Mia's 1st Soccer Game

Mia (#3) played in her first soccer game last weekend. She is playing in a K-1st grade league, so she's the smallest player on the field, but she was loving it.

Our New Boat

Well, we've become boat owners! I think the joke is, "what are the two best days in a boat owners life?" The day we bought ours is gone....and we don't plan on selling it anytime soon. haha We got a really great deal and it all came together very quickly. There is a short video below after our sea trial. I've also included a link to the website. Ours is a 2007, but this link will give you an idea of the layout and what the boat looks like. We can't wait to have you come visit and take a ride.

Flip Video Test

My toy for Christmas this year was a Flip Video camera (http://www.theflip.com/). I'm testing out my first video on our blog.

Halloween 2008

Ryan and Mia had a great halloween this year. Ryan was Indiana Jones and Mia was Princess Jasmine.

Pre-trick or treating at the Poling's house.


Princess Jasmine in the pumpkin patch at Mackle Park


Ryan is practicing to take over for Harrison Ford in the next movie.

Mom's "Surprise" Birthday Visit

We all flew up to Michigan for mom's 60th birthday and tried to surprise her. The weather was perfect and the colors were amazing (see below!). Aunt Kathy, Uncle Don and Mimi all joined us to help close up the cottage.

The fall colors were perfect.

We all went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze on Friday.

Ryan was practicing how to to look like a real farmer.

Ryan and Mia had never seen the leaves falling and had a blast playing in the leaf piles.



Mia met a new "friend" in Michigan. This is Fred the caterpillar...

... who escaped to freedom at first chance.

Labor Day Weekend - Amicalola Falls State Park

Another highlight of our Labor Day trip to Georgia was a 1.5 mile hike up to Amicalola Falls.

Ryan and Mia with their walking sticks in hand.

Ryan, Mia and Grandpa take a break before the big hike.





This was us about 1/2 the way up the falls.

Ryan, Stacy and I made it to the top. It was about 2,500 ft. elevation at this point.


We had to take in the pumpkin farm on the way home. Ryan and Mia tried their best to lift these up.

Labor Day at the Georgia Aquarium

We met Marv and Jayne in Atlanta on our way to their house in the mountains of Georgia. The Georgia Aquarium is amazing! Here's some of what we saw...

Ryan with his alligator buddy.

This alligator was checking out Mia's pigtails.


Red Pirahna


Beluga Whale

Jellyfish

The GA Aquarium is one of the only places in the world where you can see whale sharks. They have 4 that are all about 15' - 16'. They were definitely the highlight of the trip.


After the aquarium we walked across the street to the Olympic park in Atlanta....and ESPN College Game Day was there.


The only guy I recognized was Robert Smith (far left with the backpack).

Marco's Big Rainstorm

Marco got over 6 inches of rain in about 4 hours on July, 2008. I have only seen the island flooded this much one other time. All the roads to the house were blocked until the water went down a bit.

Views from our driveway....Some of the neighbors parked in our driveway. They couldn't get down to the other streets.

The debris on the right shows the high water mark.

Douglas Lake Highlights - July 2008

We had another great time at Douglas Lake this year. Below are some pictures of a few of the highlights....

Don's vs. Ron's 2008 - The game was a close one, but the Don's came back to tie it 16-16. After two injuries we called it quits.

The tubing boys of Douglas Lake

The annual picture with Ralphie the bear.

The Roach clan....

The Witthoff clan.

Dad tries to reel in 30 fish filled with $2 bills. Happy 60th!

Getting ready for pops!

Stomping on pops!!

The new fad.....neon earrings.

Our neighbor, Miss Mary, put on quite the fireworks show for the 4th of July.

Curt's 25" Northern Pike.


Ryan and Mia both caught fish this year too.


Hey Mark, how does 62 degree Lake Michigan feel?

Stacy, Stacy and Dad took a 22.5 mile bike ride from the cottage to Lake Michigan. The hills weren't that bad were they?