7/4: Race, Picnic, and Lake

Sunday: The fourth of July!!
We started the day with a trip to Engadine to run in the 28th annual Black Bear Run. We ran the 6k race. This is the first time we have ran this race. I noticed this race online when I was looking up 4th of July festivities.

Stretching before the race

Drew and I got Melissa, Todd, Shauna, and Jeff to join us!
The course was a trail run! It was a cool morning but the sandy hills made for a challenging run at times!

Todd and I ended up winning our age groups!

Drew got 2nd in his age group (behind Todd!)
Todd and Drew finished in 27 mins.

I finished in 31 mins.

After the race we headed to Newberry for the Perry Family picnic!

Then we headed out to Round Lake to enjoy some swimming. It was a hot day! We thought we were escaping the summer heat by heading to northern Michigan...boy were we wrong!

Emmy enjoyed smacking the water!

7/3:Parade, Bears, Picnic, and Boating

Saturday morning we headed into Newberry for the Fourth of July Parade. My mom's WHOLE family always meets in front of the same house every year to watch the parade.

I believe everyone in this picture is family!

Keelin is ready for the parade to start!

Keelin was the only child right in our area so all the candy went into her bag! oh...there was so much!

The ever popular firetrucks!!

Taking cover!

I had my camera and I was wearing white pants...so I backed WAY UP!!

Oswald's Bear Ranch!

After the parade we went to see bears. This ranch has 4 fenced habitats for bears. We walked around 3 of them. Jeff and Shauna went into the cubs cage and took some really cute pictures! We also saw the largest bear...650 lbs!!! He was a big bear!

This cub was so cute trying to bob for apples!

Getting a little help... which the bear was not too happy about!

We saw so many bears!! very cool!

feeding time!

Planck Picnic

playing washers!

teaching Keelin how to throw a Frisbee!

The WHOLE Planck Family

Planck Family

The cousins

Going out on the boat!!!

Keelin has been talking about going out on her grandpa's fishing boat for a long time!

We went out on the Tahquamenon River.

Keelin went fishing for the first time!

She didn't catch anything :(

7/1-7/2: Mason and Traveling North

We traveled to Mason, MI on Thursday, July 1. We stayed at my parents' house Thursday night and then headed to the UP Friday afternoon.

Enjoying dinner on the deck.

Emmy pulled to a stand all by herself on steps!


Friday's Newspaper

The two days we were in Mason a movie was being filmed at the courthouse. The town square was very crowded with set equipment, trucks, and people!

Hugh Jackman was there! The movie is called "Real Steel"

Our car was so loaded!!! The bikes were on the back too!

Mackinac Bridge

Keelin missed the bridge :(

Friday evening Keelin asked my cousin Todd if he would play his guitar and he couldn't say no to her! (even though he said no to his mom less than a minute before Keelin asked him!!!!)

Keelin sang "Dancing Queen"...as usual!

Todd and Melissa sang some songs too!

Headed Home

Tomorrow we head home to Indiana after 12 days in Michigan. We had a great time visiting my family and all our adventures!!! The car trip odometer has over 2,000 miles and we haven't driven home yet!!! I think we have almost covered every inch of Michigan!
I have taken over 400 pictures so multiple posts are soon to come!

Play Date

On Wednesdays there is a group of us that get together so our kids can play! Today we went over to the Broeker's house for some kid play time and some adult bonding time!

Kyle, Keelin, Maddie, and Mitchell
Macie, Hannah, and Keelin

Maddie just loves Emmy!

It looks like Emmy just loves Maddie too!

Hot dogs for lunch!

some slip-n-slide fun!

I played "Ring Around the Rosie" with the girls!

I got some private trampoline time to myself!!! It felt good to flip again!

Eclispe

Last night I went to see the Twlight Trilogy! 6 of us started the night at Applebee's for dinner at 4pm. Then we met up with 3 more to spend over 8 hours in the theater! Twilight began at 7pm, New Moon at 9:15, and Eclipse at 12:01! I really liked Eclipse!!! It was a fun night! Jamie, Brandi, and I before heading into the theater!

It was also Drew and I's 8th wedding anniversary! He is such a wonderful husband to let me spend our anniversary with friends!

Emmy Crawls

Last night Drew had Emmy down on the floor enticing her with toys and she slowly crawled across the living room floor! What a special Father's Day!!!

Today...she was crawling a little faster and farther...oh no!

Happy Father's Day!

Keelin and I wrapped Drew's Father's Day present on Friday. I wanted to wait as long as possible because I knew Keelin would not be able to wait long for him to open it. AND I was right! As soon as he got home from work on Friday, Keelin was right there at the door saying, "Surprise!!! Daddy, we have a present for you!" so...he opened it on Friday. We also got him a DQ Blizzard cake! YUM! We will be eating this for awhile!

Sunday, we went to Crackle Barrel for breakfast and then to Mass. We went over to Clay and Jamie's house and had a great lunch with Drew's family and Jamie's parents, niece, and nephews from Sims, IL. I had my camera with me, but I did not take any pictures. I don't even have a picture of Drew with the girls :( It was a wonderful day!!!! :)