A Ride on the Genesee Belle

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 9th, Sara and Carson met up with Aunt Julie, Anna, Joel, and Jonah for a ride on the Genesee Belle.  The Genesee Belle is a replica of the paddlewheel riverboats that used to travel down the Mississippi River during the times of Mark Twain.  It is located in Crossroads Village and cruises around Mott Lake, which is formed by a dammed area of the Flint River.  Unlimited rides on the boat are included in our Crossroads membership.  So we decided to take advantage.  The upper deck is covered, but is open to the air and breezes. The lower deck is all enclosed and is air conditioned... which was very nice on a 95 degree day!  We spent time on both decks, though.  The ride only lasts about 40-45 minutes, but it was really nice.  We've talked about going back again for another ride, maybe one of the evening sunset cruises. 

The 4-Zinger Rides Again!

Papa spent a week last month fixing up Sara's old Yamaha 4-Zinger 50cc quad so that Carson could try it out.  He rebuilt the entire thing, replacing and cleaning everything so that it'd run well again.  After sitting idle for the last probably 5 or 6 years, it really needed a re-build.  Now it runs like it did when it was brand new!  And Carson is so happy about it!  Papa and Nana brought it over to our house over the 4th of July holiday weekend for Carson's first ride.  We have the speed governed way down so that one of us can either do a speed walk or slow jog to keep up with him while he's learning.  But Carson does pretty well!  And he loves it! 

4th of July

I was doing well with keeping the blog up to date there for a couple of weeks... and now I'm behind again... so let's do some catching up. Starting with Independence Day. What a hot day it was! We were fortunate to spend the day at the lake... and we spent a lot of time out on the boats. Kevin's back was hurt, so he was unable to do anything but swim, so he was pretty bummed about that. He did get to drive the boat while others kneeboarded and water skied, though... so that helped. :) The lake temperature was pretty near perfect. Warm, yet cool enough to be refreshing. Almost everyone (with the exception of Aunt Sharon, Reno, and Sara's mom) went swimming in the cove, the water was so perfect. 

Anyway, I didn't have the camera out on the boat the first time we went out, so I didn't get any pics of the kneeboarding, but here are some pics of our day on the lake...

Flint Symphony Orchestra at Crossroads Village

On Thursday evening, we met up with Uncle Jason, Aunt Julie, Anna, Joel, and Jonah out at Crossroads Village for a free Music in the Parks concert.  Flint Symphony Orchestra was performing, so it was a great concert to see for free.  We all camped out on the lawn in the back, which allowed the kids to run around and have a lot of fun during the concert.  We all had a great time.  Our two families haven't really spent a lot of time together lately, so it was great to catch up!  Carson had a blast with his cousins, as always.  He told us on the way home that he had so much fun with them all day long and wishes every day could be like that.  :)  Carson and Grandma had gone strawberry picking with Aunt Julie, Anna, Joel, and Jonah earlier in the day, so he loved getting to see them twice in the same day. 

After the concert, the kids went for a ride on the carousel.  They all started out on the small horses, all in a row, but then some switched to the bigger horses.  They all wanted to ride again, but we'll save the next ride for our next trip to Crossroads in a week.  We all have season passes, so we're all planning to go take a ride on the Genesee Belle river boat next Sunday afternoon.  Should be lots of fun! 

Second Ski Show

We went to another Silver Lake Ski Club ski show last week.  This time we met our friends, the Fransons, at the park.  It was a really windy evening and the temperatures had cooled off a lot, but the sun was out so it was still fairly nice.  We had a great time visiting and catching up with Melissa, Adam and their girls.  Both Kevin and I really enjoy hanging out with them.  And Carson always has fun with Adalin, Kira, and Ava once he warms up.  The kids all had fun playing on the playground after the show.  Carson is in love with their big metal slide and the merry-go-round. 

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.