5 Years Young

Our Natalie Elizabeth is 5!

She turned 5 the day before starting Kindergarten, talk about a busy and exciting few days! We celebrated with our family and a few new friends from her K class at Birthday World which had bounce houses, rides & games. She had a blast!!

She announced this year she didn't want a homemade by mom cake :( but wanted one from a bakery. We went and poured over the cake choices and she wasn't impressed with them. I then told her they can make a cake from any picture we have. She was thrilled and wanted Princess, the kitten on her cake with her....

She stuck the candles right over her face on the cake!

Natalie- It's been an amazing five years that you have added so much joy & laughter to our lives. Your unique perspective on life is a constant source of happiness to us. I am so proud of your generosity, kindness and who you are becoming as a person. We love you Smiley Goo.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us, she felt so special & loved on her day.

Back to School-the 2009 edition

This morning the girls were up early and off! They catch the bus at 7:09- yikes! After 9 months of homeschool we are ALL glad it's back to regular school today.

N's first day of Kindergarten. She's so excited and shed no tears.V's first day of 2nd grade!
L showing her displeasure :)
N walked to her class on her own and was proud to remember the way.
One last hug.
V on her way to class.

Jason will be working at his old construction job for a while until his new law firm job starts. He'll find out his bar results in late Sept.

Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. No more law school, no more study abroad, no more homeschooling. Back to school, work, routine and some normalcy. It's been an amazing 3 years since we sold the house, moved to Gville. It was a lot of fun & we have so many wonderful memories... I'm glad we did it :)

More From Michigan

We're enjoying our last few days in Michigan. Here's our blueberry cobbler.

The girls and Jason made Hummingbird Nectar and filled the feeder.

Big bubble time!

Fire pit time with the family.

Lake Michigan beach

Sunset

Jason tried like heck to get a fire going, but the wood was just too wet.

Little L was already asleep and missed the sunset.

Jason is attending a wedding in Atlanta on Sat. The original plan was to leave Friday morning and drive as far south as we could then stay in Atlanta on Saturday then heading back to Lake Mary on Sunday morning. Instead, we've found inexpensive flights from Indy so the girls and I are flying back Friday & Jason is driving to Atlanta and will join us at home on Sunday. Looking forward to being home!

South Haven, Michigan

We're having lots of fun at the Michigan cottage!

Headed to the beach.

Love the beautiful flowers here, so different than Florida flowers.

This is the view from the top of the lift looking down to the beach area. Glad the lift is working and we're not taking the stairs!

Getting into the elevator.

Holding on for dear life on the way down!

Looking up the track of the lift.

Lake Michigan Beach!

Sand mermaids

Cousins

Picnic lunch with the cousins.

Headed back to our cottage after lots of playing.

Cooking out on the back deck.

Valla made the most adorable little house.

Smore time!

Blueberry picking

My favorite flower

When we first started picking we tried to feed L some berries. She wouldn't eat them!

But then she realized they're BLUEBERRIES! Then we couldn't keep her out of everyone's buckets, even those of strangers!

They were so big and so good!

I made the girls try to eat them off the bushes with no hands.

Between us all, we picked 5 pounds and probably ate a few more while we picked! We could have picked for days, but how many blueberries do we really need?! Can't wait for the homemade blueberry cobbler tonight!

Any Fruit Cobbler
Dump lots of any kind of fruit in a casserole dish, pour mixture of 1 cup sugar and 1 cup self rising flour over fruit. Pour 1 c milk over. Cut up 1 stick butter and put on top. Bake at 350 until brown and crispy, about 1 hr.