more pictures of camping at Lake Michigan...

Pioneer Park (Our Little Piece of Heaven on Earth)

We spent a week at Pioneer Park, on Lake Michigan, this July. It was very nice but a lot different from other years since my parents, Josh and Kristy Mayes and their kids, my brother and his family all didn't camp with us this year. It seemed so quiet!! We did have a good time anyway. Kevin and Susan and their kids were there, Wes' parents were there with Wes' sisters kids and for the weekend we had Wes' sister, her boyfriend and his two kids, and Aaron, Greg and Annabelle. The weather wasn't very hot so the days at the beach were ok but not the best for swimming. We had fun letting the kids jump off the sand dunes, build in the sand, ride bikes in the woods, having campfires, reading books, watching videos, eating lots, take walks, go to the park and make trips to Meijers. My camera battery died so here some of the pictures but there are more to come. ie: our new family picture

Our July!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in such a long time, but here is an overview of our July.
Josh lost his two front teeth and one on the bottom. It took a while to get used to looking at him and not laughing.
The next group of beach pictures are from Lake Michigan at Pioneer Park on Father's Day. As you can see the Dad's truly enjoyed their few hours at the beach! After the beach time we went up to the park and cooked burgers. It was a great time!!

Around Home

This summer has been sooooo nice since I had Kristen, who is 12 years old, helping out during the weekdays. We spent a lot of time at Hawk Island which has a Splash Park and also has a nice lake for the kids to swim in.

Our Week of Camping at Sleepy Hollow

It was a nice getaway from the house but not a great place to camp with kids. There were TWO swings in a field and that was their 'park'. We did do a lot of bike riding in between the times of getting cooled off in the campers since the heat index was over 100 degrees. (The picture of Sydney standing in the bucket of water was our way of cooling off.) My Mom and Dad camped next to us and the guys still went to work everyday. It wasn't much of a vacation for them. Wes and my Dad took the boys fishing and they caught a bunch of fish and saw a HUGE turtle that they are still talking about. My Mom brought craft things to do with the kids so these are some of the things that they worked on. Also, here's a great picture of Tyler 'helping' Nana get ready in the morning.

Ashley Getaways

Ashley is the Village that Wes' is from for those of you who might not know. We go up there to visit, swim, ride the go cart, amigo, motorcycle, take walks and bike rides, camp for the weekend, play at the park that is in their back yard, do sparklers, play with their cousins (Kyla and Bailey-Josh and Bailey are in the picture together on the slip and slide), work in the barn, play in the old truck and eat lots of good food! These are just some of the best pictures of us having fun.

In Loving Memory...

Wes' cousin, who was 20, died in a car accident on Father's Day. We went to the funeral, in Chicago, on Wednesday and came back on Thursday. The funeral was very big, about 500 people, and was a great witness to those who came. The brother and sister spoke about how this has drawn them closer to Christ. It has been very sad but we are thankful that she accepted Christ as her savior and is in heaven.

Ashley Trading Days

The 13th Annual Ashley Trading Days was June 8-10th. This is our 3rd year to stay at Wes' parents house, in our 5th wheel, and join in the festivities. Here are some of the highlights from the weekend.