Gemmalemma

When I went to get Gemma out of her crib this morning, I was welcomed with "Momma, when I was a baby the doctor cut me out of your belly". Don't know where this came from, but guess it's true...

First Day Back to Work

It was only with great reluctance I dragged myself away from the family and back to work on Wednesday. When I came home, Jud and the girl surprised me with a new campsite set up in our yard! Complete with a new firepit and fire, tent, chairs, girls in pj's and boots- basically just add hot dogs to this party. And we were even able to get some sleep that night!

Chatty Cathy

Gemma may be hard to understand at times, but her language and memory are coming right along. Today she said this to me, as she was jumping and turning on our little trampoline:

"Momma, I'm getting my exercise. I'm getting my exercise going round and round just like the ferris wheel at the blueberry fair."

Here she is with Eleanor posing as the "Blackberry Princesses" at the Blueberry Fair last weekend following Jud's gig.

And the parade marches on...

The Coast Guard Festival Parade is still a big draw. Not quite as exciting as I remembered from the past. All the family met at a spot along the route to enjoy the spectacle. Here are Eleanor and Gemma with my cousin Ed's two little ones, Van and Cade.Gemma saw much of the parade while on the lap of her aunts and uncles, particularly Auntie Ray and Uncle Joel.
Eleanor stayed on her feet, waiting for the next candy gathering opportunity with candy expert, Van. Notice the full mouths of candy...

One float tossed out squirt guns. It was a hot day, and Gemma spent the next couple of minutes cooling herself down.

Rycenga Fun

Its hard to pick from all the pictures of the fun we had visiting with the Rycenga clan at two parties hosted by Aunt Becky. The Fricano's pizza was a hit at the first party, but it took second place to the shaving cream frenzy.





























On Saturday, we celebrated Gramma's birthday on Coast Guard Saturday, stopping to take a picture of the entire clan, with all 44 in attendance. Here is the birthday girl with one of the newest members of the family, Jonelle.

Good and Plenty

There's plenty to do to keep the kids entertained. Here, we go to the John Ball Zoo (Pygmy goats were a big hit) and to the Kids day at the Hollow.

Grandparents Rule!

One of the best things about GH for the girls is visiting with the grandparents. We were able to fit in numerous visits, but its never enough! Here are the girls with Grandma Eleanor (little Eleanor's name for Gramma Rycenga)... We tried to stop into their place whenever we were in the area. And when the fireworks got too loud for El, Gramma and Grampa came to the rescue and invited us to watch from their porch. It was a perfect view of the fireworks without the sound. Thanks Grampa and Gramma! While we missed Grammy when she traveled to Isle Royale for her women in the wilderness gig, the girls still had a change to sneak in plenty of fun. Gemma still talks about her trolley ride and wanting to take another soon. The Grand Haven Museum was really cool too.
When visiting Grampy, getting out on his boat is a must. The girls favorite part was anchoring in a bayou and jumping off the boat. Eleanor learned how to do the cannonball dive. Gemma jumped right in and didn't want to get out, swimming away from us when we mentioned we would have to leave soon.

Ol Sandy Pines

The first week in MI we had great fun visiting the Retsema's at Sandy Pines.

If you haven't had the Sandy Pines experience, you probably don't remember eating an ice cream while riding on a golf cart through acres of shaded lots filled with trailers after swimming and boating all day long. The girls got the full treatment.

We were lucky that not only Aunt Betsy and Uncle Don, but Peter, Becky, and Margaret were there as well. Here are all the cousins...The girls had to have some chats with Aunt Betsy...

And read to Aunt Betsy...
Before heading to the awesome new water park. They say the water was on 57 degrees and you can almost feel the cold water by watching the expressions on these two little girls.

Gemma made good friends with cousin Peter after he took us out on his boat. Gemma screamed "Faster!" as her sister pleaded him to slow down. What a pair.

It's Blueberry Time

A trip to Michigan in late summer is not complete without picking blueberries at least twice! We would have even gone a third time if the weather cooperated.


Gemma, our little "fruit bat" was in hog heaven. For the first 20 minutes she just sat under a bush eating everything in sight.Eleanor preferred discussing the experience. Who can find the biggest berry? How is your bucket going? What would happen if the world were upside down?
The second time we went with Thom, Jonelle, and Shelly. We were quite selective as we didn't need as many. I do believe we picked the finest bucket of berries that ever were seen. But of course, the girls kept taste-testing for good measure.

Hanging around in Grand Haven

We had a terrific stay in Michigan, where we were able to spend more than two weeks. More pictures and posts to follow, but our first order of business was just hangin' out. The girls tried to encourage Jude to try a wider selection of foods... Jud and Eleanor read poetry on Grammy's beautiful new screened porch...
The girls spent lots of time in playing in Moose Lodge, or as they called it "the Castle". Uncle Matt led "art time" at home.
The girls dressed up their other Uncles with accessories from the castle.


We were so pleased to be able to make a number of stops to visit Gramma and Grampa Eleanor for lots of hugs and kisses (and Werthers too of course).