Forever Family Day--3 Years!

Three years ago today, we became the parents of the most amazing little boy. In the last three years, he has grown into a smart, sweet, funny, and loving boy. He brings joy to us every day and we can't imagine life without him. There are many times when I can't believe how blessed we are. I can't believe that we were given such a gift. We are thankful for Joel every day, but our family day is a day in which we celebrate and have an extra special time together.

Now that Joel is a little older and can understand more about his family day, we let him choose our activities for the day. After deciding on a number of fun things, he finally settled on the "beach pool", the pizza place for dinner, and ice cream at Oberweis. So that's what we did! The "beach pool" is a huge pool with sand that is made to look like a real beach. Joel is a little fish this summer, and loved playing with the water and sand.

 The pizza place is a family fun center that Joel loves. The pizza is actually pretty good, and there's plenty to do. Nascar races, mini bowling, mini golf, bounce houses, and arcade games. Joel jumped and played and rode to his heart's content, and then picked out a prize with his tickets. After much deliberation, he picked a yo-yo and a magic 8 ball.

The Nascar race. Joel just likes to crash into the walls.

Travis had as much fun as Joel on the slide.

Our final stop was Oberweis for some ice cream. I think it goes without saying that we all enjoyed it. We love our ice cream, that's for sure!

We love you, Joel Allen Hwan, to the moon and back.  Happy Forever Family Day!

Camping (Part Two)

Two weeks after our first camping trip, we packed up the tent, sleeping bags, and s'mores ingredients and were on the road again. This time, we drove to Silver Lake, Michigan to enjoy the sand dunes. Camping is always interesting with a group of nineteen, with kids ranging in age from six months to seventeen. We usually feel pretty sorry for the people that are unlucky enough to get a campsite near ours.

Friday night was the usual set up, dinner, s'mores, and enjoying the campfire. Saturday morning we put on our swimming suits and went to Silver Lake. The lake itself was quite pretty, but what was really spectacular were the dunes on the other side.

 We stayed at the beach for a bit, and then rented a pontoon boat to cross the lake.

 

On the other side, we climbed up a sand dune that was practically a wall. It was quite a struggle to make it! But once we did, it was soooo worth it!

Joel and the other kids had a blast burying each other, rolling down the dunes, and dumping sand on heads (that was mainly Joel).

Later that evening we took a tour of the sand dunes on a dune cruiser.

The vehicle went through the dunes, up and down like a roller coaster, and stopped periodically to explain history or give facts about the area. It was really interesting.

The best part was stopping at a remote beach on Lake Michigan. The water was calm, the beach beautiful, and the sun was just coming out from behind the clouds. It was breathtaking.

The next day we packed everything up and drove to Little Sable Point Lighthouse before we left.

We climbed to the top--100 spiraled steps--and looked out at the beauty of Michigan. It was a little hard to appreciate the beauty while having a death grip on Joel's hand and butterflies in my stomach, but I managed. :)

We had such an amazing time at the Michigan Dunes. It was great to get away and experience something new with our friends and family.