Driving back to Texas

On our way back to Texas, we made a few stops to see friends and family. Our first stop was at Cousin Ann's house in Indianapolis. My mom had been staying there after her knee surgery. We were grateful to Ann for taking such good care of her and letting us stay with them for the night! My Grandpa also drove up for dinner so we enjoyed spending time with him too.

Tom took the kids down by the water to look at fish and even on a boat ride!

Ryan and Oma blowing bubbles

On our driving trips, we always try to find neat places to stop and get out some energy. Here we found a fun park in Fort Wayne, IN.  It is a playground/water park. Although very fun, we had to try really hard not to let Ryan get in the water!!

After leaving Ann's house in Indianapolis bright and early on the 3rd, we drove straight through to Austin. We did make a stop in Dallas to have dinner with a friend of Bryce's. It was a great way to break up the trip and let the kids run around - always a good idea.

And then we were back from our adventures. Another successful summer trip to the Midwest!

More Midland Fun

I'm really trying to catch up on the blog!!  Maybe even get through Summer before Christmas!

For some reason, the weather does NOT seem to cooperate when we go up to Michigan - it's like it knows we are coming and hence turns cold and rainy.  But, we make the most of it.  One day, we went downtown to Midland and the Farmers market - always a hit, especially when there is a guy making balloon creations!

Then, we walked over the Tridge - it's a three-way bridge where 2 rivers intersect - pretty cool! 

And after that, we got to go play footgolf! I'd never heard of footgolf before, but they have it at the golf course where Papa works in the summer.  It was so neat! We had a blast playing.  I found out they even have one here in Austin that we will need to go try sometime (if it ever stops raining!).

 Another fun activity one day was car washing! Who knew? I guess I should put my kids to work at home more often. Although it might be Papa and Mema who make it so fun!

And even though we had some rainy/cold weather, we still managed to get out and try some fishing off the dock.  Just like in Ohio, the fish were biting like crazy! We pulled in tons of fish and the kids had a blast!

One day, we went to Papa's work and then to a park - Evan discovered the game Battleship and loved playing it!

And Caitlin discovered Mema's hair rollers which we HAD to try...

And just like that, our week long visit was over.  It was time to drive back to Texas. We were sad to leave but knew we'd see them again in Austin just a month later for Evan's birthday! 

Wixom Lake - Midland, MI

We are never really sure what kind of weather we are going to get in Michigan.  We always hope to get to enjoy the lake, but it's never guaranteed.  This year, we had only one day where the weather allowed us go to tubing and swimming!  But, we made the most of it.

Bryce took the kids out first in the big tube which they love

He even showed off a little bit!

 We even let Ryan go on a tube ride this year!

Although this is what he would have done all day if we had let him!

 Evan even got to ride on a jet ski with Daddy for the first time! The neighbors were kind enough to let the boys go out together. He loved it!

It was a great day on the lake. So glad we got at least one day in before the rain and colder weather came. I love to see the joy in these kids when we do fun things as a family!  The whole time they kept giving the "go faster" signal. Hope next year we can get some better weather to enjoy more days like this on the lake!