August 27, 2011: Brittanie's First Plane Ride

I saw this activity through Big Brother Big Sister that I thought Brittanie may like to do.    There is a mentoring program in Ottawa County that has additional activities.    This activity was to learn how to drive a plane.These pilots volunteer their time, as well as their personal planes for this event.   There is an association out of Wisconsin that offers the experience to take flying lessons for youth up to age 17.  The first step is to ride in a plane with a licensed pilot.  If the child wants to continue the path to flying, they can be sponsored by the organization to take flying lessons and then continue on until they become a pilot.   I am glad Brittanie was able to experience her first plane ride.   

August 24, 2011: 37th Birthday

Wow, I can't believe I am 37 yrs old today. Where did the time go?     In just one year, I will be the same age as my father when he passed away.    It was so nice to get on my facebook and see all of these wonderful "Happy Birthday" messages from all of my friends and family.     Wendy said that her girls still are wearing the necklaces every day. I bought them the necklaces on our camping trip a few weeks ago in Silver Lake.   That makes me happy that they enjoy them.

I bought a Ryke's butter creme frosting cake with Bavarian cream frosting to share with my co-workers.    It was as delicious as ever.

My mom and I went to Olive Garden for their never-ending pasta which was delicious. It was angel hair pasta with this alfredo sauce and sun dried tomatoes. Then, we went to the movie, "The Help" which was excellent. The movie was about the African American women in the 1960s who work as maids in the wealthier white families.  The lady of the house was quite snobby and treated the maid like dirt, even though the maid was the one who raised their children and cleaned their homes.  In the movie, one of the maids was fired.  The maid came back with a chocolate pie to apologize.  The lady of the house enjoyed eating the pie until she found out that the maid's shit was also in the pie.  That was hilarious!

Overall, I had a wonderful birthday.      

August 12-14, 2011: Silver Lake with Gonyos, Klees, and Lawvers

One of my favorite memories growing up was going on the annual camping trip with the Gonyos, Klees, and Lawvers. I started going when I was 13 yrs old and have gone ever since.  They are all like an extended family to me.     We hadn't gone to Silver Lake in years, so it was nice to go here this year.    George, Marianne, Kim, Joy, Rayna, Rylee, Owen, Alex, Nathan, Harold, Cheryl, Skip, Jo, Chad, Kristen, Heather, Diego, Julian, Max, Chloe, Soleil, and I came on this trip.   On Friday night, we went to the go karts and then miniature golfing at Craig's cruisers. I didn't do the go kart, but I did do the miniature golf. I think the kids had a good time.    Heather and Diego didn't come until Saturday morning.  Harold and Cheryl had brought Julian along with them.  We all did our own thing on Saturday.  Kim, Joy, George, Marianne and I went shopping in Pentwater which was alot of fun. I got a necklace for Rayna for her birthday. I wasn't sure if she would like it, but when she opened it, she loved it and wore it the rest of the weekend.      It is always fun to sit around the campfire and talk. Chad said the road was tricky in Muskegon where you go from I-96 to US 31 north.   I totally agree with him that it is crazy in that area.    Of course, we did have s'mores.    You can't go camping without doing that.

On Sunday, George, Joy, Rayna, Rylee, and I went on the dune rides which were alot of fun.    I bought Rylee a necklace at the store.      We all had fun on the dune ride and got wet. Rayna got really wet when the jeep went in the water. It was so funny.  

August 6-7, 2011: Jasmine Morse's Visit

 

Jasmine Morse came to our apartment to have a sleep over with her 'Aunt Amy'.    She was so excited about coming over. In fact, Melanie said Jasmine had her bags packed Friday morning.  Jasmine made a card for me and asked if we could have a birthday party for her American Girl doll.       She got to our house in the evening.   We took her to Arby's for dinner and then came back to the apartment and got in our bathing suits and went down to the pool.  There were some wild kids in the water which we didn't like.  In fact, one boy rode his scooter into the water.      Jasmine and I went to Meijer to get her American Girl doll a cheap birthday gift. I think Jasmine wanted everything in the toy department. She kept asking for the price on everything.    Then, we got some mini cupcakes for the party.

Jasmine dressed up the dolls for the birthday party. We set them on chairs around our kitchen table and then put a cupcake in front of each doll and sang "Happy Birthday". It was so cute.

Jasmine wanted to watch a movie before going to sleep.  Maggie slept with us too.    We didn't get to sleep until about 12:30 a.m. which is 4 hours past Jasmine's bed time.    Oh well, it was the weekend and she was visiting.  

On Sunday, we took Jasmine to the Grand Haven beach.   Jasmine and I buried each other in sand.      Then, we walked the beach.    We had a pronto pup for dinner.   Jim said later that Jasmine was exhausted, even though she wouldn't admit it.   I had a good time hanging out with Jasmine.