a birthday adventure

for my birthday (since 30 is kind of a big deal i guess), we took a trip to hontoon island state park, where we rented cabins for a night.  it was amazing!  there are no cars, so the kids got to ride their bikes freely anywhere within sight.  it was fairly secluded, so there was plenty of wildlife to see (gabe's dream come true).  we spent all of our time playing at the playground, fishing, canoeing, hiking (and then leaving the trails after spotting a pygmy rattle snake!), playing board games, and eating smores.  gabe was in heaven, and even got his first whittling injuries trying out his pocket knife (we have some work to do in terms of pocket knife safety training).  ezra found frogs and bugs and plants and minnows that he was thrilled to play with. titus rode endless miles on his bike. and sleeping two adults and all four kids in a one-room cabin was not nearly as traumatic as it could have been (although there was some raccoon commotion at about 1 AM that freaked the ladies out just a bit!). we had a best time, and we will definitely be going back soon.





for more pictures, see megan's post about our trip!