The Michigan Files

Get comfortable, as in, take one last potty break, get a beverage, and settle in for the the biggest blog entry ever.  With this post, I cross far beyond the realm of casual mamarazzi and enter a group of women who have blisters on the tips of their right pointer fingers from constantly pushing the take picture button. It's obnoxious how many photos I've managed to dump into this post. (Not as obnoxious, I suppose, as the reality of just how many photos I took...)

I'm going to try something new and use the "add caption" option on the photos.  This puts the captions below the photos; I usually prefer them above, you know, like an introduction before viewing, but let's see how this pans out.

On the last Wednesday in July we hopped a plane to Michigan to visit Eric's side of the family.  Lucky for us, both his parents and his brother live on a lake so it was quite vacation-like and relatively relaxing.  Hannah didn't sleep too well, but I didn't expect her too, and honestly, she didn't sleep as poorly as I'd expected.  Since I ended up falling asleep every time I put her down for a nap, I ended up feeling okay most of the time. She did great on her first plane ride, better than me. I always have to focus on not puking during liftoff and landing, but it didn't phase her at all.

I felt all gross and stressed by the time we got to Grannah and Granpah's so Eric and I left Hannah with her Grannah, suited up, and swam across the lake and back.  Ahhhhhh....refreshing.  Much better.

Fine Lake as seen from Eric's parents' front porch.

Peeking over the dock

A little dip (she kept trying to walk off the dock)

Post dip (and pre-walking off the dock for another dip)

Uncle Joel trying to get some color (after 4(?) years in Alaska)

After continuously trying to walk off the deck, Eric led her to the stairs and got in. with her

Awww! A rare snuggle moment captured by Grannah.

Another photo credit to Grannah for this family pic.

Walking the plank!

Granpah's fishing boat.

Not the best pic, but I loved the face.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay--er, I mean--lake.

Relaxing with the grandparents.

Hannah gets her sea legs.

On Thursday we headed over to Doug and Becky's for a BBQ.  They've got an amazing new house with a pool and two super cute little boys.  Unfortunately, my camera went on the fritz so my ability to go mamarazzi was significantly compromised. I salvaged a couple of pics, but there wasn't much I could do.

Cooper spent a good deal of the time laying smooches on Hannah. Her reactions cracked me up.

Hanging out poolside at Doug and Becky's. 

Grannah and Hannah (photo credit to Granpah for this one).

Hanna's first pancake. (I found a box of Cascadia Farm pancake mix in Grannah's cupboard and was impressed with the ingredient list--healthy flours and no sugar.)

Trying out the life jacket Granpah picked up for her. 

She liked floating on her back in the life jacket. (Photo props to Grannah and Granpah for pic.)

This one is from Grannah and Granpah too.  We left Hannah on the dock with them while I set out for another swim across the lake. Eric kayaked beside me to make sure I didn't get run over.  When we got back, I jumped in the kayak with him and we paddled around for a while. Sooo relaxing. That's when it started to feel like vacation.

Grannah took this one while we were out kayaking.

We left Eric's parent's house in Battle Creek on Saturday and drove to Grand Haven to spend the remainder of our trip at Uncle Justin's. He rents a sweet apartment right across the street from Lake Michigan.

Day 1 of the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven meant a car show.  Hannah pushed the stroller.

Pizza lunch with Uncle Joel.

I thought it would be really cool to get a pic of the brothers and Hannah out swimming, one that was sorta candid but not really. Unfortunately, Hannah has her face down in EVERY pic. So I picked the one where the guys looked the best.

I think she's singing to the waves "Stop in the name of love..."

I'm guessing she thought Uncle Joel's hat matched her suit better.

It's not a beach trip until somebody gets in the wagon.

It's possible that I had more fun with Hannah's sand toys than Hannah...

The view from Uncle Justin's backyard (Trent and Stacy pitched a tent in the yard for a couple of days).  That's Lake Michigan in the distance.  I told ya it was a pretty sweet spot.

I tried to upload the rest of these pics to Hannah's birthday blog on August 5 but Blogger was giving me hell so I gave up.  Grannah and Granpah drove to Grand Haven on our last day and took us all to the toy store to pick out presents for Hannah and then out to dinner to celebrate Hannah's birthday, Eric's graduation, and Granpah's 60th birthday (which is coming up on August 16).

Walking to the toy store.

Uncle Joel's super cool 1972 Landcruiser.

The Kellogg's! (Pre-dinner family shot.)

In addition to buying Hannah a really cool Melissa and Doug shopping cart, Grannah picked out a purse and wallet for Hannah to open at dinner and play with immediately. (Hannah is always stealing mom and dad's wallet so this was much appreciated.)

 

Adding some flavor to Grannah's water glass.

Getting crazy with Uncle Justin.

She's got her "1" birthday candle in her hand.  Since I'm a food freak and had not yet found a recipe for healthy cupcakes, there was no place to put this candle, but Hannah didn't seem to mind holding it.

Musical shaker eggs from Uncle Joel.

Inspecting the booty. 

Hannah made out like a bandit.  Grannah and Granpah got her the shopping cart plus some Melissa and Doug veggies (to put in the cart), plus a wallet and purse.  Aunt Carlene (who visited Grannah the week before we arrived) got her Brown Bear, Brown Bear the book and the matching Eric Carle stuffed bear. Uncle Justin bought her a Calculator Cash Register. Uncle Joel got her the musical eggs. I got her the Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Box, and that's just from the Kellogg side of the family! You should see all the stuff she got from my side of the family! It's crazy. But my family reunion is another post.  For now, I'm going to heave a big WHEW that I can cross this post of my to do list. 

The Kellogg's (again! After dinner pic).