Maxin in the Mitten Part 2

We're missin' the Mitten.  Colorado is dreamy, but Michigan summers just can't be beat.  The second half of our trip was fantabulous.  Dude was back in his typical joyful spirits, Squirt continued to rock the fun category and we had quiet time to just chill as a family (with Nana and Papa of course) and enjoy all that Michigan has to offer.

Our sister-in-law, Carin came with our awesome sauce nieces and nephews for a day.  They were a few days away from moving to DC for the next few years and managed to fit us in.  

 Dude looks a bit possessed here huh?

 Happy 15 year anniversary love.  A winery in the middle of farmland? The wine tasted like Boones Farm, but the setting was perfection.

 Nothing sweeter than a $35, hour long horse back ride through the woods.  These two went on their own and did great!  

On our way back to Chicago we stopped at Daddy's race.  He trailered the car out from Colorado and met his fellow race fanatics in South Haven, MI for a weekend race.  One of the highlights of his year.  We don't go to his races due to the loud noise, chaos and predictable heat, so we were excited to check it out. If you'd like more information about the actual racing circuit, see Tim.  Not my arena.

 Pretty hot right?

That would be my family on top of Tim's buddy's trailer, Squirt crying to come back up, and Enzo hiding under our truck.  Not a fan.

 Shermans is a staple when you're driving from Michigan to Chicago.  I've been here countless times growing up and it hasn't changed one bit. 

On our very last day we met up with our friends, who are brimming with children.  Look at these triplets.  I wanted to take them home.  Not pictured are the 7 year old twin boys.  Yes, they're that busy.  My sweet friend Rachel handles this troop with grace and patience.  It hurts my heart that we can't see each other more.  Or talk really.  You just can't find time to talk when you're balancing 7 children between the two of you.

This concludes our time in the Mitten.  We're already booked for a cottage in Holland next year and we're counting down the days.

4th & Kindy

From a powerful prayer spoken over the kiddos in our church last week...

God we lift up parents of students to you today. We know that our lives are but a breath and each of our breaths are gifts from your Spirit. Grant parents a deeper level of trust in you this year. Help them to trust their children more fully into your good and sovereign care. Please give each parent courage for we know that parenting is not for the faint of heart. We ask for patience for parents. Help them to lead when they need to lead and help them to follow the lead of their child as appropriate too. Give them insight into their children’s curiosity and help to follow that curiosity with wisdom and understanding. Help parents to allow the natural talents and God given gifts in their children to flourish in full measure. Help them to celebrate their children exactly as you’ve created them to be, even when those talents are not the ones our society might celebrate. Carry them in your love, grace, wisdom and truth this new school year. Give them courage, give them patience, give them strength to parent well.

For our students we ask for strength to take risks. We ask for your Spirit-empowerment to take risks, explore curiosities and embrace new challenges. We pray that you would give our students great empathy for other students. Anchor them in your love so that they might have the confidence in who they are in you so that they can take the necessary risks to connect with others. Bless our students in the year ahead.

 

God we lift up teachers to you today. We honor them, we celebrate them and we ask you on their behalf for help in this new year. Give them patience, hope, and courage to do what is right, especially when what is right is hard or unpopular. In the midst of many external pressures, give them insight strength and courage to follow you in being the teacher you have created them to be. Give them an unwavering confidence in you. Give them unconditional positive regard for their students, especially the ones they may not understand. Help them to forgive the hurts, and to have empathy for each and every student, parent and colleague in this new year. May these teachers experience your love, grace, courage and strength flowing through them to those they teach, lead and guide in this new year.

And God we pray for those connected in a host of other ways. May every person connected to a school community play their part in strengthening these future people of society. Help this generation to learn well, to think deeply, to respect authority, to be curious, to embrace hard problems and to show respect to all. May those not feeling connected to a school community have eyes open to ways they might connect in supporting the next generation. God we lament before you that our schools are not always fair, they are not always equitable, they are not always safe environments for learning. So we pray for your protection, for your justice, for your shalom over our school communities this new year. 

We pray all this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN

Maxin in The Mitten Part 1

Last summer didn't allow for our week to the lake in Michigan, which was hard on the heart. Michigan is near and dear to Tim and me on many levels, one of them being summertime on the lake. Tim grew up summering on the lake in Holland.  Our young, naive selves got engaged on the lake. And our kids are now experiencing all the lake has to offer, including sand in every crevice possible. Aside from that, it's a joy.  

We just got back from a week in the New Era area, which was a first.  We fell in love with the farmland, vineyards, fruit picking, lazy lifestyle of the area we landed in.  Tim's childhood BFF and my college roommate own a cozy cottage on a hill that we rented with my parents.  It was nestled in gigantic trees overlooking a small boating lake, which is my happy place.  My brothers and their families rented our aunt and uncle's cottage down the road and we boated back and forth between the two.  Aside from two crappy days and two trips to the emergency room with our little man and his strange Strep Throat side effects, it was a week of epicness as Dude would coin it.  Pure vacation. 

 You might loathe pictures of peoples feet in lovely places, but you can't harbor negative feelings when there are tiny little baby toes included.  

 We finally met this sweet little buddy.  His eyes never blink friends.  They stay wide open and make you fall in love on first glance.  

 Our June Bug.  She and Squirt were quite a team.

 Sweet Hudson.

 Perhaps the most darling children's store in all the world.

 Soon to be 90 year old GiGi was able to join us for the day with Aunt Jan and cousin Melissa.  

 My beautiful, glamorous sister-in-law.  I rather adore her.

 This one was a water fanatic.  She wins the most fun award for our family.

 Dylan is the size of a man and grew up so much this past year.  Can you sense the confidence behind the pontoon boat?

 This was the day our little man started feeling better.  This smile lightened my load.

 Sweet Jesus do I love this kid.  Big, gappy 9 year old teeth and all.

 My dog child, scared shitless of all bodies of water.  And puddles.

 Dude and his Papa.  There's really no other combo quite like it.

 We couldn't resist the matching dresses.  The vision of these photos made me do it.  Squirt's wet hair didn't exist in those visions, but whatever.

 Heaven.

 Our little Hilltop Hideaway

 Silver Lake Dune Buggy Rides took us right back to childhood.  The wind in your hair, the sand in the your face, the bar banging into your knees....nothing like it.  Our kids thought they won the lottery.

 I adore my dad looking at Dude in this shot.  He's always looking to see how much my son is enjoying life.  Because he always is.

 Tim's childhood Sea Doo still runs, for 5 minutes at a time.  Then he has to empty water from the tank and he can go for another 5 minutes.  Was it worth it?  You tell me.

 

 How are these two 66?  

 

 They actually touched skin for more than 2 seconds without verbally assaulting each other.  I got proof.  

 Our sweet Enzo drove out in the pick up truck with Tim.  They pulled the race car, which will be featured in Part II of this series. 

 She thinks she's bored, but if she was actually tubing behind a speedboat her confidence level would plummet.  

 Turns out it aint easy for an old guy to get into a tube.  

 Michigan's awesomest petting zoo/farm stand/park was 10 minutes down the road.  

 That wraps up round 1 from The Mitten.  More to come.