Friday/Sat July 26&27
Here goes another week in Michigan! Violet picked up Drew on her way to school Fri morning and had her car so she didn't have a car sitting at the Capri parking lot. Fri morning I mowed the lawn, we all packed up, and left our house by 2:45 to pick up Violet from school at 3pm. This is the first year we took two cars! We rented a big van last year but this year opted for two vehicles. Drew drove Violet's car with Vanessa and David, Calvin, Eli and me were in the van. We drove approx 6 hrs, grabbed Chipotle in the Madison, WI area, stopped at Cabela's for lures, then went to SkySlam for boom sticks, then arrived in Marinette, WI and stayed in the Holiday Inn Express. The drive up we made a meal plan and I created a shopping list at Walmart and scheduled a pick up for 3pm Saturday in Escanaba.
We stopped at Seguin's Sat morning - got jelly and cheese, then headed straight for Ted and Cindy's house.
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| Vanessa with Daisy |
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| We had shipped them some shades for their master bedroom a couple weeks ago, and Violet, Drew and Calvin all put them up! |
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| The LaMarche family get together was happening - met some relatives. |
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| Checked the pasty box! |
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| Violet started the week off by snagging a bass right off the dock! |
Sunday, July 27, 2025
We went to church with Ted and Cindy in Escanaba - so it was an early morning for all of us. We had croissant egg/cheese/sausage sandwiches and grapes.
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| Dave's "mad face" |
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| After church we made a quick shopping trip to Dunhams and Eli got this sunglasses/hat combo. A stop at Walmart for things - and we were back at the lake. |
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| We spent the afternoon swimming and fishing. |
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| Eli caught a 23" northern as we listened to thunder roll in. |
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| The lighting and rain were heavy - some hail. |
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| Vanessa made brookies |
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| Sun came back out, and it turned out to be a good night of fishing. |
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| When we were at Cabela's I grabbed a new lure - and it caught 4 bass! Vanessa was initially giving me grief about not catching anything for the first 15 minutes but then we started hitting fish right and left. |
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| Calvin got this one after a second cast. |
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| The kids are fileting their own fish this week! |
Monday, July 28, 2025
Creamed eggs on toast was the start to the day - the boys are always up first, they were watching some deep sea fishing on youtube which was quite interesting. Dave and I are going to talk to George about boat and jetski rentals.
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| the beginnings of breakfast |
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| chatted with George at the store - the new shades we sent him look good! |
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| We sent a boom stick skipping across the water - it made the best explosion! |
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| they played with the jetski til the tank was empty - many hours! |
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| pizza lunch break |
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| more fishing |
Nice chill day at the lake - Ted and Cindy arrived and set up their camper - we had dinner together (grilled burgers, mac and cheese and tortellini salad). The boys showed me how to play black jack later.
Tues, July 29, 2025
Pancakes/bacon/swimming/fishing/chill
We took a few laps around the lake w/ poles in but didn't catch anything. I watched kiddos swim for a long time, caught up on the blog.
Tomorrow (Wed) we plan to go on the chain of lakes with the pontoon - next day is the hike to Miner's Beach (Thurs) and sourvenirs - last day is fish fry.
This week is flying by - but also so relaxing.
Loving it!
Wed, July 30, 2025
Biscuits/sausage gravy, packed lunches, headed to Corner Lake at 11am. We boated around, explored an island, stuck a long tree in the quicksand, played volleyball in the shallow water w/ the net, swam for a bit!
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| This was Daisy's first pontoon ride. |
Violet and Drew cooked the taco meal for us when we got back. The rest of the night was fishing - Calvin brought in 2 bass, Violet caught and threw back a crappie.
We watched half of AGT and got to bed late!
Thurs, July 31, 2025
Today was the Miner's Beach hike - we had fried eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, cinnamon rolls. Somehow the 7 of us polished off 13 cinnamon rolls.
We enjoyed the views, the predictable familiarity of the beach hike, and it never disappoints. The landscape of how the river flows into the lake is always different. We have a goal every year of changing that landscape somehow, whether we dig a sand path for the water to go or shoving a tree into the river.
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| the canopy of trees is so pretty |
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| how did all the kids get so big? |
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| walking across the creek is a tradition |
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| tree root art |
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| i love how WHITE the dead trees get |
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| tadpoles in the water |
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| get ready for oversharing of layered sandstone |
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| a kid walked by at the right time and I asked him to take our picture! |
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| Dave dared Violet to swim back to the beach while we climbed back from the rocky edge |
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| Drew said "I should probably go with her" |
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| he "helped" her swim |
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| bright orange lichen |
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| after exploring, we relaxed on the beach for awhile...the girls laid on towels and the guys started burying things |
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| Drew buried Violet's legs |
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| I buried Calvin's legs |
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| the boys buried Eli |
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| we found gum cigarettes...haha |
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| ice cream/candy break - a little souvenir shopping |
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| Ted and Cindy met us at the Buckhorn for dinner - their treat! |
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| Fishing fun - this is SO funny. Eli is staring off into the distance, the girls and Drew are ready for the pic, David is killing a fish (that's why our two boats are together) and Calvin is holding Dave's cigar. |
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| he puffed once and didn't really like it |
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| Drew brought in two bass |
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| We finished watching the last half of AGT and Vanessa made chocolate cake. |
Fish Fry Friday, August 1, 2025
Last day - slightly chillier weather, but still calm and sunny. No plans - late breakfast - English muffin sandwiches and hashbrowns, blogging, fishing.
