Michigan Part 4: Phil's College Buddies

The last week of vacation, Phil's best friends from college and their families joined us up at the lake house. This week there were 4 kids 2 and under and 2 school age kids which made for a full house. We had such a nice time relaxing on the beach, eating delicious meals (Each family took a night), playing Trivial Pursuit in the evenings (the women won every time, whoo hoo!!), and watching the kids interact.

The clawfoot tub was a nightly ritual for the babies after a day at the beach--so much sand in every crevice! Above is Sasha, Nicholas Bishop, and Hannah Harley.

The guys had an ugly mustache competition at the end of the week. You can see attractive results above.

Sasha and Leah Hochstetler in a rare cooperative photo shoot.

Wild Times with the Smuckers

It was great to spend a whole week with Phil's parents, brothers, and their families up in Michigan. We are all having kids at the same time so it was chaotic most of the time with 5 kids age 2 and under, but it was a lot of fun too. Sasha enjoyed hanging out with Mary and Jake who are exactly 1 year older than her.

The obligatory family photo....

This could be a poster, could it not?

More Michigan Memories

Sasha loved going for boatrides in Grandpa Smucker's speedboat.

One of our favorite pictures from the week

Phil and I picked up a parachute before we headed for Michigan and it was the best investment we've made in a long time. Why did they only get that thing out a couple times a year in gym class?

Phil and I remember running down "Sand Mountain" as kids and it was so fun to introduce Sasha to the tradition this year.

Michigan Part 1: Daddy and Sasha

We spent the middle 2 weeks of July up in Onekama, Michigan at Phil's parent's lakehouse. The first week was with Phil's family and the second week with his best buddies from college. It was a fantastic vacation in almost every way and we came home feeling very refreshed and thankful for good family and friends. The weather was cooler and rainier than usual which I guess was par for the course throughout the midwest this summer, but we managed to get in plenty of beach time on Lake Michigan and Portage Lake. The best part for all of us was getting to spend an entire 2 weeks together every day. Sasha was Daddy's girl for the most part, wanting less to do with me whom she gets to spend every day at home with, and everything to do with Phil. He loved it!

The only other place with skies this blue is New Mexico--seriously!

It was a vacation with many "firsts" for Sasha. Here she is getting her first jet-ski ride. Other than not being a fan of the life jacket, she loved the jet-ski and requested to go on many more rides after this one.