Our potato plants are blooming!

Tree house update:

Sophie is inspecting the work.

Such a typical shot of the kids lately.  Sophie turns away and Jason gives it lots of cheese!

Daddy's helpers.

Time for a break and a bike ride!

At Whole Foods, Sophie would not let me leave the fish counter unless I got a whole sea bass.  She was very excited to get it.  It really made her day.

Now if I can just figure out how to cook it!

We were in the butterfly house right when they were releasing the new butterflies for the day. The kids were mesmerized to watch the zoo worker collect the butterflies in a net bag and bring them out to release.

It's always fun at the zoo with your best friend!

Today we built a suspension bridge and a beam bridge.   

Jason and Sophie went under the suspension bridge about the same time Grandma and Grandpa L. were sailing under the Mackinac bridge!

Jason's and Sophie's first lemonade stand! (and cherry juice and homemade trail mix, mixed by them!)

Our favorite summer place to visit... Van Hoosen Farms!

Wading in the river, nets in hand...

A crayfish one of the kids caught!

Sophie and her buddy taking a rest fishing for minnows.

A little survey of our yard...

A tree house update pic!

And our garden is looking good!

Unfortunately, because of the early warm weather and then sudden frost, this is one of about 5 apples on our apple tree.  MSU extension is saying Michigan will have less than 5% of their regular apple crop this year.  I know we'll be feeling it this fall!

Also affected is our grapes... NO GRAPES!!

Our paw-paw is doing well though.

The catalpa and oak in the picture are both trees we grew from seed 8 years ago for our wedding.  It's amazing how slow oaks truely do grow.

We went to our friend's explosive birthday party!
Everyone had a turn erupting a volcano!

Happy Birthday!

Watching TV with Daddy is fun!

Checking out the tree house!

The kids are daddy's big helpers!

Here's my dad helping me build and install the best tomato fences EVER!

And another couple of monarchs released!

We hosted field day at our house.  The kids had a blast!

We made Play at Home Mom's outdoor waterbed.

Here is the link for directions.

I am borrowing my dad's camera (as ours died and we haven't picked out something new yet).  The monarchs emerge suddenly, and it caught me off guard that it was coming out.  I messed up the filming a little, but you can see most of it.

We woke up to this sight.  The chrysalis turned dark and you can see the butterfly inside.  This is how you know it's about to emerge.

And it's out!  It happens so fast, it's hard to catch it.

The best part about raising monarchs is when they come out, they are unable to fly for about 3-4 hours.  It's the perfect time to hold them!

And it never gets old!  For the kids, or for me!

Usually, you can only see butterflies fluttering by; it's a rare opportunity to see them close up.

This one we actually caught coming out!

Yet another beautiful monarch picture.

Our garden.  The first row is potatoes, then carrots, next tomatoes, corn, and various types of squash, pumpkin, melons, etc.

The progress on the tree house!

Jason has his last soccer game of the season.  Here is the team before the game.

Here is Jason, as goalie, about to catch the ball before it goes in.

The team and coach!

And the pizza party afterward to celebrate the season!