Michigan Summer

The iconic bear fountain at the Detroit Zoo

I had the opportunity to visit my home state of Michigan twice this summer. The first visit was unplanned, although not unexpected; when we flew home for my Grandma's funeral. It was obviously a sad trip, but we still managed to do some fun things and show the kids some cool Michigan sights. We (okay, mostly my parents) took the boys to a few different playgrounds - there are so many great ones in the area - and we made lots of trips to the library. And I must say, that while I do love our local East Coast libraries, the libraries that I grew up with are amazing. But don't just take my word for it, take the President's...last year, the WBTPL was the recipient of the National Medal, the highest honor a library or museum can achieve. (This year's recipient? The Mystic Aquarium. It's like excellence just follows me around.) Marc and my dad also took Jack to see some cars being built, because that's about as Detroit as it gets. So, even though our trip home was for an unfortunate reason, we still had some fun times.

Chillin' at "The Michigan House"

With Grammy Carol at Hess-Hathaway Park

So many yogurt choices at Hiller's Market

Spinning around at Marshbank Park

My second trip home was for a far more auspicious occasion, my lifelong friend Amy's baby shower. Marc wasn't able to join us since he'd taken a week off of work for our trip in June, but Jack and Sam and I, along with my mom, flew home again in July for a wonderful visit. I had a great time visiting with Amy and many of our other best buds, both at Amy's baby shower and her birthday celebration dinner the night prior.

Amy and I as mamas then...

...and mamas now.

I also got to spend some time with some other friends and family members, and Jack and Sam were able to play with some of their little Great Lake State buddies. It really was a perfect trip, I just wish we had more time to visit even more old friends and family members, and enjoy more of all the wonder that Michigan has to offer.

The butterfly house at the Detroit Zoo

Ty and Jack thought this huge snake was soooo cool.

Carousel at the Detroit Zoo

Swimming in Union Lake

Playing around on Grandpa Carl's boat

Visiting with friends at Indian Springs Metropark

My little water baby stayed pretty dry at the splash pad.

Spinning around at the splash pad

Bopping around on the playground