Michigan 2010. Hometown.

We spent the first couple days of our visit in Flushing, with Scott's parents.  Flushing is where Scott and I grew up.  We went to a year of elementary school, junior high and high school together.  Good times.  The kids enjoyed getting reacquainted with their cousins and checking out some Flushing landmarks.  They got to see where we went to school and the house that I grew up in.  My parents were not there so we just walked around and checked out grandpa's paths. I have also included some pics from the pool party at Uncle Glenn and Aunt Jeanne's house. A big thank you to them for hosting this party!!! It was so wonderful to get to see so many Kolinski relatives!

The Wescott Clan.

 Annabel and Alice dressing up in grandma's basement.

 Aunt Amy painting Alice's nails.  Bright orange and yellow. 

 Cousins hanging out on the swing at grandma and papa's house.

  Everybody loves a big plastic car.  Especially Mason.

 Checking out the backyard at my parent's house.  The kids were amazed at the size of their yard.  And a creek to boot.  Super cool status :)

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Sam and Alice swam in the state competition this morning.  They both swam well and I was very proud of them.  I am feeling a bit brain dead after our busy morning at the pool.  Tonight we are off to the state meet pasta dinner.  Scott and I will be spending most of the weekend volunteering at the meet.  Sam swims in a medley relay tomorrow morning and then our kids are done for the summer.  Hopefully I can post a few pictures of the meet before the end of the weekend. 

Jennifer

Michigan 2010. Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Another day trip that we took was to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  We made the trip to the northwest side of the state in the minivan caravan.  Scott's parents, his sister, Amy, and her kids and Scott's brother and our sister-in-law, Tracy, and their kids all made the trek.  We had a fun, hot day on the dunes.  We ended up hiking 3.5 miles through the dunes to Lake Michigan.  It was gorgeous and the water felt really good after the long, hot hike.  Even though our kids have been to the Sand Dunes here in Colorado, they were really excited to get to the water and swim in the big lake. Sleeping Bear Dunes was a favorite spot of Scott and I when we were in college and it was fun to see the kids enjoy it as much as we did. 

 Alice standing at the top of the big dune. 

 Nephew Charlie getting his toes wet after the long hike through the dunes.

 Lake Michigan

 Mason sliding down a mini-dune.

 Sam, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tracy, Jacob, Kelsey and Kate enjoy a tall glass of water and dinner at Art's Tavern  in Glen Arbor.

 Sam, Alice and I loving the cool water of Lake Michigan.

 Paige working hard to get up the dunes.

 Isn't this water awesome!

Michigan 2010. Mackinac Island

One of our favorite places in Michigan is Mackinac Island.  This small island is located in Lake Huron between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.  The only way to access the island is by ferry. There are no cars allowed on Mackinac and the only ways to get around is by foot, bike or horse.  We spent most of last Wednesday exploring the island.  We hiked up to the highest point on the island, Fort Holmes and to Arch Rock.   After lunch we rented bikes and spent the afternoon riding the 8 mile path that goes around the island.   We stopped at the halfway point to get an ice-cream and play in the water.  The kids thought the lake was awesome and kept calling it the ocean.  We ended the trip with some fudge, taffy and tourist sweatshirts. 

Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  This bridge is 5 miles long.

Sam riding the ferry over to the island.  The ferry ride takes 16 minutes.

The fam on the porch of the Governor's summer house. We didn't know it but on Wednesdays you can tour for free.

Michigan 2010. Catching Lightning Bugs.

This past week we have been spending time with family in northern MI.  We stayed a couple days in Flushing (where Scott and I grew up) and then we headed "up north" for the remainder of our MI adventure.  We had a really nice time and a huge thank you to Scott's Uncle Tom who put up 20 extra people for the week.  Most of the week was spent hanging out by the lake, tubing, jet skiing and just plain relaxing.  We did take a couple day trips, one to Mackinac Island and another to Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl. Park.  I took A LOT of pictures...ahemmm....let's just say it's over 200.  I am hoping to post a few each day this week.  As you can see, the kids didn't enjoy themselves at all :) 

Capturing a Moment.  Catching Fireflies.  Our kids have never seen fireflies or lightning bugs.  One evening as we were getting ready to put the kids to bed we noticed that the yard was full of lightning bugs.  They were twinkling everywhere.  It was such a fun moment for our kids and for Scott and I. 

You can see some of the lightning bugs twinkling in the pictures.  The kids wanted to bring them home but we decided to leave them in Michigan and visit them on our next visit. 

Stay Tuned

We are hangin' out at the lake this week and I will be back soon. 

The kids are having a ball.  Can't you tell?!?!?!

Naked. Mole. Rat.

  

                                        

Note: Naked Mole Rat in this picture appears larger than the real thing.

Today we took our weekly field trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Props to our awesome zoo on the side of the mountain.  It rocks.  Really rocks.  Anyhow, we went.  We saw.  And yes, they are naked. The mole rats, that is. 
Every summer the zoo has a temporary exhibit of some rare animal.  One summer it was giant fruit bats.  We skipped that one.   I can't imagine why.  Another summer there was a butterfly house set up.  Now that was cool.  I can hang with butterflies.  Giant fruit bats, no thanks. 
We spent a nice afternoon hanging out together, checking out the animals and having a blast along the way.

Have a great Tuesday evening,
Jennifer

Camping Weekend

We spent the last weekend camping in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. This gorgeous area is located at 10,300 feet and is just north of Nederland (and about 2 1/2 hours from our house). We camped with our good friends and had a blast!!!! We did two awesome hikes, played in the lake, had a snowball fight, ate well and enjoyed time just hanging out with friends. I took 120 pictures so I put some of them into a slideshow. Off to shower and get some sleep.

Have a great week!

Jennifer