Headin' North

We left for MI Thursday, July 2nd after Chris got home from work. We decided to do a late night drive in hopes that the kids would sleep the whole way...

It was funny to realize that 10 years ago, Chris & I did the same drive at the same time but it was just the 2 of us & we were in a soft-top Jeep with no radio & Snickers panting in my lap the whole way. This year, we were in a mini-van with 3 kids asleep, 1 on the way & Snickers was still panting in the backseat! The more things change, the more they stay the same.

At any rate, these pictures are our 1st ferry ride to Beaver Island since we've had the twins (we've opted for the 15-minute flight instead of 2-hour boat ride). For some reason, the pictures loaded backwards. Sloan, upon arrival, picked some daisies for "Nina". The rest of the pictures are from the mainland & while on the water. One is waiting in line to get on the boat while Chris parked the car. Another is the kids thanking Aunt Carol for leaving donut holes for the ride as they waived them in the air. They also waved their hands in the air & yelled to Nina & Poppa as we approached the Island.

Lake Coldwater

In June we went to Lake Coldwater, Michigan to spend some time with great friends. Having a house on a lake kind of dictates having a boat with some toys... Needless to say, we spent most of the time on the boat and on the toys. We even took the equivalent of an evening stroll on the boat to watch the sun set. Tiernan & Jarin are sharing the heater that usually helps warm skiers or tubers warm up after a run. They just "needed" it to stay warm that night. Sloan was thrilled to spend time with Lexi, although she wouldn't spend any time with her on the tube. Lexi is a tube champ. She could spend hours on the water. Sloan wouldn't leave the boat. Tiernan was in Lexi's camp and spent hours on the tube. It was to the point of jelly arms for him! He had a blast on the water. Lincoln was in Sloan's camp. The only place he was comfortable was driving the boat. If he wasn't driving, he wasn't happy that Momma or Da were out in the water.

June 22nd - Chuck E Cheese with Nana

Nana came in for a quick visit in June to see the kids... which resulted in a visit to Chuck E Cheese! Oh yeah! What fun for us adults! The kids of course had a blast. Tiernan was a whiz at Skee Ball which I suspect is a result from practicing on friends' and families' Wii Bowling. Sloan and Lincoln gravitated to the Nascar driving game. I don't remember what Sloan placed but Lincoln's face says it all. He was making the driving noises as he whipped the wheel around. Both kids actually drove while I did the gas... The picture of the kids with Nana was the last of the day - their prizes from all the tickets were these fantastic microphones. Only a prize that a Nana would pick. No sane parent would ever get 3 kids microphones. Needless to say, the microphones strangely can't be found today. Huh. I wonder what happened to them? Darn shame.