Good Times with Calvin Friends

(This is my first attempt to catch up on old posts. There will be more to come!)

In mid-August, we traveled to Michigan's lakefront for a relaxing week with Brian's good friends from Calvin College (and their families). All in all, there were 10 adults and 7 boys (all of whom were 2 years-old or younger)! This is the second trip we've spent with this group in recent years, and we hope to continue the tradition with this terrific group of friends as our families continue to grow.

We hope you enjoy these pictures from the week:

This was the condo in which our family stayed, and where we spent most of our indoor time as a group. What a view!

Now meet the gang:

The Venema Family
(Nate (Brian's best man in our wedding), Jill, and Samuel

The Faber Family
(Steve, Nora, and Levi)

The Morgan Family
(Marty, Kristin, Elias (right), and Micah (left))

The Weening Family
(Jeff, Mel, Emerson (right), and Eliot (left))

You know this family!

The Boys!
If the Bos family had come this year, I don't know how poor little Sophia would have fared against this gang of miscreants.
(As a side note, way to smile for the camera Miles).

Enough with the introductions. Now it's time to see what we did all week:

We hit the beach!

(You can see our cottage above the dune. All we had to do to get to the beach was walk out our back steps, which was perfect for our kids and coordinating naps, snacks, etc.)


The water was pretty cold, but Miles loved playing in the waves! He wasn't afraid at all; in fact, everyone was surprised when he crawled straight into the water on the first day. He's our adventure-seeker!

Nate brought his kite

We brought ladder golf
Needless to say, it wasn't easy to get a game in with the kids around! :)

We went to the local county fair!

The boys (and Norah) took in the derby!


We played games!
Pictured here is me dominating a game of "Ticket to Ride."
I don't think Jill has gotten over her less-than-stellar performance that game.
You've got to let it go Thrill.



We read books!

And, of course, we ate!

And ate!

This is just a random photo to show you how much Miles really does love to sweep.
Please, Daddy, let me sweep!

These last three photos show how much fun we all had on this vacation:

It doesn't get much more fun than this!

Emerson and Miles had so much fun that they fell asleep during lunch.
That's serious fun, folks.

THANKS FOR A GREAT WEEK FRIENDS!
Let's do it again soon!!