Let's bury Ally!!!!!!

I got more comments this weekend about how much these two look alike. It's true. I hope they are as close as my sister and I are when they are older. Of course they adore each other now, but there will be days when Viv is into Al's stuff and Al ignores Viv when her girlfriends are over. Makes me tear up just thinking about it. Instead, I will hang on to the present and the sister love.

Eric, Jay and Al one one jet-ski and Viv, Max and I on the other. So. Much. Fun. Love 'em. My kids will soon refuse to go out with me, since I like to run fast and furious. Come ON............

It was great timing that some of the children/grandchildren of neighbors were in town the same weekend. Al had a couple girls to hand with and so did Max and Jay. They haven't seen these boys for about 4 years- Didn't seem to make a difference, though.

The kids decorated their bikes and rode in the parade. There was a lull, then, before the fireworks, so the kids got a little restless. It was past Viv's bedtime and she was letting us know it. Once the fireworks started, she was intrigued by the first 3 or 4. Then, the lack of sleep and loud booms got the best of her. She sat in my arms with her head buried the rest of the time. We headed out early and all was well.

It was a great time had by all and we are already looking forward to next summer!!

Vivian LOVES the beach! Then again, she is MY daughter!!! This was a different beach than Schoolhouse with the rocks. The sand was warm and inviting......

This was Schoolhouse Beach . I love the rocks and the super clear water!!


The water was frigid, but the kids got in anyway. Max convinced Jay to swim out to a floating dock. About midway, Jay realized he could not longer feel his legs and panicked. He started yelling for help. Eric and another guy jumped in and both swam for him. Once he was on the rocks and began to warm up, Vivian shared some body heat. She was worried and laid next to him or on him for several minutes. Even Eric commented on how quickly the body loses feeling in that cold of water. Jay has VERY LITTLE body fat, so that contributed. Kinda scary.

This was actually taken before he began swimming - all smiles :)

Most years, we are able to spend some time with Eric's brother and his family. Unfortunately, this year our commitments kept us from having more than one afternoon together. The kids love their cousins and have so much fun together. I guess we have been lucky to be able to swing it so far. The older the kids get, the busier the schedules. We will try for next summer!

Another vacation to Washington Island, WI!! And so the journey started......15 minutes into our 12 hour trip, Ally barfs - and continues to do so until around Chicago. After that, the trip went smoothly. We arrived at the ferry dock and boarded. It was now time for the traditional photo on the ferry with the flag.


Viv seemed to enjoy the ferry, although her favorite part seemed to be going up and down the stairs.

Jay taking some of his own pictures.

Our summer has been flying by. Baseball/softball has been taking up so much time that we rarely have time on the weekends to do anything fun as a family. The house needs work*, the lawn needs mowing and the garage needs de-junking. However, for Father's Day, we decided to go to the local water park for the afternoon. It was a great success. So, the kids expressed interest in heading to a nearby (sort of) bike trail for some more family fun today. Viv had a long nap, so by the time she woke up and we got the bikes loaded and ready to go, it was getting close to late afternoon. It was near 90 degrees and the threat of pop-up showers was looming. We figured we'd beat whatever rain was headed our way as the sky was clear as crystal as we drove. Once we got to the trail and were nearing the turn-around point, a call came from Jeff, who was at the house. He said it was raining hard and lightning. We made the decision to turn around right there and head back to the truck. We didn't make it. We still had about a mile to go when it started to rain. The kids and Eric were on bikes, Viv was in the trailer behind Eric's bike and I was on roller blades. By the way, roller blades have little traction on wet pavement. It didn't just rain, it poured. There was lightning and thunder that is a whole lot louder outside - or at least that's what I told Ally as she began sobbing as she was trying to see and steer her bike toward the parking lot. The girl gets very nervous when storms hit, anyway, so she was really not having any fun at all. We made it back to the truck and loaded everyone in. It was quite the rush and will live fondly in my memory as a fun, yet unpredictable, Schreiber family outing!!

*Of course there's always things to fix/build/maintain in this house. The latest project was not necessarily planned. The fridge we brought with us from Georgia via Wisconsin did not fit in the space allotted due to the location of the cupboards built around the existing fridge. We put our nice, spacious fridge in the garage for overflow. The fridge that was in the house started to freeze food that got pushed past the midway point and then began freezing fruits and veggies in the crispers. After deciding to re-do the cupboards instead of buying a $1000+ NEW fridge, when we had a perfectly good one already, the renovations began. Let's just say that the man who built this house has been cussed out numerous times amidst the projects attempted here. I think it has come down to more of a shake-your-head-and-find-the-humor, acceptance. Eric knows what's in store when he starts tearing apart cupboards, walls, floors, etc. Jeff, on the other hand, hasn't accepted the haphazard ways of the builder. He will. We all have. Needless to say, the cupboards had to be rebuilt and will still not fit correctly. I could give a flying fig newton, but my anal retentive husband and dear friend are still bothered by the non-flush cupboards. Hey, it holds shit and won't fall on my head......I'm happy.

Last weekend, Max's baseball team camped near where they were playing their tournament. As of Thursday of that week, the weather was looking good- warm, dry and clear skies......not how it actually turned out, which was rainy and overcast. You'll see how the boys adapted in the last pictures.

Even though this season isn't as successful as we would have liked, the boys have fun together and continue to learn.

After a loss in their first game, they came back to beat the next team 16-0! There was a lot of smiles, hollering and thumbs up - as "J-Rod" is demonstrating here.

What do you do when there's more mud than grass beneath your feet? You spread the joy, baby. We found mud caked in the boy's ears, noses and eyes. I can only imagine there was caked mud in other places, too..........ew.

Sweet Moonie Moonpie.......................
Another loss for our large horsey family. Eric got word that Moonie passed away. We were lucky enough to know him. He kept us company while Georgie was being trained by the Soehnlen family. Moonie was with them since their daughter was young. Ally loves Vanilla, but had recently expressed interest in getting Moonie back. Vanilla doesn't play well with others(horses) and it would be nice to be able to put all our horses together without incident. Al took it hard. So did I. Our hearts go out to the Soehnlen family - we know all too well how gut-wrenching the loss of a loved horse can be. Thank you, Moonie, for being gentle with us newbies. You will be greatly missed.