4th of July 2012

 The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays as it means we get to reconnect with friends and family. And lake time. We spent 5 days out of town (nice reprieve from apartment living!) traveling Northern Indiana and Wisconsin. Our first stop was in Culver at the Miller family's lake place. I'd never been to lake Maxinkuckee and was surprised to see how large it was...and it was beautiful, too! We had perfect weather for lake time.

 Daddy Mike entertaining the girls

 A view of the house, which was definitely not a cottage. This place is where I'd want to live if I were to live on a lake full time. Incredible.

 Watching (probably a princess) movie and snuggling. Maggie is quite the snuggler. If anyone sat down on the couch, she'd immediately curl up next to you. Love that.

 Back outside after naps. This little Explorer 200 offered us hours of entertainment. I'm laughing just recalling how hard Amy and I tried to get that little boat to motor just a few houses down. Wasn't pretty I tell you.

 And it wouldn't be a proper 4th of July celebration without a little watermelon eating contest...

 Daddy Jeff wanted in on the action, too

 Morning on the pier...again the snuggler Maggie moves in :)

 Not the greatest family picture...but we snapped this before we took off for our next stop

 Packed up the car and headed over to Lake Tippy to see the Tynans. After visiting for a bit and making lunch for the Littles, we suited up and headed out.

 Since we just see these little beauties once a year it always shocks me to see how much they grow since our last visit (and these kids grow...look how tall they are!). Laney, Grace, Luke, Maggie & Izzy.

 Love these girls

 And I especially love this girl. Bridget and I always catch up right where we left off. Like no time has passed. I treasure her friendship and am so happy we have been able to keep it going after all these years (and miles!). Miss her so much...

And then we were off to Wisconsin to visit Mike's family. We typically stay in Northern Indiana for the 4th, but this year things were a bit different; Mike's grandma Betty had a stroke a few weeks ago and is in the hospital recovering, which meant she and the rest of the family were staying in Wisconsin this year and not traveling to Indiana. Mike and I realized we were long overdue in a visit up north so off we headed to Janesville.

As soon as we arrived in town we went straight to the hospital to visit Grandma Great, Bob & Laura, and Dave & Deb. Of course Izzy put on quite the show, singing every song in her repertoire and showing off her dance and gymnastics moves. We all found it quite entertaining. After a few hours at the hospital we headed to Aunt Deb's house (Bob's sister) where we always stay when we are in town.

Mike's cousin Steve drove over with Amanda from Milwaukee to spend some quality time with us (and partake in our normal shenanigans).  

Fortunately we were also able to see Mike's cousins Michelle & Chris and his Uncle Jimmy. We had so much fun catching up with all of them and the trip wouldn't have been complete without seeing them. Was somewhat of a wild and crazy night, as it was Jimmy's high school reunion that we crashed.

Was a very fun and relaxing 5 days away from home the apartment. Friends, family and memories galore...I look forward to doing it all again next year. Happy Birthday, America (and Grandma Betty!).