Tag Archives: family

we can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness. ~ author unknown

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the view out of my window

this morning in glen arbor,  michigan

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one hour after we left

the storms began

every kind of bad weather

rolled in

and

left this beautiful little town

by the lakes

isolated

and

damaged

my family members

who are still there

 are all okay

hoping that all the others are too

tomorrow

the sun will rise once again

and the cleanup

will begin

with gratitude.

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Staff report from the Glen Arbor Sun:
Glen Arbor was hit by a very severe storm on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 2. Winds of 93 miles per hour reportedly pummeled the town next to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore at the height of the summer tourism season. As of Sunday night, the Glen Lake Fire Department was reporting that all roads into Glen Arbor, and around the Glen Lakes, are impassible.

climbing up high, right into the sky.

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look at your feet. you are standing in the sky. 

when we think of the sky, we tend to look up,

but the sky actually begins at the earth.

~diane ackerman

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family climb at the sleeping bear dunes national lakeshore –  empire, michigan

whole lotta’ love.

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and with the return of the aussies

my band of grandies are back together

all on one continent

in one time and one place

sharing some mischief and one tiny space.

Jake: We’re putting the band back together.
Mr. Fabulous: Forget it. No way.
Elwood: We’re on a mission from God.

(The Blues Brothers)

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last summer’s tiny space

the first time 

they were ever all together 

meeting in one big box.

house connector.

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the aussies have moved back

and the family is reunited

little f

has decided that it would be a good idea

to  connect our houses

so that we will always be close by

and never lose our attachment

so he made up a master plan

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we’ll need the following stuff:

a couple packs of big nails
a couple of pieces of wood
1 new tree plus the tree that’s already there
2 microphones with tubes attached to the end
1 zip line
1 cubby tree house
1 new house and 1 house that’s already here
2 cans of green paint and 1 can of yellow paint (our favorite colors)

1 tube of silicone stuff
2 key rings (keep in the secret key hole)
2 glass squirrel doors for the holes so they don’t steal the keys
1 saw to cut the wood
1 box of bandaids
1 extra first aid kit
2 bags each of nuts and worms and seeds to feed the tree animals
a couple of packs of kit-kats and carmello bars and cadbury chocolates for us

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this is the secret hole where we’ll leave our keys

and always have open access to our houses and hearts.

magic.

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j proclaimed,

‘i’m going to swing into magic land.’

we’d been waiting forever

for a chance to play outside in the rain together

 there was a fence

 branch was weak

 chair was shaky

toes were tippy

b created a magic rain slide

“let’s make it soapy”

it was so slippy-flippy

 there were great leaps and a great slides

making for

a great afternoon

we got very wet

 fell down

 slid on the grass

 crashed into stuff

got pretty muddy

laughed so hard

 best of all

none of us were injured

and it was pure magic.

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roald dahl would understand completely.

—-

credits: roald dahl – george’s marvelous medicine

“some of the best memories are made in flip flops.” ― kellie elmore

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IMG_0202 (1)a flip-flopped family makes memories as they head to

the giant water slide event on the streets of ann arbor


“600 feet of sweet, slippery vinyl for you to slide away all your summertime sadness.

You’ll never look at your streets the same way again.”

– slide the city

find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.
– emily dickinson

 

blended.

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bought this at the old bookshop

drawn to the cover

mom is swooning

new dad’s happy to have found mom

but looking worried

what?

she had four kids?!

 where is the fourth one?

is it a baby?

what happened to the first dad?

 the kids are going on the honeymoon?

what will happen?

how will they all blend together?

who will wear hats?

can’t wait to see.

“we’re all a little weird, and life’s a little weird. and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
– dr. seuss

regrets? they’ve had a few –

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image credit: grammarly.com

how wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~anne frank


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unnamed

grandies j and b

get ready for the big race

their first 5k

as a family

following in the footsteps

of mom and dad

making me proud

all to raise money

and awareness

for the

hope water project

a human cause

that helps bring

clean water to africa

something so many of us

take for granted

each and every day.

checklist:

sweatbands

numbers

water

shorts

smiles

shoes

enthusiasm

hope

empathy

compassion

blanket

ready.

every cause produces more than one effect.
– herbert spencer

https://www.hopewaterproject.org

‘i never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun.’ – katharine hepburn

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baby j, just being.