We got to...

play some chess

play some Monopoly

play some more Monopoly

play a lot of Monopoly!

do a bunch of swimming

hang on and out with Uncle Joe

get an Illini birdhouse

find a cool place to play with a bunch of trains

catch some frogs

(the only thing they caught in the lake!)

celebrate Maddie's birthday

we went into town

We took the kids into St. Joseph to a kiddie museum.  Of course, we happened to pick a time when the summer day camp program was visiting.  So, for a while, we were overrun with tons of kids.  The museum was built into what must be a historic building, because otherwise I would have thought they would have put this into a more open building.  Anyway, once the field trip left, it was a lot less crowded and I was able to enjoy the space a little more.  (I think our kids did, too)

Marcus and Cale organized the other kids and got them to pick the fake apples and bring them to the conveyor belt thing.

big bubble maker and Ewan

Liam is excited

Cale

Ewan loved the news studio.  I think he liked seeing himself on camera.  He sat there for a while and reported some news.  That night, he told my mom he wanted to be a news person.

This is a picture that I took of a poster showing a Coast Guard boat.  Thought it was cool.

Marcus and Cale

Apparently, there is some historical fact associated with this cannon.  I didn't have time to read it. (imagine that)

Ewan

We ate at Silver Beach Pizza.  It was delicious!  The kids got pizza dough to play with while we waited.  Very cool.  (and Joe got the bill-very generous!)

There was a big, indoor carosel the kids got to ride on.  They made you by tokens to ride, and you had to buy them out of a token machine that 1)did accept debit cards and 2)was very picky about wrinkly dollar bills.  How inefficient.  Luckily, Aunt Bitsy and Grammy had cash and adults with kids got to ride free.

This is not my kid.  I just thought they did a good job painting this horse.

Daddy with Liam-and I think Ewan is right next to them.

No ride for Kella this time.  She didn't mind, too much.

they got to go fishing

The lake tempted us with the promise of fish.  Grammy Pammy got all the kids their own little fishing rods and they were eager to try them out.  I think they thought it would be easy and quick, catching a fish.  Soon they learned it was more about being patient.

Yea to the men for spear-heading the fishing effort. 

Ewan seems excited.

No fish caught yet, although the minnows were really enjoying being fed some worms.

This one wasn't interested in fishing.  We left his clothes on thinking that Liam wouldn't go in the water.  He never went all the way in...

No fish caught this day.  Actually, no fish were seen this day, except for the minnows and 1 little bluegill.

Maybe next time.

First days

You would think that the first thing one would do at a lake house would be to swim in the lake.  Well, when we got to the house, we needed to make a grocery run and didn't have time for a swim that evening. 

So, the first order of business, a marathon game of Risk.  With Andy, Joe and Eric.  And who won this game?  Me.  No one paid attention to the girl as her armies took over Asia and Australia.

The next day, it was right to the water.  The lake (Dewey Lake) has a sandy bottom, so there was some vegetation growing down there that was creepy to step on.  I don't think the kids cared.  And, the water levels were lower than normal so that adults, and even Marcus, could walk out to the floating dock with no problem.

Even Kella got to play in the water.  Unfortunately, she also liked to eat sand.  She didn't make it to the lake too much.

first, a house tour

Oh, I know you know that you are itching to see our large amount of vacation photos.  But, first, I am going to share these photos of the house.

This house had 8 bedrooms and 4 baths.  Plenty of room for our group of 7 adults and 8 kids.

kitchen, living and dining area

a play closet under the stairs-how cool is that!

the front porch

that's right, I took a picture of the washer and dryer-because I loved doing laundry with these (weird, maybe)

This is the apartment behind the garage.  It had three bedrooms and a bathroom.  Bitsy and here family stayed here.

The boys slept in this room.

Andy and I had this room with beds to spare.

A panoramic shot of the master.

Even Kella got her own room.

A weird looking wooden chair.  Liam called the animals puppies.  I think they are supposed to be bears.

to the Dunes!

Sunday morning, we left the hotel and headed toward Michigan.  Our plan was to make a stop on the way to at the Indiana Dunes. 

But first, lunch!  We stopped at a Denny's and had one of the longest waits for food at that restaurant that I've ever had.  The kids did pretty well, not too much complaining.

Poor Ewan, no spaghetti for him (how can you be out of spaghetti?).

Someone thought crayons were pretty tasty.

Then to the Dunes!  The line to get in was long and slow, so I got Andy to run out of the car and pose by the gate.

Then, the hike to the top of Mt. Tom.  (what other parent would make their kids hike up a hot, sandy hill on a hot July afternoon)

at the top

our view

the trip down was much faster

and then a chance to dip our feet in Lake Michigan

Kella, too!

Oh, Liam.  He was in heaven playing in the sand and the water.  This boy loves to get dirty!

I'm putting "day trip to the dunes" on our to-do list for next summer.

After getting back in the car and stopping for cool drinks, we drove the rest of the way to the lake house to spend the week with my family.

(Be prepared for lots of pictures.)