On our final day of vacation we drove to Mackinaw, about a 2 hour drive from Traverse City. The weather was very cloudy and rainy so we were unable to view the lake view from the highway as we drove north. As we rounded the corner of the highway, we saw the Mackinaw bridge standing tall in the cloudy weather. But, as we got closer and crossed it, the sun started to shine a little. The bridge is 5 miles across and the kids liked hearing the crates beneath the tires make the loud rhythmic sound. We arrived across the bridge and visited the visitor center in St Ignace that looked at the bridge from the south side. Nathan and Ashley threw rocks in the lake and we enjoyed the beautiful sights and sounds.
We drove back over the bridge and went to the main shopping strip where we bought fudge and a few toys for the kids. We eat dinner at the Dixie Saloon with a great view of the lake. We ordered the well known fish and chips with a Guinness beer. It was tasty! We visited an old light house right by the shore, but did not stay long because there were so many fish flies buzzing in town. They do not bite, but they are very annoying. The fish flies covered everything from your cars to buildings. We went back to the hotel where we had some fun at an indoor pirate water park. Nathan loved going down the water slides. He even did not mind the large bucket of water pouring down at times. What a fish!
The next day we drove 6 hours to Detroit, sat at the airport for 5 hours because our plan was delayed and did not get home until 2:30am! Good thing we took the next day off just to recover from our vacation.
It was a great family trip and enjoyed our time together.
Until next time....
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| All of us with Nanna |
On Saturday, we celebrated Nanna's (Richard's grandmother) 80th birthday. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. She had lots of her friends and family there to congratulate her and to say hello. At one point, Richard has his old barber, pastor and doctor all on the same room! It was great to introduce everyone to Ashley and Nathan since some of them have never seen Nathan yet.
The kids were ready to go by mid afternoon, so we headed to our hotel for the night, the Crown Plaza. We ate at dinner at a restaurant called Deluca's that is well known for their pizza. Afterwards we all went swimming and had fun in the hotel that night.
Until next time...
After we arrived in Detroit we had to drive 2+ hours to Lansing. It was pouring rain on the highways which backed up the highway so it took forever to get there. We finally got to Nanna's house and visited with everyone there a few hours until we headed to our hotel for the night.
The next day we drove to Gun Lake where Uncle Dave and Aunt Jonay have a lake house with boat. The drive was very pretty with lots of trees, but there was cloud cover so it made it a little cool.
That afternoon we all went out onto the boat and drove around for a bit. Nathan liked going fast and seeing the splash of the water next to the boat. We stopped at a shallow part of the lake where the kids swam and collected shells. Uncle Dave let Nathan and Ashley drive the boat - they had so much fun!
Until next time...
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| The flight to Michigan |
On June 18th we flew the Michigan!
We all woke up and left the house by 6am - it was an earlier morning! It was the first time Nathan rode on an airplane. It was Ashley's second time, but it was the first time being old enough to remember. Richard and I were a little nervous of their reactions.
The kids wanted to ride with Richard, so Ashley sat by the window, Nathan was in the middle and Richard had the isle. I sat in the section across from them so I could see their reaction. Everyone got buckled and the plan started to head down the runway. We were cleared for take off and the plane started to speed down the runway. As the plan started to lift off Ashley had a huge grin on her face and giggling while Nathan just sat there with his face expressionless. Before the plan even reach altitude Nathan fell asleep on Richards' leg. It was exhausting for him...
About 1 1/2 hours in the flight the kids, especially Nathan were getting stir crazy. He liked to take the tray and put it up and down, up and down - until one time he did it so many times and quickly we had to stop him from rocking the person in front him. It was pretty funny.
We started to descend and hit a few bumps due to the thunderstorms, but the kids did well. Ashley and Nathan laughed during the descend due to the funny feeling and enjoyed the whole flight.
Until next time...
Nathan will find any excuse to play with water even if it means helping Mom water the flowers.
He does a pretty good job (maybe over watering at times) and looks cute doing it too!
Until next time...
On June 5th, we had an amazing storm cloud develop right in front of our house. The storm cloud was very tall and the setting sun was hitting them making the clouds appear gray, bright white, light and dark blue. The storm eventually headed east and developed a small tornado.
It was impressive! Until next time...
On May 21st Nathan went to his first baseball game to see the Sky Sox play. Ashley was able to go out onto the field before the game with her class. She thought that was special and fun.
Nathan did pretty good for the most part and liked to see Sox the Fox run around and do silly things. Hopefully next time we can go to a game with Fireworks at the end.
Until next time...
On May 12th Ashley's performed her last gymnastics routine at The Little Gym. She did cartwheels, the uneven bars, balance beam and floor routines. Afterward she received an award - she loved going to her classes! She decided to do something else this fall, so I will keep you updated on her next adventure.
Until next time...
Over the weekend we headed to Glenwood Springs to swim in the hot pools. I love driving in the canyon and seeing the Colorado River below. The cliffs are steep and rugged looking. It is a beautiful drive. We stopped and walked down to the visitor center crossing the Grizzly Creek to admire the scenery. The Colorado River was low this year so we got to head down to the shore line and dip our toes and throw some rocks. We saw some rafters and kayakers go down the river. Nathan loved it and wanted to go straight into the river. That night we eat at an Italian restaurant called Pippo Nino in the downtown strip. Ashley actually tried something new and had the shrimp scampi savoy and she liked. It was baked shrimp in a creamy white Alfredo sauce. The wine and food was pretty good but a little expensive.
The next day we arrived at the hot spring pools around 7:30am. We were able to grab a good seat and started to swim without the large crowds. Nathan loved the water! As soon as he got use to it (the yucky taste) he was jumping off the side and splashing around. He does pretty well with just his arm floats. He got so brave that he would want to jump into the water without anyone catching him, dipping all the way into the water. 
Ashley had fun again swimming and playing in the nice warm water. She decided this year since she can touch the bottom for most of the pool and that she did not want to swim with her arm floats. She practiced swimming the dog paddle and floating on her back. It was impressive since she has a phobia of the water. Maybe one year we can get her to go down the water slide.
As the day went on Nathan went down the water slide with Richard four times! Richard said he was giggling and laughing as they went down. The life guard at the bottom of the slide asked Nathan if he had fun and he said in his little voice "Yeah, fun!". Around 5pm we headed back to the hotel. As we were leaving, Nathan said "That was fun", at least four times. 
