Our week away on the big lake...

Our past week on the shores of Lake Michigan were absolutely lovely.   We rarely left the cottage or beach.  

 We had a nice mix of mild and very hot weather.

We spent most of the week building sandcastles... 

...flying kites...

...playing in the water...

...relaxing with board games...

...and indulging in yummy food. 

For nine years, we've rented this cottage.

 
I look forward to this week of respite, all year long.   

It's just about perfect.   Unplugged and all.  PS. It's going to take me a few days to get through laundry, email and my favorite blogs.  I'm anxious to see what everyone has been up to. 

The big lake is calling...

My blogging friends have sent me the best goodies lately and I'm sorry in my delay in sharing them. Please know they are appreciated and I will post them when we return from our cottage vacation.  The van is nearly packed and our house sitter has moved into our home (thanks for babysitting our cats and plants"J").  I managed to squeeze in some shopping so that the girls have a few "fun" goodies for our week on the shores of Lake Michigan.

 

 
I'll be completely unplugged for the next 7 days. 
No cell phone.  No internet.
Just lots of glorious sunsets, cool waves and warm sand.  

Be good. Don't have too much fun without me.
 

My patriotic tree and other decorations...

All of Josie's flamingos have officially flown away (minus those that are helping us with croquet). I've replaced Josie's tropical flamingo birthday tree with my patriotic decorations. 

Those prize ribbons are a nice filler this year on the tree. I've also given the top of my china hutch a patriotic makeover too.


The red wooden dollhouse furniture were acquired while we were away on our 20th wedding anniversary.  They will go in my craft room later this summer.

I filled this glass jar with strips of red, white and blue paper that I picked up at Dollar Tree.  I also tucked in a few mini flags.

I can't open the lid of the Cracker Jack tin.  I had hoped to use it as a base for my feather tree, but its sealed up tight.  Don't you just love the little sailor?
 
The Yankee Doodle story record is another new acquisition.  Isn't he sweet?   I don't want to rush the month of June, but bring on the RED, WHITE and BLUE!

      

Patriotic Crafting!!

With the recent installation of "better/brighter" lighting in my craft room, I was inspired to do a bit of crafting.

 

Here are a few of my latest projects. 

Before

After

 
Before

After


Before

After

 

As you can tell, Magpie Ethel and Creative Breathing have inspired me to get out the red, white and blue!  I'm just getting started.  Wait until you see my patriotic tree!  Linking up with:

It's a Very Cherry World:  Rednesday
and
Very Merry Vintage Style
 

B is for blue boat...

We aren't leaving for our lake MI vacation until the end of the week, but our family spent some time on a smaller inland lake over the weekend.

Josie even went tubing for the first time.
Emma was very protective and we went very slow. 

  

Last summer Chris upgraded his tiny fishing boat to this beautiful blue boat!

 

During the summer, you'll often find the family on the water having all kinds of fishing adventures (especially during the day while I'm at work).

 

My favorite part of being on the water is seeing the girls having fun and watching nature all around us. These were a pair of blue cranes that were enjoying some fish along the shoreline.

Someday, we'd love to own a place on the water.  It's good to dream.

I really love Chris's K-12 school work schedule.  The girls have the best adventures during the summer months.