Summer Vacation!!!!

We just returned from two weeks "up north". It's amazing how thin your blood becomes living in the south. We were frequently laughed at for our pants and jackets in the "heat".  Even so, we had so much fun (and got so spoiled!). 

We were fortunate enough to be able to tag along on a business trip with Gary. Grandma got to come along as we headed to the windy city. Trey was in heaven taking various modes of transportation. We rode a train to Chicago, took the bus around downtown, and rode a trolly from Navy Pier. We visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, went to the Children's Museum, shopped, played at the park, and ate until we could eat no more. 

While in Chicago, Grandma was nice enough to give us lots of date opportunities, the first of which ended in near disaster (completely my fault). If anyone ever questions the severity of Trey's dairy allergy, please call my mom. Gary and I left the hotel, walked a block, and were stopped by a call from Grandma. "You need to come back, now!" she said. Trey drank milk! The boys have the same thermos. Not wanting to cause fights between them over whose thermos is whose, I opted not to write names on them. For the trip, however, I put milk in Luke's thermos to keep it cold while traveling. I put a small dot on the lid with a sharpie, but never told Trey to look carefully at the lids before drinking. It doesn't take a genius to know what happened. He took a sip, spit it out because it, "tasted funny" and proceeded to swell (his lips, his tongue, and his eyes). Even after a round of benedryl, he was up all night basically choking from the swelling of his tongue, and he spent the following day with slightly swollen eyes. My poor baby :(

After Chicago, we headed back to Michigan for a full week with family.

Trey went fishing for the first time. He is really good at casting, but once there was an actual fish on the line he decided he was done :) I'm thinking he will get over this soon enough. Papa says the other kids used to be the same way, but this time, they were baiting their own hooks, catching a ton of fish, and taking them off the hooks themselves. They even helped to clean them before lunch. Yuck!!!

Kyle caught the first fish.

Waiting...

...but not long!

After the whole fish incident (you know, catching one) this is where we ended the fishing excursion.

Papa caught the smallest fish of anyone :)

The Sikes kids were kind enough to let us ride their 4-wheeler.

Anya and Emily...so cute!

The girls waiting their turn for the 4-wheeler

Lukey at the beach

Trey had a sleepover with Xander. And another one with Josh, Kyle and Emily. The boys loved playing with their cousins all the time. This is one of those things that makes me a little sad to be away from family.

We had fun, but Alabama never looked so good as it did after that 12 hour drive home :)