Michigan or Bust

Ready, Set, DRIVE.

All she needed was a shoulder to lean on and she was OUT.

Berkley eventually gave in too. I had to take this picture of her sleeping to prove to her she fell asleep. She refused to believe me until I showed it to her!

Posing in grandpa's garden.



HaPpY fOuRtH oF jUlY!

Swimming at Aunt Becky's...and when I say swimming...I mean swimming, from the time we arrived at 1:30 until the time we left at 7:00! We have a couple of fish on our hands here.

And SNOW CONES to boot. Wow. Fourth of July is the best.

We spent some time at Weko Beach, about 15 minutes from the Reitz's. Berkley loved the beach. Charlotte prefers the pool, but they both enjoyed every minute of it, big waves and all! (Mom prefers the pool to big waves and undertow for her girls -- and for her nerves, just for the record.)

And a day in Chicago!

We had planned ahead of time to surprise Berkley with a trip to the American Girl Store.

When we hopped out of the car, I grabbed Julie (her American Girl doll) and she asked me, "Mom, why did you bring Julie?"

"uhh...oh yeah, look at that. I did grab her, didn't I?"

Then, she started noticing all the other girls carrying their American Girl dolls, so she was happy I had grabbed her.

...and then, finally, during lunch, after seeing dozens of red American Girl store bags walk on by, she quietly asked me, "Mom, is there an American Girl store in Chicago?"

"hmmm...you know, there might be, Berkley." And she left it at that. What a sweetie.

Sooooo....in we walk and she is overcome with joy. This first picture is so purely Berkley. She's showing her excitement to its fullest...embarrassed and overwhelmed...so much so, that she turns around and can't look at anything for a few seconds!

However, she warms right up to all this crazy store has to offer.

And scored a bunch of birthday presents from both her grandmas too.

(This is one big doll store.)

And she even got Julie's hair done at their salon.

What a happy girl! And what does she say quietly? "Wow, I didn't expect all that."

(We popped into the Disney store for Charlotte too.)

Goodbye, Chicago!

It wouldn't be a trip to Michigan if Jason didn't get to see his bestest buddy Scott.

The Happy Couple.

We met up with this branch of the Giger family at the Kalamazoo AirZoo. No, there are not any animals here. Not even birds. Just cool old planes from WW2...oh, and rides to keep the kiddies happy.

The girls hit it off.

Playing a little checkers at Cracker Barrel

And golf for everyone!

Pretty sweet actually.

A fun packed afternoon! So good to see you guys (and meet baby Micah!)

Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Sonya had an early birthday celebration for Berkley in the park.

Think she likes it? There's that goofy, embarrassed face again: I'd say that means she loves it!

(Man, Berkley really made out on this trip. That might explain why she cried when it was time to leave.)

Mom and Dad took a little side trip down to Cleveland, OH on Saturday night to attend the wedding of one of Jason's youth from his youth group back in Denver! It was very cool to see Brad get married.

As soon as we got back from Cleveland, we packed up the car and got ready to head home the next morning. The ride home is always tougher than the ride there! However, thanks to G & G with the chickens, we had a nice stayover in North Platte, NE! Grandma booked us a nice hotel with a pool! Ohhhh....I cannot convey to you how exciting this was for Charlotte. She was jumping out of her skin.

And of course, if there is water involved, my girls are happy. What a nice break from the road!

Our little swimmers. Now, UTAH OR BUST.