Father's Day Weekend...

We headed up north to my family's house over Father's Day weekend, where we spent time hanging out with family, shopping, off-roading in the Raptor, watching Kaden's t-ball game, barbecuing some yummy food, and celebrating my dear, sweet dad. 

There's something to be said about leaving the city and heading up north during the summer... It's more relaxed and peaceful up there, allowing for more time to sit back and unwind. :)  Being "home" in northern Michigan is one of my favorite places to be during the summer! :)  

Happy Father's Day, Dad!! :)
Thank you for being so wonderful, supportive,  encouraging, generous, and loving! :)
 I'm so very grateful to have you as my dad !!

Celebrating Father's Day with the fam... :)

And another family picture so that mom could be in it! :)

Watching Kaden's t-ball game...
What a little batter he is! :)

Look at him run! :)

Safe at first base!

Brian and Vander watching the action...

At bat again...

... and made it to first again! :)
Love his pose! :)

Family pic with my favorite guys! :)

Kaden learned how to read in Kindergarten this year, so he's been practicing his reading with everyone...
Vander included! :)
This was just too cute to witness!:)

Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Fun...

Our friend, Rachel, is getting married this August... Being that my sister, Kory, and I are all in the wedding, we decided to hold a small bridal shower/bachelorette party for Rachel in June.  We started off at Kory's house for the bridal shower portion, and then proceeded to head to downtown Lansing for the rest of the night.  It turned out to be a very fun day/night, and I'm pretty sure Rachel had a great time hanging with her bridesmaids! :)

Stacy was busy getting things ready... :)

Stacy and Renee enjoying the yummy sangria!! :)

The spread... :)

Let's get this party started! :)

Rachel and her cake...
Due to a cake mishap earlier in the day, we're still not entirely sure if the purple designs on the cake were meant to be lilacs or grapes! :)

The centerpieces/favors... :)

Getting ready to open some presents...

Clearly, Kory was emotional! :)
Actually, this picture cracks me up... It totally looks like she's crying, but in reality she was  laughing. :)

Heading out to downtown Lansing for some bachelorette fun! :)

The gang's all here...
Well, minus me... I was the photographer for the evening. :)

Jess, Ricki, and Kory looking quite mischievious! :)

Ricki was loving her bling! :)

By the end of the night, Danielle was struggling with her shoes...
She proceeded to walk back to the hotel barefoot. :)

Rachel and her bridesmaids at the Michigan state capital...
Love this picture! :)

Camping at the Pinery...

Prior to moving abroad, Brian and I would spend our Memorial Day weekend camping at the Pinery in Canada with friends.  There was always a huge group of people and we would spend our days hanging around a campfire, walking the dunes and along the gorgeous beach, drinking one too many drinks, eating yummy food, chatting, laughing, enjoying being in the company of friends, and simply relaxing. It was always something that we looked forward to and it was definitely a highlight of our summer! :)  Sadly, after we moved to Germany, the other members of the group either had children, moved away, or lost interest, and the Memorial Day camping trips fizzled out.

Well, now that we're officially back in the States, we wanted to rekindle that annual trip and start making new memories.  So, this past Memorial Day, we piled all of our camping gear into the truck and headed off to the Pinery.  We decided to start off small, so it was just us and our friends, Andrew and Natalie.  (Our goal is to start small and we're hoping that eventually it will catch on again and we'll be able to build it back up to the way it used to be, and in the process we can start creating new memories and traditions. :))  We had such a nice time relaxing, exploring the area, walking the dunes, walking Vander along the beach (albeit, somewhat illegally... But, that's another story! :)), and simply being with each other.  It was a great beginning to a new tradition! :)

All packed up and ready to go! :)

Heading into Canada! :)

Welcome to the Pinery!

Our set up... :)

Our new tent...
After getting Vander, we decided that our small, two-person tent might not be big enough for us and Vander with his crate... So, we decided to purchase a new tent with a "garage" that attaches to it, so that Vander's crate can fit into that.  Needless to say, we set up our tent at the Pinery for the first time and realized just how huge it was!  I can change clothes standing up in it... That was quite the funny realization! :)  We decided not to attach the garage to it during this trip as the weather was gorgeous and there wasn't a forecast for rain... Plus, we figured that Vander would enjoy being able to sleep in his crate under the stars. :)  That worked well the first night, but the second night surprised us... We woke up by the sound of raindrops on the tent, so we got up and threw the crate in the tent to get Vander out of the rain... Needless to say, we were quite "cozy", but the crate did manage to fit... Although, sleeping in such close proximity to Vander was a bit to close for comfort for the both of us... That was when Brian and I both came to the conclusion that we will NEVER be one of those dog owners that allow their dogs to sleep in bed with them. :)

Chillin' at the campsite...

Hanging out around the campfire with Andrew and Natalie... :)

Vander got into the swing of things very quickly! :)

The gorgeous beach... :)

The Dunes...
We quickly learned how much Vander enjoyed them! :)

Vander loved running up the dunes and then plowing down them at full speed!!

Hilarious! :)

Unfortunately, I was walking up one of the dunes as he came barreling down...
Needless to see, he didn't manage to stop in time! :)

 

Brian having a chat with Vander! :)

Hanging out on the dunes... :)

Me and my big fur-baby! :)

"Family photo" time! :)

In addition to the dunes, Vander also realized how much he enjoyed the water! :)

The drying cycle. :)

Playing his favorite game... Tug! :)

I heart this! :)

Heading back to camp after a fun day of hiking the dunes and walking the beach. :)

Andrew and Natalie having fun on the dunes! :)

After such an "exerting" day of walking in the sand, we enjoyed a tasty drink around the campfire.  :)

All that playing in the water and running in the sand wore this little guy right out! :)

Unfortunately, our weekend came to an end earlier than expected... :(
We woke up on Sunday morning to this forecast... Crazy thunderstorms and hailstorms headed directly towards us... And it wasn't scheduled to clear up until the following day... Yikes!
So, we quickly packed up and headed back home where we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing around the house.
All in all, a pretty great Memorial Day weekend! :)