Family Vacation -- Cabin on the Little Manistee

Where have I been?

Honestly, I couldn't even tell you.  We've been around but we've been caught up just doing life and somehow the blog has fallen by the wayside.  It's not that I haven't wanted to post, but things like my etsy shop have taken precedent or ya know, raising kids, keeping the house somewhat tidy, etc etc etc.  And then, I got so behind it felt like I couldn't just jump right back in.

But, here I go.

We recently got back from our Summer Family Vacation in Michigan!  I know, what the hell is in Michigan?  Well, my Dad's entire family is in Michigan and his parents own a beautiful cabin on the Little Manistee River near Irons, MI.  I went there a number of times while I was growing up, but it had been 13 years since I had had the opportunity to go.  My parents generously decided to fly not only my family out, but both of my sisters and my brother and his wife too so that we could enjoy a week together.

We had such an amazing week despite the fact that both of the girls ended up sick.  Rory ran a 103 degree fever for the first three days and Ryan followed with a similar fever the last few.  Seriously, it's always something right?  They literally had not been sick since we had traveled to California in February.  Honestly.  I had lots of help though and Josh and I still got to spend some time away from the kids.  Thanks fam!

As you can see by the photos, we kayaked, we went to the lake, we drank, we ate loads of ice-cream, we Josh fished, we hot tubbed, we drank, we ate ice-cream , we tubed down the river, we ate ice-cream (sensing a theme here?) , we made S'mores, we sat on the porch and drank coffee, we watched home videos galore of previous years at the cabin, and most importantly, we ate ice cream, we spent lots of time together.

There are three things I came away from the trip knowing.  One, my parents are the most amazing people.  They are always willing to give of themselves and continually make sacrifices for each and every one of us kids.  Two, my kids have the very best aunts and uncle I could ever ask for. My siblings (sister-in-law included) love to love on my kids.  Josh and I are basically non-existent to Ryan when they are around and that is a very great blessing.  And three,  Josh and I are going to have to work very hard to work off all the beer and ice-cream we consumed on this trip!