South Haven, Michigan This morning as we were hanging out on our front porch in our pj's with coffee in hand (a new family ritual), Emmeline began walking away from the house and down the neighborhood sidewalk. She grew a large grin and started inching her way further and further away from us. Aaron yelled to her to come back and says, "Where are you going?". She stops, turns around and exclaims with great confidence, "MICHIGAN!!".
Needless to say, the kids (and us too!) had a really great time on our vacation. :-)
It makes me happy to see Emmeline welcome such a big part of who her mommy and daddy are. This place is very special to us. It is amazing to see that it brings joy to our children as well. We look forward to spending many summers to come in Michigan with our friends and family...and making many lasting memories!
Emmeline was really excited leading up to our trip to Michigan. When we would talk about going, she would name everyone she was going to see...and she would randomly shout "Meech-i-gannnnn!" during the day, as if she had a premonition of the fun to come. We often use FaceTime and Skype to communicate with people back home, so she is very familiar now with our family in the good ol' Midwest. We were supposed to go to Montana this year for our family reunion, but since my grandma was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year (and now in remission! yay!), we decided it would be easier for us to make the trip back home instead.
We had a great time back...there were the normal "bumps" along the way but it was an awesome family vacation. We were able to stay in a house near the beach ( a friend of my mom's house) so it made visiting with everyone a lot easier this year. Normally, we feel torn and tugged in every direction...it is so hard to see all of our friends and family when we only make it home once a year. Having a home base made it a little more relaxing and stress-free this year. It was also great to be right near Lake Michigan and steps away from our own beach access. We didn't get to do everything we wanted to do or see everyone we wanted to see, but we will be back MICHIGAN!! I promise. :-) our hope is to make it back every summer with our kids. It's funny how every time I go back, I feel more and more like a tourist. Especially now that we have kids and we are showing them everything we love about our small little hometown. :-)
The kids were great little travelers. Emmeline has flown before (when she was 4 months and 11 months old) but this was a different experience with her being older and the extra dynamic of having 2 kiddos. It was quite comical for onlookers I'm sure as we dragged all of our luggage and kids through the airport, through every line and crowd, to check in and get to our gate. We didn't have an ounce of fear about flying with the kids, so we never even stopped to think about the logistics of getting in and out of the airport with all of us and all of our crap. ha! My shoulder is still recovering from this! We were running late (of course--who doesn't run late with kids?!?!)...and of course the computer froze as the lady was checking our bags...which is why they probably lost one of our suitcases (we found this out when we got to Chicago) and waited for a day and a half for it to get to us. However, I have to give a shout out to Alaska...with these minor things aside, they were SO good to us. So accommodating and so friendly! Thank you to all of the flight attendants who "oohed and awed" over our children, especially Jude, who some how made his way to the back to hang out with the cute female flight attendants on both legs of our trip! What a stud! They even took him in the back and walked him up and down the aisles and gave me special "mommy time" with food and wine (on the house)...and then they also treated Aaron to food and wine! I could not believe it. I felt like a celebrity (hey, I'm easy to please! ha). Aaron and I wondered if they felt bad for us because we looked so tired and had our hands full (literally)...but, then we decided it was because they were so cute and well-behaved. Seriously...there were 5 other babies on the plane and those ladies all kept coming back to hold and talk "baby" with Judah! ha. What can I say, our kids are cute and oh-so-lovable!!! ;-)
On a side note, Emmeline got to use the airplane potty for the first time which she thought was pretty cool!
The way there (so much excitement!)...
The way back...
Emmeline is in her pj's since we had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to leave-boo!
(both kids got wing pins and keychain flash lights from the crew--Emme thought that was cool!)...
First stop and last stop of our trip. My sister's (Jodi) house! It was nice to have special downtime with her and her family before driving into South Haven. We had an evening there on the way out (before heading to Chicago) as well. We decided that we will do this everytime we come home.
I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it was to see the bond forming between these cousins! My most favorite times growing up involve the love and laughter shared with my cousins, so I am so glad that they are so close in age and get to experience that relationship.
These girls are trouble. ha! So cute though. They remind me of me and my sister when we were little.
BUSTED. No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Enjoying a late-night-after-dinner-SPLASH! Squeals of delight!
The boys.
Beach run with my sister! The dads ran a "daddy daycare" so that we could sneak away (so glad we were past that pole before taking this action shot-I totally would have run into it with my luck and grace! ha!)
Checking out Greenbush Brewing Company...stuck at the kids' lego table. ha!
Great hops!
My dad thought it would be funny to give Judah his first taste of a Golden Brown Bakery donut (for those of you who don't know, these are the best donuts around! we grew up going to this bakery and eating their donuts! Mmmm)...this will definitely be a special treat for our kids for years to come when we go back home.
Don't worry, I only let him have enough for a good picture (documenting all the bad things grandparents do! ha)
Love this face! (as if Judah is saying, "this guy is crazy!")
Papa Lute with a few of his grandkids
Enjoying my first Oberon, the best summer microbrew back home. The taste of Michigan, ahhhh.
Enjoying another Oberon...
Fourth of July Parade!
Dawson pulling the girls to the parade
363 Hubbard. The LUTE family. :-)
Aunt Megan and Uncle Noel surprised everyone when they showed up at the Rydecki family picnic (they flew in for the weekend)
BEACH TIME!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhh...we have arrived. our toesies have met the warm sand!
Cousin/Nephew Dawson, taking a break from sand castle construction
Helping Uncle Josh fill up his bucket
My dad and Renee brought the boat down to the beach and everyone got to go boating/tubing!
Megan, Aaron and Noel
Sand Monster. She loved playing in the sand!
Jude taking his afternoon nap, listening to the soothing waves of Lake Michigan
Addison, the bathing beauty :-)
Aunt Meggie
Walking to catch the sunset
Grandma Rydecki (and bunny)
Auntie (cousin) Trisha
Goofy girls! Pure joy.
First carousel ride
Even Great Grandma Dolly rode!
Being silly at dinner (with pizza dough)...
We were on the go-go-go most days so the kids caught naps when and where they could...hey, it was vacation!
Great Grandma Dolly
Hanging with Uncle Josh
Thank you everyone for making this trip a great one! A big thanks to my parents for helping us find great accommodations (house and car). Thank you Stacey and Jake for loaning your car to us for the week! Looking forward to our next trip back. I want to SEE more of my favorite people. I want to DO more with my favorite people. I can't get enough! :-) We heart Michigan.
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