Grannie gave Katie one of the books they read while we were there and Grannie had Katie write her name in the front of it. 🙂
Category Archives: Grandparents
Pre-bedtime snuggles with Grannie
The cookie monsters…and more!
We’re on top of the world!
None of us had ever been up Brockway Mountain, so we did that after mini golf.
Owen took a selfie!
Mini golf in Copper Harbor
Unfortunately it was really hot and the biting flies were out so we played a bit quicker than we normally would have…which was a challenge since Katie and Owen have almost zero experience and needed quite a bit of guidance. 🙂
Daddy was the only one to get a hole in one, and daddy was the overall winner (he usually is, so I don’t know why he whines so much about playing LOL).
Some of the holes had “crazy” rules—this one you had to play with the hockey stick!
Grannie has much more patience than I do.
The kids helped Grannie make deviled eggs to surprise daddy for lunch.
Papa and Grannie’s new fire pit!
Hauling it down to the landing!
Yet another trip to the Eagle Harbor beach!
Papa and Grannie took the kids back to the beach (leaving us home to relax and get ready for our dinner out) and Grannie sent these pics.
And added this commentary:
Katie found a puddle and added to it. (I confirmed she added water to it and not pee.) 🙂
Now it is a bubble bath she says.
Handstand Owen
My view for most of the day today.
Just gorgeous. And relaxing. Gotta love a swinging bench.
Owen found a cannon in Papa’s workshop.
Or maybe a flag pole. 🙂
Tom’s third morning project.
But now we get to take birch pieces home!! (His first two projects were getting the wifi extender and the cell booster installed and running!)
We had been talking about looking for fallen birch pieces to take home (birch trees are rare in Virginia) and my dad said he had a small birch he actually wanted taken down. Say no more. 🙂 Two birds, one chainsaw. 🙂
Happy Shenny!
We’re at what I lovingly refer to as The North Pole…
Otherwise known as my dad and stepmom’s house. It’s a loooooong way up here…but it is gorgeous.
Binoculars are fun!
Papa and Grannie introduced the kids to binoculars and they played with them continuously.
We found them on the beach!
We pulled into Eagle Harbor and immediately saw them on the beach!
Then it was off to dinner! We showed Katie the marks on her forehead from her swim goggles! Grannie Lin and I shared a lobster pizza—yum!
Then it was off to the playground…
…while daddy, Owen, and Papa went hunting Pokemon at the Eagle Harbor lighthouse.
Then they met us back at the playground.
Day 3 with Papa and Grannie
Back at Burger King!
And back at the beach in Eagle Harbor!
We honestly didn’t think either kid would go in because it was too cold…but they both surprised us!!
Day 2 with Papa and Grannie
At Fort Wilkins. Grannie said they zipped through it due to potential approaching weather (and we know how Owen is with storms) but they liked it.
Katie did this twice!
Visiting with Great Grandma Pat, or Pappy. She gave Katie a Cinderella Barbie (which she ADORED) and Owen a mini pillow pet (which he LOVED). [Edited to add: Katie has slept with Cinderella every night since then.]
With Lin’s Aunt Carol.
With Lin’s Aunt Mary Kay and Uncle Bob.
A U.P. sunset at 9:45!
Katie’s 4th birthday party!
Katie’s party was on July 13, but I forgot to get the pictures off my big camera—whoops! I’ll move this post to the right date later.
Once again, we had a gathering/pizza party at the Ramada pool!
I was kicking the ball back into the pool…and kicked my shoe right off! I watched it land on the side of the pool…and tumble right in. 🙂
The cake design Katie picked out!
And then back at Gramma Jean’s to open presents!
And she had to put on one of her new dresses!
The kids’ trip up north!
Grannie sent me pics all along the way. They stopped at McDonalds twice plus playgrounds…so they had a ball.
Finally at Papa and Grannie’s!
Vacation bucket list item (food truck): complete
This place—Food at Northbound—came with rave reviews…and it didn’t disappoint!
Smoked pork torta (with pork, lime aioli, jalapeño slaw, cheddar, and sweet & spicy jalapeños) and BBQ fries (with beer-battered fries, BBQ-rubbed pork, white cheddar, sweet & spicy jalapeños, and bourbon BBQ sauce). TOTALLY AMAZEBALLS.
And off they go!
The kids are buckled into Papa and Grannie’s car to head to the UP ahead of us! They were excited!
Rainy day fun in Grayling!
We had hoped to go mini golfing or to Hartwick Pines but it was overcast with the threat of rain…so we lunched at Spikes with Papa and Grannie (Spikeburger!) and then went bowling!
Retrieving a Katie ball that didn’t quite make it to the pins. If we didn’t help her, this is what would happen. It might have happened more than once. 🙂
The kids had a blast—here’s Katie in her slippery shoes and Owen getting a spare!
Tom won both games and Grannie came in second—though, to be fair, she was playing on the kid lanes with the bumpers! 🙂
Fighting, fireworks, and fire!
Sticks always become fighting instruments:
Owen has been begging us to do the fireworks we have left (really just sparklers) so we finally got them out tonight.
‘Murica!
And we had a pooping dog leftover! Bonus!
And then a fire (with s’mores):
Vicariously visiting our brick!
We weren’t sure if we’d be able to make it to Traverse a City to see our wedding brick, so when my dad and stepmom were there, they stopped by to take some pictures for us! It has really grown up in 15 years! 🙂
Then:
Now:
Then:
Now:
There’s now a waterfall.
And a wooden train (the dinner train is no longer running):
And our brick then:
And now:
Then:
Now:
The best-laid plans…
The plan was to hit the beach at Petoskey State Park for play, rock hunting, and a picnic…but the weather had other ideas. We saw whitecaps as we approached…and it was a measly 72° (so with the wind it was probably about 60-65°) and the sand was painful as it whipped around.
So we were trying to decide what to do instead while sitting in the car. 🙂
We ended up heading inland to Burt Lake State Park (30 minutes away), assuming it wouldn’t be as windy. Ha! It was almost as bad! So we ate a fast picnic lunch (wrapped in towels because no one thought to bring jackets or sweatshirts for a day at the beach!), then got right back in the cars and headed home. We were all bummed.
Two tired grandpas.Â
Papa and Grannie have arrived!
Len Christmas in July, Year 3
This year our celebration was at Rose & Jim’s cottage on Houghton Lake. The weather started out a bit sketchy—chilly and windy—but within an hour it was absolutely gorgeous! It was a perfect day with lots of delicious food, fun watching the kids, a fun gift exchange, and conversation!
I’m only posting this picture because it’s the first “in the wild” picture of me that’s been taken and…I had ZERO idea who it was when I first saw it!
Hitting a box of $5 garage sale golf balls into the canal—well, trying to get them across the canal onto the island but not many made it there. 🙂
This happened quite a bit!
Katie wanted to fish…but only for about 32 seconds at a time and then she was off doing something else.
Alex caught the first fish!
Feeding the ducks off the back of the pontoon!
Going out to hunt for turtles for turtle races!
Apparently the tradition is to kiss the first fish you catch… What a sport!
At first, Katie wanted nothing to do with the boat—she didn’t even want someone to set her on the boat! But after the second trip she was jumping onto the boat herself and loving every minute of it! Owen loved it, too!
They caught a previously-caught-and-tagged turtle—no one here is C.B. 🙂
Owen said fishing was boring—we told him yes, it was. He’s used to fishing at the Fish Hatchery where the fish pretty much jump in your bucket. 🙂
Aubrey tagged her turtle!
I lined the kids up for their annual shot and didn’t even realize until afterward—when Aubrey pointed it out—that I did it wrong! She told me “I’m older than Owen!” And I agreed with her and then realized they had been in the wrong order!
Nick is 12, Owen is 7. Nick had the slight edge on Owen last summer and it looks very similar again this year…though I think Owen gained a very tiny bit on him. We didn’t set them on flat ground so we can’t be 100% sure.
In the right order! Katie (4), Owen (7), Aubrey (8), Gracie (10), and Nick (12).
All of the cousins: Jessica (an upcoming senior), Alex (an upcoming freshman), then Nick, Gracie, Aubrey, Owen, and Katie.
Maggie was FASCINATED with the turtles!
Marge gifted all us girls with one of her ostrich eggs!
Turtle races!
Trying to scoop up the golf balls that rolled in the canal!
It was exciting for everyone when Greg caught this huge dogfish! (Katie is still talking about it days later!)
We celebrated Katie’s birthday a day early!
And Aubrey’s two days early!
Uncle Timmy diving for turtles!!
The second run of turtle races (after they went out on the boat to get more turtles)!
Owen’s turtle winning the second race!
And a Then & Now throwback picture:
The swing that was actually a frisbee.
Grandma Jean bought a swing for the kids and wanted to put it up somewhere in the yard. Unfortunately, there aren’t any good tree branches for it to attach to but we winged it.
Katie was the only one able to swing on it—Grandma Jean and I were going to except it was a little too low and Owen tried but wasn’t serious about it and kept “falling” off.
So the swing wasn’t a huge success…as a swing…but Gramma saw the positive and said “At least I bought them a frisbee on a rope!” 🙂
I can’t remember the last time I had to wait in a line!
I guess that’s what happens when a small town theater gets a big movie on the opening day (Secret Life of Pets) and the weather is questionable (it was supposed to storm and it was getting dark and windy). As a sidenote, Owen completely freaked out about the weather and wanted to go home. We are not sure how or why he has become so freaked out about weather.
Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see the movie—there were so many people that by the time we made it in to look for seats there were none available (definitely not six together and pretty much only single seats here and there—people were even sitting in the aisles and on the steps). So we got our money back and decided to go another day.
I can’t love these pictures enough.
My mom posted these for Throwback Thursday. I love them SO much.
