4th of July with the Albins

I mentioned in the last blog that I didn't have all the photos we took in Michigan. But now that Patrick is back in town, I can show pictures from the first half of our trip.

We had a nice view of the Sierra Nevada mountains on our plane to Dallas.

We girls had some nice R&R during Cassandra's bachelorette party. My orange toes look pretty cute, but the best part of the pedicure was the massage chair. :)

We headed into downtown GR for dinner at the Bob. My veggie burger was delicious if you need a menu recommendation!

I booked a hotel room, where we sipped on pink champagne and played games- it was great fun to have a girls night!

Patrick, me, and my family went to a Whitecaps game. Dad was prepared in case of a fly ball, but Courtney was the lucky person to end up with one! Not without a little help from Patrick (bobbled it), mom (it then bounced off her back), and me (I covered her 3:00 when I unsuccessfully lunged for it). She did however earn it for keeping a tight grip when some punk kid from who-knows-how-many-rows-back, ran up and tried to take it out of her hands in her lap! "Stealing's wrong!" I should have yelled, but I thought it a few seconds too late. :)

Dad bought Britt a rather fitting souvenir for her, seeing as she had earlier been joining in on audience activities like the chicken and dinosaur dances. :)

Courtney- making mom proud with her cotton candy stained teeth. Mom had earlier joked, "The real reason for going to a baseball game is just to eat trash!" after I told her I couldn't eat anymore of an elephant year until I had some real dinner.

There was a great fireworks show at the end of the game. Oh- and the Whitecaps won, in case you wondered! (Partial thanks must go to the opposing team's shortstop who made error after error!)

Fourth of July BBQ at my grandma's house. Apparently grillmaster mommas was the trend this summer!

After watching the downtown fireworks from the bridge near my parents' house, we set a few off in the backyard that Courtney had bought.

We hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Summer vacation

It's been about a week and a half since we returned from our summer vacation in Michigan, which means it is overdue we posted about it on the blog! I currently only have access to a few pictures from our time with the Wombles since Patrick is out of town with the computer and one camera that contain a lot of the photos. But I'll give you the highlights of our two weeks in the homeland, and show some of what I do have.

As always, the trip went by too fast and we felt jipped on time, but we managed to cram a lot into it: Me and a pal from high school planned an impromptu bachelorette party for one of our best friends; Patrick scheduled a bittersweet last appointment with a Doctor-turned-family-friend he had been seeing since he was in 5th grade; my family had a BBQ to celebrate a few birthdays and Independence Day; fireworks; catching up with a few friends over lunch; and that doesn't even include our time at a rental home in Traverse City!

For the 3rd year in a row, Patrick's family rented a house (different each time) in semi-Northern MI for a week to offer the space and entertainment for everyone visiting from around the globe. This year, badminton was a main feature, played at least 1-5 times per day!

Grandma took the helm at the grill- MMM! Among traditional delectables like BBQ chicken, I found out I'm a big fan of grilled turnips!

Grandpa Denny taugh John a new trick with the Redi-whip!

As you'll see from the rest of the photos, the water was integral to everybody's time at the lake house! Here, Patrick, Mark, Calum & Isaac's canoe are towing Daisy and Jackie after they underestimated how far they'd paddled and how much work it'd be to get back!

Sally enjoying a cup of coffee on a sunny morning pontoon boat ride.

Daisy waving at us from her place on the paddle board as we're swept away on the boat.

The wind is fair, captain!

Calum had loads of fun and was on his way to being a pro with the paddle boards.

I loved being on the boat, but Isaac does a much better/cuter job of showing his enthusiasm!

Aunt Jackie left the beach chair for a more scenic reading location.

Life is good!

Here was a particularly interesting site on the lake: This balloon gradually lowered its elevation, and at this point we were pretty sure it was about to crash! Everyone on the lake's gaze was locked! But the pilot was either super lucky or super precise, as he recovered his height and never touched the water (although he was just about a foot away from it).

We had an awesome time in Michigan and already miss our loved ones and look forward to our next visit! I'm going back at the end of this month just for a weekend to be the matron of honor in my long-time friend's wedding, but otherwise our return probably won't be until Christmas. In the meantime, we'll keep you updated!