Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve up north, warmed up the garage, and had a tiny party with a few friends. We ate, talked, listened to music, ate, danced, played Guitar Hero, ate, and even played some 21 (Blackjack to those of you over 18). Here are a couple shots from New Year's Eve in Bitely.

Allison trying out the pedicure kit she got for Christmas...We all had a chance to kick back and relax and this is how Allison chose to do it. Val, Brett, and Curt playing Guitar Hero World Tour on New Year's Eve.
Allison making Zoe wear a hat (as usual) on New Year's Eve.
Passing the time playing 21. If the kids were older we would call it blackjack :-) Whatever you call it, it was fun and helped pass the time until midnight.
New Year's Day was spent watching the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, a little football, a little sledding, and some serious lounging. I love New Year's Day just for that reason!

Happy Halloween!

We were lucky enough to have some great weather for trick or treating this year. Allison dressed up as a Hollywood Starlet in a pink dress fit for a walk down the red carpet. Nathan was going to dress up as a football player but changed his mind at the last minute when he found a mullet wig at the Halloween USA store. He ended up being a cross between Joe Dirt, Larry The Cable Guy, and Billy Ray Cyrus... complete with sleeveless flannel shirt and tight-rolled jeans. Cousin Breanna came over to join the kids for trick or treating wearing her poodle dress. Even Zoe got into the spirit wearing her Superman costume. The kids got mostly treats and a couple trips through the neighborhood haunted houses. We've all eaten way too much candy. There was a parade at school to see everyone's costumes and parties with games in their classrooms. Here are some shots from the day.

The costume parade at school...
Classroom party...
Abbi, Danni, and Ally
Nathan, Breanna, Allison, and SuperZoe
One more shot of the costumes before trick or treating...

Dock Dogs

We spent the 4th of July weekend up north at Pettibone Lake fishing, kayaking, swimming, lighting/watching fireworks, eating, and just soaking up the sun. While there, we let the dogs cool off in the water and had fun trying to get some good action shots of them jumping off the dock after the water toy. We've seen the Big Air Dock Dogs at the Sport Fishing and RV Show at Devos Place in Grand Rapids. We really should enter Zoe (our Labradoodle) and Remy (Scott's English Springer Spaniel) in one of those and see how far they can go. Zoe gets good height but I think it would be hard to beat Remy's distance... For these shots, Scott was throwing the toy from shore and the dogs would run the full length of the dock and dive off. I was in the water at the end of the dock trying to time the camera just right. Very tricky...

Zoe at take-off...

Remy just before landing...