Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Last Bits of Summer

We've been trying to squeeze in a balance of fun and relaxation in these last days of summer vacation.

We've been playing... (pies in the oven)

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...exploring our backyard...

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...and beyond...(this macaw is at the Creature Conservancy in Ann Arbor)

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...using our imaginations (picking flowers or gathering arrows...you might be surprised)...

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...and enjoying the sun.

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Friday, August 21, 2015

August

After the photo scavenger hunt in July, I think I needed a little breather from the camera.  I've fallen behind a bit, but here's a little recap of a little getaway the kids and I took with my mom.

Sophie in the water
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Like last year, we headed to the west side of Michigan and spent a couple of days going to the beach, picking strawberries, and just generally kicking back.  We spent this time in Holland, MI, and although we didn't intend to get sort of touristy, we did.  After an afternoon at the state park beach, we spent the next day at Dutch Village and Windmill Island Park.  We saw demonstrations of how wooden shoes are made viewed a couple of dance performances, the kids rode on swings, a carousel, and a Ferris wheel, and we all climbed the stairs of a windmill and learned how it grinds flour.  I bought some of the flour, and we made blueberry muffins with our souvenirs back at home.

blueberries
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dandilions
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The kids picked dandelions for the young woman working at the blueberry patch.  Too sweet!

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For dinner we ate at New Holland Brewing Company where they were having a family night.  One of the kids' activities was building with gumdrops and toothpicks, and Michael and Sophie loved it so much we've been doing some constructing at home as well.

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Michael is almost constantly making sound effects these days, roaring like any sort of beast or engine at any given moment.  That makes portraits tricky!

I spotted Sophie sampling the materials.  

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