the mandel 5

We spent today on Mackinac Island , where my dad was born (in a house) while Grandpa was in the Coast Guard. There are no cars on Mackinac Island - only horses, bicycles, and good old walking feet. We wanted to ride horses but you have to be at least 9 years old. We rented a horse and buggy instead. Megan was not pleased and pouted for 1/2 the ride until we moved her up front and let her steer . She's pretty when she pouts, isn't she? Excuse the quality of every photo posted while I'm away. I can't tell what they really look like on my laptop. They are usually too dark and too red but it never looks that way until I look at them on my monitor at home.... This is Max, our trusty horse. Rob and I came here on our honeymoon 9 years ago and rented a carriage pulled by Duke, who was a psycho horse. We asked about him and were told that he is leading wild buggy rides through the streets of horsey heaven now. Ang and Tim spent the day here with us before they head ba...

In case you are just tuning in, there are more wedding pics in the post below this one. If I were on my regular computer, I'd ps the sweat from my face in these but oh well! We were dancing fools. Well, 4 of the 5 of us were. =)

These are in no particular order. I'm just back online after being without internet for (gasp) more than 48 hours. I have 600 images from the wedding, all taken by children under 9 years old. Yes, I let Corey run around the wedding and the reception with my $4,000 camera around his neck. He did great! And so did Nathan who had my 10d with him for most of the reception. Hey, if not for that, I'd have nothing to show you! Everything went great. I will post more tonight if/when the kids go to sleep! Ha Ha!

with cousins Kevin and Kyle We might hide Kevin in a suitcase and smuggle him back home. The boys are in love with him and we are in love with having them constantly entertained!

So, you know I should be packing up five people and trying to get on us on our way to the airport but I had to post these first. A couple of weeks ago, we had our portraits taken by Andrea Robinson of Bakersfield (I'll post a link to her site when I get it). She has given me permission to share them here. Aren't we cute? Man, I can't believe she got anything good because the kids were being turkeys! But she got so many fabulous moments captured for us. Thank you Andrea!!! Anyone have a favorite? And yeah, Cindy, he shaved his head! I just know you are dying to comment!! Ha Ha!!

Yep, it was crowded today. This is our local aquatic center. It's only 2 bucks for kids and 3 for adults. With Rob teaching summer school, I am trying to find ways to stay cool and keep the kids too busy to argue with each other. lol. This was today's idea. Every half hour, they do a "safety check" and get everyone out. This is what it looks like when it's empty! I took all these with my 3.5 year old Canon 10D. Another great thing about having a new camera is having a back-up to my back-up camera. I don't worry about standing in a pool with splashing kids or leaving it in my bag when I go out into the water with the kids. And no summer day is complete without a little....... ice cream!