Dream Cruise

The week before our beach vacation, we headed over to Detroit for the Woodward Dream Cruise.  This is such an awesome event in Detroit where everyone with a cool car spends the weekend cruising up and down Woodward Avenue.  Anyone who is a fan of cool cars is out oohing and ahhing over the spectacle.  Stu and Erin live just a block off of Woodward, and host a party every year.  I did not take many photos this year, but I did capture a few.

On the way to Detroit we stopped at Todd's shop so that the kids could check out the semi truck that he was working on.  It was a great way to kick off the car-themed weekend!

Woodward Ave has a big, wide median that provides the perfect spot to watch the cars cruising by.

New Baby!

Wow, I am way behind on my blog, and just realized I have not posted about the most important development in our lives!  We are having another baby!!  Yes, that's right, in February we will be a family of five.  I feel simultaneously nervous about being outnumbered by our children and really excited to meet this new little person and see how he or she completes our family.  Right now I am 19 weeks pregnant, and finally feeling good again.  First trimester was rough!  I was sicker this time around than I was with Nathan or Natalie, and the fact that with two little people needing my attention prevented me from taking naps whenever I needed them was a little challenging.  Now we are just counting down the days until Friday, when hopefully the baby will cooperate at the anatomy scan and reveal whether we will be having a boy or a girl!

Here is a photo of our new sweetie from the 12 week ultrasound:

Mackinac Day

One of the less awesome aspects of our vacation is that both kids got pretty sick, especially Nathan.  He got a nasty, croupy cough that the doctors said was the beginnings of bronchitis.  We made several trips to urgent care that week. Sigh.  Thank goodness for antibiotics!

Nathan is always good at the doctor, but the fact that there was a restaurant around the corner that serves lunch in a car instead of on a plate made him even more willing to make the trip!

One of Nathan's big requests for his vacation up North was that he wanted to go across the Mackinac bridge.  We were only about 15 miles away from it, so one sunny afternoon after our first trip to urgent care, Todd, Nathan, Natalie and I decided to head up to the bridge.  What a beautiful piece of engineering!

Once we were there, we couldn't resist the allure of a ferry boat ride out to Mackinac Island.  I was clinging tightly to my offspring on the ferry ride with visions of the cold, deep water dancing in my head the whole time, so I only snapped one quick picture from the boat.  The kids loved the ride though, even if their mother was a little bit of a nervous wreck. :)

We wandered around Mackinac Island for a little bit.  Nathan's mind was completely blown by the fact that cars are not allowed.  "Dad, why DON'T they allow cars here? There are roads for them!"  He was slightly comforted by the fact that there is ONE ambulance on the Island. :)  Natalie was enamored with the horses everywhere, yelling "GIDDY-UP!" at all of them as they went by.

We stopped at a park at the end of the main street, and of course the kids immediately gravitated to a large rock in the middle of the park, and climbed right up it. 

Todd was only able to stay at the cottage for a few days because of limited vacation time.  Mom and Dad were awesome and babysat the kids on Todd's last night, and the two of us went to dinner at the famous Legg's Inn.  The Polish food was delicious and the restaurant itself was an artistic marvel on the inside and incredibly beautiful in the garden where we ate. 

It can be easy online to portray only the happy, wonderful moments of parenthood/childhood, so in the interest of keeping it real, here is a shot of a stop the kids and I made on the way from the cottage to Northport.  We were in the family restroom at Meijer--all three of us sleep-deprived and sick.  Natalie was throwing a tantrum on the floor because she didn't want to get out of the cart.  Nathan was standing in the corner, stubbornly refusing to pee, and I was holding back tears and decided to try and find the humor in the situation by taking a photo of the ridiculousness! :) 

Emhof Family Vacation

One of the highlights of our summer was our vacation with my parents on Sturgeon Bay in Northern Michigan.  Mom and Dad rented a cottage right on the beach and invited us to spend the week with them.  Unfortunately Steve, Joanna and Henry couldn't make it this year, but we are hopeful that next year it can work out for all of us to vacation together.  

It was so cool to spend time in a part of Michigan that I'd never been to, and great to have so much lowkey beach and hangout time with the family.  The kids had a blast, and so did the grown-ups!  Vacationing with small children is not the lazy beach vacation that leaves me feeling refreshed and well-rested, but it is hard to beat the fun of digging in the sand, collecting rocks, and watching your kiddos fall in love with the beach!

The first night, Todd fulfilled Nathan's longstanding request to go camping this summer.  Natalie slept inside that night, but was really excited to help with tent set-up.

We called Nathan a sandpiper all week--he just loved running up and down the beach. So much joy!

Natalie steered clear of the water, but loved playing in the sand.

One of the highlights of the week for the kids was getting a chance to go for a kayak ride. Dad stuck close to shore, but that didn't reduce the kids' excitement!

Reading some magazines with Grandpa

Gorgeous sunset view from our deck

15 weeks pregnant at the beach. Crazy that next year we will have THREE little ones playing in the sand! :)

Happy boy. I love him.

This is one of those pictures that in and of itself isn't all that interesting, but captures a moment in our life that I know I will love to look back on.  It is no secret that Nathan loves cars, and one of the many things he loves to do is wash them in the sink.  The fact that this glass-topped table was next to the sink in the cottage was a perfect "drying area" for his freshly washed vehicles.