Orange You Beautiful?

I thought that Lake Michigamme was a really beautiful lake. The water temperature was cool and refreshing but not so cold that I didn't want to hop in. The sandy bottom was fantastic and I loved how it remained shallow for a significant distance. The color of the water was really stunning and I had to do a little research to find out if my suspicion about where it came from was correct. It took a while but I finally confirmed my suspicion with the Field Guide to Aquatic Phenomena. It is a really interesting website published by The University of Maine. The answer is that the iron ore from the ground makes it way into the lake and therefore causes it to reflect an orange color!

During my research I found that according to this site, Lake Michigamme is one of Michigan's largest lakes (although much smaller than the Great Lakes.) It reaches a depth of over 70 feet. Its rocky 95-mile shoreline and underwater structure make it good, if challenging, for fishing especially for muskies and small mouth bass.

New canopy

Tracy, you inspired me to buy a Shade Tech and it works well to keep both the sun and the rain off our front deck. The kitties are enjoying it too.

A proud geranium

Can you see the fine hairs of the wet spiderwebs?

Missing you......

I am missing my honey....we haven't seen each other for two weeks. He will be home tomorrow night from Massachusetts.....Yay!

Family camping 2010

Just a few fun pictures from Family camping!!!!

This is how it all started

For the Past 3 years Grandma has given me the opportunity to use the camper in the Summers. It has been one of the most amazing things. I love that i can go camping with friends and family in the summer and show Faith what an amazing time you can have. I will never forget all of the wonderful times we had camping as a family. I am so glad i have the opportunity to share the experiences with Faith.

Even though the camper is old, it has been treated with tender loving care and is still in GREAT shape. Do any of you remember these camping adventures?

How about these??? It is funny sometimes when i go camping, i get people come up to me and ask about the bumper stickers. I tell them about how old the camper is and how it has been more places in the US than i have. It is so fun to tell others what an amazing thing camping is, it usually leads to many stories!!

Thank you grandma for letting me enjoy the camper as much as you did when you went camping. I always feel grandpa close to my heart when i am setting up and sitting in the camper. I can see grandma in her nighty with her night light radio and newspapers always in the same spot at night before bed. Thank you for all of the memories and i hope Family camping is a yearly thing that we can all enjoy each year!

Congratulations Carlsons

Congratulations happy family. May God bless you in your new home and may it be filled with love and happy memories.

The Queen of the castle

The King (Ryan means king) coming home to his castle and his awaiting Queen.

What strong and capable movers......and they were so much fun.

Isaac, I love your room. It has personality....... and so do you!

Joy, I must admit....I have a serious case of tub envy.....enjoy!

Camping together

Off for a swim

A duo of willing workers

What beautiful smile.

A lot of love in that hug!

Three buddies

2010 Ping Pong Olympics

Firstly, I want to thank Joy for organizing the 2010 family camping (a.k.a. Cousins Camping).  It was so nice to be able to drive up and not have to worry about anything.  That was a real gift to me!  Joy also started a fantastic tradition - The Ping Pong Olympics. It was a blast.  We were having so much fun that the folks at the campsite across the road asked us if they could buy a ping pong ball from us because they wanted to partake in the games as well!  Like a great sportswoman, Joy gave them the ping pong ball free of charge!  Way to represent Joy.  They returned the ping pong ball in the morning and insisted we also take their professional grade orange ping pong ball. I love the community in action.  In the picture above Ryan and I were trying to bounce the ping pong into the plastic cups from a fixed distance.  The ping pong ball had to bounce once before it entered into the cup.  We then had to retrieve our own balls.  It was a battle to the end when I had a lucky hop off of a piece of gravel and landed the ball in my cup.  Victory!

Adam and Isaac had a great competition trying to blow the floating ping pong ball in one cup into another.  Isaac made swift work when he landed the ball in with a huge breath like that of a dragon! 

Linda must have been practicing this at home - look at her technique.  She edged out Carol but Carol received the best splash caught on film award! 

Umm.  What kind of face is that?  Ryan schooled me in one swift blow.

 

Winner!  Addy!

Faith really held her own!  She loved her prize:  beautiful smelling lotion!

Look at the concentration on Adam's face - it is unparalleled.

Winner! Joy!

1001 Family Photos

I think there might be 1001 of this same shot! We all insisted on using our own cameras. What were we thinking?

Crazy week!

It's been a crazy, busy, fun week here!

Adam's buddy Cal moved to Florida at the beginning of the summer and he was back in town visiting for a week! The boys have been inseparable since last Friday and had tons of fun together.

Happy Birthday Adam! My baby turned 10 on Tuesday and he was up at the crack of dawn waiting to open a present. Isaac loved picking out these gifts for his brother!

It's party time! Thankfully it was a gorgeous night and the boys had fun swimming and sleeping in the camper. What a great bunch of kids!

Today is closing day -- it's hard to believe this afternoon we're buying a house! With how busy things have been it sort of snuck up on me and doesn't quite seem real.

After the closing we'll be finishing up packing to go camping this weekend! Can't wait to see everyone!