We were the best of friends through our late teens and twenties (my mom called us two peas in a pod), but somewhere along the course of us working together, worshiping together, and playing together, our lives took separate paths. I don’t think we talked to each other more than a dozen times during the last year we lived in the same town, and it’s sad that it happened the way it did.

Every now and then, someone we both knew asks, “Oh man, what’s ol’ Shemp up to these days?” and I quietly reply that I don’t know. I always get the exact same look, the one that you’d expect to see on the face of someone who just found out that a close family member died. I add that I haven’t heard from him in over 8 years. But you know what? He hasn’t heard from me either…

So we chose not to pay the ridiculous prices for school pictures this year and opted to take our own pictures. I think Sheila did a great job with it, and those of you who normally get pictures of the kids should be getting copies in the mail in the near future. We’ll be getting them printed soon. But for now (and for those of you not worthy of printed copies) here are some digital shots to enjoy…

But really, that whole “not worthy” thing was a joke! If you want copies, let me know…

We didn’t really have the fundage to do anything spectacular like we had hoped to, but spending the weekend with the kids was great time for us…

Here’s a pic of two of my crazy gals. I’ll post more later!

The example set by my parents in how to love each other through good times and bad will always stick with me. They seem more loving towards each other now than ever before (at least in my relatively short time being around). They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April and we had a few parties to mark the big event. On the gallery page, first you’ll see the pictures of the grandkids having fun at Nana & Bampa’s house and giving some small gifts. After those pictures are some of a small formal dinner we did with the older ones. We had fun at both and I think Mom & Dad did too!

See the images here…

So here are the rest of the pictures for those of you who are interested…

Tuesday 8-14 – (91 Pictures) – We went on a guided hike to an abandoned bear den, which we had gone on last year as well. It was a great hike, and the sun was in just the right spot in the sky for us to get some great pictures on the trip back to the van.

Wednesday 8-15 – (48 Pictures) – Shalen put together his 3D shark puzzle in the morning. We spent a good chunk of the day at the beach at White Fish Point. It was a very nice sunny day, but it was a bit cool and breezy as well. The rain came in just as we were packing it up and chased us to the van.

Thursday 8-16 – (204 Pictures) – This was the biggest day at the falls. We spent the morning at the upper falls (the big one) and then ate lunch there at the brewery. We then spent the afternoon hiking up and down the lower falls (the smaller series).

Friday 8-17 – (86 Pictures) – Today was the big day at the Blueberry Festival. The kids all entered the coloring contest and Moranda and Shalen won in each of their age groups. We then followed it up with a nice evening hike near the campground.

Saturday 8-18 – (119 Pictures) – This was our last full day in the UP. We took a drive and took the kids to a black bear rescue/sanctuary. We then took one last long hike along the river in the evening.

Sunday 8-19 – (2 Pictures) – Time to go home…

Pictures Shalen Took – (89 Pictures) – Shalen took these pictures on the bear den hike on Tuesday.

Pictures Hailee Took – (132 Pictures) – Hailee’s turn with the camera was at the falls on Thursday.

Pictures Moranda Took – (132 Pictures) – Moranda took these on Friday at the Blueberry Festival.

Pictures Corbin Took – (274 Pictures) – WARNING! These could make you dizzy.

Tired of pictures yet?!?!?!?

This morning was a relaxing one. The kids played around the site and at the playground and I got to read for a while. We fed some of the chipmunks and they even ate right out of Hailee’s hands. Shalen made friends with a boy in the lot next to us and they hung out together.

We took a trip to the lower falls after lunch and took a bunch of pictures. After seeing the falls, we hiked around for a bit. We then took a guided nature hike called “what good is wood?” We learned a lot about the local trees and the history of the logging that took place in the UP. The kids had a lot of fun and Corbin was very upset when the hike was over.

Making pizza pies over the fire was the highlight of the evening. I’ve kind of become the default “guy” who makes them, and Sheila dealt with all the “other” stuff including getting the S’more stuff ready.

We had a young couple pull in at dusk across the road from us. They had their cute little daughter with them. I could tell they were having issues getting set up and it was getting dark, so I offered to help. They were borrowing the tent and had never set it up before. It wasn’t a nice easy “pop-up” tent either. After reading and re-reading the instructions and locating some missing pieces that were hidden under the tent, we got it assembled and they were able to finish the details like staking it down the next morning.

We had heard from some others in the park that there was going to be a meteor shower tonight, so we sat and watched for it. Between 11:30 and midnight, they started shooting across the sky. It was a beautifully clear night and we got to see quite a few. Sheila and the girls laid on a blanket and continued watching after the boys conked out.

It was another fun day and of course, you can click here for the pictures.

Friday – August 10^th

Leaving town to start on a trip never seems to be easy for our family. We set a time to leave and there always reasons why we can’t make it happen. This time around it was mostly because of the fact that we bought a few more things to help make camping life a little nicer and the kids all got bigger (as well as their clothes) and for some odd reason the van didn’t grow with us. So between the minivan and the car top carrier, we struggled to get it all in there for the trip. In the end we had to leave two cases of bottled water that we had hoped to take with, but overall I think we did pretty well.

A nine hour road trip to go camping in the same state you live in is a bit much for small kids to comprehend, so even when we told Corbin that it would take 9 hours, I don’t think it really sunk in that he was going to have to sit for that long. “How many more hours?” is a tough question to have to answer every 15 minutes or so.

We made it. We set up camp. We started a fire. We made S’mores. We slept very well that first night.

Saturday – Aug 11^th

This morning started the daily routine of watching who was leaving and determining which lots to scavenge firewood from once they left. We did pretty well today. It probably gave us a day and half worth of wood. We then spent some time walking around as a family scouting out the rest of the lots here at Tahquamenon. We’ve kind of come to an unofficial conclusion that we’re going to be coming back here annually for the foreseeable future. We know which lot we want for next year!

After lunch, we decided that we had forgotten enough supplies that a trip to bigger store than the local town could supply was wise. We also had talked about taking the kids to the Soo Locks this year, so we jumped in the van and headed for Sault Ste Marie. Though at first we weren’t sure if we’d get to see a boat go through the locks, the boats finally started flowing. The kids really liked watching a huge (Edmund Fitzgerald-like) boat named “Algoisle” go through. It’s really amazing looking at the two great lakes so close to each other, yet having such a difference in water-level. One of the employees said that it’s roughly six and a half meters difference.

After hitting some local shops, we were all hungry and decided to have supper there in Sault Ste Marie at a place called Frank’s. It was good over-all. The kids and I liked it, but Sheila didn’t enjoy it much so I doubt it’ll become a regular stop on our annual trip.

Wal-Mart was our last stop before heading back to camp, where we picked up some needed supplies and the kids managed to spend some of their vacation money on things they could have bought at home. It rained during our trip back to Tahquamanon and the site was pretty drenched once we arrived. Thankfully the tents stayed dry and the wood was dry enough to get a camp fire going. Sheila and I tried to play some scrabble after the kids fell asleep, but we were too tired.

We had some drunk idiots near us tonight. They were loud and foul-mouthed, but thankfully the kids had all fallen asleep long before they got lit. I would have complained and tried to get them kicked out, but they left the following morning.

Click here for all the images from the first full day camping…

More soon!

But seriously, we had a good time and I got to meet some of her family that I hadn’t met before. We’re going to try to make it down there (about 45 minutes away) a bit more often and we can take the kids bowling too! Here are some pictures of the day’s events…

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As the day wound down, we were also treated to a tour behind the bowling lanes. I had always wondered how those things worked and the kids got a big kick out of it…

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Q is getting Ginormous, and he’s becoming a really great kid. I love his sense of humor! The cousins all played and had fun hitting baseballs, fishing, and all that. With we could have all been there at the same time but logistically that’s just really hard to pull off these days!

Anyway, here are more pictures for all to enjoy…

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