The Fair

 

We had another magical day at the best fair to be found in Michigan.  Both of the girls' grandmas were gracious enough to accompany me and my little ladies as Jonathan was busy working "at home" (aka his in-laws' house) during the days that week.  We started first in the "Wonders of Birth" Barn and saw a calf that was literally 30 minutes old!  At Mali's request, we spent some good time in the poultry barn too.  That girl loves her turkeys!  After a few more animal sightings we headed to the rides.  Woo-hoo!  Spinning, and motorcycles and giant slides.  We topped it all of with ridiculously rich fair food and even met a pageant-winning princess. Another one for the memory books.

Another Birthday Girl

Birthday Shopping

 

Carrigan had a bright idea about what she wanted for her birthday this--a shopping trip with her grandma, great-grandma, and great-great-aunt ALL BY HERSELF.  (No sisters invited!)  And goodness, did she count down the days to that event. The day after our camping trip, she got her wish the the four lovely ladies did some mighty purchasing through the toy and book aisles of Meijer.  She ended up with a My Little Pony castle, a singing Ariel doll, a Pinkalicious treasury, and a painting book.  Most importantly, time with some special people.  I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all.

A "Pure Michigan" Evening

 

Our regular camping spot had many fine aspects including a great beach, but you just can't top Lake Michigan.  So after camping, we headed up to Berrien, started our camping laundry, and headed to Silver Beach.  It wasn't quite warm enough for swimming (not that it stops the kids from getting soaked) but the sun was still beautiful.

 There are some friends that you may go for months without seeing but when you do, it's like no time had passed.  Pick right up where you left off.  We are very blessed to have friends like that throughout our lives.  The Posts are no exception.  Their three boys plus our four girls makes a pretty special combination.  The grown-ups caught up on all of the events of the past few months and reminisced about our GR days together.  (Squash soup!  Veggie Lasagna!)  Our kids were as industrious as ever and got right to work on making sand cookies and pies and digging an even bigger hole they had found.  Our oldest are still the schemes (thanks to Zeke we had M &M cookies), the middles are the peacemakers, and the four-year-olds are handfuls. They are all growing up much too quickly (Braces!  Hairstyles!) so we treasure these times more than ever now.  And are thankful for such a Pure Michigan setting to enjoy them in.

Camping!

A few more pics from July...

 New favorite game:  Tell-Tale.  Love those Blue Orange games!  A big thanks to Jill from "Just Jilly" (a GR friend) for the recommendation. 

 SO excited to have her own play-doh machine.

 Before church pictures with the birthday girl

 I love so many things about this picture--the fact that Laney is wearing Keen sandals with a fancy dress, the fact that Eeyore is in it (he's everywhere these days!) and Brinnly's expression.

 Cousin Lauren is super-cool

 So is the game the Ryans gave Carrigan

 On to our Lake House trip...look at Brinn's catch!  It was quite a sunfish!

The weather wasn't ideal for boating so we just did a few quick trips and spent time indoors too.  And it wouldn't be a Shunkwiler vacation without baking with Grandma Sandy! 

Another one of me and my birthday girl

A beautiful Sunday afternoon in  Frick Park...this sweet girl loved the trails, the creek, and soaking it all up. Me too.

Celebrating Carrigan

Like any Ward girl, Carrigan knows how to stretch out a good birthday celebration.  We were thrilled to have family in town for her actual big day.  Uncle Dell, Aunt Julie, Trent, and Lauren were great sports about letting us take them sigh-seeing through all of our favorite Pittsburgh spots (Carrigan loved getting DRENCHED in a fountain downtown) and then we headed home for a meal of Carrigan's choice--pizza.  But really, her favorite thing was her "Cake"..a watermelon fruit salad that the girls had found a recipe for on HighlightsKids.com.  She loved it so much that she hardly even  took a bite of her German Struesel Coffee Cake the next morning and instead kept eating fruit.  Her play-doh machine, Tell-Tale Game, princess magnet toys, and new hair bows were much appreciated too (she's a gracious girl) but oh, did she love that fruit. 
A few days later we headed to Great Wolf Lodge for some more extended family fun.  And from there to Indiana for a few nights at a lake house that Josh and Kara rented.  Carrigan opened up new nightgowns, a fairy-tale book, and a scooter complete with accessories.  What fun!  More pictures to come!