well today I think Cass put her dibbs in on Lucas. She couldn't get enough of him and he was having fun too, till she started doing this. "Cassie hit" he told me with a bit of a pout. When I explained she liked him and was patting him because she thought he was cool- he was ok with it. So all bets are still on.

Hi Jack

State Fair

Here are a few words to describe our (from my perspective) experience at the State Fair...

HOT crowded overwhelming exhausting high-tension whiney TANTRUM sugary

We set out this morning and I expected that this outing would be like most others- fun and a lot less stress that being cooped up in our little house. We invited our good friends Echo, Nolan and cute as a button Audrey to come with and were excited to share the experience with them:)

We were off. Cass in the back carrier, Jack and Lu in the double stroller. And the stroller is a must because of how far away we have to park to avoid paying the big bucks to park (my cheapness coming through) even though Jack is almost 5. We get there and WOW I underestimated the people and how hard it would be to maneuver a double stroller through massive crowds not to mention keep two double strollers together.

We decided to go to the WI products pavilion to get some food. I (being cheap) wanted to use a coupon but soon learned that approximately 3000 other people had the same idea. Then Jack saw this basketball game he wanted to play however this was impossible because I had to stay by the girls and it was WAY too crowded to let him go by himself. This raised his irritation level a notch. So we couldn't get the sandwich I was planning on so we went to get a sunday (it's a festival- if I want a sunday for lunch I want one! ) with yummy Door County cherries on top... only Jack wanted his own and was not happy to share. I let him hold the $ to pay the lady, thinking this would appease him but when I took the change rather than let him hold it he was near his boiling point. We have had some major challenges with tantrums in the past but Jack has matured a ton in the last year and I am usually able to talk him down and avoid the terrible scene that is to occur. He and Lucy start arguing over the sunday so I take it and plan to give out bites. I sit them down each with a spoon and tell them they can take turns scooping. THAT IS THE STRAW THAT BREAKS THE CAMEL'S BACK. Jack explodes into one of his screaming/crying tyrades where he is hysterical and EVERYONE is looking at us and I cannot snap him out of it. He is getting so darn strong! I try to take him to a place a bit out of the limelight and have to muster all of my strength (mind you cass is on my back). After what seems like an eternity I am able to talk him down and they are able to enjoy what is left of the soup we once called an ice cream sunday. Pheeewwww! Luckily Echo and her gang were gone purchasing their own treat and did not have to witness this scene! Okay now that I write this I am kinda laughing to myself, but I was not laughing in the heat of the moment! So we were a bit hot and tired and Jack was disappointed he could not do more of the activities, thus I learned that I will probably have to bring Andy along to enjoy the full spectrum such a busy venue has to offer and to avoid some stress.

In the end we did get to enjoy one of our main reasons for visiting the fair : cream puffs! So there were two great things about the fair... the food and the company:)





Post edit comment: When Andy asked Jack about the fair this was his comment: "It was boring. All we did was eat, eat, eat and walk, walk, walk." Mind you Mr. Dramatic didn't complain when he was devouring his cream puff. He did complain about having to walk (although I probably didn't have to actually include that).

I wish I was a little bit taller...

Bubbles and Popsicles

We have been pretty lucky to be able to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house at least once a week this summer. They live in a beautiful area with lots of room to do many of our favorite things like run, ride bikes, take walks, chase frogs, eat popsicles and pop bubbles. Grandma and Grandpa spoil us rotten... I guess we need that every once in awhile :). Auntie Jenny and Elaina usually meet us there. We have so much fun!! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma! We love you!

Fishin in the city

Perhaps that statement is an oxy-moron, but we went fishing in the city yesterday. We packed up the gang, a few poles and snacks and off we went. We took a nice walk and ended up by the art museum.


When we went to the circus parade festival, we walked this way and Andy spotted some delicious bass here. We decided to give catching one a try. On a side note, this is the spot of the infamous pee incedent. Note the benches and metal railing...


Cassidy decided to spice things up and you should SEE what the guys were able to catch!







And that was ALL but I was pretty impressed!

Lip Lopp

Lucy loves anything sparkly. She often watches me as I get ready in the morning and asks for sparkles (eye shadow). Every once in a while I allow her to put a translucent sheen onto her eyelids. She also has a special fancy for lip gloss. I think this is due to her aunt Abby, because I don't wear lip gloss or lipstick (per Andy's request- something about no kisses if I did... I cannot remember the last lipstick I used.). I can remember many sacrament meetings where Lucy sits on Abby's lap, puts a little gloss onto her lips, then walks around like she is a queen.

At Easter Abby surprised Lucy with her own chap stick- orange flavored. Lucy LOVED it, however I let her hold it on the way home and when we got home it was about 75% gone and had a few tooth marks on it. Fast forward 6 months- when we were up north a little while back Aunt Hiedi got Lucy an extra special treat-
'Lip Lopp'!
Lucy loves this treat, and I don't feel so bad about her eating a bit every now and then since this one is edible.