It's Football Season!

With the arrival of our very own Denard Robinson (aka Mia Lucene, much to the bigs dismay), we have come to love football no less!  Nate's cousin Zack recently got Nate his very own Dexter football jersey.  We're hoping for winning seasons all around for the Wolverines and the Dreadnaughts! And, we'll always root for the Napoleon Wildcats too!

 Seriously?  I know. This will definitely resurface for High School graduation for at least one of them.

 Look!  That's HAIR!   And kind of a gas face.  But, look!  Hair!

 Papa 'Hara and Mia

 Daddy and Mia watching the season opener in their Michigan gear

You'd think it was any exciting game the way Mia perked up...it wasn't.  It was actually very, very disappointing.  Mommy had to go to bed.  Frustrated and angry.

Summer Vacay 2012

We spent a week at the lake for our last hurrah of the summer.  I took a bazillion pictures and have tried to capture the majority of the week in the following snap shots.  We had sun & fun!  No complaints.

 Tessa went fishing...and caught some fish with her bare hands! 

 Thanks Aunt Amy for that awesome feather that is still sticking up off the top of my head and makes me look like a peacock!

 Mom and Mia...yep, that's Mia in the sling.  She's the "good one."

 The kids got pulled on the "couch tube" through the channels several gajillion times throughout the week.

 Taking a stroll down the sand bar.  Swim shoes are not attractive but you can't help but think "awwwh."

 Nate became obsessed with swimming with goggles and snorkel.

Sunny day with a nice breeze...perfect for the kite!

 The girls. Mia in the cocoon.  I look pretty bad @ss in my backwards hat, eh?

 This gem blew in to our swimming area and the kids thought they'd hit the jack pot...until the owners came to claim it.  Buzz kill.  We got a good afternoon of bouncing out of it though.

 Mia hanging with Gramma Char.  She loves vacation.

 Nate wake boarding and our short-lived ownership of a water tramp.

Popping popcorn fireside with Vicki.

Zimmy's birthday & Other happenings/visitors at the lake...whereelse?

 Look at this sweetness?  Apparently growing hair can be rather tiring.

 Nate is kinda sweet too...at least most of the time

 Ditto for the middle'un

 Zimm's 29th and some change birthday. Someone got him this hideous landscape flag.  We thought we'd spiff up his hot rod with a winged helmet though!

 Zimm and his buddy Troy

 Bryson in the winged helmet.  Look how happy he is to be a Wolverine!

 Nate...going

 ...going...

 ....gone!  What a difference a summer makes!

 Bathing boat beauty Miss T

 This is evidence that non-motorized water sports are not a thing of the past!  Nate and Zack are pulling Molly behind the kayak.  And, they even have Tessa as a spotter!  What great water safety skills!

 Is that a wake I see?

 Yup.  We let them make a loop around the lake.

 The ladies hanging out...and smotherin' the babe.

 Mia sighs and thinks, "This is unfamiliar? Whoa! I can breathe!  I don't have dirty little hands pulling me in multiple directions. Peace." 

 Puff visits the lake.

Much better place for the delicate babe to be...in the arms of the ADULT!  Shewsh.

Crockett Drive Annual Picnic

In the handful of years we've been going to the lake we have yet to make it to the annual lake picnic.  My mother, of course, has always wanted all of us to go.  But, somehow, we've always had good enough excuses.  This year we had no good excuses and went...a few of us grumbling more than others.  We all managed to have a good time. There was good food and lots of games for the kids and adults! Our family walked away with a hoolahoop champion and a coupla balloon tossing champions!

It was a Hawaiian themed event.  Above the kids got leis and were listening to the directions for one of the events. Nate and Tessa with Molly and Zack in the background.

 Nate and Zack Balloon Tossing with some of the neighbor kids

 Troy and Bubba were the adult balloon tossing champions

 Kendall was a hoolahooping marvel!

 Hhhmmm? This is inappropriate.

 Mia hanging out with the baby whisperer, Boz.

Mia.  Getting chubby.  Looking annoyed. Pry because I've accessorized her again. And/Or because it's nine hundred gajillion degrees outside.

Lemonade Stand!

 Our neighbors have what they advertise as an "estate sale" a couple times each summer.  It's definitely "just a garage sale."  Apparently using the fancy term "estate sale" lures in a better crowd.  Anyways, the kids are always asking if and when we can have a garage sale.  I always answer, "maybe some other time" but I really mean, "Never!"  I have let them set up a garage sale of their own before but Nate got quite disgruntled only 20 minutes after he put up his sign at the end of our drive and no one had come to purchase his goods. And, I was admittedly relieved that no one actually came!  While I support the idea of recycling and reusing, this was a good lesson in garage sales are a lot of work for little profit!  We happened to be home and in town on one of the days our neighbors were having one of their sales.  And, lucky for the kids, I was on board for a lemonade stand.  So, we called our buddy Allie and asked her to come help us host because she lives in a traditional neighborhood in the city, has some experience in lemonade stands and we needed her to bring the lemonade!  Seriously.  Allie's mom, Naomi, only had fancy PINK raspberry Crystal Light Lemonade and it sold like hot cakes.  That is, for a "country lane" lemonade stand.

 The kids were bonkers and pretty good sales folks too. They worked diligently on signs and set up.  They used their mini jeep and tractor to haul all the items out to the driveway split.  I did realize after a couple of sales though that Nate was advertising $1 per glass!  We had to have a little talk about appropriate pricing and marketing and more or less taking whatever people want to give to you and your cause.

 Each kiddo walked away with a few dollars each and they were thrilled!

Absolute Rule of Thumb: ALWAYS stop at a Lemonade stand.  Even if it means scraping sticky pennies out of your ashtray or trading for a piece of gum.  The disappointment of a few cars not stopping or acknowledging their efforts was so disheartening!

A visit from Levi

Mia's had her new friend Levi over for a play date.  Levi is looking as handsome as ever.  Less orange but still is a little cranky by his mom and big sister's report.  He was super chill hanging out with Mia though!