Michigan 2011!

Wow...where to begin!!! First I have to tell you that I am in utter shock that it is August and my little baby girl starts school in a few weeks. I am having major emotions on that one...but that's for a later blog post. As you know, we spent that last week in New Buffalo, Michigan and had a fantastic time!! We rented a house right on the beach (private beach, no less!). For what the house lacked in moderness...it definitely made up for in location! It was so great to get away for a few days and just have fun. We spent a lot of time on the beach and in the lake. WE went blueberry picking and had the best time! The only drawback to the whole trip was that it was so difficult to get the kids to nap and sleep. First of all, Nate is still in a crib and there was no crib in the house. So, they were both sleeping in unfamiliar beds in an unfamiliar house...so, it was a struggle. Aunt Liz and Aunt Emily and Mike came up for a few days, so it was great to have a few more hands on deck...and we had some great board game battles after the kids were asleep. Emily and I are the reigning champs...no disputing that! Remember earlier in the summer, when I said that I hoped that, by the end of the summer, I would be laughing about the fact that Charlotte wouldn't get in the water....yeah, she's over that nonsense!!! She would have gone into Lake Michigan by herself if we had let her....so brave!! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story of our trip!

Nate and Charlotte playing on the beach

The Nugget

Um...where do you think you are going, miss???

Char and Dad swimming in Lake Michigan

Nate could have played in the sand all day. He loved just dumping sand into the bucket and then dumping it out.

Charlotte got bitten by some kind of bug...that bump was HUGE! And, that sad little face..she kept asking Emily to scratch it for her...so sad!

We went blueberry picking and it went over better than when we did it the first time 2 years ago!! Charlotte loved it, she was all into picking "the biggest and best ones"

Nate was great at picking them too!!

Helping daddy pick blueberries!

Such a beauty!

Nate shoveling them in by the handful...he was an expert at eating the blueberries. He was loving them!! (mommy wasn't loving the diapers for the next few days!!)

We went down to the beach for the sunset one day..it was so much fun!

Dad playing catch on the beach

We can never get a good family shot! Char is always fooling around.

Out for ice cream before Liz, Emily and Mike left. Char cried for a half hour after they left :(

Dad and Nate with their ice cream comes

Char got strawberry...of course. She prefers to eat "pink" ice cream

Yum!

Having a great time!

My favorite picture from the vacation!