So in an attempt to document more and be better at blogging I figured while I can still remember MOST days and what happened I would blog about our trip to Michigan/Silver Lake back in July/August!
We had SUCH an amazing time and are so blessed by Steve's family, who I consider not only to be my family but a lot of my best friends!!! These people love me like I've always been a part of the family, we email and chat all the time I love getting Mommy advice and their friendship! I always tell Steve that if we HAVE to ever move anywhere Michigan is one of the only places I will go :) I would have such an amazing support system and the play dates would be great! Of course I would miss our parents and siblings, but it would be second best :)
Saturday July 30th-
So we were all packed and ready to go on Friday July 29th, well after a series of events (none of which had to do w/ Hailey and her sleeping habits oddly enough), I was wide awake at 4:30am. Ughhhh seriously?? I go in the kitchen to find Steve awake also. What are the odds?
We had planned to leave Saturday morning by about 7:30am. So why not 3 hours early?? Ha. Not really.......by the time we completely packed up the car, coolers, showered and go ready we were on the road at about 6:30am. We had a 10-12 hour drive so honestly the earlier the better. I woke up Hay, changed her diaper and threw her in the car hoping she would go back to sleep. Nope. We weren't even out of the neighborhood before she had me bending over the backseat to get her colors, books, dolls, etc. Oh my. I knew I was in for a long drive! ;) Actually Hailey did AMAZING, she only slept for 1 hour in the car but it just happened to be the worst construction in the entire world and we went about 1 mile in that hour so it was the perfect time for her to sleep. Me and Steve barely made it, we wanted to get a hotel room just to take a nap but we managed to plug along.
Finally after not knowing where the heck we were going we met Uncle Fred and Aunt Julie and followed them to their absolutely gorgeous house where we stayed for 4 nights. We got all settled and un-packed and in bed as early as possible. I slept in a room w/ Hailey, so if she got scared she wasn't screaming and waking everyone up while I ran across the basement. It worked out great, I just wish she could have blessed her Momma and slept past 6:30am at least one day. But I digress.........
Sunday July 31st-
We got up, dressed and ready to go and walked up 2 houses to Fred and Julie's daughter, Steve's cousin Tammy's house. Tammy and Tom had an amazing breakfast waiting for us! Soooo yummy! Even Hailey ate really well. She LOVED playing w/ Riah and Abby and they were so sweet. Unfortunately Tom and Tammy were also leaving out of town so we only got to see them for those couple hours :(
After breakfast we went back to Julie and Fred's and got directions for a grocery store. BIG MISTAKE. Hailey was hysterical. In the car, in the store, oh my it was UGLY. And it was a sign of what was to come the rest of the week. The poor girl, bless her heart got tired of the car very quickly after our long drive to Grand Rapids. Can't say I blame her, but it was bad. So we hurried home and all took long naps. After naps we had some snacks upstairs w/ Aunt Julie and then guests started arriving!!! Steve's Gramma came, and oh how Hailey has a love affair with "Ama Morgan" loves her to death. It was sweet to see them together. Then Steve's cousin Christina, her hubby Brian and their 3 girls all came over for DELISH home made pizza (bbq chicken my FAVORITE!). Uncle Fred's parents also came over and joined us, it was a fun time!!! Uncle Fred and Aunt Julie's gorgeous house sits on a good size lake, so after dinner we all threw on our suits and went for a pontoon boat ride/swim in the lake. Hailey wasn't to sure about the water, so our swim was short lived. I was extremely disappointed I couldn't ride the jet ski's due to pregnancy, but maybe when we go back in a couple years I can have some fun :)
After our swim/boat ride we needed to shower off and get ready for bed. We loved sitting outside and enjoy the MUCH cooler weather on the water then we left in Omaha :)
Monday August 1st-
We were up and at um again due to someone and their sleeping patterns ;) Oh well she was just excited to socialize!!! We didn't rush getting ready, and mid-morning went over to Christina's play and swim!
(except this prego Momma brain forgot the swim diaper AND swimsuit. DOH!) Other cousin Paul, his wife Jen and their sweet sweet girls came also! It was sooooo fun and honestly I have never seen 6 girls play together so well, be so sweet, and so disciplined. It was such a breath of fresh air! (that is one of the main things I LOVE about Steve's family, they all have the same beliefs we do and raise their kids the same way we do. It's awesome to not have to discipline each others kids or worry about them all playing together) We ate a picnic lunch on the driveway :) and played and played the afternoon away! Finally it was nap time and we headed back to Aunt Julie's to sleep.
Kyleigh (7) came home with Aunt Julie (her Grandma) and after nap we enjoyed going down to the lake to play in the sand and chat. After that it was on the GO again!
We headed to Gramma Morgan's beautiful apartment in the assisted living home she moved into last year. After getting quite lost and driving for a bit we finally found it and enjoyed dinner with her in the dining hall. It was hilarious meeting her friends, and having one older man yell at us about 8 times for not bring him any Omaha Steaks. LOL.
After dinner we saw Gramma's unit and played with some of the toys she keeps in her house for the 20 (Baby Franklin will be #22!) Great Grandkids! Close to her unit on the grounds is an amazing little play house they built for kids to play in. It's out-fitted with a child size table and chairs, some dolls, and a tea set. I think Hailey would have played in there for days! I can't say I blame her, it was a girls dream! There was also a gorgeous gazebo and lots of beautiful landscaping. It was so nice!
We left Gramma's pretty early to get home to bed for some more (broken) sleep.
Tuesday August 2nd-
Another early morning of course, and our last full day in Grand Rapids :(
Steve was feeling all the activity in his knees and back and decided he should rest and lay low Tuesday, especially since we had to drive early Wednesday morning to get to the cottage. So me and Hay loaded up and followed Christina and the girls to a great park. We met Gramma Morgan, Jen, and Steve's other cousin Patti and her 3 adorable kids to play for a couple hours. It was pretty humid though, so we didn't stay very long. It was so fun to see everybody and play and see their sweet kids though! Hailey LOVED it and was so in her element, like these were her best friends that we get to see everyday!
After the park, (and an EXTREMELY long drive home. Insert screaming toddler who did NOT want to be in her car seat. Then insert desperate Momma who gave toddler the camera to play with. HA) we picked up Steve and ran and got Applebees for lunch. We always go there. It's so funny. We have one up the st from our house and eat there all the time, but anytime we are out of town we ALWAYS still eat at Applebees! I was super stoked because they had a different menu then in Omaha so I was able to get my most favorite BBQ chicken sandwich. Yum yum!
After lunch we had a LONNNGGG nap, and then it was off to Paul and Jen's for dinner! Steve and Paul had fun playing wii, Hailey got to dress up in Izzy and Lili's dress up clothes, and I got to chat with Jen, which I could do for days! :)
After Paul and Jen's we went back to U. Fred and A. Julie's and sat and talked to A. Julie for WAYYY to long! It was a great way to end our "Grand Rapids" leg of the trip. We went to bed and got up early to head to the cabin and meet our other besties, Steve's cousin Daniel, his wife Crissi, Sadie (3 wk younger then Hay), and 3 mo old Baby Chloe!!
Wednesday August 3rd-
We got up and going, and after much talking about directions and such left to drive even MORE north to Mears Michigan, or Silver Lake. Gramma and Grandpa Morgan own a cute little cottage on the water, and after Grandpa passed in 2010 the kids and Grandkids took it over for Gramma to keep it in the family. It's an amazing get-away, for the weekend or longer if your so lucky! There is a pontoon boat right outside the front door, and lots of fun things to do in the cute little town!
After a very exciting drive there (construction, that took us about 30 minutes to get through, story of my life! Also while driving on the main interstate about 30 minutes away from the cottage we were in the left lane going on our marry little way, 3 wild turkey's bust out of the woods on the side of the road! God really protected us because there were no cars around us at all for miles and miles. Steve slammed on the breaks and swerved into the other lane (after looking for cars of course), only to have the stupid thing take off FULL FORCE into my beautiful car. Hit the side of the door between the driver window and windshield, bounce off the mirror, hit the side of the door, bounce off the back door, and land butt up dead as a door nail on the side of the interstate taking my glass mirror with him. Stupid turkey. Luckily it was only the glass part and the rest of the mirror was completely in tact. It was a simple $40 fix at the dealership but a PAIN to drive 13 hours home to Omaha with no mirror and having to merge onto the interstate all the time!) we FINALLY made it to the cottage!
After lots of hugging and most importantly loving on little sweet Baby Chloe, we ate lunch and got all our junk put away and settled as much as possible. Me and Crissi put the girls (& Daddy's) down for naps and went to "town" to get some groceries and fresh local produce!
It was soooooo awesome to chat and chat uninterpreted and catch up with one of my favorite girlfriends! Does a heart good. It was especially amazing to get advice on the life of 2 kiddos, and her thoughts.
After the grocery store we laid around and played and Daniel made us dinner. (we were sooooooo spoiled he grilled us dinner every night!!) We then went for a pontoon boat ride, which was so fun! The gorgeous sand dunes are quite a site, as are some of the HUGE houses people have built on the lake. So amazing!!!
Thursday Aug 4th/Friday Aug 5th-
So at the lake all the days are a blur........lots of yummy food, boat rides, playing at the dunes, LOTS of holding and cuddling Baby Chloe, playing with the girls, LOTS of girl chat ;), and naps! It seriously was fantastic and wonderful, one of the best vacations I've ever been on. Hailey loved it and was so good. I could have spent 3 weeks there and not wanted to go home! (ok partly had to do with the 13 hour drive home and the fact that my daughter HATED the car and her car seat)
I believe it was Thursday we drove about 10 minutes from the cottage to Lake Michigan. Oh my it was so beautiful! There was a little pond thingy (sorry the actual name is escaping me) and it was about 3'' deep, Hailey LOVED this. Pretty sure she would still be there laying in that water on her belly playing. It was super sweet, "Uncle" Daniel laid there with her for awhile and they just played and splashed. It was so precious, a memory I will have forever! She kept looking at him in awe laughing and smiling.
And unfortunately Saturday morning came and we had to woke up bright and early again to get on the road to go home :*( We were soooo sad and had Daniel and Crissi not had more friends coming up to take our place we might have stayed longer!
And Friday night we did something neither of our girls had ever done; built a big fire in the fire pit behind the cottage and made s'mores! SOOOO YUMMY! Hailey wasn't so sure about it, and even when my sugar-lovin-child bit into the graham cracker chocolatey marsh mellow goodness she didn't care for it. SAY WHAT??? Who is this child?? Oh no she was happy with the un-roasted raw marsh mellows straight from the bag. So funny. I digress.
Saturday was our loooonnnngggg car ride home. We finally got home around 6:45pm, un loaded the car, gave Hailey ONE more bath to wash off all that sand and lake water she brought back to Nebraska with her, and we went to bed ;) It was so great to have AIR CONDITIONER (which we went with out alllllllll week!) and our own beds! Only to be woken up at 11:45pm because 2 of our smoke alarm batteries decided to die and sit there and beep until we took them out. Seriously? Of all nights......... HA! Pretty funny now looking back......Anyways I will now post an over abundance of pictures! YAY! Can't wait to go back (Daniel, Crissi and the girls come to Omaha in '12 and we will go back to Michigan in '13!) and see everybody and build more amazing memories as a family! I know that these special fun times of playing w/ cousins and going on boat rides are what my girls will remember and talk about growing up :)
**Side note, months before we left I would buy stuff at the grocery store here and there for our trip. Suntan lotion, coloring books for the car, etc. and I would always tell Hailey it was for our trip to Michigan. We would go through the names of people we were going to visit and play with, well for some reason or another she got stuck on Baby Chloe. Baby Chloe became a HUGE obsession for about 3 months in our house. She was everywhere and did everything w/ Hay. It was hilarious and annoying at the same time. lol. I'll never forget one night at home Hailey farted in the bath tub, I pretended to be totally grossed out and asked her if she tooted. She looked at me full dead on serious and said "no Momma, Baby Chloe toot" lol. It was so funny. So once we finally got to Michigan and to the cottage you can imagine her obsession with the REAL Baby Chloe. She L O V E D her. She wanted to hold her 24/7. It was pretty sweet sitting on the couch me holding Hailey and Hailey holding Chloe. She was completely obsessed, it was so precious. I hope she is as sweet and loving with her own baby sister, but we'll see I won't hold my breath! ;)
**Side note #2; just because I NEED to make this longer. Ha. In case anybody googles this and needs help, when traveling over 10 hours in the car with a 2 year old. I made sure to bring one of her favorite blankets she sleeps with at night. I also brought all her binkies (3. 2 she holds in each hand and 1 in her mouth when she sleeps. She is an odd bird), and pulled them out whenever needed. She usually is only allowed to have these at bed/nap times but I changed the rules for the car and the car only. She did use them to take her 2 naps in the car and it was great to have to plug her up sometimes. lol. We did buy a dvd player and some new videos but my girl hates shows/movies/tv so it really wasn't used. What she did LOVE was cutting paper. We brought our laptop lap pad thing and it fit on her lap in the car seat, she had plain white scrap paper and kids safety scissors and just sat back there and cut forever! It kept she her quiet and entertained for hours. Seriously. I don't know if she would be that into it now, but it was amazing! She also loved coloring, and stickers. We would find stuff in the $ spot at Target and saved it until the trip. It was great. Oh also we found a dora wipe off board that she loved and colored on a lot. She loved that she could erase it with a kleenex and start over! Of course I also had her favorite doll, and some other fun toys but coloring/cutting was really all she mainly did. I also had an abundance of snacks (see candy/sugar) to keep her occupied especially through construction.
I also say to get them out of the car as much as possible. Every single time we stopped I got her out. Even if we were just getting gas I would let her get out and run/walk around. It wasn't that bad, and I'm glad we didn't have any melt downs!
