Sandy Pines on the Fourth of July Weekend!

Q fam with Gr and Gr K

We were blessed to be able to spend the holiday weekend with family and friends at Sandy Pines.   We made the best of the rain with a picnic  ~ enjoying friends and playing silent card game with 15 kids in a trailer!  amazing how that keeps them quiet :)  Then we were blessed by 3 beautiful summer days, fun at the water park, the beach, the parade, fishing and playing with cousins!  Well here are some photos from our trip. 

Big and Little friends!

Fun on the playground (before the rain)

Luke and Naomi had fun too! Special catching up with these little ones who change so quickly!

another great group game under the pavilion (during the rain!)

Another little buddy!

The Sandy Pines Ice Cream Store is the BEST!  trust us order a baby cone!!! :)

Fun catching up with some cousins too!

Mom and Dad K

Q family red and blue (guess we forgot the white!)

Waiting for the parade to begin

Steve with Dad and Mom Q (color coordinated well for the 4th!)

Exciting times, at 12 you can get your "golf cart permit" at Sandy Pines!  so we now have another driver with her permit as well as 2 with their golf cart license!  we also enjoyed have our 15 yr old get some drive hrs in on the way up (yes we made mom sit in the back seat but she remained quiet enough we didn't have to use the duct tape!)

Our 2nd FAVORITE stop.... the CANDY store :) now with 2 drivers they ended up there often!

 We have completed 8 out of 10 conventions so far this season and this little girl has been a trooper!   We are so thankful to have such great big brothers and sisters to help out with her.  Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of her many faces!  We are blessed to have her smile in our family!   Blessings on the rest of your summers! 

please pretty please more candy???

learning how to swing takes concentration

keep looking up!  

Family fun up north

We enjoyed lots of fun with family making cookies with the cousins (this is the beginning it DID get messier!)
some of them eat more then they make but its fun! and sugar is good for you right?
We were also blessed to go up North to cabins with the K family and enjoyed an indoor water park one day and some of us tried skiing the next day.
"Bernie" did great!
"Tutu" I don't think she even fell down once! amazing!!!!
"Eugene" he did great too, pretty tired out but had lots of fun! the chair lifts were great -- especially the time mom and I were getting off and I made her fall!

More pictures soon! (really! )

Felt like just yesterday....

Both Steve and I grew up at a campground called Sandy Pines. We were blessed to be able to spend Memorial Day weekend there with family and friends! So good to spend time with old friends and just relax for a while! The kids enjoyed the water and Steve took the little boys out in the row boat which they enjoyed. Jumping off the dock is hours of fun :) especially when the water is so warm.And always fun playing games with Grandma! Chuck had spent most the week there working with both Grandpas, getting his golf cart license and hanging out with friends! WOW is he getting old! Its been a long time since the water has been this warm on Memorial day weekend -- really felt like the middle of summer instead of just the beginning! What fun to have a few days to really relax, we enjoyed a few really nice sunny warm days (which we made good use of the beach and water park!) and a few rainy days which made for good game and movie days :)

All the K cousins what a crew! looking forward to another on in the mix next month when my brother and his wife have their first! YEAH! That means another trip to MI to meet him or her soon! Tutu with a piggy back (Sydney) and piggy front (Molly) Eugene and Grey enjoy playing BOY stuff!

Ria is the bottom of the sandwich with Raleigh, Brinley and Sadie on top! Even though the weather wasn't great we did get to the water park with cousins for a bit, some of them did a round of mini golf then we hung out in the trailer (all 20 of us!) COZY! Thank goodness Grandma keeps good snacks and lots of games! and sports on tv keep all the big boys (and dads) happy!!!

We were glad the Cuthbertsons and Snoeyinks could join us for an afternoon Tuesday which turned out to be a GREAT beach day and that meant a stop at the ice cream shop. Sad I forgot my camera :( sorry no pictures of the yummy delicious ice cream! (Karen if you got any send them over!)
A stop at the Regans before we left was a real treat for all of us! The boys enjoyed a grass fight exploring the barn and just being with friends, the rest enjoyed being with friends, the smell in the barn (just kidding!) helping with chores... well they were willing anyway! And we enjoyed some adult fellowship!

So that was our side trip we squeezed in before heading to Chicago area convention, a few more hours in the car -- they all blend together!

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Cor 13:14

Next stop...Niagra Falls

We were ending two weeks of travel and everyone was getting tired but we enjoyed an afternoon stop at Niagara falls. As it was before open season we couldn't walk down by the horseshoe falls but it was amazing even from above! Zeko was impressed we were "so close" to another country, Canada!
The ferris wheel over there looked pretty good to him!!! We thought that was all there was so we walked along for awhile then had our picnic supper, finally a beautiful day to sight see!!!

After we ate, we went for one more bathroom stop and realized the American falls were behind that building!

So we did a little more walking, oohing and awing :)

It made me a little nervous having them leaning over the edge!!!the rocky bottom didn't look too good to me!

The two little boys were mesmerized, as they'd throw a stick into the water on top and squeal with delight at it thundered down the fallsWhat an incredible display of God's amazing nature!!! To see the power and hear the thunder gives a little glimpse of the power of our Almighty creator!! The Lord God made it all!!!

Aboard the Mayflower 2!

Not sure what you picture when thinking of the Mayflower but it was WAY smaller than we had thought! Again the weather was wet and on the colder side. But much more realistic of what the voyage would have felt like! (we went back the next day which was sunny for some better pictures!)

The boys peeking out the back window. All the windows would have been shut on the voyage, as musty and dank as it was when we were there I can't even imagine WANTING to travel for months shut up in bottom of a boat like this!!!

They aren't really sure what the "cabins" were, they may have stacked beds like this or they may have just all lined up on the floor. There were 102 passengers which likely didn't get above deck until they had crossed the ocean!

a HUGE anchor rope

They look like a pretty good crew!!! The boys wanted to climb the rigging I was glad that wasn't allowed!!!

The girls look over the ship from the dock.
This was the closest we got to the ocean; plenty of shells and treasures at low tide! The official plimoth rock :) At least we can say we saw it!
Not really sure its the real thing but it was neat!