Camping at Sleepy Hollow State Park

Last weekend, we took our first camping trip of the summer. We didn't go far, just to Sleepy Hollow State Park, which is only about 35 minutes away. But it was still good to go and have fun. We had planned to leave Friday after work, but the weather on Friday was damp and chilly. Carson was fighting off the cold the Grandma and Grandpa had, so we decided sleeping in the damp, low-50s probably wouldn't be a good idea if we wanted him to stay healthy. So we slept at home Friday night and left early Saturday morning to set up camp. Carson did not end up getting their colds, so we are all happy about that, even though we had a very quick trip.

This was Jet's first camping trip. We usually leave him home when we go away, but we decided to take him this time. He had a great time! Of course, he had his typical anxiety with the other dogs (whining and pacing around when they walked by), but we'll never help him get over that unless we take him out more. It stressed Kevin out, but Carson and I were able to just take it in stride.

Kevin's old roommate and friend, James, came out to see us on Saturday afternoon. He lives in Okemos, so its a quick drive for him. The two of them went out mountain biking on the park's trails for about 3.5 hours on Saturday while Carson and Jet took a nap, I read and relaxed. We were all up and playing, riding bikes, with a fire going when Kevin and James got back. (Who says girls can't build fires?  :))

After we ate, we went for a bike ride around the park. And then we went for a hike on some of the trails. We ended up at the beach for sunset. It was cloudy, but the sky was still filled with beautiful colors. Jet and Carson had fun playing at the beach for a bit. The water was so nice and warm! We were wishing we'd brought our suits on our hike with us!

We got back to the campsite in the dark. We cooked some s'mores over the fire and just relaxed for a bit before going to bed.

Sunday morning, we got up, showered, and went for another bike ride, played with the little TNT Pop-Its, and relaxed a bit. Camping is so peaceful... being outdoors is so relaxing. Then we decided to pack up the site and head home. So it was a very quick trip, but still a lot of fun! We are hoping to go camping again the first weekend in August. We wish we could fit in a trip in July, but it doesn't look likely.

Father's Day 2011

We had a fun Father's Day weekend this year.  We got to celebrate with all sides of our family - which was fantastic!  Our fun started on Saturday afternoon with the Jason Amy Memorial (JAM) slalom ski tournament out at my Uncle Dave's house.  I didn't take any pictures, but we had a great time watching some awesome skiing and visiting with some extended family that we only see a couple times a year.  Carson had a lot of fun playing with Emery, Cooper, and the other kids.  Not to mention, the weather was perfect! 

We left the JAM around 7:30 and headed straight over to my cousins' Josh and Mandy's house for some more fun.  Again, no pictures.  We hung out there until around 11:00, but we were all having a great time.  Carson was running around, getting extremely dirty on the dirt bike track and on the swingset, with his new friends Evelyn and Ethan.  He was still going strong and not ready to leave at 11:00!  That is REALLY late for him!  But that's ok every once in a while. 

Sunday morning, we got up and went to Kevin's parents' church.  Kevin's sister Mary and her family were in town from Grand Rapids.  We haven't seen them in over a month, so it was great to see them all and see how much Abram has grown!  After church, we all headed over to Kevin's parents' house for lunch.  It was nice to have the entire Holleboom family together again.  The kids had an absolute blast, as always.  Carson was exhausted when we left.  He fell asleep while we were still sitting in the driveway with his hand partially up in a wave.  :) 

Abram looks like he's waving and smiling here... :)

We left Kevin's parents' house around 4:00 and headed over to Sara's Aunt Sharon's house on the lake.  No skiing for Kevin, but Carson and Mackenzey got to do some "skiing" along the shore... with Kevin or Kyle running through the water pulling them.  It was good practice so they can hopefully go behind the boat at some point this summer.  We'll have to get a little more practice in first before trying it behind the boat... we want Carson to be totally comfortable with it so he doesn't freak out and not want to try again if he fell in the deep water or something. 

"The biggest sprinklers I ever did see!"

That was Carson's exclamatory statement after we left Uncle Danny's place of employment last week.  Uncle Danny invited us up to the golf course last Wednesday evening.  He was going to run the big sprinklers on the course and thought of Carson and his love of sprinklers.  Carson was seriously on cloud 9 the entire time we were there!  He really got a kick out of those big sprinklers. 

Carson especially loved getting to see one of the big (broken) sprinklers up close when we got back to the maintenance barn.  He LOVES to see how things work.  No matter what it is, he wants to know the ins and outs of how it functions.  He knows how all the different types of sprinklers work - he can even take them apart and put them back together correctly.  So he was VERY excited to see how Uncle Danny's huge sprinklers worked.  :)

Thanks, Uncle Danny, for giving Carson such an awesome experience!!  :)

First Ski Show of the Summer

Last Tuesday, we went to our first Silver Lake Ski Club water ski show of the season.  It was the ski club's second show of their season, so they are still working out the kinks, but overall it was a really good show.  We met our friends, the Parks family, at the park to watch the show.  The kids all sat and watched the entire show with no complaints - it really entertained them quite well.  Carson was loving the jumping again this year.  He continues to maintain his desire to jump some day.  And he is really wanting to try to ski this year.  We'll see how the season goes, I guess.  :)  After the show, Carson, Brayden, and Ashley all had a blast playing together on the playground for a while. 

Barefooters...

A pyramid, a twirler, a dancing couple, and a jumper... all being pulled by the same boat... jumping requires higher speeds, while the pyramid and dancers usually go a good 10 mph slower.  Not for this trick, though... they're being pulled at jumping speed.

Wakeboarding...

Pyramid...