{our summer vacation, part 2}

It’s now Wednesday and we are leaving…

our Northern Michigan summer vacation spot to began our journey downstate. Three hours later we arrived at my parents house. We pulled up their long drive way and in the rear view mirror, as we were parking the car, I saw my mom and 2 nephews standing on the back porch.

Oh my sweet heavens, I haven’t seen these boys since Christmas!!!!

My have they grown :]

…into such handsome, smart, chatty, sunshine-kissed skin boys.

We spent the next hour or so outside. The boys were playing, my dad and Zack were grilling/laying our tent out to dry {it had recently rained and was still damp}, and my mom and I were chatting away.

Look, we even SIT the same way when we chat :]

And wear the same shirt.

The next day we took the boys to the Splash Park. It was super overcast but the boys had fun. They are little BFF’s and I love it!!!

Mom, Collin, Jack & Gussy, at the splash pad:

My parents watch my nephews in the afternoon while my brother is at work, so I got to spend SO much time with them ♥. Since we haven’t seen them in months we arranged to have them stay the night at my parents, too.

Auntie just can’t get enough of them — yeow!!!

The next day Zack and I drove to my parents cottage for the weekend. We took Collin {5-1/2 years} and Jack {almost 2-1/2 years} with us…

Ummm, I felt like a mom the entire time: trying to keep Jack awake so he didn’t fall asleep before lunch/naptime; talking with Collin and answering all his questions; helping Z remember where to turn.

I gave Collin my phone and he snapped some pics of his favorite puppy {and Uncle Zack}:

We’re here!!! Ready to totally relax at the cottage by playing games, sitting in the sunshine, playing in the lake, reading, and grilling out! We’re so thankful to be able to share in our favorite summer activities — for Zack it’s being on the family boat, for me it’s being at the family cottage :]

Yay, big brother Matt is out of work and finally at the cottage with us for the weekend {top left photo: Matt & Jack} —

Sunday evening came and it was time to leave the cottage. We drove back to my parents house, met up with some of our best pals, and then crashed around Midnight!

It’s now Monday morning and we’re back on the road, headed for CHICAGO! We arrived in the city mid-morning and decided to stop for a few hours to break up the drive.

Turns out “a few hours” really meant 4 hours ;]

We hung out in Millennium Park…

…took silly photos,

…grabbed some deeeee-licious pizza at Giordano’s, and then got back on the road.

We drove for hours before we saw the Minneapolis skyline:

So, as a recap —

We drove from Minneapolis to Petoskey to Grand Rapids to Chicago to Minneapolis.

And throughout out summer vacation we…

*drove over 1,200 miles
*slept in 4 different beds
*spent 10 days with family & friends
*and wish we were still there with them all. Huff.