All Aboard!!!

So since Caleb is so into trains, my parents had the fabulous idea of taking him to Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad. We went on Thursday, the day before we left to come back to Texas, and it was SOOOO much fun. Thank you again, Mom and Pops! Caleb STILL talks about riding the black train!

Apparently, we have a shop there :)

Caleb about to get his hair cut. or teeth pulled. Hard to say, really.

in front of a genuine buggy of horse-and-buggy fame

on an original 1912 Charles Parker carousel, and I think I had the most fun ;)

My mom and Aunt Sharron--Aunt Sharron lives
really close to the village, and came with us.
She even spoiled my kids with toy trains and a hat. :)

my mama :)

Caleb got to be the engineer on the "flyer" train, and Beckett was even big enough to ride.
They both loved it.

In the "broom shop," where all kinds of
brooms, scrubbing brushes, and broom "art" were made.

Caleb with the train conductor. Check out that 'stache!

caleb and daddy on the train ride

caleb in his cool Huckleberry Railroad hat

Train #464, built in 1903 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Used at one point on the Silverton train in Durango, Co (cool, right Em? :) and purchased by Knott's Berry Farm in California before being bought and restored by the Huckleberry Railroad.

another long day

it took Beckett a little longer to go to sleep

Sadly, we left Michigan on Friday, July 17th, and started on our way home. We stopped to sleep that night in the same hotel we stopped in on the way up, a brand new Best Western in White House, Tennessee. We even got a jetted tub on the way home, just for fun. The kids liked the bath, but not the actual jets. I suppose there's just no accounting for taste. :)

Michigan day...4? 5? Something?

So, Tuesday we went to my sister's house and hung out there for the afternoon before leaving our kids with their older cousins and going to the Detroit Temple with my sister and her husband and my parents. It was so nice to be able to spend time together like that. We crashed there for the night rather than wake up the kids, and spent the morning eating pancakes and watching the kids run around outside and play on the trampoline together. Good times. :)

Alissa and Beckett

me and my gorgeous niece, Brianna

Emma, the baby of the family :)

Lydia showing off her bracelet

Alex making a face

Us before we left my sister's--it was hard to go. :(

Later that night, we went out to the Imlay City area to visit Doug and Lori Fair and their daughter, Kim. Kenn got to know them on his mission, and has kept in touch with them ever since. They have a GREAT house, with pets and a big yard, and we had a really good time with them. Caleb had a TON of fun. :)

getting to know one of the kitties

Daddy and Beckett enjoying some conversation

Kim and her daughter Sammy with Beckett

on the hammock

caleb made sure the cat ate all it's dinner

Lori got this adorable picture of Beckett with her phone

and Doug took this surprisingly good one of me! :)

Island Adventure

The monday after we got to Michigan, we drove up to Mackinac Island with my parents. I have always LOVED Mackinac, so I was really excited to go with Kenn and our kids, because none of them had ever been there. So many fun experiences for Caleb!

We stopped for lunch before we reached Mackinaw City, and Caleb became a prince.

on the Arnold Line boat ride out to the island

walking around Mackinac--
Beckett got a sweet ride in the sling most of the time, and had a ball

Caleb and daddy checking out the water down at the beach

we got to see some famous Mackinac Island fudge being mixed and shaped
(and we sampled some, too, of course)

stopped to eat some pasties for dinner (yum!) before heading home,
and Caleb got a picture with this guy

in the van on the way back

Caleb after a long, hard day of fun :)

The island was so beautiful-- we went up and saw the Grand Hotel, walked all around, and Kenn said himself that the island was very romantic. I LOVED being there with my little family! So fun to share it with them. :)

MICHIGAN!!!

Yes! Michigan! We had quite a good time. :) The primary reason for the trip was for Kenn and I to attend my 10-year high school reunion. Not many people showed up, only about 1/3 of my class, but it was still a lot of fun.

LHS Class of '99, 10 years later!

me with Heather and Christine, 2 of my girls from color and winter guard

the gang that I rolled with, well, one of the gangs I rolled with. I was pretty social. :)

and then,
we went to a bar!
It was hilarious, as, never having been to one before, I didn't really understand how things worked. I had to ask a few questions just to figure out how to order some orange pop. SOOO much fun, though. Stinky, but fun.

So as if the previous night of raucousness wasn't enough, my friend Adam came by the next day! He and I were in the same freshman ward at BYU, living in Deseret Towers. He lives in Missouri now, but he just happened to be in Michigan for the weekend (seeing a Tigers game in Detroit) so he came by my parents' house on his way out of the state (after a super fun car and body searching whilst entering Canada). We had a really good time getting caught up, and we both kept pointing out how weird it was that he was at my parents' house in Michigan. Random. And fabulous. Randomly fabulous.

And then we had a family party later that same day, and I got to see my sister and her family! They're spectacular!

I had a hard time getting over how HUGE my nieces and nephew are, but it happens I guess, especially with me being in Texas and not seeing them as often as I'd like. But, more to come!

So remember the 4th of July? yah, we do, too.

I'm a little behind in posting about it, but we did have a really fun 4th.

Here's how the day went down--

homemade waffles for breakfast

a little Mario Kart with Kristen and Ryan to get the day going

some fun on the inflatable slip-and-slide ordered for the neighborhood block party

and getting dried off to eat some dinner and go see fireworks.

Good times.