For the last nine months we’ve been fortunate enough to live just off Lake Michigan, a few hundred feet from a pier and a gorgeous beach. The deck off my bedroom faces a channel into the lake, and I watch boats go in and out constantly. Several times a day (and sometimes, spookily and almost silently, in the middle of the night) I’m treated to the sight of a cargo ship heading in or out of port, so close it seems like I could almost jump right on deck. This photo was taken about 100 feet down the channel, right before the start of the pier.

We won’t be in this house much longer–it was a temporary home while we got our bearings in a new town, and when the summer season starts, the rent goes up-up-up. And up. We were lucky enough to get a full month of beach weather back in September. It’s been a little too chilly to really get in the water this spring, but we’ve still had plenty of opportunity to enjoy the sand and dunes:

Isaac enjoys jumping off a little cliff at the tallest point of the dune, then tumbling down the rest of the hill. It only makes me a little nervous.

Notice the three cool kids squinting in the afternoon sun…and their littlest brother’s big, cheesy grin. There were about a dozen other photos that looked pretty much just like this.

Cue “Chariots of Fire” theme song…of course, William beat his littler and slower brother as he always does, but Owen insists he’s “winner number two”. Fair enough.

“I’m the numba two winna!”

This reminds me of a scene from Karate Kid.

Owen appears to be casting a spell on the sand drawings his brothers are making.

A walk in taller-than-your-head beach grass…which I’ve just learned is a popular habitat for ticks, little creatures who have been feeding on our family with gusto recently (we found six on us in a matter of a week). Suddenly, looking at this picture makes me want to strip the entire family down to skivvies while I give them a careful inspection. Maybe we could all check each other, tallest to shortest. Wouldn’t that be a great photo op?

As much as I dislike the ticks, I know I’ll be missing this view in a few weeks.

What’s the view like from your back (or front) door? What would you change if you could? What would you never want to give up?

It’s been a full week of officially spring-like weather, and we’ve been enjoying it to the fullest here (that would explain the lapse in posts.)

First, there was the ill-fated fishing effort behind our house (we are fortunate enough to have spent the last 8 months living on a channel emptying into Lake Michigan, so there’s a beach a couple hundred yards from our back door, and a pier even closer. We are unfortunate enough to be leaving said home in a month.) The trip scored no fish, but it was abundant in photo-ops.

Last Friday, Jon, Clara and I accompanied Isaac’s third-grade class to Conner Prairie in Fishers, IN. I have been to a lot of historic parks, but this was one of the best I’ve seen. It’s authentic and huge–you could spend all day wandering through the gardens, striking up conversations with the costumed interpreters, and gawking at the historic buildings (real, not reproductions) with period decor and furniture. Starting this week they’ll be offering hot air balloon rides , but since we were there too early Isaac had to settle for throwing a hatchet:

which then broke,

holding a chick,

and playing old-fashioned games.

Saturday was spent walking the 1.5 miles downtown with the baby strapped to my chest in order to watch the community parade. I unfortunately got no pictures, just a bad sunburn.

Sunday, we went hunting for morel mushrooms. My brother-in-law, Scott, found ten or so, and Jacob found one.

I was completely unsuccessful, despite really going for gold, tearing through thorn bushes and crawling around in the dirt. But between the two guys we had a decent little haul.

Last night, Jenna and I made chicken, asparagus and morels with rosemary new potatoes.

It was delicious, and none of us wound up in the hospital due to eating toxic false morels.

Today it was a trip to the nearby nature center for a romp through the woods with Jenna, her kids, our friend Missy and her two kids and William, Owen and Clara. I forgot the camera, so I didn’t bring home any photos. What I did bring home? Ticks. Three found so far, one of which was ON MY HEAD. Now, of course, I’m convinced I feel crawling and itching all over my body. Something tells me I’m in for a long night…

Welcome Spring!