I decided to do one big picture post instead of lots of big picture posts. I'll have more photos to share once I get Gabi's pictures. He took some great shots, especially of the food--can't wait to share those! For now though--here goes, we all met up at a berry picking place in Bayfield, WI. I was very disappointed to learn that the raspberries were gone. Last year we picked a whole flat of them. Thankfully, there were some raspberries out there and I got to have a good handful or two. We went on to pick three flats of blueberries. Those blueberries ended up in pancakes, a pie, smoothies, and yogurt--yum! The kids had a great time getting reacquainted and picking and eating berries.
Ellie got the girls doing some drumming and below a group shot. We took a gazillion pictures but I don't have any with everyone looking at the same time. Grandma brought matching shirts for all the girls--aren't they cute??
I love this shot of Ollie and his mom on the porch--this house is perfect for a big family. Plenty of sleeping space, big kitchen, huge front yard, and right across the street--Lake Superior. We spent some of every day at the lake--well, most everyone did. I stayed back a few days to babysit baby Sophie. You know I hated that... :0)
The second day we were there it was cool enough in the evening for a fire. This ended up being the only fire that got built, the evenings were just too warm. We took advantage of the fire by roasting marshmallows and making S'mores. Yum! The older kids had S'mores two more times by roasting the marshmallows in the microwave. Love this crazy Romanian below--he makes me laugh, a lot. He's almost as warped as I am.
Hannah had her birthday while we were at Madeline Island and to celebrate a few of us went into town and had a fun frozen treat. Later Gabi made crepes with chocolate sauce. They were pretty amazing. Below--Ellie is giving a drumming lesson to all of the kids. She's a pretty cool 15 year old.
These pictures (above and below) are just snapshots of our time on the beach and in the water. We had floats, a boat, and endless rocks and sand. It's kind of hard to see but in the picture below just in front of the tent, Grace is being buried in the sand. My worst nightmare...
We had various activities in the evenings. One night was some friendly family competition. We were split into two teams and given some random supplies and had to build a rocket. We then had a competition to see which group's rocket could go the farthest. We also got points for creativity and teamwork. The team above was the Lakers and they had a cute little cheer and nice costumes. Too bad their rocket didn't go as far... I don't have a picture of my team, the Geese, because those pictures were on Gabi's camera. We had a fun cheer too but no fun costumes. Amazingly, both rockets went really far--they were made out of a sheet of plastic and electrical tape and launched with a two liter bottle and pvc pipe. Can you tell there are some smart Physics people in this family?
The next two nights were karaoke and a talent show. Gabi had his computer set up and microphones and speakers and it was pretty cool.
These next few pictures are from the hike we went on. Just beautiful!
Below--there were Granddaddy Longleg spiders everywhere--you can't see it in the picture but Grace and Ellie were playing with one.
Above, Dani is warming up to do 50 pushups for the talent show and below Sam and Mels sang an endless song about a bee. They were so cute!
Gabi and Dad did a hilarious cooking show skit--I'll try to get the video on here later. I didn't get anymore pictures from the talent show but here's what we saw--Ellie read poems, Hannah and Grace sang "Defying Gravity," Hannah and Joe sang, "Sing," Grace sang "Little People," the grown up ladies did a very silly skit that involved slinging a bowl full of chips and Lisa falling down, I peeled a banana without touching the meat of the banana.
As you can see, we had a wonderful week with the family. Lots of fun, lots of memories, and more pictures to share soon! :0)
Love these pictures of all the littles on the couch watching their videos. I think they watched "Paddle to the Sea," at least once a day if not twice. 
Love the action shot above--this was the rocket launch. 
I think Grace is easily as photogenic as I am not photogenic! This captures her just right.
Above is a sweet one of Steph and baby Sophie. What a sweet blessing that baby is and Steph is such a good mom! 
The photographer himself.
Dani spends some time getting to know his newest baby sister. Dani is in the Air Force.
This is one of the pictures I plan to print and put up on the fridge in an effort to motivate myself to lose weight!! Scroll down to see the other one. 
The girls (particularly Melody) would set up these little wooden dolls somewhere every day. 
I love this shot--Steph was painting the daisy and I am in the background doing a logic puzzle. Left and right brains at the same table. :0)
I asked Gabi to take these pictures of my family, I had seen someone do something similar on FB and love the look of it. Thanks Gabi!
This picture below is the one that helped me resist the temptation for a Snickers ice cream bar. I have really let my weight get out of control again and I am frustrated with myself. I am doing a lot better and hope to have at least some of this weight off in the coming months. This will be my before picture. 
