Oh Michigan, Oh Michigan

I am having a hard time believing, or liking that July is almost over.  Every day that passes is one more day of summer gone, and one day closer to SCHOOL.  This summer has honestly flown by so far.  I feel like Matt and I have over-booked ourselves - I barely get to see him during the week.  DISLIKE.  Take this week for example - We got back from our road trip in the wee hours of Monday morning, so Monday night after work was an early one unpacking and hitting the sack.  Tuesday: Work, Bible Study, Neighborhood board meeting, Softball; Wednesday: Work, Mentoring, Jamming at the Empire in Louisville, meeting my grandparents in Blackhawk for dinner; Thursday: Work, band practice in Louisville, Harry Potter midnight show with friends; Friday: Matt flies to Chicago for a mini-college reunion and Ali wakes up way too early to work yet again.  Needless to say, tonight I am staying in, relaxing, and SLEEPING.  Moving on...

When I was little, we used to take road trips almost every summer with the family.  Destinations were almost always Florida (to see my mom's parents), Chicago (to visit my dad's family), or Michigan - a tradition my dad's parents started before I was born.  I never really minded road trips - I distinctly remember one summer blasting Mariah Carey in my Walkman headphones (I had just picked up her brand new tape at a gas station along the way) and blazing through multiple Nancy Drew books.  To this day, whenever I hear Vision of Love, I picture Nancy Drew and her friends working on solving a crime.  :-) 

One summer, when not listening to my Walkman, bugging my sister, or playing travel games, I came up with a brilliant song to sing as we crossed state lines.  It goes a little something like this (sung to the tune of O Christmas Tree):

O Iowa (or whatever state we were leaving), O Iowa, so sorry we must leave you now.

O Illinois (or whatever state we were entering), O Illinois, here we come make room for us.

- copyright a wee Ali Monroe :)

Hence the title of this blog post.  And yes, I taught it to Matt, and he loves it. :)

My dad's parents (and subsequently just Gram after my Grampa passed away) have rented a cottage every summer on Lake Michigan starting over 30 years ago.  It was always such a treat to spend a week or more with cousins and family right on the lake, and often with a private beach! (Spoiled, I know.)  Many of my childhood memories are from our trips to the Lake... and knowing that someday soon those trips may end is pretty sad.  Though it makes me so grateful for grandparents who were able and willing to provide such a great time for all of us.

This year's trip was another great one.  Matt, Amber, DJ, and I drove to Chicago first to spend a couple days with our cousins.  We hung out in Wicker Park, barbequed, met up with a couple of Matt's friends from college, took DJ downtown to see the Bean, and had a great time catching up.  We then headed to the lake (right past New Buffalo in southwest Mich), with a minor layover at a roadside Fireworks stand in Indiana :)  The week was great.  Tube time (and a LOT of it), sun bathing (and sun burns, duh), good food, funny stories, fireworks on the beach, lawn games, s'mores, shopping, Redamack's... it was an all around wonderful time with the fam. 

Pics from our fun week: