Still here....June, July, and August whereabouts?

Goodness gracious. Oh me. Oh my. Where did the time go? Busy. Busy. Busy. Life happens in the summer. The kids have been out of school, TM works less hours in the summer and that means more time for doing, stuff. We've had our share of outings.

Organizing? NOPE! And I say that with dread as my plan was to get the house well organized this summer. Oh well, that comes soon, as in starting today, now that the kids are back in school and the house is relatively empty, except for the college student child that seems to pop into the kitchen just as I am cleaning the swath of destruction left by the morning rush. Next week he gets his own pair of rubber gloves to help clean.

Back to the subject at hand....the waning summer. We stayed busy and were gone a lot, maybe too much, but what a fun summer, not to mention really hot. Here are just a few pictures of our travels, a very small fraction, I should have kept you up to date with each trip. Sorry.

On the highway, even this horse thought it was too hot. Catchin' a little air.

On our way home from a camping trip, going down a busy highway, and there was a horse trailer. The horse has his head out the window, like a dog. It was funny and oh so cute.

Tiger's baseball game at Comerica Park. Go Tabbies!!!!!!!!!!

We went to a Tiger's baseball game on a tour bus with about 60 people total, co-workers of my husband and lots of friends and family. This was a fun time, I would do it again. Fun was had by all.

Lots of kayaking down the White River.

I have kayaked more this summer than in my entire life. What a blast and a great way to spend an afternoon, lazily paddling down the river.

White Tail Deer Farm. Really? A deer farm?

 Okay, they are beautiful, but why the farm? Did some research, and there are quite a few deer farms in Michigan. They are also in the wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Old Tractor. I love old machinery, it must be from being the mother of boys.

 This reminded me of one of my kid's toys when they were little. What a great old tractor. It just sits there calling to me every time we pass it.

Neat old farm.

 This farm is on the same 2 lane highway, I love the way the plants climb the silo.

You can just barely make out the horses just past the trees. Yes we were driving down the two lane highway.

Don't you just love snapping shots as your ride along in the car? The horses were doing their horse thing as we whizzed by on the same 2 lane highway.

Who doesn't love a turtle? Kayaking down the White River again.

Okay, so more kayaking on the White River. I do believe this is a painted turtle, the picture is a little blurry, but that's what it looks like. More lazy days on the river, sometimes with friends, sometimes with family, sometimes just by ourselves. What fun.

Same day on the White River.

How beautiful everything looks from a kayak. We actually saw a pair of bald eagles and a baby at the beginning of the season. Really wasn't expecting it and it was a little scary....two huge birds just took flight from one tall tree to another as we rounded a bend in the river. Sorry, no camera with me that day. After researching, it was true, that is what we saw, bald eagles.

A campfire is a must, especially if you want to roast marshmallows.

Lots of campfires this summer, I'm not sure that some of my clothes will every lose that smell. Not sure that I really want them to, I do love a good campfire. Many an evening spent with friends and family this summer around a campfire. Luckily, campfire season is just gearing up now that autumn is on its way.

The next day on the White River. We did a lot of kayaking this summer.

What lovely photo of a place we like to take a little break on the banks of the river. Bittersweet memories, as it was the last photo that I took with that particular camera. My trusty point and shoot Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 finally bit the dust. Well technically, it swallowed water. After much thought, months and months, I made the decision to get a big girl camera. You got it, a brand spankin' new Canon Rebel T3 was just what I wanted. TM told me to go for it, and I did before he changed his mind, possibly before he got the words out of his mouth. So I had my old faithful point and shoot and a nice new big girl camera. About a week later, shortly after this photo was taken, while at the half way point of our kayak trip, 3 young ladies had tipped their canoe and I needed to get out and go the the little girls room, a.k.a. the port-a-pottie. Wouldn't you know it, distracted by trying to tell the young ladies to flip the canoe to get the water out so they could drag it onto the shore, I forgot about my camera, stood up, and it fell into the water. Dang, it was like a dear friend whom I had known for many years.

This is what pictures look like after you've dropped your camera in the water. Not good, not good at all.

Yes, this is what it looks like when your camera has been dropped in the water. So long old friend. I dried it out in a bowl of rice for about two weeks, but it still has some issues to say the least. It works, just not very well. So another new camera? You got it, I love a good point and shoot....easy to pack, but I won't pack it in my kayak again unless I have it strapped around my neck and enclosed in a waterproof case. So, meet my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8.

Sleeping teenager....do not disturb!!!!!

Still takes great pictures for a point and shoot. Btw.......teenagers growl when you try to wake them up with a camera pointed at them and hide very quickly. This is inside the camper.

Not a Los Angeles Kings fan, but always a hockey fan. This was cool as cool can get.

Yes, the Stanley Cup came to town and we had to see it. Mike Greene of the L. A. Kings brought to his home town here in Michigan and we live pretty close. It was not an option not to go. Yep, a double negative, that means we were definitely going to see the cup.

I take that back, seeing the Stanley Cup was as cool as cool can get. Yes!!!!!!!!

It's a thing of beauty!! No more can be said. Well it would be even more beautiful had it been the Red Wings that won the Stanley Cup. Oh well, there is alway the upcoming season. Go Wings!!!!! Big hockey fan.

Can you say big bluish-green bubble? No, it's not an indoor driving range.

Big, blue....thingy in the museum district in Flint, Michigan. My cousin got married and the wedding was in the Planetarium there, with the reception held in the museum across the street. I know!!!!! Really?! It was very cool!! They got married under the stars, how romantic. A museum for a reception hall? Great idea. Decorations are built in with all of the history that is in the museum. What an experience, and we even got treated to a nice laser light show after the ceremony while they did their wedding photos.

A nice view after a wonderful dinner with my husband after our romantic anniversary dinner.

TM and I celebrated our 5th anniversary and had dinner at one of our favorite places, The English Inn. It is so beautiful there, I just love it. We took a walk around the grounds and sat on a bench on the river bank for a while after dinner. Aaahhhh.

Stopping to find the rainbow. It ended in the middle of the field and no one would go look for the pot of gold.

If you look closely, you can see the leprechaun and the pot of gold out there in the field...not really. But how pretty to see a rainbow end in a field.

A double rainbow, the top rainbow is a little hard to see in this pic.

Amazing, rainbows are such a beautiful occurrence. They make everyone smile. Right?

Note to anyone who will listen. Don't feed cats at a campground, you'll have instant weekend pets. But they are so cute!!

Stray cats at the campground. There were 2 kittens about 2 weeks before, by the time we got back there was only the momma cat and 1 kitten. Some lucky kitten found a home. TM graciously name these two Smoke and Fire.

A nice Amish family with their new fangled sign on the back. There are debates about using the signs or not.

Driving through an Amish community on the way to Higgins Lake we saw a few Amish "cars". They lead such simple and productive lives. Humble people with great work ethics, we could only hope to achieve such high standards. Weeks before we drove through the same community on a Sunday, everyone was dressed for church. All dressed in black and white and very dapper.

Nice old farm.

Farm country. I just like farms, just imagine all of the work that goes into farming. Early to bed, early to rise.

Big machinery....again, I raised boys. Enough said. 

More machinery, my boys would have been bursting to get closer to this when they were little. Now I get a grumble...."Mom, I know.....I know, it's a farm equipment." One day the will again be fascinated by these big monsters, probably when they are grown and have children of their own.

On the main highway, what a cool building, it was for a college, but I don't remember which one.

I just don't know, but it warranted a picture. What a neat building.

We even saw vicious bear. Oh how scary. Chuckle, chuckle, snort, snort.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Someone threw away a perfectly good Sunoco sign. 

Well, have you ever seen a huge Sunoco sign sitting next to a dumpster? Is it waiting to be picked on trash day? I found this absolutely amusing and giggled for quite a while.

Obscured sunset on Lake Michigan. Beautiful.

Back at the beach on Lake Michigan. The beauty of this state is breath taking. Between all of the waters and the trees, it just doesn't get any better than this. Check out some of the Pure Michigan Ads. Make sure to scroll down also. What a great state.

A pier (one of many) on Lake Michigan.

Again a great state. This was just to the left of the above picture, a ways down the beach.

My furry girls look thrilled to have me home. Don't they look like they missed me? Cats.

This was so cute, they look like they are guarding the top of the stairs. Watch out, they might move if you get too close. Probably not, you have to be careful when you step over them, because they won't move. Sometimes they're like little rugs. Those are my furry girls, Dahlia on the left and Daisy on the right.

June, July, and August brought many a sight and lots of fun. The Higgins Lake beach house rental complements of my MIL for the entire family was another success this year, sisters, brothers, nieces, friends, you name it. A good time was had by all, even though it was a little quiet this year. Year One was in Michigan City, IN. Year Two was in New Era, MI. An then this year at Higgins Lake. It's a fun time.

So there you have it, all caught up. Now it's time to settle back into home life as school has started and Autumn is just around the corner, you can feel it in the air. I'm ready to start organizing, cleaning, baking, decorating and crafting. Anyone want to join me? But I still have to take care of the garden first.

Go play in the dirt!!!!