Swimmer's Ear

In addition to the colds we all picked up, Avery also had swimmer's ear. So, we made a trip to the doc to get some drops. Morgan also ended up using them for her ear as it started bothering her. We're still on our record of never having an inner ear infection... only the outer ear (aka swimmer's ear).

Family Vacay - Back home

On Saturday morning, we had to be out of the house by 9AM EST, so 8AM our time. We had done all of our packing the night before, so just had to load up the car in the morning. We left around 7:30AM CST and made it home to DG by 9AM CST! The drive home was easy and uneventful... no storms or flooded highways this time! :)

The weather was a little rainy and the girls were fighting off some nasty colds, so we just vegged out at home for the day. We pick up Milo after his "exit" bath (the bath they give dogs after a week of boarding because they stink so bad!) He was super excited to see us!

We decided to let him upstairs to hang out with us, which we rarely do. He jumped right on the bed like he owned it, of course!

Sorry, dude, that's not your spot!

He was relegated to the floor! Look at those sad puppy eyes!

All us girls were feeling yucky, so we slept in the guest room together and let Milo crash with us. Morgan made him a little bed on the floor and he slept there for a lot of the night.

Unfortunately, he got a little too used to sleeping with us upstairs and barked the next night when we tried to make him sleep back downstairs. He's like a baby with different cries, he was using his "pay attention to me" bark at the bottom of the stairs. So, we put a stop to the upstairs sleepovers with Milo.

Family Vacay - Day 7 - More Beach Time

Our last full day of vacation! Matt went to the Swedish bakery near our house and picked up some delicious sweets for breakfast and cookies for dessert!

The sugar cookies were in the shape of Michigan with a little heart where we are staying... how cute!

Morgan and Hunter played basketball and threw the football around outside.

Of course, the kids wanted to spend time at the beach! It was a little cloudy, but that just made it a little less stifling hot! Morgan was ready to make a sand castle village!

Brett set up his badminton net and the kids had fun playing that... even with the wicked winds!

This umbrella came in handy when the sun peeked out of the clouds and then later when it started to sprinkle on us.

Morgan enlisted Avery's help on the sand castles.

A group of people showed up with some kayaks and a lily pad next to us. One of the adults told Ross our kids could use the lily pad while their kids were kayaking and of course, all seven of them jumped at the opportunity! We thought for sure they would destroy it somehow, but it stayed afloat! :)

There were some games of chicken and other wrestling going on!

 

It started sprinkling and it was well past lunchtime, so we headed back up to the house. There were some hangry kiddos in our group!

The ladies had a few returns to make at the outlet mall, so we did that while the kids played Grow a Garden (side note - this is the game to play this summer!)

Both of the girls requested white Crocs this year, so I picked those up. Wouldn't you know that those are not part of the deal at the outlet store! Of course, there is another deal that if you sign up for emails, you can get $10 off, so at least I was able to do that.

Tonight was Ross' night for dinner and he used the newly acquired deep fryer to make pork tenderloins. Again, these are another traditional favorite of vacation!

Brett made cocktails for all of us (well those of us that like coffee!) The espresso martinis were awesome - I may have to pick some of this up at home!

After dinner, we took some family pictures by the pool in the t-shirts Sandi made. She makes us shirts every year and they are always so cute. The girls especially loved theirs this year because of the bright color!

Once I get the pictures from Brett, I'll add them. After the "official" pictures, the kids wanted some in the water! We did a waterfall type thing and they all jumped in, except Avery. She was coming down with a nasty cold and didn't feel like swimming tonight.

Family Vacay - Day 6 - Shopping and Captain Mike's

The ladies went outlet mall shopping and the guys took the kiddos for ice cream at Oink's, out to lunch and then to Captain Mike's. We found some great deals, got rained on a little and stopped off at the Union Pier Social for cocktails and an app on our way home. Great day!

We definitely didn't make it to Oink's enough this year!

On Thursday night, Matt made bulgogi steak, spinach and rice - Korean night! Yum!

Family Vacay - Day 5 - Zoo and Beach at Sunset

On Wednesday, the guys went golfing while the ladies stayed home wrangling the kiddos. We decided to get out of the house, so we went out to lunch and to the zoo. It was sooooo hot!

We had lunch at Shoreline Brewery. This is the same table we sat at last year!

Avery tried the orange soda that came in a "beer" bottle. :)

After lunch, we went to the zoo. Due to the heat, the bird area was closed, which was disappointing. The kids always like to feed the birds (well, all of them except Avery, who hates birds!)

The otters are always a fun stop... hard to see, but the kids are in the tunnel under the water. A few times the otters came over to swim by them.

Then, we went to feed the goats. Morgan made sure to feed a little to each goat!

And this is where Avery hung out... she's not into feeding animals. Ha!

Aunt Erin looked like she was taking a class on a field trip here!

Here they are in the eagle's nest.

It was so hot and these slushies hit the spot... and melted super fast!

Gotta get a picture here!

Some of the kids climbed to the top of the tower... and then came down and crashed on the path.

Back at the house, Brett was preparing for horseshoe night! He had forgotten that since my parents were not coming, that meant the deep fryer wasn't coming either. And he had planned to make homemade French Fries for the horseshoes in the deep fryer. So, he ordered a fryer from Amazon and it showed up Wednesday afternoon.

I managed to not get a picture of my horseshoe, but as always it was delicious!

After dinner, we wanted to check out the sunset again and the kids wanted to swim. It was another gorgeous night! The water was really calm.