Vaca - the Rest

Time to round out our 2013 Midwest adventures.  Stop #1 - Holland at Grandma and Grandpa Marc's cottage.  Our favorite resting place.  Above are all the Vogel cousins, minus Chase.  They had a blast hangin at Grandma's cottage.  We celebrated Isaac and Tim's b-days while we were all together.  

Grandpa Marc is a real treat for so many reasons.  He loves all the kids and makes sure they know it.  Whether that be through playing or teasing.  Dude is starting to get it.  

  

We love walking down the hill to the marina and playground.  It's a lifestyle we just can't get enough of.  

On Sunday we were stoked to meet up with our Rieger friends in Saugatuck.  I adore Saugatuck.  We thought our kids were blond, but look at these two goofs.  The kids romped around town and giggled the entire time.  So fun to catch up.

The story behind this shot....the little boy on the right was being a Bossy McPherson  telling them they couldn't play "trains" on the slide.  The kids just stared at him and continued on with their antics.  Don't mess with 4 toe heads. 

On Monday we spent the day in Grand Rapids visiting grandparents and extended family.  First stop was Gigi's house.  My dear Gram, who I get my strong will from, has been quite sick the last 6 months but recently made an astonishing come back and is home again.  Her strong will comes in handy I tell ya.  We're so happy to have her back.  Dude thought Gigi's chair was "totally awesome."  She didn't get the privilege of sitting there much that afternoon.

Tim and I went to visit his Grandma that afternoon.  She also was quite sick for a long period of time but her health is much improved.  Doesn't she look great?  Her memory is off and on, but we loved taking her outside and reviving old memories.  The longer she spent with us the more started coming back.  We wish we could do that more often.  That night we met up with my mom's parents and a bunch of my aunt and cousins in Grand Rapids.  A lot of these kiddos I've never even met.  Sad.  My grandparents are amazingly healthy and full of life.

Grandma Batts.  She's about the sweetest grandma you could dream up.  

Strong Willed Woman #1 and #2.  My dear daughter has already been coined #3.  Rightly so.

My childhood idol, cousin Jamie.  She handed down her clothes, jewelry and big cousin advice.  She now has 3 darling daughters.  It was a blessing to see her smiling face. 

Back at the cottage the next day.  A blustery day but driveway fun is sheltered and care free.  We indulged in lots of cherries that week.  Can you find evidence?  

After Holland time came to an end we drove to Chi-town and spent the remainder of our time with Ross, Kira, the Kwas kids, Kyle, Becky and Mom and Dad.  It was blissful being all together.  The traffic not so much, but everything else got an A+.  Especially the 60 degree temps.  UNHEARD of for July in Chicago.

I'll briefly mention that one of those days was spent driving 4 hours (with Nana and Papa) to Wisconsin, where we anticipated renting a cottage and visiting the Wisconsin Dells.  We arrived, scoped out the family-UNfriendly cottage with no swimming access, called the owner to tell him we were leaving, drove through the Dells and were grossed out by the chaos, traffic, dirty water parks and masses of people.  We did allow Dude to go-kart for half hour and ate less than mediocre pizza.   We then got back in the car and drove the 4 hours back to Chicago. That's all I'm going to say about that waste of a day.      

The awesome and free Lincoln Park Zoo.  

We're looking at kangaroos here.  To which Dude says, "Do these guys know how to do kick boxing?"  

A perfect walk to the best breakfast spot in town, Over Easy.

The Museum of Science and Industry.  A childhood flashback for me.  Haven't been there since high school.  They still have the baby chicks which was totally nostalgic for me.  

Our favorite...chill time at Ross and Kira's house.  Bikin' it.  There was a bike for all.  

Our last day we all went to the unbelievably beautiful Botanic Gardens in the north suburbs.  We spent 3 hours there and only saw a portion of what the gardens have to offer.  Dude loved exploring every nook and cranny.  Squirt enjoyed being pushed in her stroller.  That's where we're at with her.  Walking is not a hobby for the princess.  We got some priceless shots of the kids here that deserve their own post, so those will come later.
  

When Dude saw this tree he said, "Nana, was the seed that grew that tree a square shape seed?"  

That night Tim and I went out for a delectable Oak Brook dinner with old neighbor friends, Kevin and Susan.  We hadn't hung with them since we moved back to Denver, so lots to catch up on.  Sunday morning we woke up, wished each other a happy 12th anniversary and hauled two kids to the airport to head home. Lots of fun jam packed into 10 days.  Enough smiles to last us the remainder of the summer.