Kicking off Summer Vaca 2018!

Happy Father's Day to this special guy! We kicked our first summer weekend off with a trip back to Ben's hometown, Howell, MI. The trip was sparked from Mrs. Rubin's end of life celebration. Mrs. Rubin was Ben's high school teacher and Sarah, one of Ben's best friends from high school, mom. We all gathered at the Howell City Park to visit with old friends, reminisce stories with the Rubin family, put together birthday baskets for children in need (One of Mrs. Rubin's favorite hobbies!), and sharing time together. Mrs. Rubin, you will be truly missed.

After the celebration we stayed and went for a dip in the lake. It was a HOT day. Afterward, for the first time, we took all three kiddos to Papa Morin's grave at Lakeview Cemetery. Luke had been before but it was extra special having our whole family there especially on Father's Day.

Ben and Luke are planning their first guy trip this summer where they will travel to a handful of baseball parks. They have their trips mapped out so they/we will hit all of the MLB parks before Luke graduates high school. This summer they have planned Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Cleveland. They also sent letters to those 4 parks to let them know of their plans! Cincinnati was the first to respond with free tickets, concessions, and plenty of Cinci garb!! Below is a pic of Luke getting ready to send out the letters! 

Some of our fave's over! Ally and her 3 kiddos, and Jackie with her 4, equals 10 of the sweetest babes plus 3 happy mamas.

And making everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies. Teaching the boys young, their way around the kitchen!!

All of the letter writing to the baseball parks sure inspired Luke! Luke was reading his A-Z Mysteries series and without me knowing, found Ron Roy's (the author's) address and wrote him this letter!!!! Luke brought it out for me to read and I almost started crying. I am so proud of him for finding inspiration through books and finding power with his voice to communicate. World changer, folks.

Speaking of the growth in expression, this was the first "picture" Drew has ever drawn for me. He brought it to me so proud and I love it! Side Note: Drew has been consistently using his right hand for written work so I believe it is safe to claim we have 3 right handers! I will continue to represent the unique left handers of the world.

To continue with the theme, we have our artist Ellie representing her interpretation of a unicorn. I love the way she spelled it because her spelling replicates the way she hears the word. Pretty spot on phonetically. 

Drew working hard on coloring his PJ Masks characters. I bet you can guess his current favorite color. :)

And of course lots of reading during the day!! Drew spent the first few weeks of summer wearing the batter helmet....EVERYWHERE. Ben had to return it with the bball equipment back to the League or he would still have it on. 

Luke and Ellie are both working hard on their reading and both are enrolled in our public library summer reading program! This makes my mommy and teacher heart happy.

Drew has excellent role models to look up too! This reader has stamina!! He can read book after book before losing interest in them.

Summer is so much sweeter with our beautiful Harlow!!

We get to watch her some days during the summer and we can't get enough!

I always want to remember how they choose to sit. They have chairs, the carpet, the entire length of the couch however, they choose to sit like this. Right next to each other, almost on the same cushion. I will take these moments with me.

Aunt Cathy came to watch the kids while we were able to meet our besties, Brian and Molly, for the Western Tiger's Game! We started the night at Punch Bowl Social and then off to the game. Always, SO fun!!!

Good Morning, sunshines!! Breakfast with Aunt Cathy and a look over the US map to record where everyone has traveled. They had fun learning where Aunt Cathy has been!

Uncle Tom came over and they whisked away Luke for Luke's Christmas present Day of Fun! Luke spent the day at Comerica cheering on the Tiger's and the A's (his Little League team).

Such a fun day and memory for this big Tiger's fan!! Thank you Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy!

Meanwhile, Drew having fun with crafts at home...

A night over at Megs and Chad's once they were back from the game. We were able to spend the evening with this good looking crew! We were so happy to see Aunt Pam from the U.P.

Harlow and Gigi!

4 Beautiful Generations!

Last Day of School!

It is so hard to believe but we now have a third grader and a first grader in the Morin household!!! 

Luke had a great year, having our beloved Mrs. Slater for a 2nd year for his 1/2 split class. Elle also had a fantastic year having Mrs. Zurawski for kindergarten! Luke really excelled in his writing this year and Ellie, holy moly, grew leaps in bounds in her reading, writing, and word study. 

Ellie's favorite books in kindergarten were The Berenstein Bears (a family all-time fave) and any princess book! Luke's favorite books from 2nd grade were the A-Z Mystery series and Ballpark Mysteries series.

My school was out a week before McGregor so I was able to partake in both kids last day of school parties!! 

Luke's party was on one side of the school next to the outdoor classroom where Ellie's kindergarten celebration was way across campus at the lower el playground. Drew had it pretty easy peasy in the stroller ride but we hiked the trek back and forth quite a few times. All the hot, sweaty, and popsicle stick was worth it though. :)

Elle with some classmate buddies...

And with her best bud, Emily!

Back to Luke's party for water balloon toss and "keep the yard clean" of the balls game.

Another great year as a McGregor Cougar!!

WAHOO!!!! School is finally out and Hellloooo summer vaca! After school our first stop, a bike ride to the neighbors house for a kick off to summer par-tay!! Nothing says summer like a water slide, pizza, water balloon fight, mini jeep rides, water guns, friends, silly string wars, and of course astronaut helmets!!

Afterwards I put on Moana, and bam, Drew was fast asleep on the couch. Not long after and Ben got home from work and joined in on the napping festivities. :)

After everyone woke up and ate we were all off to the pool for a nighttime swim! For our Christmas gifts and birthday presents this year, Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy gifted our family with a season pass to the Troy Aquatics Center! It is such a great gift and one that we have already used many times this summer.

Thank you Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy!!

Almost.To. SUMMER!!!

We are busy, busy wrapping up spring sports, dance and of course school! Above Ellie is reading one of her books out of her school nightly reading bag. That little book nook in her bedroom is her favorite reading spot.

The little sweetie pie below...Lips for days! Those big smoochies are irresistible!

Ben dropping off the kiddos for the last day of S.A.C. (School Age Care) before summer break! YAY!

Ellie had her dress rehearsal at Troy High School the Tuesday of my last week of school. I met Ben and the kiddos there and then we had that moment. I was like, " Hey guys! Ellie, you look great! Ummmm. Ben, where is Drew?" We both thought each other was getting him so to say the least when Ellie was done Ben had to take off for Houghton and the kiddos and I zipped as fast as we could back to his preschool. We were there right at closing time 6:00 and Ms. Mary was taking good care of him. We LOVE NC3!!

Ellie, you are a gold star, sweet gal. She got up on stage and rocked her tap dance routine to the Peppermint Twist. She is so cool and calm and shows no signs of nervousness. She just loves it and waits all year to dance on the "big" stage!!

Tuesday Ben left for Houghton to be with his family to celebrate Grandpa Fassbender's life. Grandpa passed away in January. He had a wonderful life filled with love and lived to be 97. One characteristic about him was that he was the kind of guy who always had a twinkle in his eye. He always loved on our children and would play with them, hold them and chat with them. I was so sad that the kids and I couldn't join Mom, Stan, and Aunt Pam. However, it was my last week of school with my students and with our kids activities and school, it just wasn't feasible. We love you, sweet Grandpa F.

Some beautiful pics of our beautiful people in beautiful Northern Michigan! (Ben with Mom, Stan and Aunt Pam)

Ben was gone until Friday when he left right after the luncheon to make it back in time for the big weekend ahead. Boy, were we happy when he made it home!!! Especially this mama!! I finished my year though, completed report cards, and closed down my classroom to start my summertime!

On Saturday, was Elle's big day! Not only did she have her end of the year recital but also had her last soccer game of the season.

Ellie with her Peppermint Twist tap team!

This was her first tap recital performance as last year she performed a ballet routine. This year she was in both ballet and tap on Wednesday evenings but at this age they only perform one dance in the recital. I am thankful for that rule!! :) 

This girl has confidence on stage like WOW! She lives for the day she gets to be on this big stage and is itching to get up there all year long. She loves it!! Below she is the middle dancer on stage. 

SO CUTE!!!

One proud Daddy! We love you, Ellie, and you continue to blow us away with your confidence and quiet one-step at a time mentality. 

I love you more than words can say...You are a star!

And two proud brothers...Thank goodness she has these bros! (Thinking ahead to the teenage years!)

We had to leave the recital early, even before intermission, to get to Ellie's last soccer game! She went from dancer to gamer in a quick change in the car. We ate a quick lunch at Culver's and then made it on time to her game back over in Lake Orion!

Ellie with her Purple Galaxies!!

Ellie with the best Daddy/Coach ever...

Ellie grew a lot this season! She really got in there and was a strong passer and used her speed against the other team. Her highlight skill was her "pullbacks" that she used while dribbling against an opponent. She also had 1 goal for the season. It will be interesting to see which way Ellie decides to take in her future. If you ask her what she likes more between dance and soccer, she will answer, " I love both." And that's the great thing, sweet girl. Experience it all and enjoy it.

Two proud brothers who were on the sidelines all day cheering on their number one gal!!!

After the recital and soccer game we were onward to the final event...Luke's bball game. However, it was canceled due to the rain and we were all TOTALLY ok with that!

The next morning we were off to Kensington for church and then a quick bite to eat at Starbucks afterwards...

Because we were off to Luke's all-star game!!! Luke and two other teammates from the A's were selected to play and in the Little League All-Star game! 

Our britches were bursting! This kid worked so hard this season. We are very proud of you, Luke!

Representing the A's: Luke with Paxton and Sawyer 

Luke's All-Star team!

Not even kidding...Not even exaggerating...After the bball team we were then off to Luke's football game. After writing this post, I think we all need a vacation!

Love this pic below because it's Luke and his best bud Ayrton cheering on their team. 💙💙

Starting off the last week of school!!! 

On Monday, was Principal Pontzious's b-day so all of the students surprised him and wore ties to school that day because Mr. P is always wearing his. :)

I had the whole week with this cutie patoots at home! 

No shirt and Play-Doh...It's summer, baby!!

Papa and Gma Cooley also came for the week!! 

The kids are always rotating to take their turn in the back of the convertible. It's everyone's favorite ride!

After dinner one night. ice cream at Culvers!

And Luke's final game on the A's! Luke had a great season and really grew a lot in his defense game on the field. Luke, you are a rock star! We love you so, so much!

Below Ben/Coach is saying a little something about each player before handing them their league trophy.

Coach Greg and Coach Ben with their boys!

These are my favorite A's!!

Team pic..

I love how proud Drew is to be standing with his brother and Daddy. My 3 boys. 😍