At the Small Lake

This is the 3rd summer the Kwas gang has rented a cottage on a smaller boating lake in Michigan.  We haven't quite found "the cottage" yet, but figuring there are 8.4 million options to choose from, that might take some time.  This one suited our needs just fine and provided the opportunity to make memories.  We're pretty darn good at making memories.  This post is photo heavy, so I'll keep the words to a minimum....

What did we do at what we thought was Gun Lake, but really was a smaller cottage much more remote and 20 minutes from Gun Lake?

We bonded with our awesome Nana and Papa.  Yes, that's a speak n math game.  Did you ever have one? My mom still plays it in when she's having quality alone time.

We hooped.  

We danced.  Like no one was watching.

We celebrated my bestie's 35th.  He's finally my age again.

Despite the 70 degree temps (which I ADORED), we swam and swam and swam.

We (meaning Enzo) lounged on the lawn.  The humans did NOT since it was a muddy swamp the entire week.

We played games.  Note, Dude's drawing might be better than his Nana's.  Hers is supposed to resemble a baby.  Mmmmmm.

We loved on Enzo.  We ALL loved on Enzo.  Hard not to fall in love with the fur ball.

We lost teeth.  Never fear, Donatello the tooth fairy makes visits to remote lakes in Michigan.

We visited Great Grandparents.  A priceless treat for everyone involved.  

We tried our hand at a cousin photo. We eventually admitted defeat, but we did try.

We fell in love with the cutest 1 year old in the Midwest, our little June Bug.

We visited the old Vogelzang Hardware location in Holland, which is now a restaurant.  Pretty cool they kept the sign in tact.

We dined on fabulous, authentic, meat filled bones.

The adults dined on Kyle and Becky's gourmet culinary skills.  Be very jealous.

We strolled through the charming dirt roads and breathed in farm life.  It's so peaceful.

We went on Booze Cruises.

We Lego'd.

We hid from the children in our favorite spot under the bench.  

We made mad faces.  Don't really remember why.

We fished.

We smiled, genuine smiles.

We visited with GiGi and Aunt Jan.

We played in the corn.

We sea doo'd (for 25 minutes before it clonked out)

We tubed baby!  Yes, it was behind the pontoon boat, but look at the joy and thrill on those faces.

We tried to force Enzo into becoming a water dog.  Didn't work, but he would sit on the raft in the middle of the lake.  

We got dressed in the dark.

We s'mored.

We visited our Vogel cousins in Grand Rapids and swam in their awesome backyard pool.

We loved seeing how much they're growing up and how well spunky little Pearl is adjusting to life with her forever family.

We lived it up at the small lake.  Can't wait for our next Kwas adventure.

At the Big Lake

Whew....I'm attempting to wrap up our Michigan vaca, so here's a start.  Nick and Caylei graciously hosted our motley crew, including Enzo at the bookends of our trip.  They have a beautiful home on Lake Michigan, due to the creative decorating genius of Caylei. .  It was relaxing to the 10th degree.  The kids loved their time there, as did their parents. Nick hauled out all the water and beach toys, which gets my hubbie all revved up.  It's possible they even partook in some neighborhood skate boarding.  And they might have looked like twin teenagers.  We were  uber spoiled in the food department (Caylei is also a wiz in the kitchen) and were pumped to spend time with our handsome cousin Chase.  What a stud.  Can't wait to go back again next year.  

Poor Victoria

I went to throw something away yesterday and found a substantial chunk of fabricated red doll hair resting on top.  Mmmm.  Wonder who's responsible for that little act of defiance.  This little punk cut off a majority of my childhood Cabbage Patch Kid's locks.  Sorry Victoria.  I would tell you it won't happen again, but it inevitably will.