another fantastic fourth

We spent an amazing long weekend on Lake Michigan at Hoffmaster State Park, just south of Muskegon. It was wonderfully refreshing to have 4 solid days together...no work, no tv, no house projects, no internet, no laundry, no Mario....only cooking :)

Our days were filled from sun-up to sun-down with quality family time and memories. We beached, biked, hiked, fished, played all kinds of ball, and Tim and I had much heart to heart conversation and togetherness. It was lovely.

On Friday, we started our day at Michigans Adventure. The kids had a blast and were able to go on a majority of the rides. We took turns sitting off with the younger 2, who did a great job considering they spent the day in the double stroller. Stella wanted no part of the kiddy rides.

I wore my bikini as promised, and have lost 5 lbs. so far!

Dylan was obsessed with the pond in the center of the park, because it was chock full of overfed fish circling around waiting to be fed. I can't even count how many times he said "I shoulda brought my fishing pole."

We climbed to the top! That's the lake behind us....hard to tell in this picture.

The only set back in our trip, was that I screwed up our reservation. When I doubled checked the dates the week before we left, I must have looked at our confirmation from last summers trip that never happened because of my bedrest situation. Anyhow, we had a happy ending, because we were surprisingly able to get another nights lodging.

We love Hoffmaster because there is a creek that meanders around through the park, and dumps out into Lake Michigan. Dylan spent most all of his time hunched over with his net looking for crayfish. The ones he caught we kept in a bucket, and then brought them over to the nature center to feed to the turtles.

This little lady enjoyed splashing around in the shallow water.

It's fascinating taking all 5 kids to the beach. Every last one of them has different interests. I can't even imagine taking them all by myself!

Austin likes to jump the waves, play frisbie, and run down the sand dunes. Sydney also likes to jump in the waves, but would be happy to sit on the beach and make a sandle castle with someone....like her daddy. Dylan could spend the entire day looking for little creatures with his net. Tim forced him to take a break and play in the lake before we left. Stella loves to just run back and forth between the shallow water and the sand, and Ellery prefers her shade under the umbrella.

This little lady is a daddys girl.