Brown Eyed Girl Meets a Blue Eyed Boy: northern michigan

We just got back from an awesome trip to Northern Michigan for my cousin's wedding. We left Thursday after work, drove through the night and arrived in Petosky, MI early Friday morning.

After a failed attempt at getting our kiddos back to sleep we got our room settled then headed down for breakfast with family. It's so fun seeing family we don't see that often, some of my cousins I hadn't seen in over a year! We spent the day Friday exploring the awesome downtown, walking along the Lake Michigan harbor, attending rehearsal lunch, Jimmy golfed with the men of the wedding, and then after pizza in the hotel we hit the town for the night. One of the bummers of traveling with small kiddos is one of us always seems to miss out on something - Jimmy stayed back with the kiddos that night while I caught up with several of the ladies and enjoyed some yummy appetizers and drinks at a local restaurant.

Saturday was wedding day! We spent the morning at a park and a fun coffee shop on the pier before heading back to get ready for the wedding. We had previously decided that just I would go to the wedding and Jimmy would stay back with the kiddos. That worked well because it was a 2pm wedding - aka nap time - and then they'd be well rested for the reception - so we thought. Funny how things never quite go as planned :) Turns out Lily didn't nap and Preston didn't sleep long. So sure enough by the time we drove the 20 minutes to the reception site they were both tired! Turns out Preston really can sleep through anything and slept a good hour in the corner in the stroller while we ate dinner and visited. Then before the dance even started Lily switched him places and slept the entire rest of the reception asleep in the stroller as well. Preston was a party animal and stayed up dancing with us until the last dance!

Sunday we took our time getting packed up and hitting the road and took a scenic drive back to Grand Rapids, MI where a few of my cousins and aunt and uncle live. We were able to see both of their places, the kiddos were able to play and run around with my cousins kid, have dinner with them, and then load back into the car for the drive home through the night Sunday.

Last stop was Monday morning to spend the day at the farm. It timed out perfectly that Jimmy's dad was ready to harvest our field so Jimmy actually did that himself this year and ran the combine all day Monday, while the kiddos and I spent the day at Grandma's! Both kids loved riding in the tractor with Aunt Jissy and in the combine with daddy. Such fun memories being made. Then one last time in the car Monday night to drive the last few hours home to Ankeny.

It felt like we spent days in the car but it was well worth the trip! I don't think we've missed a family wedding yet and I love that. Sometimes it's the only time you see some family that lives far away and marriages are such a big celebration.

Congratulations to Brett and Biz - may you experience the blessing of marriage in a real way and work daily to follow Christ through your marriage.