one last hoorah!

Dan suggested we go camping one more time before the summer was over.  No one was using the camper, so Dan's parents were nice enough to take it out to the campground and get it set up for us.  We stayed out there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Up on the roof of the 5th Wheel making sure everything looked OK.  (in bathing suits...and bike helments...that's how we roll.)

The weather was perfect and we were able to have lots of great campfires.  I'm still washing the smell out of my hair.  We even cooked dinner over the fire two nights.  (Hobo pies and hotdogs)

We went for a walk down to the lake to see the sunset, but the kids couldn't resist the amazing waves.  

Love these two silly kids.

The kids loved hanging out with their cousins.

(well...at least Sydney did)

We made some cool sand sculptures...

Played lots of cards...

...and just chilled out.  

We may or may not have bathed our children right in Lake Michigan a few times.  I will never tell.

It was a nice way to end the summer.  Now it is back to school time!  Tomorrow is our first day!

Girls Weekend!

I completely forgot to post anything about my amazing, relaxing, restful yet packed full of activities girls weekend I took in July!!

These lovely ladies and traveled up to Suttons Bay/Traverse City/Leelanau Peninsula area for the weekend.  Dan and I usually go up to the Old Mission Peninsula area when we are there, so this was great to see all different wineries and restaurants.
Since we met up in Traverse City, ate right downtown at Red Ginger.

  I've been by this place several times, but hadn't tried it before.  I'm not a big "Asian/Fusion" fan, but everyone else voted, so I went along, assuming I would just order a filet.  Boy was I wrong?!?

After a giant Mojito, I was feeling adventurous and decided to try Sushi.  O.M.G.  This was soooooooooo good.  It was called a Dynamite Roll.  Between the spicy sauce and the avocado, I was in heaven.  I really need to step out of my comfort zone more often!

The next day was jam packed with stuff to do!  We started with a little wine tasting.

 Then some more wine tasting...

then some more wine tasting...

 followed by more wine tasting....

Once we were good and tipsy, we figured we might as well kayak float down the river.

Its amazing what you can accomplish with no kids and a little wine.

All business right here.

Us on the other hand...we just ran into trees and drank our boxed margarita.

After making it down the river in one piece, we stopped by the Sleeping Bear Dunes Overlook.

I really need to stop taking our amazing State Parks for granted.  I have not been here since I was a kid!!

Lake Michigan.  Breathtaking, as usual.  This picture does not even begin to show how beautiful this day was.

Um...hello?  Can we say crazy?!?  Those tiny specs...people climbing up a 90 degree wall of sand. No thanks.

This was such a great weekend, with some amazing ladies.  I felt so recharged and relaxed when I got home.  Just what a girls weekend should be like!

Holy Mother of Project Life Catch up! Part 1

Summer has been kind of crazy and busy.  I continue to take tons of pictures (although 99% of them are on my iphone), I have just been slacking in selecting, editing, cropping, printing, and assembling them into each weekly layout.  So over the last 2 weeks, I have busted butt, and I am (practically) caught up.

This project has always been so enjoyable for me.  The process, just as much as the end result.  This summer was brutal, and I had this constant nagging feeling about how far behind I was.  I DO NOT LIKE that feeling!

So, since the process I explained above seemed very overwhelming and time consuming, I decided to put these layouts together digitally.  What I mean is, I used 4x6 and 3x4 canvases, and just printed them as photos so I could insert them right in the traditional Style A pages.  I create these in  PSE (photoshop elements), and use a variety of different digital kits/elements/etc.  I will do my best to link up to the sources.  

Ok...here we go!

Full layout.

 Left Side

Right Side

This week I used many elements from Michelle Underwood's Dwell in possibilities Kit.  Often, I will create a blank 4x6 document, add a background paper, add photo, then maybe some journaling and embellishments.  Drop shadows help to make it look a little more 3 dimensional and not so "digital".  Also, lots of photos collages/frames/designs are created right on my iphone.  

 This was the week of our big family vacation, so I had lots of photos I wanted to include.  I had to additional pages for this week.  Above, you can see that I enlarged a photo of the kiddos to 6x12.  Below is the back side of the 6x12.

 It was 4th of july, so I used lots of red/white/blue elements.  I found a free 4th of July digi kit, and for the life of me, can't remember where I found it, or who it is by.  Everything you see on this page is from that kit...sorry.???

 Lots of text right on the pictures so I had more room to add photos.  I am pretty much obsessed with the Insta Lovin' Kits by Rhonna Designs.  If you follow my Instagram feed, you will notice lots of the same patterns/designs.  They can be used on your phone, and as png files/brushes. She has awesome tutorials and info on her blog.

 Front side of Insert.  I used Becky Higgins Design G page protector.  All 4th of July pics!

Back of Design G.  We hit the beach a lot too!

 

Right side .

 Fully Layout.  This week, most of my digital elements are from Persnickity Prints free digi kit- Sun and Sea.  I loved the blues, yellow, and coral.  The rest was from the Clementine kit.   Very bright and cheery!

 I think I used a little bit of Rhonna's designs everywhere.  Again, I was looking to move fast, and these brushes are super fun and easy to use.  I typed up my journaling and printed right onto the cards from my core kit.  Also, I used one of Ali Edwards Hello Life Boxes (story of our days) over one of the clementine patterned papers.

Right side.  I put together a map of all the stops we made before heading out of town for the weekend.  I love when people include little details like maps/text messages, etc, and I'm trying to throw those in here and there.  Also got my new kindle this week, so I cut the front off the packaging and punched some holes to fit in the binder.

 I will finish up the rest in the next post!  Thanks for checking out my album!  For the first time in months (gasp) I'm linking up at The Mom Creative.  Lots of Project Life Goodness.  I haven't been over there in way too long.  Can't wait to see what  everyone is up to!

Learning to ride with no training wheels!

A friend was telling me that she puts together slideshows for her family a few times a year since they are currently living out of the country.  She uses Windows Live Movie Maker because it came on her laptop and was fairly easy to work with.  To my surprise, I have the program, so I decided to test it out with some photos and videos took of Bryce riding his bike.

It was pretty easy to use!  I am going to create a QR code for the video so I can use it in my Project Life layout!  I will totally be doing this more often!

...and yes, I know this is not the most appropriate song for a four year old learning to ride a bike, but its one of his favorites!

What the...?

June 20th.  That was the date of my last post.  Crazy.  Gotta love summer!  Haven't been able to sit down with my computer and blog much when there are fun things to do like:

Go on fun boat rides, 

Hang out with friends at their gorgeous cottage,

taking Mee-maw and Papa's camper up to St. Ignace for a week with the whole family, 

Swimming at the pool, 

riding a new big girl bike, 

more swimming, 

enjoying the beautiful weather outside, 

trying to keep our flowers alive with little to no rainfall, 

having fun with Instagram and Photo-a-day challenges, 

lots of running, 

and most importantly, just being silly and having fun!

I hope to get it together soon and get back to blogging again.  But for the time being...we will be doing more of the above.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!