Michigan Posting #6 (Last One!)

As our vacation winded down, we took one more trip into town (Suttons Bay) to hit the beach and build, you guessed it, more sand castles!

Most public beaches in the area are literally treasure chests...you can find just about any toy, shovel, rake, bucket etc laying around that some child or family left behind...in this case...a fighter jet!

Billy got creative here with some sand, driftwood and other various beach necessities...

We had tons and tons of fun at the beach...Will already misses the sand now that we are back in TX.  

This is what happens when Will bakes with Nana and Papa....clearly he takes after me :)

This is the coolest tree in the world...it is on a trail that Nana and Papa take Jude to every now and then...perfect picture moment :)

Will loved our walk through the woods...he ran the whole way (about a mile if I remember correctly).  This is a huge change from last year when we carried him pretty much the whole way!

Just look at this guy smile!  

These pictures were taken on our last day of vacation (sigh).  

Billy and Will thought it would be fun to go out together on a raft...little did they know they are both way over their heads here!  Good thing no one fell off (life jackets next time Billy!).

And of course, Will's favorite beach toy in the world, is usually Billy ;)

After supper that night we had one more romp on the Trey beach...

One more family pic...

One more story with Papa...

And one more gorgeous sunset!

Thank goodness I took a million pictures to remember it all :)

(Note - top right - Jude even got her paw print in on this years footprint pic)

Thanks Nana and Papa for a wonderful vacation.  We miss you already!

Michigan Posting #5

Ok, I'm almost done with the Michigan postings, promise....

Late in our vacation, we decided to take one more trip to the sand dunes...how can you not?  They are so great, carved out by the ICE AGE GLACIERS...as were the great lakes...

Needless to say, they were not as 'cool' the second time around and it took MUCH coaxing to get Will excited, but eventually he perked up.

Here he is, determined to beat us up the face...

Ahhhh...Victory!  He loves thinking he is bigger and faster than us...

Pictures like this make me second guess whether or not I can truly control my urges to pinch him...this profile, this jaw line, I can hardly stand it!

We even went way up to the top to get a view of Lake Michigan...(You can barely see it over his left hand).  Maybe next year we will do the full 3-4 mile hike...or maybe he and Billy can :)

The best part of the climb is running back down...let the running commence!

You can tell how fast he is running downhill here because both of his feet are off the ground!

What a smile...KODAK MOMENT :)

And how does he get so tan?  We SLATHER sunscreen on him sometimes twice a day!

I love how Billy is such a big kid...he really gets Will going!

The next couple pictures are all about perspective.  I'm trying to show everyone just how big the sand dunes are...here we are on top of the second face --- you can see some teeny tiny people down below and a white camper in the parking lot at the base of the first face...we are REALLY HIGH UP!

Here is another picture of a SMALL trail we climbed up, not even one of the main ones...you can see Will and Billy at the very top...

And this is a picture of Will on top of Billy's shoulders at the top of the main face.  I am taking the picture, and am about 2/3 rds the way up the face myself!  This place is so big, so fun and so beautiful!  I wish I could remember what it was like to explore it when I was three years old!

And this picture is all about providing perspective on how steep it is...kids SOAR down the face...most usually take terrible tumbles (and yes, Will did but I'm omitting those pics of course ;) involving the inevitable mouthfuls of sand).  You can see Nana and Papa in the background and check out the incline!

At this point he is almost sprinting out of control...I don't know how he didn't topple over...

Haha!!  He is going so fast here he's actually kicking up sand!

I wish I could read his little mind as he raced down...maybe he was imagining he was a super friend (like The Flash)!

Madilyn Joy (Michigan Posting #4)

One of the best things about going home is seeing one of my besties Emma.  She has the most adorable two year old little girl, Madilyn (Mads).  One afternoon we got together at the beach so our two little tikes could meet...and I must say, they hit it off ;)  

Like a good strong woman, Mads quickly took charge of all the toys and like a good smart man, Will let her haha!

Later, Mads shared some of her snacks with Will, in particular, some melon.

Once we got back to Houston, Will and Billy went to the grocery store and Will explicitly asked Billy to pick up some "Madilyn Melon"...isn't he cute?!?!  She obviously left quite an impression on him :)

Michigan Posting #3

Guess what!!!  More Michigan pictures!  One day when I was a little chilly (because it was only 70 in the morning haha!) we took Will to the Old Mission Lighthouse.  We very carefully climbed up all the treacherous stairs....

And were so thankful when we got to the top!  What a pretty view!   We were able to see (if I remember correctly) 5 islands off the coast and it was beautiful!

Then I had to take a picture in front of the flowers...sorry Will!

Then it was off to more treacherous stuff, climbing on top of giant boulders...I'm sure Papa Dave didn't instigate this at ALL!

Jude and Nana Julie had the right idea...stay on shore, out of harms way :)

Although the morning was chilly, it made it to the 80s during the day and then we all headed downstairs for another beautiful sunset...have I mentioned I love this place?  How pretty is this!?!?

The next day we were off to the beach again and this time Daddy and Will made a T-Rex sand castle!

I just love this boy...he is so adorable!  That smile goes a LOOONNNGG way with me :)  I think I may spoil him, just a tad :)

My smile grew even bigger when he decided he wanted to bury ME in the sand this time...haha!  The newspaper actually came by and took a picture of us!  I think he did a pretty good job!

But then Billy came back from grabbing lunch for us and thought he needed to 'one up' Will's burying job ...this picture just cracks me up...he actually dug a hole, had Will sit in it, then buried him up to his neck hahaha!  Will thought it was hysterical!

Look!  How funny!!!

One of the best things Will got to do every day, and couldn't go ONE day without, was story time with Papa and Nana...story time that then later led to legendary bed time stories...I don't know where my parents get the energy...retirement must be awesome :)

Speaking of energy, one day Nana and Papa took Will to the Maritime Children's Museum...Will had a blast doing all kinds of cool things!