Afternoon on Gun Lake

We got thoroughly spoiled this summer, with the Hooker-Burnette clan making two trips to Michigan! A few weeks after they joined us in Northport, we joined them at Gun Lake for a beautiful afternoon.  Nathan, Oliver, and Todd had a blast playing together in the water. Gillian, Natalie, Nora, Danielle, and I relaxed in the yard and caught up with Gillian's extended family. So delightful, and so good to see her parents and cousins, whom I adore and had not seen in ages.

Weekend with Mom and Dad

My birthday present to Todd this year was a guilt-free weekend to use how he pleased.  He and two of his closest friends spent a much-needed, relaxing weekend up at the cottage.  The kids and I spent a much-needed, relaxing weekend at my parents' house. Everyone wins! It was beautiful weather, and we spent a lot of time at the little park across the street from their house. Lots of playing, eating, and laughing--such a good weekend!

Mom's Birthday

The first weekend in May we spent a day at Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Mom's birthday and Mother's Day.  It was a gorgeous spring day and we grilled burgers, ate ice cream cake, and enjoyed the outdoors.  While I wish that Mom and Dad lived in Kalamazoo so we could see them even more often, I feel so lucky that they are only a 45 minute drive away so that we can celebrate milestones and have lots of casual gatherings too. 

Fun with the Appledorns

The day before Easter, the Appledorn family came over for an afternoon of running around in the backyard and burgers on the grill. It had been ages since we had all spent time together, so it was fantastic to catch up. Have I ever mentioned that I wish we were neighbors??

Of course, we had to get all the kiddos together for a photo. Can you handle all this cuteness in one picture?? I think Danielle may have been a little concerned for her safety though. Never fear, this was a closely supervised activity!

Chuck E Cheese!

 Well, the inevitable has occurred.  Nathan has now officially discovered the childhood wonder that is Chuck E. Cheese!  Up to this point in his life, we had not acknowledged the existence of this fine dining establishment.  This weekend, however, Nathan's good friend Ellie had her birthday party there.  Nathan and all the rest of the kids were in heaven, and all the parents were in overload!! I always love to see Nay interacting with his buddies, and I always enjoy chatting with the other parents. We have such a good community with this daycare; I am sad that none of the kids will be going to the same kindergarten as Nathan next year.

Nathan was a really good boy; running around like a maniac when it was time for that, and super cooperative when it was time to go potty, eat, and eventually leave.  We both slept very well that night! :)

 A highlight for the pre-K kids was getting to meet Chuck himself!

Chicago Weekend

In early December, Stephanie hosted a gathering of our group of girls at her house in Chicago.  By some small miracle, most of us were able to make it!  If you are sensing a theme here, I did not bring my camera and took very few pics with my phone.  I did bring my kiddos!  Well, Nathan came the whole way with us on Friday night, but poor Natalie got carsick about an hour into our drive.  At the time we didn't know if that was the problem, and didn't want to risk bringing a sick kiddo into a house full of little ones. So, poor Todd, who had been looking forward to a weekend ALL BY HIMSELF had to come and get Nat.  Turned out it was just a fluke, and he ended up bringing her to Chicago to join us the next day.

There were seven adults and seven kids 5 and under, and two kids in utero. Crazy! Awesome! It was a great couple of days talking, laughing, chasing kids, feeding kids, talking, laughing, staying up late, drinking too much wine (for the non-preggos) and just generally enjoying the love and chaos of a group of old friends and their offspring. So much fun!!  

Hot Air Balloon Festival

This year marked the first hot air balloon festival at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  It was planned kind of at the last minute, and luckily a good friend happened to go on Friday night and immediately emailed a bunch of us local folks encouraging us to check it out on Saturday.  It was a gorgeous evening, and since admission was free, we were all in!  Unfortunately it was too windy for the balloons to actually take off, and only one food truck showed up at the event that evening, so we spent a lot of time waiting for food, but even with those two less-than-ideal issues, we still had a fantastic time!  The kids loved seeing the big balloons inflate, and having a picnic dinner.  When dusk fell, all of the balloons inflated and then took turns firing up so that the whole field was glowing. So beautiful and magical!  Imminent meltdowns kept us from staying as long as Todd and I would have liked, but it was a really amazing community event, and I hope they decide to do it again next year.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Halloween, we joined the Anderson family for a chilly but wonderful morning at the pumpkin patch!  We had homemade donuts and cider, went on a hayride, the kids jumped in the pumpkin bounce house (which had a pretty hilarious looking entryway), and of course we picked out pumpkins to carve.  I really love living in a place where the fall actually looks and feels like fall!