Beach Lover?

Now living in Grand Rapids, we live close to Lake Michigan...which Michigander's refer to as "the beach." Bless their little hearts, Lake Michigan is NOT the beach. But, it has sandy shores and water that goes beyond the eye can see so I can see how they get confused...

Today was our first trip this summer so we looked up a dog beach so we could bring Sadie along. I think she liked the car ride there more than the actual beach itself. See for yourself...

I was certain that she would just LOVE the beach! Turns out we have a little bit of a wussy dog on our hands. She wouldn't go near the water! There were dogs jumping and splashing around and she just sat there! She just kept walking around on the sand like she didn't know what to do lol. So with a little encouragement Dan gave her a beginner's swim lesson.

And again...

We were only there a little over an hour before she was ready to go. I felt so sorry for her, she kept sniffing the sand and therefore would get sand all over her nose and face! Ok, so we didn't get a beach bum doggie to add the family but we'll keep her anyway.

Harry Potter Premier!

And so the end has come....Last night at 12:01am we began the journey to the end of Harry Potter. And IT.WAS.AWESOME!!! 

I was one of the weirdo's who had NOT read the books and did NOT know how the series ended. And believe me when I tell you it is difficult to stay in the dark when it comes to Harry Potter! But I'm happy to report that I succeeded. I went into part 2 of the Deathly Hallows and did not know how it ended! I've been catching up on my reading but I'm only through book 4. But now I'm even more excited to read books 5, 6 and 7! Here's how our evening panned out....

Daniel and I arrived about 7pm to save seats in line. Outside the movie theater they were playing Muggle Quiddich, I've only heard of it recently... They ride around on broom sticks and try to throw a ball through three different sized hoops. It looked like a lot of fun!

Inside the theater was the Wizards Ball. It was a formal event with all you can eat food and drinks. You could  get your picture taken with people dressed up as the Harry Potter cast. Tickets also got you into a double feature... Deathly Hallow's part 1 and 2. We did not attend the Wizard's Ball...tickets were $125 each, but we viewed it from our line above :)

Daniel and I went early to save 6 seats. We went with 2 other couples from our ward but they couldn't get there until about 10pm. Dan and I ate Wendy's in line, watched part 1 on the Ipad and "rested" while we waited. I also got all amped up with yet another 5 hour energy (as reportedly taken at the last Harry Potter premier)

Here is all 6 of us before the lights went down...Joe, Alyssia, Travis, Shauna, Me and Dan

As expected, we had a great time! HARRY POTTER FOREVER!

Furnell Vacation 2011

Sorry for our absence, but the Tracy's have been HERE for the last 10 days...

My family tries to do a big family vacation every couple years but the more we grow the harder it is to accommodate everyone's schedule. So it's been 4 years since our last rendezvous. This year my dad rented a beach house (for all 18 of us) in Melbourne Beach, FL. The house was beautiful and spacious! 

 It's been a while since I've been surfing but after a few tumbles, ok a lot of tumbles, Dan and I were surfing fools. So much fun! 

Beach vacations are my favorite. I read my book while Dan read his Ipad. I laid out while Dan built sand castles. We played with the kiddo's and laughed A LOT! We went on walks and even went on a bike ride. We also took new family photo's with Dan actually in them! I'll be sure to post them when they come in. 

This is the sun rise of the morning we had to leave to go home :(

We have SOOOO many pictures I can't post them all! It was such a fun trip and I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years before we can do it all over again!