Tonight feels almost like the end of summer. I feel like things should start getting back to normal after a crazy busy summer pretty soon after today. We're going to start getting the kids back onto a more normal schedule following a long time of staying up late and sleeping late (although the sleeping late part has been pretty nice). We did our vacation this past week, leaving late Monday morning and pulling the camper up to Holland State Park in Michigan. We got there in the afternoon and headed right for the beach after setting up camp. We had a site on the Pines side of Lake Macatawa Pines campground, which was nice and quiet. Lake Michigan is just like I remember it. The water is clear, the swimming is great, the lake bottom is sand. Around here, the lakes are mostly muck. Sand is much nicer. And sand that was made by glaciers, not industrial rock crushers. We swam at the beach for a couple hours and headed back to camp for dinner, then realized we forgot to pack the grill, so we were pretty much out of luck. We went into town for dinner instead, then made it back to the lake in time to see the sunset. The night made us wish we had A/C on the camper, or at least a dehumidifier, because it was sticky wet. By Tuesday, we had decided that we needed to spend at least another day at the Park, so we arranged to get a new site, but we would have to move. Anyway, we spent pretty much all day at Lake Michigan and it was an absolutely gorgeous day (I burned my back and shoulders right through the SPF 45 I was wearing) perfect for swimming and building sand castles. We had dinner at the campsite and spent another wet night. Wednesday morning we packed up the camper and got ready to move to the other side of the park, but while we were getting the last of the camper buttoned up, Alex managed to lock the keys in the truck so we spent the next hour or so waiting for roadside assistance to come get the doors open. They did, and we moved across the campground and set up again before heading to the beach. It had been a bit rainy and windy Wednesday, so there were some good waves at the Lake, maybe around 2 or 3 feet high. We swam during a rain shower and jumped waves for a few hours, then got lunch and went out to the Ottawa County Fair. The kids had been pretty upset about missing the fair at home, so we thought it pretty fortuitous that there was a fair just a bit down the road from the State Park. But boy, you can sure burn through money at a fair. We got wristbands for the kids at $20 each, and bought 4 tickets each for Beth and me ($1 each) to ride the ferris wheels with the kids. Alex had wanted just to ride the double ferris wheel, so we did, and he spent the entire ride clinging to my arm and wanting to get off. The regular ferris wheel was much nicer, from what I heard from Beth and Missy. Alex and Missy also both wanted to ride the tilt-a-whirl, but about 10 seconds into the ride they both wanted off. They were riding that one without us. I was just about to yell at the operator to stop it already when he finally did; the ride had seemed to go on and on. $5 for lemonade, $3 for cotton candy, $3 for a turn on the rock climbing wall (for me - made it to the top) and we decided to not eat dinner at the fair after all as we had planned. We left right after the tilt-a-whirl because both kids were feeling awful after that ride. Then back to camp. We packed up and headed home Thursday morning.

This posting is just a catch-up because this summer was crazy busy and I didn't keep up with this. But we're leaving to go camping in a few days so I thought I would collect my thoughts about all that went on this summer. Let's see. In June the kids were wrapping up swimming lessons when coaches' pitch (for Alex) and tennis lessons (for both of them) started. Tennis was twice a week in the mornings. Mom and Dad and Laura and Thomas came out to visit the week of Missy's birthday, which was also VBS week at church, for which I was driving a van. Alex had wanted to go to Cub Scout day camp but with everything else going on, he couldn't. We used tennis as a trade-off. Missy wanted to go to the zoo for her birthday, so we talked her down to just two friends (Wrigley and Rebecca) for us to take to FW on a very hot day and out to dinner and to see 'Toy Story 3.' That movie was a bit more intense than I'd expected in a few places, and overall not as good as the others. The following weekend was our garage sale and both kids going to Michiana Christian Service Camp. Missy was at first chance camp on Saturday, and Alex got to go up Sunday and stay overnight. The garage sale was at the Boschains, and the Horbetts were in on it too. We got Krista to agree to go to camp at the last minute because Missy was going too, and she had a great time. For the garage sale, we had told the kids that if they put some toys in the sale, we would put the money towards a new Wii. That was good motivation, because they did, and we got enough money for one and an extra game. More activities in July. The weekend of the 4th, we went up to Michigan to camp with the Wiessners and Pinksters and Beavers, at a place called Michawana Camp, which seems a lot like Michiana except it has an RV campground open to the public. And it is NICE. But it was close to empty, for no reason anyone can fathom. We didn't take the camper, we stayed in one of their cabins which was a converted caboose...so cool, the kids loved it. They also have a zipline, rock wall (closed for maintenance), hayrides, mini golf, boats, beach...and a big inflatable jumping thing in the lake. We all had a great time, then came back Sunday and saw the fireworks out by Lake Wawasee. Alex managed to skin the crap out of his knees by tripping on a sidewalk on the way. A few days later was a fantastic production of "The Music Man" at the Wagon Wheel Theater that Beth and I went to see, like on a date. Friday July 9 Alex had his tonsils out, and seemed to be doing fine by the following Wednesday when I left for Vancouver for work.
Ah, Vancouver. I always love to visit, especially when I have some free time. Thursday the 15th I was able to get away while things were heating up and I hiked the famous Grouse Grind in 1 hour 11 minutes, not too bad from what I understand. Awesome hike. But my cell phone died overnight, and I didn't check in with home on Friday, when Alex woke up bleeding from the mouth and Beth rushed him to the ER in FW because the doctor said to get him right in, and was concerned about blood clots. I didn't call until about 9pm her time, and she had been trying to reach me for 12 hours. I had had some free time and was geocaching all day in Stanley Park. But everything was ok by the time I got home Saturday. I passed my birthday fairly quietly. That about brings us up to date.

The left fielder for the team we played today had an attitude problem. And a sun problem. He had a tendency to lose fly balls in the sun, and then when they fell, not to pursue them. I saw him do this before I batted one time, then I hit a long one that should have been an easy catch. Instead, he lost it, then threw down his glove and let it roll while another guy ran after it. I had been hoping he would let it drop because I knew he wouldn't chase it. Big turn at first, and when I got to second, center had barely even picked it up. I made the other big turn betting that he couldn't throw me out from where he was standing. He couldn't, and I hit my first ever triple. Standing up. A younger, faster guy hit an inside the park homer later in the game when the guy did it AGAIN.