Adventure and Attitude

Our third adventure of the summer took us to the little town of Pentwater .  As a teenager my family used to camp there during the summer.  I have fantastic memories of hanging out at the beach, walking through town to get ice cream, jumping off of the pier, swimming with friends at night, meeting all of the "townie" boys, and just having good old fashioned summer fun! Ryan's family also used to camp in Pentwater when the kids were younger.  When Ryan and I first were married they began renting a cottage behind the campground .  They invited the entire family which meant their two boys, two girls, spouses, and all the grandchildren to come up and hang out.  I think they rented the cottage until Jackson was about two.  After that, Ryan's parents brought the grandkids up for a special day to play on the beach, go up Old Baldy , and eat blue moon ice cream each summer. Jackson with Lola in the background running down Old Baldy This year, we decided that one day

The other night Ryan and I went to a Tesla/ Mötley Crüe concert.  The music was loud, the lights were bright, the crowd was crazy, and the atmosphere was pure adrenaline!  We jumped around, sang, and had a great time!  My favorite part about any concert is meeting new people.  This most often happens while standing in line for the bathroom, but it can also happen in our seats, or in passing to get food or a drink.  I always come home feeling a bit more worldly having met these interesting people! (sometimes a little dirty too, but really, when you go to a concert featuring heavy metal, you are going to run into a few crazies!) There is nothing like a concert to get you moving and make you feel like you are younger then what you are.  Which in turn makes me think how young is too young to go to a concert? Full Moon!! Little Tyke on a parent's shoulders with headphones on Soo many people!! At Mötley Crüe we saw many children.  They ranged in age from about 3 to i

Warning:  This post touches on the "birds and the bees" Our oldest is ten. He is a boy. He is curious. He finds things. Recently he found a tampon that hadn't gotten flushed floating in the toilet. He was of course concerned about why there was blood in the toilet and what that thing really was that he had used as a cannon with his army men a few years back. His Dad explained that it was a tampon. He also explained about a uterus and how it had (and I am using his Dad's terms here) "a mineral rich lining to feed a developing baby.  When there was no baby, the body shed the lining.  In order for there not to be a huge mess women use pads -you've seen those in Mom's bathroom right? and tampons to catch the blood."  According to Dad there was nodding, acceptance, and moving on.  I imagine Dad brushing his hands together with a satisfied grin that he got out of that one pretty easily.  I think Dad did really well with that, but that raised the

Our crew - minus my sister Rachel and her 2 year old As I just posted, our second adventure of the summer was to go to Playa Del Carmen in Mexico with my parents, sisters, and nieces!  (and brother in law too - can't forget him!) The only big outside adventure that we all did was to go swim with dolphins! First, if you have never pet or swam with a dolphin, I highly recommend it!  Now, I know that there is controversy about this, but it seems views and research can go either way as with most things.  According to some research, and what I have been told by a friend who used to work with dolphins doing therapy with individuals, swimming with dolphins creates an effect that brings joy and peace of mind, enforces the immune system, improves awareness, attention and self control, and develops feelings of confidence and compassion.  From our three hour experience with dolphins I can't attest to all of that, but I can say that it definitely gave me a feeling of great joy and

Bragging alert: I pretty much have an awesome family.  I grew up in a fantastic home with fantastic parents and although my two sisters annoyed me to no end most days when I lived with them, I now have a greater appreciation for them and find them much more enjoyable!  If I get into how great my grandparents and extended family are I will never get to the point of this particular post! :) This year, in June, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary!  To be married and still happy after all of these years is more then amazing!  I have learned a lot from watching them interact over the years and am very grateful for them as individuals and as a couple.  But, I digress.  To celebrate their anniversary, they graciously decided to take their children and our families on a vacation to Mexico!!!! Welcome drinks We spent a week long vacation living it up in the sun by the pool and the ocean, being served food and drinks, and doing whatever we wanted when we wanted. (unless