Guess Where We've Been?

Yep, back to Nana and Papa's beach again! It sure has been fun going there so often this summer- I think I am going to make a mini scrapbook of our beach adventures. :) They really have a great little setup with their cottage and the private lake access. Last night I tried to take a few (totally amateur) pictures to show how beautiful it is.

When you go down the stairs to the beach, you walk through this beautiful dune grass and I love how the lake looks through it. The picture's a little dark because it's into the sun, but I even like that because it shows the pretty colors.

The sand is very soft by the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The waves break on the beach in beautiful little bubbles. Usually the water is so clean and clear... this weekend there was a swim advisory/caution at the beach nearby for E Coli... so we are hoping that none of us gets sick!

Of course I had to take (about 200) pictures of the kids... I was already bad about that... the new lens just makes me worse... :)

I seriously wish I could look so cute with ruffles on the back of my swimsuit! ;)

Carolyn was hiding her hands in the sand and I somehow surprised her into looking at the camera. :)

This picture was taken from far away on my max zoom so it's not totally sharp... but I love it because it shows Nora's unbridled toddler enthusiasm. One of my favorite things about kids this age is how easy it is to make them happy and how they show joy with their entire bodies!

Maybe not the ideal time for a family picture... with us all in swimsuits... but I still like it. :)

Carolyn and I found this little area of beach that poked out into the water a little ways and we called it our "island." I love how this picture shows how tiny she really is in comparison to something as big and as vast as the shore and lake.

She had fun running and scaring the birds.

Later Emily and Jake and their parents came back from dinner with their friends and Emily and Carolyn had a great time trying to fill the lake back up with sand. :)

Jake was wearing the same shirt as Uncle Brad, so we/I needed a picture of that too. :)

And somehow that prompted the impromptu taking of Big Family Picture 2010... maybe there will be a better one for the Christmas card that does not include me in a swimsuit! But this one didn't turn out bad for being a spur of the moment decision.

Our evening on the beach ended with another lovely sunset, baths for the kids (that thankfully did not include any excrement), about 126 mosquito bites, and letting the big kids stay up way too late watching Peter Pan. :) Good family times. Seriously great family.