Gabby is so cute!

First time trying spaghetti and meatballs. She loved it!

 

Eliana’s First Communion

A view of Eliana's hair. She didn't want to wear a veil, but decided on a "Crown of Braids." Braided into her hair is lace from my mother's wedding veil. (She also wore the lace wrapped around her wrist as a bracelet and around her waist like a belt.) She was so excited for this night!

 Eliana received her First Holy Communion earlier this week. Like many things, this sacrament was delayed due to Coronavirus. Luckily, she was able to celebrate this mass the day before school started. She has eagerly been anticipating this sacrament all year (for years really) and was so reverent when she received Communion for the first time. Her joy is infectious and a wonderful reminder of the sacredness of this sacrament. 

To celebrate, we had ice cream after mass. While we would have liked to have a big party, we couldn't. But we did have a "party" with her cousins via Zoom while eating cookies.

Gabby at 7 months

 

Vacation to Lake Huron

 At the begining of August, our family took a vacation to Lake Huron. We had a wonderful time! We rented a small cabin near East Tawas, MI that was on its own small lake and about 10 minutes away from Lake Huron. There wasn't much to the cabin but it had everything we needed for a low key, cozy vacation. The best part was having lake access to our own little lake with a dock. The kids could just run outside, jump in the water, and then get changed to dry cloths whenever they felt like it. We did some boating around the lake, built many fires, ate outside, and feasted on tons of s'mores. 

First stop was at this farm themed playground.

About halfway through our drive, we made a planned stop in Ann Arbor, MI at this playground. It was a chance to stretch our legs, eat lunch, and get Gabby out of her carseat. She did fairly well on the drive to the cabin. I was able to pump milk, and Eliana gave her bottles on the drive (thanks to that 8th "jump seat" in the Honda Odyssey - worth every penny!). The drive back didn't go quite as well - we made several more stops on the ride back to get Gabby out of her seat.  There was a lot more crying involved.

A view inside the cute, cozy cabin. The older kids slept in one room in bunk beds. David and I slept in the second bedroom with Gabby. She has been in her own room for a long time now, so when we went to bed, we typically woke her up and she would want to nurse. So there wasn't as much sleep going on as you might hope for on vacation. I guess unless you are on vacation with kids. Then lack of sleep is expected.

Lake life can be exhausting!

We roasted lots of s'mores. David took the kids out in a row boat. David also tested out the stand-up paddle board. The kids swam around our dock. We also spent some time watching the sun set and gazing at the stars.

This is the small beach at Lake Huron. Even in August, it was a little chilly here. Will and Laney quickly tired of the cold water and opted to play on the playground instead. David and Eliana got up one morning really early to watch the sun rise over Lake Huron.

 

 

We were very close to Huron-Manistee National Forest and Cosair Trails. This was a truly beautiful area with trees that was don't usually see around us in Ohio. Cosair Trails are actually designed for cross country skiing which we found out makes for excellent hiking trails for kids. The slopes were gentle with no steep climbs. We played a game in which we tried to find a tree exactly the same height as each of us.

We also did some hiking in an area called Lumberjacks Monument, dedicated to all the men who had worked there to provide lumber that was shipped around the country. It was wild to see pictures of the area 50 years ago with very very few trees. Now the trees are growing back, but I can imagine this place looked completely different when all the trees were hundreds of years old and thick and tall. We hiked down about 250 steps to the Au Sable River to see a replica of a floating kitchen that was used to feed the lumberjacks. The kids did surprisingly well with this and didn't complain about climbing those 250 steps back.

A view up high of the Au Sable River down below.

Checking out a dragon fly on the floating kitchen.

One of the best things we did was hike this sand dune a quarter of a mile down a trail from Lumberjack's Monument. The kids had never seen a sand dune like this before. As you can see in the picture, it was incredibly high and steep. It almost made me dizzy looking down to the Au Sable River below. I was a little worried about climbing back up the sand while wearing Gabby in my carrier, so I stayed near the top. The kids went all the way down to the water. Next time we will have to remember to wear swimsuits!

Making a "sand angel"

We had a great family vacation. It has been so fun finding these beautiful places not too far from us that are a little off of the beaten trail.

Will’s New Bed

 As our family continues to grow, we are finding creative ways to fit in our little house. The three big kids have been sharing a room for a while now, and we have traded beds around as the kids grew. But with Laney ready for a big bed, we knew we would need more space. The best solution: build up! To free up some floor space for play, replaced Laney's toddler bed with a huge loft bed. Laney took Will's spot on the bottom bunk while Will moved up to the sky.

I had to build the bed around the toddler bed. Note Laney being really helpful in this picture. She has taken one of the boards from the loft bed and balanced it on the frame to make a shelf for her toys. She was not happy with me when I had to take the board back to actually build the loft.

Laney is inspecting my work.

Again, my inspector is making sure I have the screws in tight.

New arrangement! The kids love hanging a blanket from the side of the loft and making the space underneath a cave.

Hopefully this arrangement buys us a little more time in our three bedroom ranch!