July 3 and 4 with Emma

Saturday/Sunday:  Emma and I watched another Harry Potter movie Saturday night--but as I am "posting" this the following Wednesday, I can't remember if it was the 2nd or the 3rd movie that we actually saw. It was the one with the spiders in it. I think the author should have named the series "Scarry Potter" because ... yikes ... there is some really DARK stuff in these stories. However, since Emma is READING the entire 7-book series (I think this is the first time I have ever seen her excited about READING), I felt it would be good to see the movies together--and it has been a lot of fun. Emma tells me when the movie has switched up the story line. I love hearing that she thinks the books are better than the movies. Yes!

Sunday, we went to church came home and ate lunch and then I forget what we did before finally deciding to drive out to Muskegon to take a walk on the lakeshore. It was late in the afternoon when we left my house and we didn't arrive to the beach until about 6:30. As we rounded the bend and got our first glimpse of Lake Michigan, I spotted a freighter in the distance ... was it coming or going?!?!?!?! I LOVE the big ships. Emma brace herself for my rather erratic driving and parking habits--we zoomed into a space, hopped out of the car and ran towards the channel. The frieghter was on its way IN. Here are the pictures:

Okay ... so just to clarify: EMMA is NOT the freighter ... can you see it, though, just over her right shoulder, next to the lighthouse?

I was SO glad it was COMING instead of going ...

This is the John J. Boland, a 666' freighter built in 1973 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It was originally named the Charles E. Wilson but was re-named in 2000 (I have no idea WHY). This is a self unloading freighter! 

Emma and I walked along beside her as she came into the channel ... but we soon found out that our walking was quite a bit slower than what the freighter was doing ...

It was a perfectly beautiful night out here on the Lake. I love this place.

I've never seen this little light all decked out in flags. Emma and I struggled to find the meaning of all of these flags--especially because of the fact that they are flying ABOVE the American flag. We concluded they must be some type of Coast Guard flags ... but I'll have to search this out to see if we are even close to being right.

We walked along the shoreline, headed south to the boardwalk area ... 

Emma frightened a bunch of relaxing seagulls ...

Twilight is such a gorgeous time of day, isn't it?

We walked quite a distance south to where the beach runs out and cement takes over ... and rocks ...

I took advantage of the setting and got some nice pictures of Emma ...

Doesn't Emma look pretty in the dress I donated to her last summer? I actually wore this dress at my mother's funeral three years ago--but it doesn't do a single thing for me and it was a tiny bit tight (!!)--so Emma wears it now. 

I told her she reminded me of the Whomping Willow Tree from Harry Potter in this picture (below) ...

Lake Michigan dunes are amazing ... look how high these are!

We walked to the very end of the boardwalk and then turned around and came back.

We were getting hungry-- and there isn't really much beach-side eating out here at this park ... so we got into my car and drove away from this beautiful spot ...

We ended up eating at McDonald's just a few miles from here. I ordered a Big Mac, because I hadn't eaten one in years ... but I felt super fat afterwards (and still DO!) and have decided I really MUST seriously diet for the rest of the summer or I am going to regret it. 

PS  Isn't the sky so pretty in these pictures?

July 3 Two more rocks

Saturday:  I finished painting two more rocks! YAY! 

The first two pictures were taken BEFORE I put on the finishing gloss that seals in the paint. I took the rocks to my outside front deck to apply the sealer, which is liquid and you apply it with a brush. After all of the work I did on these two rocks (the Hosanna rock had been painted, scratched, re-painted ... repeat 5x), when I took the brush to apply the sealer, it smeared the lettering rather badly. Enough to where I had to bring them back inside and make a host of repairs.

I like the lettering in the first two pictures much better than the bottom two after I tried my best to salvage what I could and be DONE. I decided to go to Michael's and buy a SPRAY sealer that would accomplish the same result as the brushed on kind. Duh. The rocks have now been added to my rock garden and they are going to just remain as they are--flawed, but ... that's OK.

July 3 Just keep swimming ...

Saturday: It was a great swimming day today for Kaity and I. We got to Richmond Pool at about 2:45, swam until 4:00 when the horn sounded the closing, played on the playground for an hour, and then returned to swim some more from 5:00 until 6:30. 

We don't often play on this playground, so it was extra fun to do it!

It was pretty crowded with little kids who were waiting for the pool to re-open.

Getting back IN the rather cold water the second time around was hard for me! I hate being cold. But I managed to STAY IN and play with Kaity for a full 30 minutes and then she stayed in and swam for a long time after that.

Richmond Pool is the best city pool--it's the largest, it is kept clean, the lifeguards are exceptional, and it happens to be pretty close to where we live.

Our time together went by super fast today, Kaity. You were so much fun to be with!
 

July 1 Her name is Angel

Thursday:  I picked Kaity up a tiny bit early from Jesse this afternoon ... because W. Michigan FINALLY exited the deluge that had been upon it for the last week+. The skies were a beautiful blue, the humidity was low and the temp was in the upper 70's. We should go swimming!!!

Kaity buckled her new baby doll into the car seat and we took off to Richmond Park. As we were driving to the park, I asked Kaity if she had thought of a name for her baby yet. Kaity smiled her great smile and said that she had named her "ANGEL." What a nice name for such a dear baby doll! 

And look at Kaity's beautiful new ladybug bathing suit--a birthday gift from Emma. It has matching earrings too. It fits her perfectly. It's just a size 8, but wherever this suit came from must have their sizes more correctly sized than we do here locally. Two of the suits we purchased here in Grand Rapids were size 8, but they were super tight and Kaity barely wore them.

This is the pond over at Richmond Park--appropriately named "Richmond Pond."

This is Richmond pool, photographed through the fence--because I neglected to take any pictures of it while we were swimming this afternoon. We had such a nice swim together, Kaity and I! We dove off the two diving boards over and over again. We swam on our backs. We swam UNDER the water. It was great.

Since we didn't arrive over at Richmond until about 3:00, we had hoped to swim until 4:00 when they close the pool down for an hour, and then we planned to re-enter the pool at 5:00 and swim some more. BUT ... "the best laid plans of mice and men" (so says Mr. Burns) "often go awry." It turns out that every single Thursday, the pool is only open from 5:00 - 8PM for swim lessons, individually scheduled and paid for. Kaity looked at me and said--maybe we should call Brenda!

Thankfully, Brenda and I had already chatted earlier in the day. She had very kindly invited Kaity and I to swim out at her complex pool. I dialed her up and let her know that Kaity and I were over at Richmond ... but after our hour swim here, could we swim some more out at her place? YES, YES, YES, she answered. So that is what we did. We swam until 6:30!!

By the time we drove back to the Beach House, it was after 7:00. I fixed our usual hotdog meal, we ate it (while Kaity fed her baby) and played with Matey too.

Angel was all set in her high chair. Kaity took very good care of her all throughout our meal.

I love you, Kaity-Girl. You too, Angel! And you too, Matey-Bird!