Happy 4th

Hello and Happy 4th of July! For Jamie's first 4th as an American, we headed up to Lake Michigan for the weekend to visit Jamie's aunt and uncle (Johnny and Suzie) and were joined by their son and his family (Jeff, Shannon, Kate and Ian) and Jamie's mom (Janet--or Jamma, to the kids) came down from Canada.

The weather was terrific and we enjoyed seeing Johnny and Suzie's newly renovated cottage. The kids haven't seen each other in 2 years, but hit it off again. And we were so grateful to seven-year-old Kate for entertaining Katie. Caroline immediately selected her favorite things for the weekend- a wagon, the sailboat and goggles, and she was pretty happy as long as she had one of those things. She did her best to keep up with the little kids, but at times her nap schedule kept her out of the action.

And speaking of napping, Caroline has mastered the art of getting her pajamas off at night, so we cut the feet off of a few pairs and put them on backwards with the zipper in the back. As you can see a little bit futher down, this pilot program is coming to an end.


On Friday we had a terrific Fourth of July dinner, but the kids didn't last long enough for fireworks, which didn't start until 10:30. The adults enjoyed the vantage point from in front of the cottage where we couls see a variety of fireworks shows in either direction.

Saturday we visited the farmer's market and the playground. The bigger kids all went out on a long outing on the motor boat with Captain J.J. Each got a turn to drive the boat and Jamie took the kids swimming in some frigid waters. When they returned Caroline was up from her nap and looking for action, and the other kids were ready for some down time, but after some quick rests came back for some more beach time. That evening, we enjoyed making s'mores on the beach.


Sunday we visited another park and then returned for some sailboat rides. It was Katie's first time out and she loved it. She later told me it felt like you were going to tip, but she wasn't even scared. After lunch Jeff and his family left and that afternoon my college friend Sarah and her family came over for a visit, since they were vacationing just 20 minutes away. Sarah and I invoked the no swimsuit photos clause, so you will not see her pictured here, but her husband Marcell and daughter Anna are pictured. We did our best to get a photo of the three girls, but it was not meant to be. For you ND girls who are still waiting for Sarah to send photos, I thought I would include a few.


Sunday night we had a nice dinner and then Katie invited Jamma, Susu and I for a walk on the beach while the boys did the dishes. We had a lovely walk and then Katie actually went right to bed.
We drove home today and made it back in a little less than six hours and Katie and I even got in some naps on the way.

It was a terrific weekend. Thank you Johnny and Suzie and Jeff and Shannon. It was great to see everyone!