Silver Beach

The best beach in St. Joseph is Silver Beach. It was actually mentioned as one of the best family vacation spots in Parents Magazine recently.
It was a little bit of a hike to the water with two kids and all our stuff, but well worth the views!




Taking a break from the sand & sun for a little snack with her shades

The kids had a great time playing in the sand and a huge hole that someone had dug. The water was a little chilly for swimming, which was fine with Chris & I. The weather was just about perfect...warm enough to be outside, but not stifling to the point where you had to be in the water.

Michigan!

We decided a couple of weeks ago to take a semi-impromptu family vacation. Michigan seemed like a good choice. Close enough that we could drive AND get to go to a beach! Chris was able to get an extra day & a half off from work, so we left Thursday afternoon during the kids nap time. They slept about half-way through the 3.5 hour drive to St. Joseph, Michigan. We could only find a hotel room, not a rental house available for the long weekend, but we decided to make the best of it.

After getting settled a little bit, it was time to drive at least to take a look at the beach and get some dinner. There was a place on the St. Joseph River that came recommended by a friend called Clementine's II. So, we headed there for our first dinner. The kids did OK considering that they had short naps and were completely out of their element with the hotel room. We got to look at the boats a little bit while we waiting for our food and then ate quickly to get back to the hotel for bath time & bed time.

My future's so bright...I gotta wear shades!

Katelyn has a fascination with sunglasses. She has broken a pair of mine, a pair of Chris', and a pair of her own. We got a couple pairs of sunglasses from "school" (i.e. daycare) that so far, Katelyn has not been able to break. She loves to wear them!

4th of July - Part 2

After naps, we had some more yummy food, played outside and walk around to a neighbor's house to watch a few fireworks. All in all, a great day!

A fun memory to share from last night. Chris & I were watching TV. We heard Brendan on the stairs around 9:30pm - still awake of course. But he was staring out the front windows watching the fireworks going off in the neighborhood. He just sat there and whispered as we sat next to him, "Look at that one!" It was fun to share that with him. :)

Happy 4th of July! - Part 1

We had a family lunch today to celebrate the 4th of July. Yummy food and swimming made for a perfect afternoon.

Katelyn & Uncle Joe
Enjoying some red white & blue star cookies.


Baby Bobby didn't get to have a cookie, but he got to hang out with his mommy while his daddy worked hard on the holiday.
Swimming! Well, at least playing in the water.
One kid jumping!
One kid swimming...
Two kids jumping!
Two kids swimming...
Getting braver...jumping off the side.

More Swimming

More swimming today! Aunt Jenny, Uncle Rob & Bobby came over to swim too!

The best of all the grand babies! Brendan typically has something against posing to get his picture taken...
Watching the boats...he didn't realize I was taking his picture!

On his "freight cars" with his "cargo"

The "train" is about to crash into the waterfall!
A rare family picture...
The little engineer with this train cars loaded down with cargo...don't worry, Mamaw is just out of the picture.

Pool Time

We got to play in the pool at Mamaw & GrandBob's this afternoon after nap time. Brendan keeps saying that he doesn't want to swim, but I put my suit on and just put him in the water with me. After about a minute of complaining...he LOVED it!!