vacation recap

So I've decided to do this all in one post.

The week in MI was great. We started out around the tip of the mitten...dropped the kids off with Kris's family and headed over to Petoskey to help good friends, Scott and Nikki, celebrate Scott's accomplishments...the man has FINALLY completed his formal medical training, so if you're in need of a good orthopedic surgeon in the future, let me know and I'll hook you up :)

me, Nikki and Karyn (two of my old roomies from college...
am pumped to have all five of us together in October!)

We spent the next few days with Kris's side of the family. Mostly we just hung around Kris's grandma's house and relaxed and played in the yard.

We had a chance to visit with friends one evening. Sam and Grace had a blast running around with their kids. Country living is a whole new world to them! They visited the chickens and pheasants they raise, checked out the hunting dogs, played with the two house dogs, dug in the sand and ran around in the woods. They talked about it for days afterwards!

We headed to the playground and the beach one other day. While there, we decided to stroll through the marina to look at the boats and were lucky enough to catch the end of a sailboat race. As the first boat rounded the bouy and the horn blew, I pointed it out to Sam and he said, "Those silly pirates!" I love the way his mind thinks :) A few pics:

Sam looking for his "grasspopper". Maybe I should have his eyes checked out...
I wouldn't think he would need a magnifying glass to find this one!

Grace going golfing...I hope her golf skills reflect her father's and not her mother's!

Enjoying a snack in Papa Verle's old favorite chair.
He used to sit in this chair for hours because
he didn't want to disturb the sleeping cat in his lap :)

On Thursday, we drove down to my parents' so we could spent the 4th there. I was like a little kid...I hadn't been home for the 4th festivities in YEARS. I was super excited! This was the first year that the kids could really appreciate the 4th of July. They had a great time despite some apprehension over the fireworks :)

Grace on the car ride downstate...I couldn't resist taking a pic!

Thursday night we sat around the campfire and ate s'mores while Grace serenaded us with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for at least 45 minutes.

On Friday, we squeezed in a quick visit to Papa's work (where the kids were very excited to see the bulldozers and steam) before heading to the the parade. The kids loaded up on all sorts of goodies at the parade...we came home with almost as much candy as we do on Halloween! Friday evening we headed to the fireworks and were able to squeeze in a quick visit with Ashlie, Mark and the girls before settling in on the beach for the show. Sam had told us that he was scared of the fireworks, so we had been talking them up for days hoping he would do okay. By the time they were going to start, he was excited about hearing them "go boom boom!" But it went south FAST! He was screaming and crying...I thought he would eventually calm down, but he never did! And it all ended with the poor kid peeing on me...cracking up about it now...my poor, disgusted cousin was sitting next to me in the van on the way back to my parents' place. I ALWAYS pack extra clothes for the kids...never have I needed them for myself! Needless to say, I changed immediately upon our return to the house. Grace was a firework watching fool...she sat on her grandma's lap the entire time and "ooohed" and "aaahed" with the crowd.

Saturday, we went to the annual flea market which Kris now refers to as the biggest junk sale he's ever seen. I love it! Even if you don't find any hidden treasures, it's great people watching and excellent hot dogs, nachos, elephant ears and ice cream. Since the Friday night fireworks experience went so well, we decided to go to another show on Saturday! Totally different setting, though...instead of being on the beach with a gazillion other people, we were a couple of miles away from the show and in my cousin's field with other family members. I told Sam that if he was scared he could sit in the van since it would be right there. He worked hard to psych himself up for the big event. The show started and he said he was excited and liked them now! A few minutes later he decided he was a little scared. He sat in his little lawn chair and pulled a big lawn chair in front of him so he could still watch through the slits. :) We eventually did end up in the van, where we watched the finale. Whenever anyone has asked him if he has gotten to see fireworks since, he has replied, "Yes and I did not enjoy them." Too funny. A few more pics:

Loving the s'mores...I had to ask my grandma to not include her normal
1/2 of a chocolate bar for the kids...probably wouldn't have proven beneficial
in getting them to go to sleep less than an hour later!

Going to see the bulldozers! I told Sam that Dad's hard hat has his name on it
and he turned and told Grace, "See. His hat says 'Papa' on it." :)

Garrett and Sam
(We're trying to convince Garrett to come be our "manny".
So far, he's not biting.)

Waiting to get more candy at the parade.

A little scared of the fireworks...

And a family shot from the 4th
(probably not the best one we got, but the funniest)

And that's that. We arrived home on Sunday evening wishing we didn't have to return to work the next day... I'm now counting the days until our long weekend getaway the beginning of August.