The Adventure Island Experience

Last year when we came down for our 'last hurray' of the summer, they didn't even open up the water park. This summer we were able to take that in, but the rest just didn't compare to Pirate's Cove. The bumper boats and go-carts are just so much better in Traverse City. The water slide was different, and the kids liked the one here in Cadillac. That might be the only thing we do at Adventure Island in the future. The other aspects don't add up, and the staff didn't help us out much this year. I don't mean to be negative on stuff, but when you're spending money, you don't need to be standing around waiting for fifteen minutes for someone to let you on the bumper boats. Again, I'm thankful we were able to do the water park, and the kids had fun with that. Brian was still too small to go, so he through a fit. Next year, Bri-guy...

Quality Time With The Cousins

I'm glad we were able to get the kids together with their cousins while we were downstate. They all wanted to do some bowling, so we let them have their way. It's always a fun time, and good to watch them interact. Libby and Shelby are so good with Brian, and love to fuss over him. It gives all of us a little break. They all bowled pretty well, with Lily winning the first game. They started getting bored with the second game, and we pretty much just threw the ball when and where we wanted. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but an afternoon is better than nothing. Next trip down I hope we can see them, too. We really love these girls.

The Last Ballgame Watching The Bums

I did get my camera working in time for the baseball game, after banging it on the dashboard of the van. Pretty sad, as this will probably be our last baseball game of the season, this time watching the Beach Bums here in Traverse City. We met Papa at the game and had really good weather. The kids had to explore the playground some, but really watched more of the game than usual...looks like they're growing up a bit! Brian simply enchanted all of the fans around us, and even had one fan get him some ice cream. Must be nice to be super cute. Trevor hurt is ankle on the way to the playground, but the Bums staff took good care of him, and he was up and on it the next day like nothing was wrong. Tough kid. We had a good time, and I can't wait until the next baseball season. Maybe next year I can get them to a Tigers game.

Pirate's Cove, Without the Golf

There's a lot more to the Pirate's Cove in Traverse City than mini-golf. In fact, we by-passed the golf part this time around to check out what other fun stuff this park had to offer. Unfortunately, I dropped the camera, so only was able to get a few shots of all of the fun we had. First off, the bumper boats there are the best. The pool is pretty big and had fountains to hide behind and that get you wet. I drove Brian, and he had fun squirting Lily and Trevor with the built in water gun. Next we hit the go-carts, and they are a lot faster than the ones we've been on in the past. Trevor is tall enough now to drive himself, which upset his OLDER sister who is about an inch shorter than he is. I drove both Lily and Brian around, though, and they had fun regardless. Brian was upset he couldn't go on the water ride (too short), but took him for another trip around the go-cart track and all was well. Lily and I did the 'zip line', and I would have loved to have gotten a pic of Lily 50+ feet in the air, but the camera, of course. We had a lot of fun here, and next year we decided to skip the park in Cadillac and spend a whole day here.

Youth Soccer Banquet

Earlier this month the Sault Youth Soccer Association held it's annual banquet to honor the players for the 2011 season. Of course, Trevor was one of the few who didn't wear their jersey because our wonderful coach never bothered to call or even let us know he was supposed to. At least we got some free ice cream out of the deal, so Brian and Kassidy (welcome to the Blog, Kassidy!) were happy with that. Lily was at a friends house, so she missed out, but Trevor had a good time, and hopefully this season won't sour him on soccer totally. There's always next year.