This past weekend I finally got to go to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). It blew my mind. There were thousands of cars there. I spent six hours there but could easily have stayed longer. The video I posted is of a waterfall at the Jeep display. All of the big manufacturers had their concept cars which were really cool too. The photo is of a Chrysler 300C Limosine concept. I'll be going again next year no question.

A couple weeks ago we went to Boyne City to have some family portraits taken. Here are the results. We had some with Dexter but he was moving around a lot so I don't think they came out. I really look good though. Enjoy.

I took the kids on a Lighthouse Hunt yesterday. I love lighthouses and I thought it might be a good way to spend the day. I found some info and crude maps on the net and we packed a lunch. I headed up M119 towards Cross Village and we found three just offshore north of Harbor Springs in the Gray's Reef area. There was one light I really wanted to see but by all accounts you can only see it by boat. We drove deep into Wilderness State Park and found a little parking area. We walked down the beach about 100 yards and around a bend and there it was! I was so excited! It was too far out to get a good picture so I borrowed one from a website. This was about the same view we had. There is some great history to this light you can read about here www.terrypepper.com/Lights/michigan/waugoshance/waugoshance.htm and also a resroation effort you can read about here www.waugoshance.org/ . In all we found twelve lighthouses. There were two others that we could hike to but I wasn't about to drag five kids through the forest for a mile each way. I am planning to hike out to see Waugoshance closer and the Cheboygan Point remains before the end of summer. If anyone is interested in an adventure let me know.

The last weekend of June every year is the Straights Area Car Show in St. Ignace. That's on the north end of the Mackinaw Bridge. It's been horrible in recent years but it was cool this year. I took my dad and we met my Uncle Al up there. This is a shot of the back of the Holden Efijy. This was the 2006 Hot Rod of the Year. We had a great time. Oh I almost forgot! During the week between the car shows I went to a show in down town Harbor Springs put on by the National Porsche 356 Club. Three shows in one week is pretty good for me.

What a summer! We have been busy here at the Careys'. I need to play catch up a little here. The third weekend in June we went camping in Gaylord and attended the "Big Ticket Festival". It was a huge music festival with a family theme. It was nice to actually take the kids to a concert (over 30 bands played) without the hassle of worrying about them. That same weekend was the Bay Harbor Concous D'Elegance. Jeremiah and I skipped back to Petoskey for a few hours for that. I'm not one to miss a car show. I love this picture, one of my favorite Ferraris between two Corvettes. More later!

The Bay Harbor Concours D'Elegance is this weekend. I was driving through looking to see if there were any hot cars or movie stars here yet and I found this "pile" in a parking lot. The cars are all covered (as you can see) but having a keen eye for exotic cars I was able to identify them. There are 3 Aston Martins, 1 Rolls Royce, 1 Lamborghini, 3 Bentleys and a Maserati. This is just a small sample of what there is to see at this car show. There are usually several auto dealers from the Detroit area that bring up their new car inventory. It's not uncommon to pull up to a Ferrari at a stop light. Of course the cars in the show are pretty spectacular too. It's a really cool show (there are only four or five Concours in the U.S.) and a great place to see some cool exotic, antique and special cars (and boats). See you there!

Two posts in one day! I just finished another major home improvement and I was so proud I had to take pics and post them. The top pic is of our front sidewalk shortly after I started tearing it up. It actually didn't look a lot better than this. We weighed our options and decided that a deck/porch would be the best way to go. I hauled all of the concrete out after I got a trade in agreement on my truck but before I actually traded it in. There were four yards of concrete. I started the deck on Friday and finished it on Monday morning. I have to thank Jeremiah, Seth and Jacey for all of their help. Everyone is invited to come and see it at Deah's Graduation Party on May 19. Invitations are in the mail.

What an exciting weekend at the Careys'. Friday night, Deah and I went to Traverse City and picked up our new car. We love it. I had to trade in my beloved truck but at least this is also a GMC. We got an awesome deal on it and it has everything we need. The main thing was a V8 and room for the kids. The truck was too crowded and our van won't pull a trailer. Deah really likes the heated seats too. I hope this post finds everyone well and enjoying spring. See you soo.

I went to Lansing with Jeremiah's class last week. What a riot. I think the adults had more fun than the kids. We toured the Capital and met a Representative that actually took us out on the floor of the House. He was very nice and answered questions, posed for pictures etc. The picture here is looking up at the Rotunda from the second floor. The entire building was restored about fifteen years ago and is just amazing. It's a great place to learn a little about government and history. The weather in Northern Michigan is awesome. No more blizzards in the forcast for this week. Hope to hear from everyone soon.

I hope this post finds everyone well. It's been a while I know but we are still here. The Careys welcomed a new addition to our family this last Saturday. This is Dexter. He is a Rat Terrier/Mini Pincer mix. I've been debating getting a dog for a long time and Deah and the kids finally talked me into it. Dexter is very friendly and great with the kids. We're looking forward to many fun adventures with him. I think this picture might be on our Christmas Cards next year. I'll just cut and paste me into it. Summer is almost here so I will be posting some more soon. Drop us a line sometime.