YSP pictures from the no-go slide show :)

These are my children, aka The Bickerman's a day after camp. Believe me, it didn't last. :P

Boyne Mountain had the Cartoon Network's Get Animated Tour. The boys did several activities to get them moving. Trevor was talking this kid's ear off! Kaleb was traveling through the blow up obstacle course.

This was at the top of Avalanche Mountain. Trevor just knew that he was going to die on the way up!

The view was worth the trip for Trevor and it was good exercise. Of course, the stop at DQ afterwards probably nixed all the step work I did to get up the old ski hill!

Kraig and the boys played football in the lake all weekend. Trevor kept trying to tackle Kraig and there was one unfortunate incident involving the dad and forgetting to tie his swimsuit. He didn't make that mistake again.

Trevor was just plain tired out from two long weeks of vacation. What are the odds of an eight year old falling asleep on the beach for 30 minutes?

K and T were trying to do the splits.

Pictures from Young State Park...maybe

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Well, week 2 was a bit more of the hit the beach and play in the sand time. We hiked up Avalanche Mountain, an old ski hill in Boyne City. Trevor just knew that he was going to die on the way. It was worth the short hike for a beautiful view. We went to Dairy Queen more times than we should have. The Anderson's church had a weenie roast and singing / short message in Boyne City so we attended and of course, it just happened to be in the park, next to the DQ! Boyne Mountain had a Cartoon Network gathering for kids to Get Animated. They had a blow up obstacle course, a bike ride (Stationary) on which Trevor talked the other kid's ear off, and several other rides. We played golf...a card game and went on bike rides and just generally sluffed off. I enjoyed hanging out with the Andersons and took the boys to Petoskey's Sidewalk sales...they were not impressed. Trevor did manage to buy a finger printing kit and so we all had prints taken for our many crimes that we committed. Lazy days and s'more at night.

Week 1 (Vacation without the Bickerman's)

I looked forward to this week...is that wrong? Kaleb and Trevor were going to camp and I would have 5 glorious days to myself. At first, Kraig was going to be able to go, but then work started to pile up and couldn't go. So I dropped the boys off Sunday afternoon at Springhill, watched them ride off on the fire trucks and then took the trolley to meet their counselors and see where they were staying. Trevor went as a lone wolf and met friends immediately, played and wasn't even slightly concerned that I was leaving. He became best buds with his bunk mate and won the "Knowledge Award" for all of his useless tidbits of information. His head ballooned out when he heard about his knowledge award. He had a great time!

Kaleb ended up going with his cousin Jacob and Eric S. They slept in Fort Walton, which was part of the Fort Michimackinac fort scheme. The fort was two stories high and there were probably five or six of them within a gated compound. They had two great young guys for counselors and had a formation like the mighty ducks every time they left an activity. Kaleb talked a lot about how much fun he had and about how he was going to make sure that his prayers included thanking God instead of just asking for things all of the time. He said that in Copper Country, they used their Bible's a lot more and he learned something new every day. The counselors also incorporated their daily studies into all of the activities. My nephew received a Bible and learned some things that he talked about at lunch that day (Friday). If you can believe this, Kaleb won the Friendly Award. I almost picked up dirt with my dropped bottom lip! Was this the same Bickerman child that I dropped off on Sunday? He looked like my child, but the friendly award???? Kidding, of course. It sounded like Kaleb, too had a good time. You'll have to ask Eric S. if he had a good time, it seemed like he did.

The week went so fast but I truly enjoyed myself and the days of being with friends without having to be a mom. Sarah was tons of fun and she busted my butt on the bike. That girl is a maniac! If you've read her blog, you know that she has problems with directions, but we did manage to make it back to the camper safely after each "Lost" episode. I went on a boat ride, even though boats don't really get along with me very well. When we went on the boat ride, courtesy of the Andersons, we played havoc on their property at Walloon Lake. Viv G. and I had a major problem trying to get the paddle boat up to the water trampoline so that she could sit on it and read her book...for two minutes... before I had to paddle all the way back out there to get her.

Traverse City was a day trip so that Sarah could go there and visit...can you imagine being Sarah and not having been to TC? Well, that about explains week 1 of vacationing without the Bickerman's. Did I mention that I totally beat Sarah at Badminton!!!! Chris K rules!

7/11

I know that it's the end of the day, but I hope you all enjoyed your free slurpee on 7-11 day. I know that my family did! :)

I hate those meeces to pieces!

Mice...I think that I hate them. No, I know that I do. They had a fabulous time in our camper and set up many condo settings in the kitchen area over the past winter. It took several days to actually clean and disinfect the whole camper. I had major fits and Kraig was not as concerned. He kept telling me that it just wipes right up...of course, he was no where to be found when the wiping right up was being done. Hmmm, maybe he planned that.
I know that you're probably thinking Chris should have taken pictures of the condos, but I just couldn't. I knew that I wasn't going to rent any of them out or make any money unless someone wants their own special condo unit in their own home (or camper). As a matter of fact, I think that I will sell them...$19.95 for your own special meece's condo unit and if you act now, I'll send you a free one. That's right...$19.95 for two special meece's condo units. How can you resist?