Michigan August 2015

*started this last week and then computer broke so no pics from nice camera yet...hopefully soon

We are all a bit jet lagged with the 3 hour time change but its all worth it!  We had the most wonderful summer vacation.  We were gone for 10 whole days which is probably the longest vacation either of us have ever taken.  We flew into Traverse City which was sooooo nice not having to drive from Detroit.  My amazing cousins picked us up at 1am (thank you!) We immediately crashed from our long day of travel.


Friday morning we woke up and met my Aunt and cousin Stefani for lunch and a little downtown shopping.  That afternoon we visited with some friends on Elk Lake (where I went as a kid/teenager several times).  Lily loved the inflatable jetski.  I've known the Menigs since I was in preschool with Chris, he lives in Denver but Ashley and her mom were there with her 3 boys and nephew.  That night we all BBQ at Anna's house.


Saturday morning we met up with my close friend from high school and her family.  The boys went fishing while us girls were stuck on the beach entertaining 4 children!  Wrong choice! Regardless it was really nice to catch up and let our girls play.  Around 1pm my mom, tom, grandma and Tatyana arrived into town.  Lily ran across the whole beach when she saw my mom get out of the car and yelled "GRANDMA!!!!" Amazing.  We drove about 40 minutes to Leland and got all checked into our rental house.  My Aunt Heidi brought dinner over and we all enjoyed the beautiful evening.  Of course we also had to walk into town for the sunset and ice cream.


Sunday morning my mom threw a beautiful birthday party for the girls.  Beach themed of course.  She didn't miss a beat with the cute little details.  Lily was in heaven and Piper got her first piece of cake/sugar :)  That night Rollie and I escaped to a nice dinner at Riverside Inn.  I had a local whitefish special that was to die for.  We splurged and ordered a nice bottle of burgundy too.


Monday morning we woke up and headed to the sleeping bear dunes.  Lily was a trooper and climbed the first dune all by herself.  We didn't make it all the way to Lake Michigan but it was still super fun. That night we headed over to a family friends house for swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, bbq, volleyball, and a beach fire.  The perfect summer evening.

Tuesday my mom, grandma, tom and tatyana headed back downstate after we walked around Fishtown.  The four of us grabbed sandwiches for lunch and then went back for long naps.  That afternoon we took a little drive up to Northport to check out the lighthouse, it was super windy and the waves were huge.  Then the four of us had dinner in Suttons Bay...followed by ice cream naturally.


Wednesday Rollie and I went to Traverse City for Paddle for Pints. A kayak pub crawl that we had been looking forward to for months!  My Aunt Heidi watched the girls for us and we were soooo thankful.  The event was so much fun and of course great to have some time just the two of us.  We went to 4 different breweries and probably kayaked several miles.  That night Anna, Billy, Heidi and us had pizza back at the house in Leland.


Thursday was a travel day downstate.  We got to my grandmas house around dinner time and we got chinese take out.  My best friend Shannon (41 weeks pregnant) and her husband Perry came over to visit and we all took a walk down to the lake. 

Friday we tried to hit the beach but it was a tad cool for the girls but they still had fun.  That afternoon Rollie and I snuck away to go visit my Dad at the cemetery and spend some time with some of my friends from High School.  We had drinks and apps outside and watched a crazy storm blow over us and then had a nice dinner out.  Thanks Mom and GG for babysitting :)


Saturday was our last full day.  We visited with more friends in the morning and then hit the Lake in the afternoon.  Lily fed the fish for almost an hour, it was so cute. 


We enjoyed every second of our trip and it was so nice to have alot of time with friends and family. 10 days is just the right amount of time to feel relaxed but then ready to come home too!

Back to reality.

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