Shark Week!!!!!

It is that time again!!!

I wait all year for this amazing week on the Discovery Channel.....

SHARK WEEK!!!!!

(YYEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!)

The kids and I will be glued to my TV every night this week, starting tonight, to learn more about these amazing creatures.

I am also so excited to tell you about some things that I have been doing and places I have been going and things that I have been buying and people that I have been meeting!!!

I will show and tell in these in the upcoming weeks!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Hugs!!!!!

(can you tell I am a bit excited about things tonight!) :)

Bloggy Friends in Great Places

Hey there my dears!!

I hope you are having a good week.

I wanted to thank you all for your sweet comments about our little starfish mobile over at 3 Sun Kissed Boys, I read them all and appreciate you all so much!

THANK YOU!!!

I told you last week that while we were on vacation I got the pleasure of meeting another blogging friend.

It is funny that we have to go far away from our homes in order to meet in the same spot. :)

That's ok because there really is no other better place than Glen Lake to meet up with a friend.

Cathy, from Check it Off, and her beautiful family share the same love as we do for Glen Lake. We started corresponding after we spotted pictures of Glen Lake on each others blog and became fast friends. She is amazing and so sweet and beautiful and her family is just the nicest family that one could meet. Her three kids are gorgeous and took to my kids right away. :) Her husband a great guy, so friendly and sincere. I loved it that he waved to every boater on the lake. Believe me you don't see that very often, most people just look at you like you did something wrong.

Well, she wasn't sure that she was going to be able to go up this year and then one day she wrote me and told me the dates that they were going up and it was the same time that we were there!

YEAH!!!!

So for an afternoon they picked us up and out on their boat we went!

Isn't she beautiful!!

Yes, that would be my vacation look. :)

my kids have never tubed before so her youngest kindly took the boy out with her. I have to tell you that I was a bit nervous even though he swims in the deep all the time with the life jacket, falling out would be a new experience.

BUT

he held on tight, wanted to go faster and Cathy's daughter took good care of him.

My daughter then wanted to go, she was a bit scared about doing this as well, she is my cautious one and went a bit slower but enjoyed it very much.

Then all three of Cathy's kids got on!

It was so funny to watch them fly back and forth across the wake just laughing.

Then it was time to get serious! On went the helmets!!

My face hurt from laughing so hard, they had a great time!

They even got me in the water.

That was the only time that I went skiing that week and it was so fun and felt good to get on the water.

(not showing you a photo of that)

I absolutely love this picture of Cathy and her oldest daughter, so cute!!

This is her beautiful family and we are so glad that we got the chance to meet face to face and get to know each other. Although, just like I said before, it really feels like we have been friends for a long time.

I just love how blogging can do that.

Thank you SO MUCH again Cathy for an amazing afternoon and I truly hope that next year we can do more of the same!

If you would like to see more and meet Cathy, she is posting about our time together as well, just click here.

She has a great blog with great ideas on how to keep lists and stay organized as well as stories about her adventures and family.

You will love her!

Guest Posting at 3 Sun Kissed Boys

Happy Tuesday!!!

I hope you are all doing well.

I am busy painting away in the Shark Room and learning all about chalk paint.

Today I have the pleasure of guest posting over at my friend Yanet's 3 Sun Kissed Boys!!

Pop on over and see what my daughter and I made from these...

Stay cool or warm depending on where in the world you are!

Mermaid Party!!

Today Loui from Mountain Mermaid is hosting a very special party

for a very special mermaid.

I am so glad to have met this beautiful mermaid, she has taught me so much about the place that I love.

The ocean runs through her veins, and her heart is filled with love for all creatures great and small.

If she could, I think she would paint the world in the beautiful greens and blues so we could all feel like we live in such a beautiful world.

A beautiful mermaid through and through.

Happy Happy Birthday Rhonda!!!

Please stop by

ShelleBelles Tiki Hut

and wish her a Happy Birthday!

The ocean is yours my dear mermaid have a wonderful day!!!

all images via Pinterest

OOPS!!!!

I think it is going to be one of those days that when things like this happen...

I am really wishing that I was here enjoying this,

while doing this.

I was thinking about painting my floors anyway I guess.

Good thing it cleans up pretty easy.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

A Summer Sunset

One of the best things about being at Glen Lake is that Lake Michigan is only two minutes away. I know that I only live like two minutes from Lake Michigan but Lake Michigan up north is extra special. The water there is cleaner, bluer and there are the North and South Manitou Islands that are so beautiful.

One night we went down and watched another beautiful Up North Lake Michigan sunset.

I couldn't believe how red and glowing the sun was that night. It was hazy so it seemed as if the whole sky just absorbed all the color and it spread all across the sky.

I took about a bajillion pictures but I will only show you some of my favorite. :)

I did not alter anything except only to lighten them up a tad. I also took these using my "Sunset" mode on my camera.

The photo above shows the part of the North Manitou Island and the photo below is my daughter looking for Petosky Stones and in the distance you can see the whole island.

Large ships still pass through here making their way to the Straits of Mackinac.

It was such a beautiful night and reminds me how amazing Lake Michigan really is.

*******

I purchased some Chalk Paint today and so far I am L-O-V-I-N-G (insert singing voice) it!!

I am painting the dresser and bed in my son's room and hopefully I can show you soon!

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs!!!

P.S. - I also wanted welcome all my new friends/followers here and thank you so much for jumping aboard with me! :)

Thank you all for all your wonderful comments, this is such an amazing place of friendship and support.

"Do You Like Pina Coladas"....

Hello my sweet friends,

I am back from my

ESCAPE!!!

However, I did not get caught in the rain or feel the ocean or make love on the dunes of The Cape, nor did I sip any champagne.

BUT

I did have a few margaritas, felt the cool clear lake and climbed some sand dunes! (Get it, all the references to the Pina Colada song? OK I didn't find a sense of humor on vacation but that's ok, I thought it was cute, maybe that is the half-of-brain part. :) )

Anyway, I had such an amazing two weeks sitting on the dock in the sunshine, going on boat rides, swimming and I actually read two books!! I don't read often but a good book on the dock with a Corona and lime and the sound of the waves and seagulls, well, it doesn't get any better than that.

I can't wait to show you some pics and tell you all about it! One of the best parts of my vacation was I got to meet another Bloggy friend!! Cathy from Check it Off vacations up there with her family and we were there the same time so we met up and had a great time!! She is one of the sweetest girls and her family is just amazing! I can't wait to share some pics with you!

Hopefully I will be able to that this week sometime but I have a lot to catch up on and I have to figure out why my cat is peeing all over the house, off to the vet tomorrow, and my daughter starts another sports camp and my computer is giving me attitude..ugh!

Back to reality!!

Before I left I did made something simple. I have seen these all over blogland and on Pinterest so I decided to make one myself.

Shell Shadow Box

I picked up a shadow box on sale at Hobby Lobby

painted it white and distressed it a bit.

Painted the inside gray and glued a few of the million shells that I have on.

I also glued some twine around the edge of the frame to give it a bit of detail.

Super easy project and I love the look of these.

I hope you have a wonderful week, it is going to be in the mid 90's here all week so we will be trying to find ways to stay cool.

The shark sheets came in while I was gone so now I can begin to start painting sometime, in the air conditioning of course. :)

Have a great week and I can't wait to see what you all have been up to!!!

HUGS!!!!!