Saturday, June 23, 2012
Lansing
Saturday, June 23rd, we went up to Lansing for the day. My dad's birthday had been the day before so we were celebrating both his birthday and Father's Day. I made a flag cake (I make one again for July 4th) and we had a fun day with the family. Megan and her cousin, Ella, had some bonding time, too.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Strawberry Lemon Bars
What do you make when you bought too many strawberries at the farmer's market? Strawberry Lemon Bars! I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was a big hit. It's pretty easy to make the actual bar and the glaze is just lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. Yum!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Kindermusik
Chloe and I went to our first Kindermusik class tonight. We've been looking for some sort of social outlet for Chloe and figured this would be perfect. When we first got there she just stood there and starred at the other kids. She loved just watching them. Then she grabbed a jingle and started to socialize. She got very comfortable and just loved it when her teacher would start singing. After several of the songs she would start pouting and sign "more" when we made her give back her instrument. She was really enjoying it. A few of the smaller babies would toddle over to us so Chloe got a kick out of that. You can't really get photos of other people's kids so I just had Nathan snap a photo of us before we left and got one of Chloe playing with her jingle before class.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Father's Day
We had a nice, relaxing Father's Day weekend. Saturday we stayed home most of the day. It was pretty hot so we were inside staying cool. Sunday morning we had breakfast and then we let Nathan open his gifts. The girls got Nathan a robe and a Lego storage block and then we went out for ice cream at the Dairy-Go-Round once the girls got up from their nap. When we got home, Nathan took Chloe on a walk around the neighborhood to help her burn off her wiggles...and then before bed mommy took her on a walk, too. At least we put a little dent in our ice cream calorie burn.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Family Vacay Day 1
June 1st we headed to the great Up North of Northwestern Michigan to one of our favorite spots along Lake Michigan -- Petoskey. Unfortunately first day of our trip was pretty rainy but luckily we were mostly just driving and eating :-) Our first stop is always the Cracker Barrel in Bridgeport near Saginaw. This is the perfect distance from our house -- about an hour an a half -- so that we've gone down the road a bit but it's still early enough for some breakfast. We got a later start than usual (I'm guessing because we had two kids and half our house to pack up) so it was more like an early lunch. Nathan got his usual of eggs in a basket and I got a few lunch sides. We always get the hashbrown casserole because we make a version of it and we like to eat it and talk about how our version is better. LOL. Chloe didn't eat much but had fun coloring and Megan dined on one of her babas. Nice break from the car ride!
So we drove and drove until we got to the part of the state that's actually a little hilly.
Until we finally got to our home away from home. We stay here each year when we come up. Great view of the lake. Best of all - a tub with jets for Chloe and me to sit in to relax away our stress.
This was as clean as it could be all weekend -- once we unpacked it looked like we moved in.
We grabbed supper at the little Galley Gourmet deli next door and snuggled in for the night.
So we drove and drove until we got to the part of the state that's actually a little hilly.
Until we finally got to our home away from home. We stay here each year when we come up. Great view of the lake. Best of all - a tub with jets for Chloe and me to sit in to relax away our stress.
This was as clean as it could be all weekend -- once we unpacked it looked like we moved in.
We grabbed supper at the little Galley Gourmet deli next door and snuggled in for the night.
Family Vacay Day 2
Started off the day with our free hotel breakfast. We love breakfast here!
After breakfast we walked around downtown Petoskey for a little while but it was rainy again so we weren't very successful. We picked up sandwiches for lunch and headed back to our room. Daddy and Megan took naps while Mommy and Chloe walked the hallways of the hotel so Chloe could burn up some energy. Chloe had a great time. Housekeepers cleaning rooms. People treadmilling and lifting weights in the gym. Free popcorn in the lobby. Many places to run. Once we made it to the ground floor (our room was on the 4th) we treated ourselves with some superman ice cream. Here's what our afternoon looked like:
Just when we thought our whole weekend was going to be a wash, this beautiful sunset appeared Saturday night. Our whole deck lit up from the glow cast down on us from the sun.
So while it wasn't a perfect vacation day, it was very relaxing. We had leisurely meals, explored our hotel, napped, and generally decompressed.
After breakfast we walked around downtown Petoskey for a little while but it was rainy again so we weren't very successful. We picked up sandwiches for lunch and headed back to our room. Daddy and Megan took naps while Mommy and Chloe walked the hallways of the hotel so Chloe could burn up some energy. Chloe had a great time. Housekeepers cleaning rooms. People treadmilling and lifting weights in the gym. Free popcorn in the lobby. Many places to run. Once we made it to the ground floor (our room was on the 4th) we treated ourselves with some superman ice cream. Here's what our afternoon looked like:
Just when we thought our whole weekend was going to be a wash, this beautiful sunset appeared Saturday night. Our whole deck lit up from the glow cast down on us from the sun.
So while it wasn't a perfect vacation day, it was very relaxing. We had leisurely meals, explored our hotel, napped, and generally decompressed.
Family Vacay Day 3
Sunday's weather was much better! After our breakfast in the hotel restaurant we made a quick trip up to Harbor Springs to get some preserves at American Spoon Fruit. We browsed through a toy store and got Chloe a butterfly net and a pink car. Then we stopped for cookies. Yum! I think we stopped at Tom's Mom's Cookies three times during our trip. Can't beat fresh cookies!
By then we were ready for lunch so we drove the 15 minutes back to Petoskey to Twisted Olive Cafe. It was one of our "new places to try" and we loved it! Nathan got a grilled cheese sandwich with potatoes and he also tried this drink that you had to assemble yourself. It had seltzer, mint, and lavender. It was odd but good enough to make you want more. I got a vegetarian sandwich with housemade burger and hummus. Chloe shared with us and ate her sammy grammy while Megan took a nap :-)
We decided to work off some calories so we got out the double stroller and went to a nearby park. Chloe played on the playground first and then we all walked out to a pier.
You'd probably think Chloe would be ready for a nap at this point...but you'd be wrong. Once we got back to the car we decided to stop at American Spoon Cafe for some gelato and then let Chloe run around the park next door. It was such a gorgeous afternoon compared to our first two days so we didn't want to go inside.
Ok so *now* we were ready to go back to the room. We'd worked up a little appetite running around with Chloe so we ordered some pizza, nachos, and a strawberry/peach shortbread dessert from two local restaurants and had dinner in our room. The weather just kept improving so after dinner I took Chloe on a walk behind the hotel. She sat in some chairs and then we came upon some little girls playing tag who invited Chloe to join them. She did! Although she gave up after a while because she could not ever catch up with them. She was in heaven for a few minutes, though. We topped off the night with a bath filled with bubbles. If Chloe could have made this day last forever, she would have. It had all her favorite things. The great weather helped a lot and we had another beautiful sunset to end the day.
By then we were ready for lunch so we drove the 15 minutes back to Petoskey to Twisted Olive Cafe. It was one of our "new places to try" and we loved it! Nathan got a grilled cheese sandwich with potatoes and he also tried this drink that you had to assemble yourself. It had seltzer, mint, and lavender. It was odd but good enough to make you want more. I got a vegetarian sandwich with housemade burger and hummus. Chloe shared with us and ate her sammy grammy while Megan took a nap :-)
We decided to work off some calories so we got out the double stroller and went to a nearby park. Chloe played on the playground first and then we all walked out to a pier.
You'd probably think Chloe would be ready for a nap at this point...but you'd be wrong. Once we got back to the car we decided to stop at American Spoon Cafe for some gelato and then let Chloe run around the park next door. It was such a gorgeous afternoon compared to our first two days so we didn't want to go inside.
Ok so *now* we were ready to go back to the room. We'd worked up a little appetite running around with Chloe so we ordered some pizza, nachos, and a strawberry/peach shortbread dessert from two local restaurants and had dinner in our room. The weather just kept improving so after dinner I took Chloe on a walk behind the hotel. She sat in some chairs and then we came upon some little girls playing tag who invited Chloe to join them. She did! Although she gave up after a while because she could not ever catch up with them. She was in heaven for a few minutes, though. We topped off the night with a bath filled with bubbles. If Chloe could have made this day last forever, she would have. It had all her favorite things. The great weather helped a lot and we had another beautiful sunset to end the day.
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