Beach Bums

We spent July 4th week up in Northport for a much-needed family vacation.  It was our first vacation as a foursome!  Dan and Nancy were at the cottage with us all week as well, and it was great to have so much time together.  We lucked out and had perfect beach weather every day, which was awesome because I love the beach and there isn't much to entertain a 3 1/2 year old and a nine month old inside the cottage!  The Leelanau Peninsula offers so many beautiful beaches that we had trouble deciding every day which one we wanted to visit. We decided to kick off the week at Omena Bay, which is such a great place to swim as the weather is calm and the shallow water drops off quickly enough that you can swim close to shore.

Natalie and I carted all of our stuff to the beach and hung out on a blanket waiting for the rest of the fam.

Here comes everyone else!

This was Nathan's first boat ride of the season, and I was very relieved to see him waving happily to me from Papa's lap.

Me, my baby girl and the Bay

It's too much to ask to get all four of us looking at the camera at the same time, but these two family photos came out pretty well.  Can't argue with the setting! :)

Natalie was not eager to put her toes in the cold water.

She eventually came around.

Little ruffly swimsuit!!

The water was a bit chilly, but delightful!

It was fun to see Nathan playing with little people and a boat instead of cars.

This week offered lots of opportunities to play with Nathan in the water. I loved it!  He was often a bit out of his comfort zone, but did such a good job working through it.  

Natalie thought that Omena Bay was much too cold!

I love those little baby toes.

Protesting a swim took a lot of energy, so Natalie took a nap in the shade with Daddy.

Natalie wasn't ready to wake up when Todd was ready to move, so Grandma too over the baby snuggling duty.