my favorite... nightly walks around Lake St. Mary

Last time we rode through here, Cullen saw a deer.

We are hoping to attend a mass outside here this summer.

Waiting for mom & dad...

Weed or flower?  Still pretty.

We could see little fish eating the bread too!

Love this tree lined path on the back part of the lake.

Ahhh, that beautiful golden dome.

no words...

I'm trying to permanently ingrain everything about these walks.  They are so beautiful and peaceful.  This may be what I miss the most when we move away next summer...

{quiet} play....

I have to pull them away to eat.

I'm seeing A LOT more of this lately...  The boys are playing a lot together in their room.  It's great to watch and overhear their pretend play.  Surprisingly there has been much less squabbling the last few days too.  This is enough to make this mom's heart happy!  I love seeing my boys play together as friends.

farmer's market

We all went to the farmer's market this morning.  We had brunch, bought produce, played with guinea pigs, and ate gelato.  It was a great morning!  Finn asked when we can go back again.  :)   (I think it was the warm cinnamon roll and pistachio gelato....)

loving the local produce

Okra, baby eggplant, and pattypan from the farmer's market.

My first cherry pie with Michigan cherries.

We are loving the local produce!!  South Bend has the coolest farmer's market, which we recently discovered.  It is in a building and open year round.  It even has a cafe that utilizes all the fresh produce.  We picked up the frozen, tart cherries from Frank Farms in MI last week too.  DELICIOUS!!  I couldn't get over how large the cherries are, despite the bad year for them.

climbing the walls.... really!

Cullen recently discovered that he can climb the walls, like spiderman!  :)  Of course, Finn can't be outdone...  Cullen has to lift Finn up a bit to get him started.

classic boys will be boys

I think this is Sean looking at me...

Last night after dinner I sent the boys outside to play, so I could wash dishes.  Halfway through dishes I hear a knock at the window and Cullen was showing me a toad he found.  :)  A little later both boys came running in the house with the toad in an old drum and (Finn) begged me to keep it.  I had to laugh to myself.  What a classic boy story.... and now it's my reality!  At least they asked me and I didn't find that toad in the toilet like that toy octopus.  That toad sure kept them busy outside... I was even able to sweep and rinse more blueberries while toad went for a swim in the water/sand table and Cullen messed with his throat moving so fast.  Finally, toad escaped between some bricks on the patio.

Today I took the boys back to Lake Saint Joseph on campus.  Again, they had a ball!  ALL they did for 4 hours was, jump off the dock, swim to shore, run back down the dock and jumped in again..... over and over and over again!  I saw cannonballs, pencil jumps, fancy mid-air spins, a few belly flops....  Cullen thinks they did it 99 times.  :)  Despite the snacks they ate like horses for dinner and I think I earned an early bedtime!  What a good day.

Let me leave you with "Doctor Toots".  I'm not sure why, but the boys think that is the funniest thing they can possibly say.  Finn says it a lot, which makes Cullen erupt into uncontrollable laughter!  This obviously motivates Finn to say it again...  They sure keep life light and interesting!

blueberry farm

We went with the Wilson clan to pick organic blueberries from a local farm Wednesday.  It was a lot of fun!  The boys enjoyed sampling the blueberries as we picked.  :)  I think we ended up with about 12 pounds.  I've frozen most of them and have already made Cullen's favorite blueberry buttermilk cake.

Blueberry Farm

Lake Saint Joseph on campus

First paddle boat ride for the boys.

What better view can you ask for?  I'll miss that Golden Dome...

Cullen jumping off the dock.

Finn wants to jump too...

I love his form! :)

Sean and I were asked to be the co-chairs of FLC (Family Life Committee) it's the MBA's version of the Army's FRG (Family Readiness Group).  We agreed, and I was asked to head the playgroup portion.  We meet every Tuesday morning.  This was the first one I have planned.  I've been wanting to go to the beach at Saint Joseph Lake.... I'm so glad we went!  It is a lot of fun.  Finn has already asked if we can go there everyday!! :)  The FLC playgroup was a success too.... 7 other families came.  I imagine the boys and I will do this a lot... it's close, free, and fun!  Not to mention the boys are good and worn out!!

fruit farm and Silver Beach

I'm too lazy to move this picture down where it belongs...

We stopped at Frank Farms in MI on our way to the beach, hoping to pick some tart pie cherries.  Unfortunately we just missed the cherries, they are currently being frozen.  I'll call back next week to try buy some before they sell out.  I can't wait to get my hands on those much talked about Michigan cherries!  We did buy some green beans, sweet corn, blueberries and raspberries while we were there.

Our first time swimming at Silver Beach at Lake Michigan.

I loved the pier and lighthouse!

Another triple digit day!  The sand was HOT!

Trying to get all that sand off!!!  Uggg, that sand...

Riding the carousel at the beach.

Silver Beach, Saint Joseph, Michigan

Finn taking a break from the heat and sun.

Cullen loved his new boogie board.

We sure love being so close to the beach!  It's been so hot lately that the water was nice and warm (in the 80's), it was chilly last year.

4th of July

Watching Sean light our fireworks.

At Silver Beach in Michigan.

Ready for the fireworks to start!! :)

We had a busy and HOT 4th of July!  The boys were enamored with lighting fireworks.  No surprise there...  Finn couldn't stop doing his happy dance! :)

We had the Wilson clan over for a BBQ on the 4th.  Then we all drove up to watch the fireworks at Silver Beach in Michigan.  Sean and I were excited to watch fireworks over another Great Lake.... We had watched fireworks over Lake Ontario when we were at Fort Drum... and now we saw them over Lake Michigan too.