I'M BACK!

Sorry I have been MIA lately, we have been so busy getting ready for our camping trip up north and our 4-H fair. To begin with, I will tell you all about our awesome tent camping trip we are taking to the Upper Peninsula Michigan. For those of you who aren't from Michigan, I will start with the basics. Michigan is split into two Peninsulas, the Lower and the Upper. The Lower Penn is where I live. It is generally more Urban than the much more Rural Upper Penn. We are going camping from the 4th until the 10th. We are staying right outside of Mackinac Island on the 4th to watch the fireworks over the Mackinac Bridge. We are then going to Castle Rock and Tehquamenon Falls... Then we are going over to Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior for two nights... then we are staying in Fayette and the Copper Ghost Town, then down to Petosky and home... JUST IN TIME to start our 4H fair... needless to say I am exhausted getting things ready for both... just look at the bags under my eyes in the following pic....
The girls have been working nonstop for their showmanship at fair. They work with their bunnies every day to make sure they know all of the steps to showmanship. They are only Cloverbuds this year in 4H, but it still is good practice for when they are real 4H-ers and compete competitively against everyone else at the fair... Below are pictures of the girls and their showmanship bunnies this year... Erin with Marco, and Abrya with Tater Puff. We also decided to donate a little bunny for the 4H youth auction this year. This gives 4H kids an opportunity to get a really nice show bunny for very little money. It is our feel good project for the year... below is our auction donation bunny, a little Chinchilla Netherland Buck:)

This past week we also got a rare visit from Eddie's older brother Bill. Bill is in the Army stationed in Germany. He has done a few tours in Afghanistan, and is an outstanding man. His wife, Rike was born and raised in Germany, and is probably one of the sweetest women I have ever met:). They are expecting their first baby in September... its a girl:) Here is the picture of them meeting Brynnie:)

This past week we also expanded our animal family by one. This is our new kitty Solstice... Isn't she pretty? The girls love her, as seen in the picture of Maelan below... that is TRUE LOVE on her face!

And last but not least, this week, one town over, a BIG MISTAKE was made. There was a huge concert being put on at the Ionia County Fairgrounds. The concert is located right next to the Grand River in Ionia Michigan (one town over from me). We had gotten some seriously torrential rain over the weekend, and the river had began to flood. Well, Ionia county, without informing ANYONE at the concert released the flood gates, and look what happened....

Those are CARS you see in the river... When they released the flood gates without letting anyone know, they didn't take into account that the Concert staff was using the flood plane as a PARKING LOT:)

There are over 1000 cars in the river!! We have a few cousins that were at the concert, and we are being told that because of a disclaimer on the tickets reading 'We are not responsible for any damage to your vehicle during the concert' they have released themselves from any legal responsibility....

I smell a class action lawsuit o'er here:)