Wrapping Up Summer

Our last "hurrah" for the summer was a family trip to Crystal Mountain Resort, just south of Traverse City. We spent a week with Jim's brother, sister-in-law, two nephews (ages 6 and 3 1/2), parents, sister, and brother-in-law. What a GREAT time!! Maelin could seriously live there! Here's what we did:

We went swimming in the pool near our cabin for several hours each day. Maelin looooved the water, the slide, the fountains, the 'lilly pads,' and the deep water. She's still in a life jacket in water over her head, but she's a total fish and going to be swimming on her own soon! Here's a pic of Daddy coming down the slide with Maelin right behind him :)

The resort has a four-sided climbing wall with varying levels of difficulty. Maelin and cousin Jacob climbed allll the way to the top of the Level One wall (which was about 20 feet up, i think). It was so exciting to yell and cheer them on, and then scream when they finally reached the top to ring the bell!! I love that she's so adventurous and willing to try almost anything!

One day Nana, Papa and the three of us drove up to Sleeping Bear sand dunes for the day. We saw a couple of scenic lookouts, climbed dunes for a while, and went swimming in Lake Michigan. Little Miss Water Bug was in her glory...

Crystal Mountain is a ski resort in the winter time, so they have a couple of different ski lifts in operation. One night we all took the lifts up to a scenic walk and overlook. Here's our happy family :) It was a great week, and we're hoping to go again next year!

On the last Friday of our summer vacation, Maelin and i finally went on that trip to the Detroit Zoo that we've been meaning to do all summer! We went with Aunt Shelli, Uncle Darrin, and cousins Lauren (age 10), Drew (age 6), Adrienne (age 2 1/2), and baby Josie (8 months). We had a really great time, and i'm so glad we took time to do it before the summer got away from us.

We rounded out our summer with a great visit from Mama's friend Maureen and her two kids, Adam (10 days younger than Maelin!) and Allyson, who just turned one. The kids played, the moms chatted, and of course we went out to eat!

And now it's on to our next great adventure -- back to school time!!

xoxo,

Shonda

California!

Here it is -- our first big family vacation ever! Jim, Maelin and i flew to California on Friday, July 25th, to visit my friend Jan and her family. Jan and i have been friends almost our whole lives (legend has it that our moms met in a doctor's office while we were babies). We really try to visit each other every year or two, but for various reasons, it's been three long years since we last saw each other. What a great week we had with her!! She got to meet Maelin (aka Chatty Cathy), and i got to see her oldest son, 13-year-old Richie, again and meet her youngest, 8-year-old Jesse. Both boys were adopted, so we have lots in common :)

Daddy was DETERMINED to take Maelin to her first visit to Disneyland, so the three of us spent the day there on Sunday the 27th. Maelin loooooved all of the rides and sights, and we really had a great time. We couldn't resist the face-painting booth :)

On Monday the 28th, the 7 of us (Jan, her wife Lauren, their two boys, and the three of us) took the train from Claremont to downtown LA so that we could visit Chinatown. It was fun to walk around Chinatown, shop and see the sights. After the train ride back to Claremont, we drove daddy to the airport and dropped him off :(




While we were in Chinatown, Jan bought Maelin a traditional Chinese outfit that matched one she was wearing. Tooooo cute!!










On Tuesday (after the earthquake - scary for a midwestern farm girl like me!), Jan and i loaded up the kids and headed for the beach! Maelin had a faaantastic time playing in the waves! She spent almost the entire 3 1/2 hours in the water - didn't want to play in the sand at all!







On Sunday we're off to Crystal Mountain, Michigan for a week-long vacation with Jim's family (parents, sister and brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law, and two nephews). We're looking forward to spending a whole week with Daddy!!

xoxo,
Shonda (and gang)