Five Years Old!

How exciting!  Ethan turned five this year and it is amazing to me how much he has a grown.  His favorite things these days are Angry Birds, Legos, Garbage Trucks, and Soccer!  He loves the color green and is swinging higher and higher on the playground.  He is great with Math and numbers.  I attribute his ability to add and subtract to a summer of playing Monopoly.  On Sunday he counted to over 700.  Which, to me, is just insane for any five year old.  I am pretty sure he is a future engineer, but he would tell you any number of other things he wants to be when he grows up...like a plumber, a garbage man, or a police/fire man.

We celebrated Ethan's Birthday on Friday at McDonald's for dinner (his choice) and had ice cream at Grandma's afterwards.  Then on Saturday we had a party for him at Kelley's Bowl.  We had a few of his closest little buddies and some family.  It was a blast!  Ethan had never been bowling before, aside from the Wii.  All of the kids had fun.

 

AYSO Soccer Black Team #4

School has started and with that so has SOCCER!  What a great first practice/game he had!  Of course, being the first day it was a little chaotic getting everyone organized, but it came together well.  When the game started, Ethan was a little unsure of himself and seemed to gauge what was expected of him.  The two teams were pretty evenly matched, with each having a couple of seasoned players and a few newbies.

Teams were 5 kids each, with games being 3 on 3.  All it took was the other team to score against him a couple of times before he put on his game face.  I mean that quite literally!   He went on to score 5 goals, and had a blast!

I have a feeling he surprised the coach a little bit, only because during practice most of the kids were a little confused on what he was expecting them to do.  To all the kids credit, it's kind of annoying how the practices go because they play short drills to teach basic soccer skills, and once the kids figure out what they should do...the coach switches to a different drill that they don't know how to do and the confusing cycle starts again.  I am sure after a few practices, they will get it. 

Ethan definitely has a competitive streak, and seems to love soccer.

First day of School, Young Fives

Today is a particularly bittersweet day.  It is the first day of my boy's life outside his momma.  He now has a part of his life that doesn't always include me.  There will be things he gets to do and experience that I will not get to share.

I am so proud of him! He is such a strong, smart, and funny kid.  He was so excited for school to start that it took him a full hour to settle down to sleep last night.   We walked to school and Andy met up with us about half-way to walk the last few blocks with us.  Ethan had a few minutes to run on the playground, then it was time to line up.  When the teacher, Mrs. Abigail Schmidt, came out to lead the kids inside, he did fantastic.  He marched right along and I barely had a chance to kiss his cheek and wish him a good day.  He didn't look back, which makes me so happy.  To me, it means he felt safe, secure, and happy.   He has such a bright future ahead, and today was his first big step towards that future.  I am so glad that he marched right into the unknown and had the courage not to look back.

I can not wait to see his face when he gets out this afternoon and to hear all about the fun day he had!

Later that day:

End of Summer Fun!

With the school year creeping up we are trying to get in some end of summer fun!  A couple weeks ago, Andy and Ethan made a putt-putt golf course in the yard at the North House.

 Then last weekend it was the train garden, water wheel and hiking at the Fernwood Botanical Garden,

   

 and yesterday Ethan and I spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa at the Berrien County Youth Fair.  Ethan loved watching the chicks hatch and the family owned circus.  Later that evening he got to ride a few rides at the carnival.  It was a really fun day!

Family Vacation 2013 (Warning..very long)

It was impromptu, last minute, thrown together on a whim.  It was AWESOME.  Andy decided he was taking the week of July 4th off from work.  I figured we would spend a few days at the North House, and come back to Saint Joe for a relaxing week.  Andy came up with other plans.

At first it was going to be a road trip to Niagara Falls, but taking the long way was our only option (due to my lack of a passport to get thru Canada) and it seemed like it would eat up to much of our time.  On to Plan B. 

We left Saturday morning and decided to go spend 2 days in Sanford- mowing and plumbing (and some Kah-Ray-zEE Jeep driving) were the big projects.

On Monday morning we headed North over the Big Mack. 

We drove up to Tahquamenon Falls, near Grand Marais.  We had no idea where we were sleeping that night.  Our plan was to find a State Forest camp ground and pray there was space.  Luck was on our side!  We hit Tahquamenon State Forest first and sure enough, there was plenty of space.  We got a beautiful spot on the Tahquamenon River. 

Our view from the campsite

 The norm for the U.P. in July is ticks, mosquitoes, and the worst...black flies.  Those things will take a chunk out of you and they are relentless!  Fortunately for us, things had been pretty dry and the only thing "bugging" us were the mosquitoes.  After we set up camp we headed over to the Tahquamenon State Park to hike to the Lower Falls...

...and Upper Falls.

They were Fantastic!  The views were amazing.  Ethan was such a champ.  He did all of the hiking and climbing (they had platforms with stairways) all on his own. 

After the Falls, Andy took us on an excursion to get to the Crisp Point Lighthouse.  Let me tell you, those back county roads were freaky.  One-lane, mostly loose sand, and out in the middle of nowhere.  No cell phone service and very few people around should your van decide to get stuck in the sand.  My nerves were shot, but we made it.  Surprisingly, the lighthouse was being renovated and there was a small museum and gift shop there.  There recently had been boardwalks put in and restrooms.  It was really nice...aside from the 7 miles of sandy torture. 

It was a long day for Ethan.  He really wanted a campfire and marshmallows, but he didn't make it.  Soon after the lighthouse he was out.

Tuesday brought us to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising.  There we hiked Sable Falls.  There were about a million steps down to get to see it, and about 10 million going back up.  It was gorgeous, and well worth the effort. 

Us in front of logging equipment, used to wheel logs, pulled by horse.

After our hike we headed into downtown Munising to take the Pictured Rocks boat cruise.  These high cliffs and stunning formations are best seen from the water.  Someday when E's a little older we will rent kayaks and get a closer look.  Ethan loved the boat ride, but tired of it quickly.  We did well entertaining him on the first half of the tour, but coming back was harder. 

We got back to the campsite and Ethan finally got his marshmallows.  We had a beautiful sunset on the river.

We got a few sprinkles of rain that night, and a few spatters in the morning.  It was nothing really, except it brought out every mosquito in the woods.  Wednesday morning, while we packed up camp, we were eaten alive.  I was glad to be heading out to Menominee!  On our way there, we stopped at a beach drive off and let Ethan have some fun on the shore.  It was part of Whitefish Bay and the water was so shallow and warm. 

We also stopped at a little State Park called Palms Book.  It is known for its enormous spring that brings in huge fish from Indian Lake.  There is a man powered raft that has a hole in the middle to view the bottom of the spring.   All of the kids wanted to turn the big wheel to pull the raft across the water.

 

Then it was on to Aunt Linda's.  We had a nice dinner with Great Grandma Zuraski, Aunt Linda and Uncle Jerry, and Mom and Dad.  They had decided to come up and spend the week at Grandma's.  Ethan has recently discovered "Captain Underpants".  It is a small graphic novel, and he finds it hilarious.  He had Great Grandma cracking up!

Thursday was the Fourth of July.  A picnic was planned at Fran and Roni's.  I got to meet 2 of her daughters that I hadn't seen yet, Margaret and Melanie.  We had a lot of fun playing soccer with the kids, and Ethan loved getting to know his cousins!

We went to Hennes Park for the fireworks where I snapped this (slightly blurry) but sweet shot of Grandma showing Ethan the bay.  And another blurry shot of Ethan with Linda and Jerry.

Friday morning it was on to the Dells in Wisconsin.  We had 2 days planned there and reserved a motel right there in town that had a pool.  It was hard to get Ethan out of the pool.  He loved to swim.  We shopped and played putt-putt.  We hit a small arcade and played some games.  Ethan loved spotting all the Duck Boat/Cars. 

Hole in 1!

 That night we had dinner at place called Buffalo Phil's.  There they have a train room where kids get their meals served to them by a train!  Naturally that was Ethan's most favorite part of the trip.  They even had a t.v. playing Thomas the train movies.  When we got the bill, we got a coupon to the Knuckleheads Arcade where we got to ride the indoor train roller coaster 3 times!  Ethan loves coasters!

 

 On Saturday we spent most of the afternoon at the Riverside and Great Northern Railway.  There we were able to take a steam train ride into the woods and after we got a full private tour of the rail yard.  We got to see where they work on the train engines and cars and where they are stored.  It was pretty obvious they were looking for volunteers and members, but we enjoyed the tour anyway.

After our train ride we went back to the hotel for a swim and then walked over to a really fun place for dinner called "Monks".  Ethan got to eat his dinner off of a souvenir Frisbee! 

Sunday morning was our day to head home.  Knowing that traffic in and around Chicago was going to be thick, we went around and ended up getting home by dinner.  It was a long drive thru a lot of corn.  When we finally got into Michigan, the cars lined up to leave were nuts.  We saw miles of cars on the highway and when we got to the freeway, it was back up way passed Stevensville (30 miles from the Indiana border)!!!

This was definitely one of the best trips we have taken as a family.  We had a fun-filled week with wonderful weather and plenty of things to keep us busy.  It was great to see Andy's family and spend some time being together.  We were so happy to be home, but it's a trip we won't soon forget!