Lake Michigan part 1: the Beach

The drive to Michigan was fun! Both girls did great in the car, and really liked staying at the various hotels. After the family reunion in Ann Arbor we drove to South Haven to a rental house, where we stayed with Grandma Evie & Peter, Anica & Aaron, Claire & Tim, Tamara & Cheyenne, and Gabe, Andrea, Emory & Lily. Aunts Robbie & Ann hung out with us as well!

Serena's Birthday Party!

Serena turned 4 on July 17th! On Sunday we celebrated her birthday with a butterfly-themed party at our house.

Serena with a friend:

Blowing bubbles with cousin Lily:

Thanks to Gabe & Andrea for decorating Serena's room with butterflies-- what a neat gift!

I made a butterfly cake for Serena: the wings are whole wheat carrot cake with honey cream cheese frosting, and the body is chocolate-avocado cupcakes.

Family Reunion Weekend

Over the weekend of July 9th, we attended Shanti's family reunion in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Friday night was a picnic by a river. The girls had fun going in a boat!

We spent a lot of time in hotels on our trip!

The girls had a great time with their cousin Cheyenne:

Saturday night was had fun with dinner & dancing in the hotel ball room:

Shilah with her cousin Amia:

Shilah with cousin Maya:

The girls with Grandma Evie:

Dancing with Uncle Gabe:

Dancing with Aunt Anica:

Crawling with cousin Amia:

Shilah with baby cousin Adelle:

Lots more pictures to come!

4th of July

In the midst of downloading all our vacation pics, I realized I never posted these from July 4th! We had a great time at Indian Hills, a little mountain town down the hill from us. We've made it our tradition to go here every year, and we always see people we know!

Bike riding:

Soccer:

Notice the deer in the background:

Tiny Town!

Below are some pics from Tiny Town- we got a season pass again this year. We just returned from a 2 week road trip to Michigan & Minneapolis-- pics to come soon!

Little sister in jail while big sister oversees her:

Shilah loves the monkey bars!

Maxwell Falls Hike

On Tuesday we went on a hike with some friends. Shilah did great, but Serena had to be carried some of the way. It was a beautiful day in the mountains!

Shilah and her BFF: