Trip to Petoskey - June 30 - July 4, 2011

I made the executive decision that we will only take one family vacation this summer.  This trip completely validated that decision.  We had to pack SO MUCH STUFF, that it all wouldn't fit in our car.  We were forced to send the double stroller up with my parents. 

We left on a Thursday after lunch.  We tried to time this so the kids would nap the whole way up.  They (and I) did until Gaylord.  After that there was a lot of singing and "we're almost there"s to keep us sane. 

We arrived at our hotel and it took us (Tim) quite a few trips just to unpack the Aztek.  Ainsley was quite taken with the idea of a hotel.  "This is our new bedroom?"  We set up the pack and play, created a kitchen in the bathroom area, plugged in the iPad and got to work doing nothing.  After about an hour of this, Mom and Dad were going stir-crazy.  A two year old and a five month old in a small hotel room for extended periods of time?  Not a vacation. 

So we went out to eat and for a walk. 

 

After our walk, we decided to check out the pool.  It was Durham's first time swimming!  He thoroughly enjoyed it.  He loved floating around in his tube.  Sometimes he would get a little fussy, but as soon as Mom would hug him a little, he'd be fine.  Ainsley was a bit timid in the water.  She held on to Mom and Dad tightly most of the weekend. 



That night, Ainsley and Daddy took one bed, while Mom started off having a bed to herself.  Durham wasn't sleeping very contently, so Mom brought him in bed with her.  At one point, Durham got rather upset.  As it was 3am, Mama took him on a walk around the hotel to calm him down. 

We spent most of Friday swimming more and generally relaxing in the hotel room.  Ainsley asked, "Do we live here now?"  Here is a shot of Ainsley playing with some of her apps on the iPad. 

Playing with Talking Tom.  "Stinky dog!  PU!"



Tim's teammates began showing up in Petoskey on Friday afternoon.  We stopped by the campground to great them.  Ainsley had a good time exploring the local plant life and pushing Durham around in his stroller.  Durham spent most of the time chillin'.   

Tim's games started late Friday night and continued throughout the weekend.  Ainsley, Durham, and Mom attended as many as we could.  Aunt Sherri, Uncle Adam, Drew, Bryce, Grammy and Papa, and Grandma and Grandpa were all there to help.  

On Sunday, July 3rd, we went to Bay Harbor to watch the fireworks with Mom's friend Stefanie Mattson and her family.  Ainsley was very excited to play with Haleigh and Grace.  She was also very gracious in sharing "her" baby with them.  We went out to eat at BWW before heading to the village square in Bay Harbor.  Once staking out our spot, the moms and kiddos all went to get in line for the bathroom.  We had to wait 45 minutes just to get to the front of the line.  It was an interesting wait, considering we had a 5, 3, and 2 year old.  At one point, we sang Barney songs hoping the other people in line would want to simply abandon their spots due to our annoying music.  It didn't work.  After we got back to our chairs, the Petoskey High School Steel Drum Band began to play.  There was much dancing and merriment.  

We walked back up to our cars to view the fireworks.  Ainsley, although she couldn't remember seeing the fireworks ever before, kept saying, "I've never seen an ORANGE firework before!"  There was only one way out of the parking lot, so at the end of the fireworks, Mom, Ainsley, and Durham took a little nap in the backseat while Dad waited in line to leave.  It was a fun night. 

The next morning we packed up to head home.  Here are a few pictures of that final morning.  

Durham had just started playing with his feet!