First impression

First impressions.  Can you even remember what you thought when you saw some of the big things for the very first time?

The kids were here for a couple of days this weekend. The weather was stupendously beautiful and we went down to the lake.  It was little Michael's very first time to see Lake Michigan up close and personal.

 We got to the bottom of the steps, put him down onto the sand and this is what he saw. I would give anything to know what he was thinking.  He stood there for a long time just staring at this....this....what??

 I think he was thinking a little bit of   "What!!??" and "WOW!"

 Charlie loves to skip stones.  It's his most favorite thing so we taught Michael it was ok to pick up the stones and throw them in.  This was his very tentative first "ok, I'm going to do it now"

 One thing we love about being down here is just letting the kids go off to explore.  We're all around them but not hovering.  They run off, explore, toss stones, build things, dig.

 And when we get tired we walk up about 140 steps and go home.

 Ceci was an expert at putting Grandpa's birthday candles on the birthday brownies.

 There were fireworks at night.

 Next morning the lake was smooth as glass and crystal clear.  Not an everyday thing. The ripple waves of yesterday weren't even present.  It was as beautiful as it gets.  Grandpa and I took the remaining three kids back down for an early morning adventure.

 See? this is what I mean.  Even though Grandpa was just out of the frame shot, Michael can feel like he has the world at his feet on this deserted beach.  Time to think and explore on his own.

 Charlie wanted to build a raft.  We didn't plan ahead so didn't have much in the way of materials.  We did what we could, developed a plan for next time and proceeded to try.  We tied sticks together with long blades of beach grass.  They held, the four that we managed, but there are big plans for twine and longer sticks next time.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!