We safely made it to the lake on Saturday. It was pretty warm in Moline last week, so it was a welcome retreat to get to lake and cooler temps. After we arrived on Saturday night, we spent the rest of the evening in the water, just relaxing. The water temp was perfect. I guess its been pretty warm here recently, and we might get some warmer weather here this week. But is a vast improvement over the heat index of 114 last week, in Moline.
This is our first trip to the lake that hasn't meant a big project and a long to-do list. I must admit that its a bit unsettling being here with out the necessitiy of being industrious too. My goal for the week, is to get better at going with the flow here, and be less productive.
Right now, its about 9:30 in the morning and Laurel is lying on my bed reading books, and Bryan is out on the kayak, taking advantage of the smooth waters (see the first picture). Last night we had a really nice dinner with friends at Its Knot a Bar in Omena, a really pretty bay on the Grand Traverse Bay. The weather was perfect yesterday. We spent a lot of time in the lake, and from the last picture below, you can see we did not want to get out. Bryan built a small fire and we roasted marshbellows, before we came in at 10 PM! I love that its still not dark at 10 PM.
As for the rest of the week, no plans yet, but lots of ideas. Lake, sightseeing, a picnic at the beach. And campfires. Did I mention pie?
Finally, I wanted to include in this post a Happy Happy Birthday to our sweet angel Rowan. We celebrated her birthday, quietly on Friday. Twelve years old. We did some reminiscing, had a nice lunch out at a favorite family restaurant that we sometimes took her, and went home to have cake and ice cream. We still miss her so, and the pain of her loss really never fades. Thankfully, we are so blessed to have Laurel Eliza who gives us such joy and helps us remember to live in the present.
I guess I should wrap up this post, as Laurel and Rukia are getting tired of being patient and want to go outside. I must admit, its time…
Such an eventful weather day here in Moline yesterday. Inbetween the rain and the snow we squeezed in Laurel's Holiday program.
It seems like just yesterday when she cut this tooth. Can it really have been 5 years? 
After we had a gruelling morning working on the leaves in the yard, I was able to snap a few photos. Check out the rest here.
First Day, and we finally got some rain!
Giving me the look…
Monday brought quite a storm through early in the morning. Enough that I was alarmed, but my neighbors tell me it wasn't a bad storm. Personally, I think they all just slept through it, like the rest of my family. But wow, it blew very hard against the house, and watching it come across the lake, seemed like something I've never seen before. Note to self: recalibrate thunderstorm expectations. With that storm came 3 days of hot humid weather. Its been hard to complain about the heat though, as my friends and family south of Michigan, were sweltering in 110+ temps, while we only had 95. And we are also fortunate to have the lake to keep cool in. And we did. I think we spent 90% if these 3 days in the lake. Only getting out to reapply sunscreen. And for our next trip in August, we have ordered and are anxiously awaiting a window AC unit. We can play in the lake during the day and sleep comfortably at night. 
As for the rest of the week, and after Becky & Greg joined us, we enjoyed fireworks, all around the lake. So fun to watch the amateurs and the professionals - some with little distinction between the two. And a beautiful moon rise each night. Laurel played with sparklers, we ate at a couple of nice restaurants (so many good restaurants here). Visited the Children's Museum on Traverse City where Laurel played dress-up in the lighthouse. I had to be her to put this jacket on and be allowed to take a picture. She much preferred the girls clothes. And we did a little shopping in Suttons Bay at a favorite T-Shirt store, Baywear. They have lots of funny t-shirts, including the one I bought Bryan pictured below. 
We had a pretty good week. We managed to mostly forget about work. And we had trouble getting to be before 11PM (including Laurel) a couple of nights. We also rarely rose before 9 AM, ate all our meals late. 
Even though we came home a day early, due to the heat and another day predicted of stormy weather, I'd say we had a pretty good week. Rukia was sad to be home though. No swimming here and NO DUCKS.
We safely made it to the lake on Saturday. It was pretty warm in Moline last week, so it was a welcome retreat to get to lake and cooler temps. After we arrived on Saturday night, we spent the rest of the evening in the water, just relaxing. The water temp was perfect. I guess its been pretty warm here recently, and we might get some warmer weather here this week. But is a vast improvement over the heat index of 114 last week, in Moline.
As for the rest of the week, no plans yet, but lots of ideas. Lake, sightseeing, a picnic at the beach. And campfires. Did I mention pie? 
With that in mind, we enjoyed our improved lake view. With the trees trimmed back, we can now relax to a beautiful sunset.
Today, we visited Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was a little windy, but overall a pleasant day trip.
