Ellie and I had our first girl trip!! Early Friday morning we were off to Dallas, TX to see my BFF Kelly and her family!!! Ellie was a trooper. We left the house at 3 am and had 2 flights before arriving to the Lone Star state.
Kelly's daughter Addi is a few years older then Ellie. They hadn't seen each other in a few years but of course Addi was as sweet as can be sharing all of her toys with Ellie and making her feel right at home.
The first night, out to eat with this crew!
The girls were all matchy match with their gray shirts and pink shorts. Cuties! This was the thing to do during the trip. Each morning they would sort through each other's clothes trying to find something that would match.
The next morning Kelly took us to the cutest place! This was a kitchen all set up for little chefs to come and learn how to cook. How cool is that?! Today's menu was 4th of July cupcakes!
Stirring in the ingredients as the instructor was teaching them.
I love you my sweet gal.
The girls with their final product. Yummo!
Then we were off to see Aunt Ann and Uncle Dick (Kelly's parents) and go swimming in their pool! Kelly is so fortunate to have her parents live in the same neighborhood, especially seeing that they are all from Michigan. What are the chances?!
The girls resting before going to Addi's soccer game that night! They loved playing UNO together.
Addi was a rock star at her soccer game and even scored a goal!!
After the game, us girls went out to the movies to see Incredibles 2. This movie theater was great! As you watch the show, a wait staff will come and serve you food and drink from a full menu to choose from. The girls sat in front of us and we had them order pizza and lemonade for dinner. Well, throughout the movie. These little princesses had found the call button. They kept pressing the button to get refills and at one point the waitress brought out a huge bucket of popcorn!! These stinkers ordered it all on their own! I closed out my credit card after that. 😉
Here they are in action! I love it so much. Just a couple of gals at the movies ordering munchies!
The next day we were off to downtown Ft. Worth after going to their church that morning. This cowboy was there to begin the daily cattle drive in the street!
I loved seeing these girls together. A friendship blooming from a lifetime of friendship from their mamas...
Uncle Rick treated Ellie to sit on a Longhorn!
And then a horse-drawn carriage ride! It was so HOT! I mean, when we were driving home the thermostat in their car read 106 degrees!
The two princesses with Prince Charming, Abram.
My sweet Kelly. Love you, friend.
We loved spending time with the Beagle family! Forever thankful for this friendship that has spanned over my lifetime. 💜
The weekend flew by way too fast. That Monday morning Uncle Rick was the lucky winner to drive us back to the Dallas airport at 3:30 am. Again, Elle, was all smiles as she was ready to go back on the plane and go home.
Our first trip in the books with my little traveler...
Meanwhile, back in the mitten, the boys were having their own fun!
It was a HOT weekend here as well and Ben took the boys everyday to the pool. Drew mastered the kiddie slide all by himself! Of course, as soon as Mom isn't there he's all brave and no big deal I'll just go down the slide into the pool by myself.
"Look, guys! NO HANDS!"
And the guys refinished the swing set! All three of them.
We arrived at Metro airport before lunchtime and the boys were there to swoop us up, quick bite to Olga's and off to Traverse City where another first and adventure began...
Over the 4th of July week, also Cherry Festival Week in TC, the Morin family went on their first camping adventure! And it was an adventure! 5 nights, 6 days, 3 moves and 3 campsites at the Traverse City State Park.
Here is home for the first night! I was just happy that Ben got the tent up!! Shelter ✔
Mom and Dad brought us back to civilization with a dinner out to Ruby Tuesday's! They got each of the kiddos a camping "survival kit". Grandma thinks it's pretty funny!!!!
Night 1: Cuddles and headlights...Ellie and I are dreaming of our bedroom back in Texas!!
Waking up to...Happy 4th of July!!! (Poker chip style)
The kiddos love the camping menu. I am all like, we made it another night, sure you can have the Hershey bar from last night's smore's. So totally down with all then sugar cereal, all you can eat!! (Mom C., you really were the gold medalist of moms with kids camping!)
The Breakfast Club:
One of the big highlights for Luke and Ellie was the freedom their bikes gave them! They were all over it. Riding around on the trails, checking out the other sites, meeting other kids... Ellie was rocking her 2-wheeler skills!
The Park had a 4th of July bike parade in the morning. They had a meeting spot for all the kids to gather filled with Americana decorations they could use to decorate their bikes. How cool is that?!
Off the go! Ellie was sure to get in the front of the pack...
Luke waving to Gma and the crowd...
Drew hung on as long as possible on his balance bike but decided that Papa's lap was better.
Then over the bridge to the beach we go!
These three made up a game called skip ball in the Bay. This game was played all week whenever we were in the water and I gotta say, it did attract onlookers to want to play with us.
Each night we had fun playing games! This night we were all about LIFE.
I mean, c'mon. Could I love those faces anymore?!...
I think not!! 🤣
As the sun went down, which wasn't until LATE, we pulled out all of our gear to celebrate this great country!
* Notice the fans in the background. Thank goodness that we had electricity AND that Papa C. brought us 2 fans. We were thankful that it stayed dry but man it was HOT!
Smore's and sparklers...
Moving on from our 2nd campsite...
That night we were all about that air...Dinner at Olive Garden!
And our third and final home...We did it! By the end, Ben and I just literally kept the tent in tact and walked it across the campground. We probably looked like complete crazies...We probably were.
Tonight's entertainment, Sorry! Sorry, guys. Mom won. Sorry, but not sorry.
Our kids had so much fun this week! I don't think anyone fell asleep before midnight any of the nights. A couple of nights I fell asleep first while Ben played LCR with the kids. Drew was the big winner of LCR!
SO all of these long nights meant a Starbucks coffee run for me and a morning nap for Drew while I order my coffee. We all have our vices. :)
Another beautiful day in Traverse City!! We all went to Pirate's Cove for a round of putt-putt!
My hubs turned up big this trip.
Luke and Ben tied as the winners this year!!
We surprised Elle and bought her time to go on the go-carts. She cruised around the track!
Off to see G.G. Mom does such a great job caring for him, aligning care for him, and making sure he is safe and comfortable. Mom, you continue to teach me so much. 💜
Our last night. There was heat. There was a lot of re-locating. There was a lot of trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night (where bugs would hit me under the bathroom lights). BUT there was also a lot of fun. There was a lot of family time, playing games, riding bikes, reading good books, campfires and of course smore's. All of the memories of the first Morin camping trip AND we lasted all week!
One more dog pile before bed! This was the coldest night and it even warranted winter hats while we slept. Leave it to good 'ol Michigan.
Stories with Papa as we take down camp for the last time.
On our way out of town we were able to stop by the Cherry Festival parade!
And the best part was that we were able to see Auntie Nae!! It was so good to see her and the kids had fun grabbing all of the parade goodies with her that came their way!
Traverse, it's been real. Till next time, 'ol friend.
