Of course, what's a day at the lake without going for a spin around it or casting the fishing line in?
Jordan's dessert request was cheesecake and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Wish my cousin Cheryl was here from AZ - her cheesecakes are out of this world! Since she wasn't here, Costco's had to suffice. 
A trip to the beach is NOT complete without building a sandcastle.
A door plaque on one of the cottages.
Fitting name to the road our house was on.
Well, hello Jordan! He was playing with his mini-helicopter.
Inside our fabulous cottage - dining/kitchen area.
Dining/living room
Living room, door to master bedroom
We'll definitely visit again!
Brooklyn turned 9.
This was the first year for the kids to not have a homemade birthday cake. Kinda missed it. Keith's mama made him his usual lemon meringue pie. Yum! Glad she came through 'cause with working, I forgot! That was definitely a first in 11 years. Oops. . . We made up for it by going to the beach for a few days, though.
Sorry for the flash reflection, but isn't it pretty? Kayla's only 15! Don't you think she should start a business? Love the browns and turquoises. The cake was delicious, too!
3 months
He loves his cheesecake!
Oh how time flies! He got his driver's license this Tuesday so there is another teenager out on the roads of America. We're already looking into college classes for Running Start next year. It'll be over before we know it!
Hope you're having a wonderful birthday all those miles away, Donald! ♥ Anita
Donald and Dad in Tennessee - Jan 2009
He baked and decorated his own cake this year. He wanted to, and it was a huge help with the rest of us being sick. Lemon with cream cheese filling and lemon frosting. Hard to believe this is his last single digit year! My, how fast they grow. . . He enjoyed a spaghetti dinner - compliments of dad.
♪ Happy #9, Jaeden!!! ♪
Brooklyn's teacher and class sang her happy birthday...
Brooklyn started to not feel well during lunch and rapidly got worse. She went down to the office to have her temperature taken and sure enough, she had a fever of 100.7. What a day to feel awful! We quickly handed out her mini cupcakes, heart cookies and Capri Sun's for her birthday, she rounded up the Valentine's she got from the students and treats from the teacher, and we headed home. She has some Tylenol in her now and is content to be in bed looking through her Valentine envelope to see all her goodies. 
Mommy is of the same frame of mind. Isn't it adorable??? I ♥ the fabrics Aunt Marge used. I'd be hard-pressed to even pick a favorite. The polka dot border, the pink heart embroidery, ALL of it ~swoon~. This woman has awesome talent! Every time I visit my cousins' homes, they have another beautiful quilt she's done for them or one of the kids.
She couldn't have made a more perfect quilt for Miss Brooklyn. Pink and brown are the colors in her bedroom, she loves pink, the ♥'s are perfect for a girl born on Valentine's Day, and I could go on and on!Sorry it's taken so long to do another post. Hard to get in the mood sometimes.
My favoritist bro' and I celebrated our birthday last Saturday. And no, I wasn't in Alabama to take this picture (unfortunately), so thank you to Erika for taking pics and sending them!! Hope it was a great one, Donald! Oh, and happy birthday to our little cousin Janina over in PA! She was born on our 6th birthday. Oh yes, can't forget niece Molly Jo in AZ who also shares our birthday! Happy, happy one to her, too!! Wow - May 17th is a very special day, isn't it?
We had a great time camping at Millersylvania State Park. Wow was it HOT here last weekend! It has since cooled off. We don't make a habit of cooking our children on campfires - ha - couldn't resist taking this picture. (No children were harmed in the making of this photo, I promise.)
Jaeden and Brooklyn as well as neighboring children had fun using this stump as part of their playground. King of the stump!
Jordan and Jenny - waiting for s'mores???
Saturday morning hike - had to work off those breakfast burritos.
Can you see the beaver dam?
Nothing like a hike in the beautiful woods. So much to see...
Wow, I thought trees like this were only in the Redwood Forest.
My in-laws, Fern and David, surprised us. They showed up at dinnertime bearing birthday cake. Or rather, birthday torte! It was absolutely deelish! Graham cracker crust, rhubarb, whipped cream and marshmallows, and vanilla pudding. It was the perfect combination of sweet and tart. What a great birthday surprise! Especially since we neglected to bring a birthday cake. Thank you.
Jordan spent a good amount of time driving his newly acquired remote control rock crawler. Lots of tree stumps and whatnot to drive over.
Team effort by Jordan and Jenny to disassemble the little tent.
Happy campers
The lake. We rented a couple of paddle boats. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that little adventure.
We're already looking forward to our next camping trip!
