Oh so techy!

Mike gave me an Amazon Kindle for my birthday, and I have been so excited about it! I'm loving it!

When it was first introduced a couple of years ago I was obssessed with it. I kept reading all the reviews, checking the Amazon page, etc. It was on my brain all the time. But, with the $400+ price tag I couldn't see ever getting one. Plus the reviews seemed to point to a few kinks, so I told myself there was no point in getting a first generation product anyway. Better to wait to get those little bugs worked out. So I told myself. ;-)

So here we are. A greatly reduced priced. Second generation. And a birthday gift! YAY!

My first Kindle book is True Believer, by Nicholas Sparks. I chose it because several years ago I received At First Sight, also by Sparks, as a gift. It was a book that followed the same characters as True Believer, so I wanted to read that first. Lately I had been checking the library for True Believer and it was always out, so I made it my first Kindle book. On deck, and already loaded, is Firefly Lane.

There are a lot of free books available, I am assuming from new-to-the-scene authors hoping to get some recognition, so it will be interesting to try some of those.

I am enjoying holding the small device. I like laying on my stomach in bed and not having to hold the book -- it just lays in front of me. I am a person that always liked literally seeing my bookmark progress through the book, so I am making do with the little bar that shows me the percentage I have read.

And the other night I was reading and Mike came up. I said, "I'm just finishing this chapter. Although I have no idea where the end is." LOL I could page forward to it, but then I would just have to page back.

Overall I am loving it!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Beach times

Here are a few pictures from a couple beach trips this month. We have loved, loved, loved the little hideaway beach we found here in South Haven. It is not one of the popular, big, crowded beaches. It is a small one away from the main drag. It has a little creek that empties into the lake there, so the kids can play in the creek of the lake. Did I say we LOVE it?

Well... South Haven has had some e. Coli issues this summer. Again, I was glad "our" beach was not the one closed. We continued to hit our favorite spot. Right up until the headline read, "Deerlick Creek probably source of e. Coli." Yep. Our creek. Our beach. We haven't been back yet. Sigh.

This first group of pictures is from a quick trip Kyle and I took to meet the Ayotte's while Mike stayed home with sleeping Erin. It was Brett's first trip to the beach, and I LOVE this picture of him. I also love the one of Kyle and Jack.These pictures are from an evening trip. I took Kyle and Erin down with a picnic when Mike had golf. We ran into our friends, the Asiala's, there. Thomas and Kyle are buddies. Jill and I are buddies. ;-)

Weekend of Festivities, Day 3 -- finally!!

Here it is July 18 and I am just now getting around to posting the final day of our fabulous Fourth of July weekend! This coming week is a little slower, so watch for some catching up!

Our day began with South Haven's Fourth of July parade. Here is Kyle with one of his best buddies, Laine. I love this happy picture of them!

This is the "candy parade." The kids know that it gets thrown from every parade participant and the scramble begins! Kyle and Erin came home with a bunch of it!

Our day continued on at the Lucius household. We have fun there every time we go, and this was no exception. After the fireworks display Ralph put on Kyle said, "I want to have my birthday party here so Ralph can do fireworks!" lol

Here is Uncle Troy catching Kyle in a splash, and then Mike catching him. He and his cousin Jack were leaping fools! ;-)

Erin is loving the water this summer! She was doing her fair share of leaping, as well.

Kyle called these "practice fireworks." They were little cars and trucks that would spin around with fire and smoke.

Erin playing with Max at the water table. Sparkler and firework time!

Happy birthday, America!!

Wordless Wednesday

Erin's first haircut

This should not have been such a hard decision. To cut or not to cut. To actually take that milestone step or not to. I did it. Erin has had her bangs trimmed before, but since about December I have been growing them out. The problem is, her whisper-fine hair will not stay. Within an hour of doing her hair in the morning it is falling out, and the parts that fall out hang far into her face.

I decided that a bang trim at this point should be handled by a professional, and that she could see if Erin needed a little trim while we were at it. I had an appointment tonight anyway, and my stylist graciously took Erin as well. My wee one behaved perfectly while I got my hair cut, then continued her angel behavior for her own cut. Way to go, Erin!!

Weekend of Festivities: Day 2

On July 3rd we headed to Eagle Lake to the Mullauer's for our annual festivities. This is one of my favorite days of summer. There are always lots of friends there, the food is great, the conversation is great, and the setting is great. I love it!!

This year we did all our favorite things. Kyle got to jet ski and fish, Erin went on her first jet ski ride, and we stayed through the fireworks. It was fabulous!!The cupcakes I made... ducks and corn on the cob.Erin had a ball!Brian playing with Erin.A couple of the older kids caught frogs; Erin and Kyle had a great time looking at them.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend of festivities: Day 1

We had an unbelievable holiday weekend! It began Friday when we headed to Battle Creek to go to the Balloon Festival and Air Show. It was fabulous! We got to see the balloon launch, rode some carnival rides, ate dinner, saw an air show, and watched the balloon illume. Beautiful!! It was also Kids' Day, so the kids got to go to some booths with free activities and free take-aways. While there were a lot of people there, other than the carnival ride area it didn't seem crowded. Getting there and parking was easy. It was a GREAT event that we all loved!