The last week of May we were privileged enough to take our first vacation home to Michigan since moving away six months previous. We decided to drive and make a road trip out of it. The ride there was not so friendly, but the ride home was amazingly smooth and the kids slept door-to-door!!!!! We have decided that if we do drive, it simply must be overnight. The adults have to take one for the team, as the kids just get too bored during daylight hours to be in the car for 12 hours. Bladders are better with sleeping children;) Less stops= faster trip!
We rented a house in Pinckney for the first four days. On Sunday we had Tessa's first birthday party. Everything went super smooth and we all had a great time. Olivia had some extra special visitors, her friends from kindergarten and first grade, her Howell school. They played on the beach and swam ALL day. I don't think we heard a peep out of any of them until it was cupcake time;)
On Monday we were able to spend the day with my parents. We took the kids to the Potter Park Zoo and then dinner at our place that evening. It was nice to have a whole day with them:)
Wednesday we checked out of our downstate house and made the drive four hours north to Jeff's parents house. We enjoyed a few days relaxing on the beach and just hanging out. That Friday, Adam and Brynn came into town to join us for the weekend and we were able to go out to dinner.
Saturday was Jeff's big race. The Bayshore Marathon- 26.2 miles. He's been marathon training for almost a year now and has become quite successful at it! His goal is to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. Well, the stars aligned this day and not only did he achieve his goal- but he SMASHED it! He needed a time of 3 hours and 6 minutes, or less. And he came in at 2 hours and 57 minutes. Taking 32nd place overall out of 2,000 and 5th in his age group (the most competitive age group). It was one of the most amazing moments! Amazing!
(you'll need to click on "older posts" at the bottom of the page to load MORE photos, I filled up this page!)
That afternoon after the race, we went and celebrated with some wine tasting at Blackstar Farms with Adam and Brynn.
Then we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach with the kids! They did some boogie board riding, sand castle making and swimming. That evening Olivia had baked some cupcakes in honor of Tessa's birthday. We delighted in those as well as a pinata. And that is where I captured the best picture- YET - of our three kids together;)
Sunday afternoon we drove back downstate. We thought we'd be staying overnight with my parents and then starting our 12-16 hour trip home on Monday.... but we changed our plans. Learning from our mistakes, we decided we better not risk a Looooong day trip and just forge on overnight to get home. Well, that seemed to be the best decision we've made!
We met Tom, Joan and Kelly as well as my parents, Grandma Nelson and Uncle Andy for a picnic dinner at the Mill Pond. The kids were able to run all of their energy out and then get loaded right into the car in PJs for the night. They were asleep within 20 minutes and slept 12 hours straight until we pulled into our driveway on the other end! Strategy and execution.... ;)
Overall we had a great trip! Thank you to everyone for making it so!
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Our gorgeous babies!
Probably the BEST picture that I have of all three of our children, ALL looking, ALL smiling and oh so sweet!
Happy First Birthday Miss Tess
Deagan, t-r-o-u-b-l-e
Classic Olivia, off in the stars....
Best Buddies!
Wine Tasting with Adam and Brynn
Adam and Brynn drove up for Jeff's race and to spend the weekend with us, since they were unable to attend Tessa's birthday party. Well the afternoon of the race, we were able to sneak away from the kids for two hours and do some local northern Michigan wine tasting. Jeff and I discovered Blackstar Farms a few years ago and simply fell in love with their Late Harvest Riesling. Mmmmm. Well we had never actually visited the vineyard, just a few minutes from his parent's house, and we decided today was a great day! We had THE BEST time!!!!!
The Bayshore Marathon- May 2010
A large part of our trip to Michigan was for Jeff to run in the Bayshore marathon. He's been training for a very long time to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. On this day, all of the stars aligned and he finally was able to have his perfect race! Jeff not only achieved his goal- he SMASHED his goal. He needed to get a time of 3 hours and 6 minutes or less, and he came in at 2 hours and 57 minutes! Wow! It was amazing. breathtaking. tearful. A moment we will never forget:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
