Monday, July 30, 2012

MI vacation, take 4....Family!

And of course, the main reason we headed to northern MI?  To see family, of course!   This is a HUGE photo post - sorry for the picture dump!

Hammocks and Mommy...what could be better?

Huge table full of family and Red Mesa- YUM!

Swimming with Daddy

Movies with cousins on a rainy day

Brotherly love on the way down state

Baba (great Grandma) watching the water fun (Daddy and Rascal #3 on the sailboat in the background)

Baba

Cousins waiting for fireworks

Grandma, Papa, and Daddy

Catching a ride on the Grandma-mobile

Aunts and uncles and cousins, oh my!

Rascal #1 and his second cousin?  (what's it called when they're the child of first cousins?)

Lakeside reunions......

......mean LOTS of dishes to wash

Impromptu bowling

More rainy day fun

Visiting Baba and enjoying some candy!

Colouring with Grandma

Cousins waiting for the parade

Stylin' Rascal #3

Silly kiddos waiting for the parade

Cousins and best buddies, apparently!

They weren't too sure what to think....

Frisbee prizes from a parade?  Cool!

Learning how to play Solitaire while waiting for fireworks

Dancing to the music

Just hanging out....

Friday, July 27, 2012

MI vacation, take 3: Northern MI

We did a bunch of exploring yesterday - hitting up some of our favourite spots in Northern MI.   The beach, the best restaurant up here, and a new stop: an international "dark sky" park (a place specifically designed to observe the night sky).   Lots of fun to be had, and plenty of pictures were taken!  Enjoy!

What do we do when it's raining?   Stop and get a tour of a chocolate factory!

It smelled sooooooo good in there!

The sky started to clear up as we picnicked in Harbor Springs

Beautiful mission church, founded by Servant of God Bishop Baraga

And...we made it to our favourite beach between raindrops!

Hunting for Petoskey stones and mugging for the camera

Big smiles for the beach!

We couldn't stop laughing at Rascal #3, who INSISTED that this was his "real" smile

cuddling in the cold lake water

Waiting for our table at the yummiest restaurant ever

Polish lesson time!

Silly boy, waiting for his table
Rascal #1 has to practice his gymnastics everywhere, of course!

Grandma and Papa

Love this place!

Starting the sunset in this beautiful spot

And finishing it in a new one!  What an adventure!
The lake was like a mirror - so beautiful!

Exploring at sunset

The lake was so calm!

The clouds rolled in, but it was still gorgeous!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

MI vacation, part 2: On the banks of the Red Cedar...

Time for photo dump number #2!   We took a couple of days to go downstate and ended up exploring Michigan State's campus with the rascals.   They were really too little the last time we were here to really remember it (and it was February, so not exactly the best sight-seeing weather), and this trip was a lot of fun for them.   Enjoy the pictures!

Visiting our neighbours and our old house

No trip to MSU is complete without a Dairy Store stop!  Rascal #2 very much approved!

exploring the Children's Gardens



making friends


visiting Sparty



They enjoyed trying to "look tall" in the picture - haha