Love-Kresta vacation 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Love-Kresta vacation 2007

James' 18th birthday was the center of the family vacation this year, as he invited 10 of his closest friends and enemies to join us Up North. Our Up North (to non-michigander readers out there, you really must understand that every self-respecting Michigan resident vacations Up North and there are at least as many versions of Up North as there are vacationers in this Great State), is just 2.5 (3.5 according to my mom) hours NW of A2 at a lake home that friends of my parents have owned and lent out to us and others for the entirety of my life. I love that I am now taking my children there.
Anyway, the house is in the shape of an octogon and reminds me very much of Devine and Weston's space shuttle in C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet. The side of the house that has the bedrooms is always dark - no matter what it is like outside. Whereas the other side of almost inevitable sunny and hot. You can experience all seasons just by walking around the house once.

This year was really very nice, James's friends were fun to be around and added a lively element with their multiple-island game of capture the flag and their nude streaking in the dunes (I wasn't there to witness this, thank goodness - the stories of the sunburns were funny though). Moses and Vid had a wonderful time together playing air hockey, pool, trains and splashing each other at the beach and even getting along most of the time.
It's always great going up there and it's just really a gift to be able to take my kids on vacation to the same place that I've been going every since my mom was pregnant with me and where David and I honeymooned. Every year it gets better.

Best Buddies

Maxin' Relaxin' (this lasted for about as long as it took me to take the picture)

"What? You got a problem with my mohawk?"

Dad/Grampy at a GREAT Children's Museum in Grand Rapids

Two lovely ladies

Bathing beauties

Could he BE any cooler?!

Gotta' love that look, birthday boy

No comments:

Post a Comment

Loves and Loveletts

Lex - somewhere in her mid-30's. Homeschooling mom as well as a homeschool graduate. Lives in a little Burg in the Appalachian mountains but will always have a little Michigan inside her. Mother of 6 that were born within 9 years of each other. Lover of audiobooks, praying through singing, birding, asparagus patches, and photographing kids. Grateful for the gift of community - the beauty, the ugly and the mediocre. Follower of Christ.

John - Late 30's Theology Professor, aka The Love Doctor. Always burning the candle at both ends he works hard during the day to form the future of Catholic priests and in the early mornings and evenings he carts children to and from activities and makes his wife mean G&Ts. Evangelization, providing music for Mass and adoration, sharing insights from St. Thomas Aquinas are what he's most known for in his professional life. Doing the dishes every night, dropping everything to meet us in the ER, and fixing the constant rotation of things the kids break are what he's most popular for here at home.

Anthony - Thirteen. Geography and grammar are where he shines academically - both requiring a precision that Anthony has a hard time not overusing. He enjoys playing soccer as often as possible and he stands out on his team as being a guy with his head and his body in the game - attentive and thinking. He works hard on living with equanimity as an introvert in a crowded, loud, busy home.

Rosie - Ten. Leader of "The Tribe": the three loveletts that were born within 2.5 years. She is a hard worker in school and rarely requires my help, just plugs along and gets her stuff done. She takes a lot of art classes and keeps a nature journal and I love what she is able to observe and translate through a pencil. She loves to make up all sorts of games and fun pretends for the younger member of the family. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a Rosie.

Thomas - Nine and all E. Energetic, enthusiastic, eager, excitable, extroverted, exhilarated and engaged. The only trouble we have with Thomas is that it's hard to keep him busy enough - he has an appetite for life that can be overwhelming! He's been this way ever since he mastered crawling. He was off and the rest is history. Anthony wrote this limerick about Thomas this year.

My brother is energetic

His body is super frenetic

He yells and he jumps

and he gives us all bumps

But Thomas is never pathetic.

This is all true.

Cecilia - Eight. Cece is such a great "smack-dabber". Smack-dab in the middle of the family and always wanting to be part of the team. She is generous, inclusive and positive. We often call her excited, positive, can-do presence, "The Power of Positive-Ce". She has none of her older sister's innate sense of fashion and often rollicks around in outfits that make me question her ability to see colors. And patterns. And cleanliness.

Catherine - 5 going on 30. Probably the most thoughtful and caring person in the house. She is totally normal when it comes to wanting to run with the big kids and "do it myself" and other such developmental standards. What sets her apart in our family is that she is so tuned into how other people are feeling and how her actions effect them. When she throws a fit (which she still does occasionally) she is the only child to offer unprompted apologies and amends. She is our sunshine.

Gloria - 3 and THE BABY. She is well ensconced in her role - having no desire or inclination to reliquish her tyrannical hold on all the people older then her. We do her bidding and she entertains us by singing herself little songs, letting us tickle her and having big beautiful eyes and super long eyelashes.

Love Life - Our Grand Tour

Tuesday, July 17, 2007