The Best Kept Secret and Vacation (Lots of Pics)

WOW! has it been a busy month!  I have missed everyone's blogs so much, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up in the next few days  After my sister left, we took off for some family time up at Torch Lake in northern Michigan.  What a beautiful lake, but I'll talk about that in a minute.

Anyway, I kept a secret.  A big secret.  A HUGE secret!!  And I kept it from my kids.  Don't ask me how I did it - I almost stumbled and messed up the whole secret quite a few times, but I did it.  I secretly made phone calls, took trips back and forth to Ohio a few times to check up on the little secret, bought things (like 4,000 toys from PetCo) and took them to my neighbors so my kids wouldn't find out.  What was the secret?  Well, this is what it was:

Meet Bailey.  All 13 weeks and 16 pounds of him!  The family finally wore me down!  It took years for them to do it, but it finally happened.  Bailey is a Golden Doodle and the sweetest thing that you could ever meet.  He loves sitting on your lap, kisses and being petted.   My kids were in shock I tell you.   We had tried to adopt a puppy a couple times and it never worked out and I think the kids had given up.  When I pulled Bailey out of the car, DH was standing there with the movie camera and the kids couldn't even talk. They both just stood there with their mouths hanging open seeing me standing there with a dog on a leash.  It was priceless just like the credit card commercials!  Truly priceless!  So now we have a new member of the family, and I feel like I'm following after a baby.  Bailey is full of energy and like a devil on four huge paws, but then there are those times when he just falls over:

He's a sweetie, but I can't wait until he's potty trained and stops waking us up howling at 5:00 a.m.

Our vacation was wonderful on Torch Lake.  I've lived in Michigan all my life and don't know how I ever missed this lake.  Crystal clear and uncrowded.  Beautiful.  My husband rented a boat, and I could tell some crazy stories about that (like he doesn't know how to drive a boat, but I'll spare him the embarrassment).  Okay, I won't!  LOL  He was so afraid to take the boat across the lake from where it was dropped off over to our cottage.  The lake is only about 1-1/2 miles across, but he was worried, so he pulled out his wallet and handed me all his money.  LOL  He thought he was going to drown!  I knew exactly what was going on and later told him so.  He was sheepish about the whole thing and I told him that he was lucky that Catie and I didn't hightail it to the antique stores and spend it!!

We also beached the boat a couple times, but I will spare DH the embarrassment on that.  But do you know how heavy a boat is to unbeach it?  Ahem!!  Me pulling it out into the lake so we could start it up, and I'm fully clothed and wearing the only bra I took up with me and there is no washer or dryer?  And later standing with a hair dryer trying to dry it out?  Ahem!!  But we had a great time once DH got over his fear -  we tubed from it, fished from it, skirted the lake, and just had a wonderful time in it.  Here are a few pics from vacation (you can skip these if you hate family vacation pictures):

Alden - The nearest town

The cutest shop - Alden's Mill - with more kitchen gadgets than you've ever seen in your life crammed into this quaint cottage

One of the spectacular sunsets, but taken on a cell phone so you don't get the full impact

DD relaxing (or glamming - however you want to look at it)

Torch Lake is located on the 45th parallel - we got a real kick out of this sign

DD tubing

Us girls relaxing on the boat - my freckles come out in the sun

Watching the sunset

Getting the campfire ready for s'mores

Loved the name of this alley in Charlevoix

And all the boats in Charlevoix Bay

And the town clock

And all the flowers in the town.

And this says it all - Summer - I'm so sorry that it's ending.

We all had a great time and even DH was hesitant to come home.  We drove home at a very leisurely pace and visited some antique stores along the route home.  DH is NOT an antique shopper, so you know that he didn't want to go home if he allowed me to drag him into those shops.

On the crafting side not much at all,  but while my sister was here I picked up this yarn from a store in Frankenmuth:

Even though I did take cross stitch up North with me, I didn't feel like pulling it out.  I also took this yarn along.  In the early mornings when the others were still sleeping, I would sit with my cup of coffee watching the water lap on the beach and knit and I did get a little bit done:

I love the colors of it - reminds me of the color of the sunsets - and as you knit it it forms a spiral - so much fun!!!  I think I've seen it called a Potato Chip scarf too.  Easy pattern and it works up quickly.

Well, that's it for me.  I'm still recuperating from vacation, learning how to be a mom to a little baby (dog) again, and gearing up to get the kids ready for school.   It's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Thank you again so much for all your wonderful comments, and I'll definitely catch up with everyone soon!!