Happy Birthday, Emma!

On Friday afternoon, we drove to West Bloomfield for Emma's second birthday party. The boys always have so much fun playing with their cousins - they played on the swing set, in the bounce house, and played some soccer. We woke up to rainy weather on Saturday. The boys raced their radio controlled cars on Grann's tennis courts in between the rain. Then Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh and the girls came over to play and have lunch. In the afternoon, Grann and Aunt Maran took the boys and Allie to see "Finding Dory." After a quick dinner, we got on the road for home.  It was a short visit, but we were glad we were able to help Emma celebrate.  

Lemonade Stand

Today the boys held their Second Annual Lemonade Stand to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand. We partnered up with the Grindall's again and had a great turn out. We sold lemonade, cookies, brownies, and other goodies. We managed to have our sale open for an hour and a half before the thunderstorms rolled in.

Setting up for the Sale

Ready for Business

Cottage Fun

When we weren't off in Traverse City or at the beach, we were enjoying our time at the cottage. We did three camp fires, the boys swam in the lake, went kayaking, we took the boat out, and spent a lot of time reading on the porch. We are so lucky that the Hofmeyers let us take over for a long weekend. It is a highlight of the summer.

Sitting in the Boat

Duck Lake

Reading by the Fire

Sparklers!

Cooling off in the Lake

Kayaking on His Own

Monday Morning Boat Ride

Quick Stop at the Playground on our Way out of Town

More Platte River

On Sunday morning, we woke up to rain and moved onto the porch to enjoy it! The rain stopped around 9am and the forecast looked clear until 2pm so we decided to head back over to the Platte River beach. The boys love it there! Despite the clear radar and clear forecast, the sky was pretty cloudy. We got to the beach and set up our stuff on the peninsula between the lake and the river. It immediately started to drizzle. Fortunately, the water and air temperature were warm so it didn't bother us. We did have to build a "sea wall" to keep the tide from washing all our stuff away. Around noon, some darks clouds rolled in and it started to rain pretty hard. So we packed up, crossed the river and drove to a picnic pavilion just down the road. By the time we were done with lunch, the sun came out so we went back to the beach! On our way home, we stopped for Moomer's and then did another camp fire.

A Little Overcast

Our "Sea Wall" to Divert the Waves

Where the Lake and the River Meet

Waiting in Line at Moomer's

Traverse City

On Saturday, Phil and William went for a quick kayak ride in Duck Lake. Then we drove into Traverse City to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove. The boys enjoyed it and each got at least one hole in one. Then we went to "The Little Fleet" for food truck lunch. To beat the heat, we went down to the lakeshore and the boys played in the new splash pad. We also got to see the Tall Ship that was in port. Once they tired of the splash pad, we went back to Duck Lake to swim and kayak and then ordered pizza for dinner. The boys watched a movie while we read on the porch.

Blackbeard

Hole in One for William

Hole in One for Alex

Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Platte River

On Friday morning, after enjoying coffee and breakfast on the porch, we drove to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. We climbed the first few dunes and took in the view. Then we drove to the Platte River for our river tubing reservation. We at lunch at the Honor Trading Post and then were driven to the starting point on the river. The water was so warm! It was a pretty slow river and ended up taking us over 2.5 hours - and that included some swimming and walking in the water (not just floating). Alex pretty much spent the entire time swimming in the river near the tubes. He's a little fish! After tubing, we stayed at the Platte River beach for a few hours. The boys love floating down the river and into Lake Michigan. When we got home, we started a camp fire and roasted hot dogs for dinner.

Top of the First Dune

View of Glen Lake

There's Alex!

Getting Ready to Go Tubing

In the Platte River