Pool Time

Saturday evening we decided to take a trip to the local pool for a few hours.

What an awesome evening the pool was not busy at all....

Sophie went down the slide a few times....  Daddy went down the big slide a few times....

Sophie put her head in the water and she held her nose and breathe and closed her eyes and let me dunk her..

After about two hours we picked up a pizza and enjoyed the rest of the evening in.

Last Day

Thursday the ladies headed out to the Art show downtown and found many goodies to bring back with us.  The  guys and kids headed to a nearby putt putt golf course with a sandbox in a boat that the three kids seemed to enjoy.  This was Sophie's first time playing putt putt golf.

Later that morning we headed south to check out another tiny town nearby since it was raining pretty heavily.  We had some lunch and we checked out the nearby stores.  The kids spotted a toy store and while they were inside I received a job offer which I excepted right on the spot.

That night we went out for dinner at the Boondocks for dinner to celebrate.  Following dinner we headed back to the beach one more time for one more evening of swimming and sand play.  The water was pretty cold, but the kids enjoyed racing each other up and down the shore line....everyone enjoyed collecting rocks out of the lake to take home with us...

We think this should be a yearly adventure....what a wonderful week spent with family.

Traverse City Beach

Wednesday Morning there was a farmer's market nearby that we ventured to for fresh fruit and veggies.


After lunch we drove to Traverse City to the Beach.

We played in the sand and in the water and I think everyone had a great time.

We built a huge fort out of sand with a moat around it

We buried Uncle Bob in the sand

Then Austin took a turn....

Then it was Sophie's turn...

Sophie put her face and head in the water again.. and the boys enjoyed their floats on the waves.


Wednesday evening we celebrated Poppy's 70th's birthday with an awesome meal cooked on the grill, cake and decorations.

Leelanau

Tuesday.....

After we returned from there we spent the rest of the day in Leelanau which is a quant fishing town with neat shops north of Glen Arbor.

We walked the docks where everything smelt like a fish, then we headed further into town to get a bite of lunch and do some more shopping.

 In the evening Grammy and Poppy let us parents have a night on the town and put the kids to bed.

So we walked and then ran in the rain to the downtown area to get a drink at Art's this was one of the local hangout.  It was nice to sit and chat without the kids for an evening.

Shopping and Hanging Out

A few days while we were there the ladies headed out to do some shopping in the little downtown area of Glen Arbor.  While the guys and kids hung out back at the house playing with play dough, building with legos, and watching movies.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

DAY ONE OF OUR TRIP TO GLEN ARBOR MI- HERBERT/ CHENEY FAMILY VACATION

We headed out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes Climb earlier in the morning.  I have to say this was one of my favorite parts of vacation and I really think everyone seemed to enjoy it.

It's basically the largest sandbox without the box i've ever seen.  You climb this huge mountain of sand and think there is going to be something on the other side of it....nope just more sand.

So you keep climbing to see what else you can see...well Uncle Eric, Austin, Daddy, Grammy, and I did.   Sophie, Poppy, Aunt Becky and Aaron did the first huge climb and headed back because we figured we'd end up carrying Aaron and Sophie and they aren't light weights anymore.

Downfall was you could only barely see the lake from the second part of the climb but we decided we did not have the energy to go any further but to climb back down.

The downhill was a piece of cake.

Fun was had by all taking pictures, playing in the sand and enjoying the summer sun and breeze on a trek to see the lake.

Vacation Bible School

This summer I was asked to help with vacation bible school and decided to take Sophie along.

She had so much fun, dancing and singing the songs with her little friends.

She also loved doing crafts...















listening to bible stories....


















and eating snacks.



She was not a huge fan of the games.

I cannot blame her it was hot, and a little disorganized to say the least with preschoolers.  So half way through the week I suggested duck duck goose, red rover, and a few of the simpler games...and they loved it.


For crafts, she made a little boat, a picture frame, and foil fish painting, a survival vest and a moose handprint t-shirt.


Bible stories I wondered if she actually got anything out of them, but when I asked her she could tell me parts of what had been said I was impressed.


At the end of the week I put her to bed and we said prayers like normal.  At the end she started thanking God for Carolyn, Kayla, Miss Marybeth, and Bible Skhool.

So even though it was a hectic week with 18 preschoolers I am very pleased to know that Sophie got something out of it and when I stop and think about it I did too..an awesome week with God and watching my daughter learn and grow in her faith.