Jim, Jake and Derek embarked on a 17 hour drive, leaving at 2:00 Sunday morning, to meet the Neatherys in Westcliffe, Colorado.

They are experiencing another beautiful, majestic slice of the state.

They are pretty remote, so communication is limited. But I am grateful for the window into their experience that I am able to see, thanks to Jim.

They have a physically aggressive schedule–long, rigorous hikes planned every day. Here they are before the first hike:

11 miles, 3000 ft. elevation change…they came home exhausted. And sore. The second day the under-40 group ventured on another trail–15 miles up Humboldt Peak, a 14,000+ ft. elevation, while the dads convalesced at the house.

After that hike, they altered their plans on the third day and opted to fish instead of hike.

A good decision, as they caught 12 fish altogether–enough for dinner that night.

It all started with wrestling in the family room. All four boys along with their dad, straining, biting down on their lips. They all five do it whenever they are doing something physically taxing, and I’m calling it the Johanik lip squeeze.

Don’t be fooled…behind that mask, are lips squeezed together.

Some other scenes from our baseball season thus far…

Thankfully, Ruthie has a friend to play with at each of her brothers’ games.

Even though he is on his way to earning a driver’s license, Jake still prefers the two-wheel mode of transportation. He often rides to his brothers’ games and practices. On this particular day, Jim joined him.

Handsome baseball boys.

Jim had a lunch meeting in Holland, MI last week, so the kids and I tagged along and spend some time on the beach.

We were thankful for the beautiful weather! There were storms back home, but the sky was clear on the other side of the lake.

The chilly water temperature was still recovering from the long, cold winter…but the kids weren’t fazed one bit.

Jake and Derek swam pretty far out there, and later Jake went out even farther. After a while, I wondered if we should just plan to meet up with him in Chicago.

I loved being able to sit and catch up with my Aunt Chris on the sand while the kids played–so relaxing and enjoyable!

Chris fed us lunch, then we made our way to Grandpa and Trudy’s house. The kids fed the hungry goldfish in their backyard pond.

We had an enjoyable visit with them, then made our way back around the lake. We all had such a good time that we’re already looking on the calendar for when we can return! (Be ready, Chris!)

We spent Father’s Day downtown Chicago. It was a verrry windy day–so windy they had to close my parents’ pool due to a table being blown into the water!

But we managed to have fun anyway. The kids played at the park and at the fountains.

The twins enjoyed some wrestle time with Uncle Jim.

Jake ran a 5K with Grandma…what a great bonding activity!

Meanwhile, Grandpa and Ruth bonded over sunglasses.

Find and break off dead branches from the backyard tree.

Stick on marshmallows.

Start a fire and roast those marshmallows.

Taste test marshmallows for roasting quality.

Put together marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker.

Smush together and bite down.

Have the dog come in from swimming in the pond to clean marshmallow residue off sticks.

Burn off those calories on the trampoline.

Ruthie is a girl who loves worms.

She loves to dig for them and talk to them. And to her, the bigger the worm, the cuter it is.

Her brothers have tasked her with finding worms that they may use as fish bait. Here you go Derek.

A catch!

Dave and Judi took us bowling on Saturday.

We used a rainbow assortment of balls.

Everyone had their own style and level of performance. For instance, we learned that Uncle Dave is a closet professional bowler, as he scored strikes or spares in nearly every frame.

Jeremy was by far the highest scorer among all the kids (and some adults. ahem.)

Ruth propelled her bowling ball granny-style.

This did not bode well for speed. One time her ball traveled so slowly down the lane that it came to a complete stop before reaching the pins. We called for help.

The nice young man rescued the pink ball and we bowled on.

My mom and dad took the oldest five grandkids and participated in Bike the Drive. It’s a great event where the city of Chicago shuts down Lakeshore Drive for the morning so bikers can have at it.

It was a first for Peter and Hannah. Apparently, they chatted the entire ride of nearly 30 miles.

Here are the bikers the night before the ride, as the sun was setting.

The non-biking crew made our way downtown later that day. The weather proved perfect for swimming.

My dad and brother were the troupers in the water with the little ones.

A great way to kick off summer!

You gotta have a catcher. If you don’t have a catcher you’ll have all passed balls. –Casey Stengel

Our three baseball players are all trying their hand at catching this season. Peter is the veteran and still going strong.

Derek is a good presence behind the plate, given his size. Ain’t nobody going to mess with him at home plate!

Jeremy began a bit tentative, not too excited about being up close to a swinging bat. But he’s getting the hang of it.

This pic of Jeremy up to bat is one of my faves…a Little Rascal!

Mom, you’ll never guess where we are.

This is how my phone conversation began with Jake on Saturday a few hours after he left to go for a bike ride with his friend. They hadn’t decided where they were going to ride, just that they wanted to do around 50 miles. I took a couple wrong guesses and finally gave up. He was calling from Millenium Park in Chicago.

He was quite proud of himself, having ridden from our house to the city. They took the Prairie Path until it ends in Maywood, so my first (motherly) question was: how did you navigate through the Austin and Garfield Park neighborhoods? He said they just kept riding and didn’t stop til they got to the Loop.

My next question was, “Have you taken a selfie yet?” Here they are at the bean.