Little Presque Isle

After the adventures in flag football yesterday, we decided to continue to enjoy the weather and head out to Little Presque Isle. It was awesome. I know I said it in my last blog, also written today, but I cannot stress enough how incredible the weather was.
Presque Isle is so pretty, and such a relaxing place, I love it there. It's one of the many places that I remind me of why I live here, even though I hate the winters. We are really lucky to have such beautiful places to spend our days during the summer and fall. It makes it worth it to tough out the winters here.

Austyn wanted to go over to the island, Al and I were not dressed for the walk through the water, but Andrew was, so he took him. They did a little hike, not the entire island, maybe next time.

















Austyn was too busy swimming to get into a family picture with us this time, we will get another one. I am sure this won't be our last trip out there this year.
















While Andrew and Austyn enjoy the water, I like to just lay around and enjoy the sunshine and sand. I was quite comfortable.

Al and Buddy came along too. We found a tennis ball someone had left on the beach, so Andrew and Al took turns throwing it for him. He was loving it.

All in all in turned out to be a really great day. We made really good use of our time off together and the enjoyable weather. Hopefully we get at least a few more weeks like this before the cold and snow close in on us.

Another Beautiful Weekend... perfect for flag football!

Austyn has been asking me for at least 3 years to play football, and the time is finally here, sort of. It's flag football, for now, but it's still fun and exciting for him. This Saturday was his first practice, and he could barely contain his excitement. It was a beautiful day for it too, not too hot, not too cold, sunny and gorgeous. So, we have about 5 or 6 weeks of Saturdays at the football field, and hopefully the weather is just as nice, or close to it as it was this weekend. I added a few pics for everyone too.




They all got to take turns playing quarterback, and also playing offense and defense. I absolutely love the middle picture. :)

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend here in the UP was beautiful. We had some of the nicest weather that we've had all summer. I had a softball tournament, which was in Big Bay. Its an annual one they have up there, along with the one for the 4th of July, and I have played every year so far. There are usually around 20 teams in it, and its fun, but quite competitive. There are a lot of really talented ball players up there, and it's a pretty large event. Our team took 3rd place this year, which was huge for us. We usually do fairly well, but have never placed, so it was very exciting and fun for us.
After that ended on Sunday, we went to camp Hiawatha to spend the night with Dewey and Susan. Austyn was quite excited about it, and actually, Andrew, Al, and Austyn left before I did to head out there, as I was still playing ball in Big Bay. They took Austyn's mini bike out there too, which I believe Andrew likes to ride just as much as Austyn, even if it's not exactly his size. It was a perfect place for them to ride it, with little to no traffic to worry about. I think Austyn's face below describes how much fun he has on his mini bike.

The next morning, we had a nice pancake breakfast, then headed across the lake for Austyn to do some shooting with his bow and his bb gun. He was loving that, and doing quite well, considering he doesn't get much practice shooting since we don't really have an area for him to do so. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to get any pictures of him shooting, maybe next time.

Later that afternoon, we decided to spend some more time on the lake. Dewey had an inflatable row boat that Austyn was insistant on trying out by himself. So, after quite an effort to get it blown up, and a short rowing lesson from Grandpa Dewey, Austyn was on his way in the lake. However, as you can see from the picture, he figured out it wasn't as easy as he had hoped, and needed Andrew to help him out. So, I stayed on shore to take pictures, while they went off on their boat ride, and Dewey and Susan went off in the row boat.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend. When we got home from camping, we headed out to my dads house for a cookout. He prepared some fresh walleye that he had caught, burgers, and some of the venison from the deer he got last year. It was all very good, and a perfect ending to a wonderful holiday weekend. We loved it out at camp Hiawatha, it was very relaxing and a perfect place for some quality family time. We hope to get at least one more trip out there this year before our cold and snowy UP winter closes in on us, and many more next summer.

The Rope Swing and Lake Superior Waviness

Okay, here are some more pictures from the fair first. Austyn met a new friend; he is a robot. The robot was pretty cool, he made jokes and even told Austyn to give him bunny ears.

After some rides and games, Grampa Dewey graciously bought me and Austyn a hotdog, elephant ear, and soda. Despite the look on Dewey's face, he is really enjoying that bratwurst.















They had a bungee/trampoline for kids there too. Austyn really liked it, and didn't wet his pants, which was good.











The waves were really kicking on Saturday, so I jumped in for a while. It was cold, but worth it.














































And here is the rope swing. It's a lot cooler than it looks in these pictures. You can swing from about 30 feet up, from a platform. But Sabrina told Austyn he better take it easy and swing from pretty low.










So this is some of our fun summer stuff.

The Fair and Summer Tree Chopping

So, summer is quickly winding down up here, it seems. This summer has been pretty cool anyway, but the last week has actually felt like fall. Leaves in our yard are changing, for pete's sake! We found out a couple weeks ago that our neighbor to the rear is pretty handy with yard work stuff, including a chainsaw. We learned this after a tree in our front yard got struck by lightning, and the neighbor helped Sabrina's dad, Dave, cut it down. So this evening the neighbor, Mike, cut down three more dead trees in the back yard. So now we have a huge pile of firewood for the fire pit, and a much larger back yard...at least it feels larger, without those big, looming dead trees.

In other news, I won a sweet grill from our bank for Customer Appreciation Week. It's a good one, which is cool, because we've been grilling out a lot this summer. We don't have it yet; still arranging transportation, as it won't fit in either of our cars.

In still more news, Sabrina had a softball tournament last weekend, so I took Austyn to the UP State Fair, which was a lot of fun. We rode quite a few of the rides. Austyn and I became near-obsessed with a game, too. It involved catapulting rubber frogs onto lily pads that were floating in a pond. Austyn got the hang of it, and actually won some cool prizes, which I didn't think was possible at the fair. The most I ever won when I was young was a ring-pop and pixie stix.

Another Weekend, another waterfall...

Andrew and I had this past Saturday all to ourselves, so we decided to do a little hiking and take some time to enjoy the nice weather and awesome scenery. First, we decided to go out to Laughing Whitefish Falls. They are about 30 minutes from our house, between here and Chatham. They are so gorgeous. I absolutely love waterfalls, and enjoy taking day trips to go see them. I try to go to different ones all the time, and make sure I always take my camera. Although, the camera cannot quite capture how beautiful it really is. The Laughing Whitefish are close, and one of my favorites. Its about a half mile hike back to the falls, and then the stairs that take you to the very bottom. Usually by mid to late summer the flow of water has slowed enough that you can actually walk up the falls and get right underneath them. Its really cool. The pictures didn't quite capture what I would like to show, but they are good. I guess you will just have to go for yourself to get the true experience.

After the falls, we headed into Chatham to visit my Uncle Steve and Aunt Donna, and my cousin Rachel, her husband Gil and their 2 kids Stevie and Gavin. It was a nice visit with them. My cousin Rachel has been living in Mexico for the past few years, so it was nice to have her back and get to spend some time catching up.

Then, we were on on way home. We tried to make it to the top of Marquette Mountain for the sunset, but unfortunately we missed it by about 10 minutes. It was still a nice view, but not quite what we were shooting for. Maybe next time. We did make a trip to Presque Isle on Sunday night after a little popcorn snack with Dewey and Susan. That time we did make it for the sunset which was nice. That was the first time I have seen the sunset from Presque Isle. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so no pictures this time.

So, thats the latest. So far we are thoroughly enjoying our summer and looking forward to more outdoor activities and visits with family and friends.

Weekend in Big Bay

Sabrina and I went camping this weekend in Big Bay. Sabrina had a softball tournament. It went okay. They won two and lost two, so I guess you really do win some and lose some. We took a decent little hike on the Fourth to Yellow Dog Falls. It was pretty, but the water is still way too cold to do more than stick your feet in. It was a nice weekend; we've gone camping two weekends in a row, which is cool, because I hadn't gone in a while. It's been good having the same work schedule. We both pretty much work 9-5 Mon to Fri, so we get to spend time together on the weekends. Weekends: We're lovin' it!

So, that was our Fourth. Nothing too crazy; just nice and relaxing. And tomorrow, back to work for both of us.