Our vacation to Michigan was so much fun.  We fit in as much as we possibly could and loved seeing everyone:

  • Friday August 11 – Landed about 5 pm and went straight to my parents house where we met up with my brother Timmy, Allison, my 3 year old nephew Kyle and we met our 11 month old niece Kelsey.  Well, I peeked in on her while she was sleeping.
  • Saturday, Aug 12 – Hung around my parents house where our friends Emilio and LeeAnn came with their two kids Kennedy and Bear.  They are both adorable.  Of course I am partial to Kennedy and we love to dote on one another.  Saturday Night Pete and I went on a little date to my best friends wine party.  Julie and Curt put on a great wine party.  The food was great, Pete loved the wine and they had some great friends.  Meeting up with Julie is great because we just pick up where we left off.  I love that about her.
  • Sunday, Aug 13 – That was the big family get-together.  It was a ton of fun.  The kids got to give Great Grandma (91 years old) lots of hugs.  She was so happy to see them.  It was a long day and ended in a poker game (this was the start of many poker games).  Tyler went and spent the night at Aunt Audrey’s and Uncle Larry’s. 
  • Monday, Aug 14 –   Had a 9 am bonfire where the kids roasted marshmallows.  We had promised them so we had to do it.  Spent the day with Audrey, Larry, Christine and her “special” friend.  We went bowling, ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s and back to their house for some poker fun.
  • Tuesday, Aug 15 – Lunch with my brother.  We have never been apart from one another for that long and decided we needed some catch-up time.  Boy I miss him!  Later in the afternoon we all traveled up to see my Grandma’s new condo.  It is so nice.  My cousin came home before we left and as always Chucky is the life of the party.  We are so blessed to have him in our family and I love to see how he takes care of my grandma.   We ended up our last night with Tim and Alli with a steak dinner (p.s.  never mention the word Butterfly) LOL.
  • Wed, Aug 16 – Pete, the kids and I headed up-north after saying good to my brother and family.  We arrived and my Aunt and Uncle’s about 1 pm.  My aunt immediately packed a lunch and we all headed to the park.  Basically she had about 2.5 weeks of stuff to fit in three days.  She made a big dinner and her sons (my cousins) came over for a night of cards (and cocktails).  Matthew was the first big winner and then I slid in for the big win right over Ben.  Love you Ben but loved raking in those chips.  We ended casino night at 4 am.  Ben also saved the day by giving/selling an Xbox to Tyler for $20! 
  • Thur, Aug 17 – My parents arrived in the afternoon and we all headed to Elk Lake.  The Great Lakes remain my favorite and I will forever be a Midwest girl!  We spend all day at the beach.  It was overcast and perfect weather.  Matthew joined us with his guitar and we had pizza for dinner at the park.  Those cocktails did me in so it was earlier to bed for me.
  • Fri, Aug 18 – This day started in Alden, Michigan.  It is a great little town where we walked around.  The highlight of Micky’s trip was the tea party Aunt Linda put on.  It was an elaborate affair where Tyler, my Uncle and Dad were our waiters.  Poor Pete was napping and no one woke him up.  He was so bummed when he saw the pictures.  We all laughed like crazy.  We decided this needs to be an annual affair.  We then left to see my Grandma in her assisted living facility.  She looked great and although she was unsure who we were she loved seeing the kids.  God bless my two grandma’s who I love so dearly.  The day continued at my Aunt Diana’s and Harry’s.  Here we ate, drank and yep, you guess it…….played cards.  This time we did not have chips so we made due and pulled out two types of pasta.  Seeing my cousins, my aunts, and uncles is so wonderful.  The kids went until they could go no more and basically fell asleep.
  • Sat. Aug 19 – Joey’s trip highlight had to be the fire station tour that my uncle gave.  Joey thought that Uncle Chris was the coolest and loved trying on all his hat and sitting in the truck.  Those pictures were priceless.  We said our good-byes and left.  On the way home we went to Michigan State University(my Alma Mater) where we hit the bookstore for some collage shirts.  Gotta show that MSU pride!  We went home for a delicious lasagna dinner and some more poker.  Little Tyler is quite the poker bluffer and walked away with some cash.  It was funny seeing grandpa hand those chips over to him.  We had a great bonfire where we made s’mores.
  • Sunday, Aug 20 – We said our good-byes and came home.  Phew……it was a ton of fun.  My parents are the best host and BEST grandparents.  My mom had activities for the kids and they loved their huge basement.  We sure wore out my parents but treasured every second we had together.  We cannot wait for them to get here for their next visit.  That concludes the re-cap.  Now I need to get some pictures up-loaded.