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.
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!!
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 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!
I had debated forever on what to wear for the reunion—and ended up bringing about four potential outfits. I ended up going very casual in an outfit I feel great in. 🙂
I was very anxious (even after having done it already the previous night) but while somewhat awkward, it was fine. I even left Tom on his own a few times while I was chatting with people (he spent most of that time talking to Mike’s +1, his girlfriend). There ended up to be probably 30 people there by the end of the night, but only a very small handful of those I really wanted to talk to. (A few people complained that it wasn’t handled very well and I agreed—but also said I hadn’t wanted to do it so I had no place to complain.)
With my old besties, Mike and Joell. Only having Jeremy in this pic would have made it better.
Overal it was a good night (not great and not awful—which is about as much as I’d hope for) and I was happy to say “It’s over!” as we walked out about 10:30.
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!
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.
The kids are buckled into Papa and Grannie’s car to head to the UP ahead of us! They were excited!
My 25th high school reunion Meet & Greet was being held at a local restaurant—which of course was exactly where the whole fam decided to go for dinner. I had been on the fence about attending, so was kinda forced into going. I started thinking that reunions sounded better in theory than in practice.
So I watched from our corner booth, tried to drink through my anxiety, saw when people came in, and had to work up the nerve to go over. Kathryn said she’d be my wing woman but I finally just did it.
And yes, it was as awkward as you’d imagine. But I made it through about an hour and had Tom come back to pick me up about 9. 🙂
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! 🙂
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):
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:
When the weather gives you crappy beach days, you improvise at home!
Cousins: Izzy (almost 14), Owen (7.5), Anna (12), and Katie (4)
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.
Dairy Queen (plus I got my Vacation Bucket List Blizzard!), the park, Pokemon hunting for Owen, splashing and throwing rocks in the river, a walk around the neighborhood with Gramma, and then a Gramma cuddle. 🙂
I thought she’d like sticking her feet in the river but she whined that it was TOO COLD! (It felt like bath water to me!)
Rob has lost 80# and is still going, I have lost 135# with a few more to go, Tom has lost 40#, and mom has lost 50# and is still going!
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:
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 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 was cleaning and organizing in Katie’s room and as I was up and down the hall doing stuff, she came out with these shoes. She had seen them in her closet and, of course, wanted to wear them! Yes, ladies and gents, she found the tap shoes borrowed from the Beson cousins! I didn’t want her to wear them with bare feet (what she was going to do) so I dug out a pair of my knee-high stockings and oh man did she LOVE those!
Once I told her that they make noise, she started calling them her clickety clackity shoes. 🙂 (What did I call mine? Tippity tap shoes? Something like that?)
We invited Katie’s classmate Mason (and family!) over for a pool and pizza play date! I took my waterproof camera to hopefully get a bunch of pictures, but I wasn’t in the water long since it always feels so cold to me. This was the only pic I got!
I had wanted to show how awesome everything was but I was so busy hosting and trying on stuff that these were the only two pics I got during setup:
Katie on kitty watch as the consultant was hauling in racks and bags of clothes.
One room starting to get full. She brought over 700 pieces and it was literally like shopping at a store!
I had a great turnout with 17 ladies attending and one friend even ordering via texted photos and then paying over the phone! I was lucky enough to earn three pieces of my choosing so picked the style maxi dress I’ve been wanting and two maxi skirts. I then also bought matching leggings for me and Owen—he really wanted some after he felt mine and Katie’s—and a shirt I keep looking at and liking.
As a completely unexpected bonus, the skirts I bought? Size XS. Yes, you read that right—EXTRA SMALL. What?! I tried the medium (my expected size) and while it fit, it felt a little loose so I pulled out a Small. That didn’t feel much different, so on a total whim I tried the XS and it fit fine. What?! So actually any of the three sizes would have been fine so I was able to pick the patterns I liked the best! BUT AN EXTRA SMALL!!
Now that Owen will be out of school, we can’t go to the morning 6 and under times, so we went with the neighbors today. Katie has NO fear jumping off the ledge. It used to make me nervous but she’s an old pro now. I love these action shots.
The party was at Katie’s favorite park—the goose park. She was excited!
Watching the buses arrive with all the kids!
Happy girl!
Bubbles! (They had the same bubble machine we have!)
Walking to the lake with a classmate, Mason. They held hands the whole way. 🙂
Geese!
With Katie’s teacher Miss Heather, Heather’s daughter (Lola), and Mason.
On the way back!
Katie’s pre-k teacher friend Miss Katie. 🙂
I had a good time as well—I spent the morning hanging out and talking/getting to know Mason’s mom, Carolina. We’re about the same age, we got along well, and we set up a future pool play date!
The only bad thing is that Katie didn’t have school that afternoon because of the party!! 🙂
Every now and again we go down to visit our neighbors when they’re out playing and today it was about when Owen was coming home from school. So this happened:
The girls were running back and forth bringing Owen pieces and helping attach them.
The finished project!
Heading home.
