Its good to be Three

I seem to be getting a reputation for birthday cakes. Heaven help me if I choose to get a store bought cake one of these years!
I found these on a website, and gave it a try....
They are yellow cupcakes, with brownie "meat" and frosting ketchup, mustard and lettuce.

Fries are made from sugar cookie dough with frosting"ketchup" for dipping.

The sesame seeds really top it off.

And even with the cruddy weather, it was actually pretty hot down at the lake at my Dad's. Good enough for swimming(if your a kid!)

They were catching minnows and crayfish.

Their playground has a slide of terror. Its a waterslide and VERY steep. I got these shots of Kristin's girls launching into the air...

Cal, my Dad's dog, flies off the dock for her ball and will swim way out to get it. the kids loved it as much as she did.

Baby Brayden's(Troy's baby) 1st lake day:) Looks like it was pretty relaxing.

The elusive birthday boy. Love that kid.

Reid. Tummy and eyelashes. Pure sweetness...

Grady has really been looking forward to everyone singing to him. Although, I think he was singing the loudest.

I always tear up at this moment...another year gone by.

As expected, red frosting is a bit of a mess. But the kids had a blast.

Lots of great presents. He's huge into Transformers. The girls all sat nice while he was opening, but then spit when he was done. All the boys hung around to see the stuff out of the packages. This is so different for me. I am really used to all the pink. NO pink to be found yesterday!

His gift from Papa Rocky and Gramma Cindy. Papa's great find.


This morning he was wearing it and it has a voice changer mode, and he was hiccuping into the microphone!

Fabulous day. Today, he is still buzzing from all the sugar, and spending hours working on all his new toys.

Me, I need to take a moment to think of the fact that my little guy is now three. A fact I am having trouble comprehending!

UP Vacation

That's Michigan's Upper Peninsula for you outa staters. Jason's dad and Joan plan a family vacation every 4 years instead of traditional birthday and Christmas gifts. The family is getting so big that the best plan is really renting a large house and going on adventures together and on our own. There were 17 of us this year. Troy his new wife and baby stayed back. Troy's new 11 year old step daughter came along and got the full Schultz experience! Lucky girl! Hahahha!

Anyway, I'll try to condense this the best I can. We left 5am Sunday morning, so that the kids would sleep part of the super long drive. We stopped at lots of rest areas and a Mc Donalds too.

Couldn't resist him stepping out of a gas station with our name on it.

We spent some time in Mackinaw City. had lunch at a fab fish joint.

Crossing the bridge is always a bit of a "thing" for me. A bit scary.

Out first stop in the UP was the Garlyn Zoo. Very nice and surprisingly lots of different animals.

These little babies were so sweet.

These babies were a bit less sweet.

Then it was to the House to see where we would be staying the next week of our lives...

Ummm...BEAUTIFUL!

We did find the there was a family of 30 -50 BATS living under the sign on the garage. The guys took care of that right away. Ewwwe gross.


Some of our outings...

Big Spring is awesome. You cross the spring on a raft that you can see to the bottom of the crystal clear water.

The 12 and under gang. We were out numbered. 10 kids to 7 adults.







Then Fayette. An old ghosts town. Absolutely beautiful.

Summer and I snuck down to the shoreline for some exploring.

One night Jason and I got away alone for a bit and he drug me down some two track to check this place out...

Uhhhh...creepy.

And its just not vacation for us if there is not a beach day. Even with the lake a mile from the house, we still needed to see our beloved Lake Michigan for a day.

Another day trip was to take a shipwreck tour on a glass bottom boat on Lake Superior.

It was really lovely. Not a lot of photos because about half way through, Grady fell asleep in my arms.

Jason was thrilled to learn that in Munising, they serve Pasties with gravy. I personally prefer the Yooper-style with lots of ketchup.



Some waterfalls there...

A different day trip to Tahquamenon Falls.

And again some falls in Munising.

Couldnt resist this one of after the kid went to bed one night. Note Brandon's tiny coffee cup. there was NOT COFFEE in there.

Pictured Rocks.

Bob, my FIL.

One of my personal favorite views;)

The Schultz Men.



Another adventure to Oswalds Bear Ranch. Very cool place. Apparently its so nice, wild bears try to get in there!

My rain drenched family with Mary the cub. As the guy was handing me my camera, Mary licked Teagen right up her face!

Nick doing his bear impression.

And here are the vacationers...

Bob and Joan.



Brandon and Laura.

Us! Jason and Jenn.

Owen( Alesha's youngest)

Jeremy, Dillon and Nick.

Jeremy again.

Jessica.

Teagen, Dillon and Summer.

The "big" girls, Celina and Rachael.

I think all I am missing is Alesha. Owen was a bit high maintence that week so I think she was pretty busy with him most of the time. I cant believe I dont have a shot of her!




Art project time...

The day we left, there was some icecream left that would never make the trip home. So it was icecream breakfast for the kids!

A well packed Jeep.

A few goodbyes...

On the way home it was between a stop at the Mystery Spot or The Deer Ranch. We went with the deer.

Great trip, wonderful time.

But as always, there's no place like home!!