Ivy's Birthday Party.... at last!

Finally! After many reminders from Ivy, some patient and some otherwise, we had her party. It was a small affair with just her two very best friends from school, Abby and Anna. These two girls are as nice as they come and it will be so hard for Ivy to leave them next year. They are kind and fun and have great morals and manners. Can a mom really ask for more?! So, Ivy decided it would be fun to have a craft night and sleepover. We made fridge magnets and puff ball critters and then they were able to decorate their own cupcakes for dessert. Violet invited herself to the party, right down to sleeping on the sofa with the other party goers. They were all very accommodating. The pictures are all a little smudgy because we had little hands taking pictures and leaving behind fingerprints on the lens. Bummer! Of course we didn't notice for a few weeks so basically all of July has the budding photographer's 'autograph'!

Spicer's, How We Love Thee!

There is this wonderful cider mill about 30 minutes from us. They have apple orchards but also grow any fruit or veggie you can think of. They offer hay rides to take you to the part of the farm that you want to pick, they make the most amazing donuts and cider, and they have a really fun little play area and petting farm with goats and chickens that you can feed. It is so fun. I think I'll miss Spicer's more than anything when we move on to our next home. Violet's Parents as Teachers (SKIP) group had a field trip this past July where we were able to take a hay ride to pick raspberries and then cool off with some yummy cold cider and donuts. The kids played at the park for a while. It was a great way to spend a hot summer day.

Later we made some Raspberry sauce and had it on German Pancakes....yum-yum! Oliver went crazy for that! He is so cute when he is really enjoying what he's eating. His little cheeks get so full and he's so intent on what he's doing. I just love feeding that boy!!

Little Tree People

One day I went out into the backyard to see the kids playing back by the fence. We have 2 apple trees and a cherry tree back there as well as some great big leafy bushes that cover the fence. Oliver and Ivy had been turning Violet into a tree person. What fun! They had stuck leaves all throughout her hair and down the back of her shirt and were leading her around the yard like they were in a parade. Oh so cute! Its just so fun to watch their little imaginations at work.

Unfortunately, this story has a very tragic ending. After they were done in the yard I took them out to run some errands. About 20 minutes later, Violet started going crazy complaining of a very itchy back. She is pretty sensitized to itching so its hard to really take her seriously every time she has and episode like this. It could be brought on by a crinkle in her sock, a pair of scratchy tights, water droplets that haven't completely dried, etc. A couple of summers ago she got completely eaten alive by mosquitoes and had a pretty rough few days. She hasn't been able to handle the slightest bit of itchiness ever since. Anyway, so I thought it was related to to the leaves, but in a "I just rolled down a grassy hill a few times" kind of itch. Well, not so. The next day her back had erupted in a very painful itchy rash that lasted forever, it seemed. All over her back, her scalp and even her earlobes. We tried creams and soaks, etc. and then Mark finally prescribed some oral steroids which got it under control. We had asked the children to show us exactly where they got the leaves from, which they did. The leaves were from a bush along the back fence that was a bit different from the others, but definitely didn't seem too out of the ordinary so we thought maybe she is just allergic to that plant. They were issued strict commands to stay away from the back fence, but I don't think you could get Violet to go back there if her life depended on it!! Later, a friend of mine was over who is a naturalist at a local national park. I had her look at the bush and she told me it was POISON IVY!!! What?!!! She said that it starts out as the 'leaves of three' type vine but then it can grow into a crazy huge tree! She said, "yeah, that's pretty insane to have one this big in a backyard, because usually people will get rid of it when its still a small vine." Noted. Needless to say, Mark had a fun weekend pulling out the poison ivy. Anyhoo, these last two pictures look so twisted to me because poor little Violet has no clue about the drama that is about to befall her!! The picture of her back was taken 11 days after she was exposed. Like I said... Never ending!

Our Michigan Grandparents

The day after camping at Huron we met our Michigan Family at their cabin, again, Up North. They have a cute place right on one of the hundreds of beautiful little lakes scattered all over Michigan. We camped in their yard, ate their 'smores and used their bathroom, right along w/ all the other kids and grandkids. George and Pat live a few houses down from us. A day or two after moving into our house here in MI, they were out on one of their daily walks and they stopped by and introduced themselves. Days later we had dinner dropped by and a week later they had invited us up to their family farm to see the new baby cows. They have taken us in as their own children. We've spent Christmases, Father's Days, and now a 4th of July. We've celebrated births and mourned deaths together. They are truly our family and I can't imagine what the Michigan experience would have been without them.

Photos- 1st: playing in the lake, 2nd: playing on the lake, 3rd: not wanting to leave the lake, 4 4th: the view from the lake. We really enjoyed the lake:)

The reason we rarely see Oliver and Ruby on this trip is because Ollie was in one of his "Thou shalt have no pictures taken of me" moods, and Ruby was a sleepy little girl!

4th of July camp out

So, for Ivy's Birthday/Independence Day we went camping "up North" as the Michigan locals say. Up North doesn't necessarily mean the Upper Penn, it just means anything North of where you are. Anyway, we went to Lake Huron. There is a really old lighthouse and and a nice sandy beach. It was beautiful and the beach was just right. Warm and sunny, a bit of a breeze... it was great. The sad bar went out amazingly far, so far that Mark and the kids were just specks and I had to use the super zoom on the vid camera to find them so that was great! Ollie fell asleep and snoozed on the beach for much of the afternoon and got a crazy burn on just the back of his ankles as he was mostly covered w/ a towel. The two big girls were little fish, as usual and Ruby also enjoyed a nap, loving the sun and sand.

Ivelynn turns Nine!

Ivy turned 9 on July 2nd. Wecelebrated by having a relaxing morning at home and then we packed the car up and camping we went. She got a nifty little Doll clothes armoire and bed and I made her and her doll matching dresses. We camped at Lake Huron, which was amazing. The weather was perfect and shockingly, Ruby slept great! Ivy had a good time, but I think was secretly waiting for all her friends to jump out from behind a tree and yell "SURPRISE!" Alas, the friend party would have to wait, it was family bonding time, and it was all good.

A new pet (or 2) for the Noel Fam!

So, we are the proud new owners of some darling little chicks, who over the course or one short summer have turned into amazingly large, unproductive hens. Which sort of defeats the purpose of getting them in the first place. I had visions of farm fresh eggs for breakfast and fresh custard for dessert, but alas, they are very lazy hens. Handsome, as chickens go, but very lazy.