Summer Vacation!

June 12, 2013

Thursday morning (at 6:20am) we flew out to Chicago. We arrived at 12:30pm and took a taxi to my friend Stephanie's house. Lily was perfect on the flight. We strolled around their neighborhood and had an Oberon (summer ale from a Michigan not available out here) at a local pub while we waited for Stephanie/Mike, Shannon/Perry, and Chris to get off work . Around 7 we hit the road for Saugatuck, MI about 3 hours north of Chicago on Lake Michigan. We rented the cutest house just blocks from town. We were all pretty exhausted so we had a glass of wine and went to bed.

Friday morning the guys had a 9am tee time, meanwhile Stephanie, Lily and I jogged into town for coffee while we let Shannon get some beauty rest. We all really wanted mani/pedi's but we couldn't find a local place, or the ones that we did find were booked. So instead we went to the grocery store to stock up on goodies for the weekend. Then we met the guys for a late lunch at Mermaids right on the harbor downtown. Back to the house for some R&R before ordering pizza for dinner and playing a rowdy game of pictonary and catch phrase that evening.

Saturday after a lazy start we all headed to the dunes for a hike. It was a tad chilly but when we reached Lake Michigan it was gorgeous. The dogs and guys got in the water...crazy! The lake was only 51 degrees. After our hike back we dropped the dogs off and headed to Oval beach to lounge around. Lily loved her sand toys from 'Auntie' Stephanie and even ate her first handful of sand...bound to happen, right? We headed back to the house to freshen up for dinner. We walked into town and decided on Phil's Bar and Grill. It was a bit of a wait and already past bedtime it wasn't the most pleasurable dining experience for us. I had her in the ergo hoping she was sleep but no such luck. I enjoyed a moscow mule and then walked her around the town for a while waiting for our food to come. The food I did manage to eat was super tasty. I had the walleye and Rollie had ribs. Rollie and I left dinner early and put Lily to bed.

Sunday morning Mike and Perry played some tennis while we watched and then walked into town for coffee. Our really good friend Laura, her husband, and 2 girls came to hang out with us on Sunday. It was another beautiful day so we headed back to Oval beach. The girls played in the sand while we all caught up and relaxed. Lily only has about a 2 hours beach time limit so we headed back to the house around 2 and started to drink wine on the porch. We went through about 4 bottles of white wine in 2 hours...but there were 7 adults :) Rollie and Mike ran to the store to grab stuff to bbq that night while us girls freshened up. We enjoyed grilling out, drinking, playing games by the fire and making smores for our last night . Perfect way to end a great trip.

Monday morning it was drizzling a tad but I went for a run since no one else was up yet. Then we cleaned and packed up and headed back to Chicago. Our flight wasn't until later that evening so Shannon, Stephanie, and I got that mani/pedi we wanted while the boys and Lily relaxed at Stephanie's. The flight home went well, it wasn't full so we were lucky enough to have a seat for Lily. Lily and I pretty much slept the whole flight home.

It always makes me miss my friends so much when we are in Chicago/Michigan but I guess it just makes the time we do spend together that much better. We've decided to make this an annual trip and alternate Michigan and California. We are already thinking about Lake Tahoe for next year. And I will see them in 6 short weeks for Shannon's wedding!