We arrived after our great time in Minnesota (and PS, we drove in the daytime to Mich and that was a mistake. Gotta drive at night with the kids!) First job, head to the beach!!
The next morning, cousin Julia came over to play with Benjamin before we all headed to the beach!
...and it was the 4th of July!!
(carrying all our gear down to get set up for the week)
Took me a long time, but I finally rocked Avery to sleep so she could nap on the beach!
As it turns out, Benjamin still LOVES the lake. He wanted to splash and play in the water all day! It's so fun that he has no fear in the water (and also scary for his momma who wishes he had just a little bit of fear) :)
Take a good long look at this speedboat... it only stayed with us for a few days... ;)
Happy 4th of July!!
Hanging with Old Gram!
Hanging with sweet baby Merritt!
Setting up on the beach for fireworks!
Benjamin and Julia were having a blast!
Another beach day...
THEN, we got to go on a BOAT! My parents rented one for a few hours (out of New Buffalo), and we had an awesome time.
Avery, however, was in dire need of a nap...
....so she napped on me for the first hour of the boat ride!
Benjamin did AWESOME on the tube!!
Look who woke up!
Amber and I went together, only to be crazy people who couldn't decide how fast they liked to go (mostly slow, if you're wondering).
Dad and Arlene taking a shot at it...
Love this "wind in my hair" pic:
Nick showing off... ;)
BWL even went a second time!
At this point, BWL was T.I.R.E.D.
Chilaxin' with dad!
And my second napper of the boat ride! Lucky me :)
Captain Benjamin!
More beach time...
Building a sand castle with Amber and Nick:
More beach naps...
That's Benjamin under those towels:
Outdoor bathrooms are the best.
We got to take Gram out to dinner!
And to Oink's for some ice cream!!
Then it started raining, so that was it for beach time!
An annual trip to Redamak's:
And we took Benjamin to Captain Mike's for some go-carts and putt putt golf!! He was in heaven.
There goes Bam Bam.
An attempt at a family picture. We don't usually photograph well ;)
Then down to the beach to watch a beautiful sunset together!
A visit to Greenbush Brewery the next day!
And did I mention we unintentionally discovered an amazing beer? This is NOT root beer (it's 6.0%!), but it tastes JUST LIKE root beer. Mind Blown!
A little dancing while we packed up on our last morning...
Saying farewell at Nathaniel's for hot dogs.
And two hours later, we made it!! BWL was so happy to see Boaz, and I was so happy to see Boaz's momma and their new house!
We attempted a sleepover the first night, but it didn't end up working all night... boys will be boys!
Breakfast together!
While Avery and Daddy slept in...
...Keri and I took the boys to the beach and met up with Rachel and her girls!
Benjamin was so happy to be with his buddies again!
It was an exhausting adventure :)
We kept the boys busy while we got ready to go OUT!
We spent the evening with the Westras and Van Wylens out on the town!! It was SOOO good for my heart to see these awesome people. We miss them in Denver every day, but it was so great to see where they live and hang out, and to know that they're doing so well in their new journeys. <3 nbsp="" p="">
Ugh, I wish I were there again right now!
The next day was Cyrus's first birthday!!! What a sweet big boy!!
We stopped by the Van Wylen's for some final minutes in GR. We love their new home! (Quite a change from their Denver abode) :)
And for our last hurrah, we headed to a baseball game with all the kids. It was such a fun family outing but of course, so sad to have to depart at the end. :(
Can you tell how much he loves Emmeline??
And with that, it was off to Colorado again!
A lovely sight at the gas station in the middle of nowhere: sleeping children.
We spent much of the drive in pretty nasty fog. Not fun at night!
Breakfast in Nebraska... almost home!
Denver!!!
A sight for sore eyes.... we were happy to be home but had a wonderful trip!!
