Days with the Dorans

 On our last full day we took some dance beach pics as has become our tradition. I think they turned out so pretty. Amazing what we can do in about five minutes with my phone. Maddy had fun joining us. I liked them all- Al liked "some" but since this is my blog and my book- I'm posting all! Well done, Ali Jane~ beautiful. I liked this one so also did it in black and white!

When I woke up, Jeff was already disc golfing, but since our kiddos are older now, I felt OK leaving them a bit before he got home to go for my walk. I have walked every day this summer anywhere from 3-6 miles. I went 4 miles today and found this great "Walk of Art" park just south of the main park. It was so pretty. My times were good too. I was below 13 minute miles which is a good clip for a walk (I didn't have to pause to pick up dog doo). When I got back (Jeff got back shortly after I left), it was time to swim. The boys had fun playing in the sand too. They made headquarters called "The HQ" and just had a blast playing. I'm glad that our kids get along so well (most of the time). Had to put this one in... SO Seany!  I love spending time on Lake Michigan. It is so relaxing and perfect. Al even took a picture of Jeff and I (and I wasn't wearing my signature black!) Can you believe I'm actually posting it? I'm up a bit in w...

We were so excited to get to Elk Rapids!! We didn't do our usual (head to the store and unpack first thing)~ instead we walked downtown to the Town Club for some yummy grub. Jeff and I split the nachos and Pita Chips (OMG!!!) and it was delicious. Our kids are getting older though- the bills to eat out are costing a bit more. Thank goodness they can't drink yet! It was fun just being together. I love the Town Club! It's small and perfect (sadly it's also where we were when we found out Robin Williams died and I always think about it when we're there). Elk Rapids is just such a great little town. Al took some selfies while we waited for the bill and then I took one of them with the bear!  My folks' place looks awesome! They got rid of the carpet, did work in the bathroom and gave the bedrooms a facelift too. My only regret was that we couldn't stay longer. After dinner we didn't even unpack- got on those suits and headed to the lake! ...

  Our second day everyone was feeling a bit better so we spent the entire day on the beach! Ali and I went for a walk (she insisted on wearing my beach cover up). It was such a beautiful day. We walked a bit further down the beach where no one was and I took some dance pictures (which was something we tried last summer in Elk Rapids). Well~ I could not believe how good the pictures turned out. This really took no time and I took them with my phone. She's a great little dancer but clearly I had the timing down too of when to snap. I love all the pictures! After lunch we spent more time on the beach. Joe and Seany made some pretty serious sandcastles. They were sweet!! We also spent a lot of time playing this new game Jeff got for the beach! It was fun and something that everyone could play. Nana and Ali even won a game which was cool. We went to Broadway at the Beach for dinner and had fun looking around. We decided to check out a new place and hit the Liberty P...

 It was SO great getting back to the Elk, especially since last year we didn't go because we had our new puppy at home. Marty got to spend a few days with Nana and Papa while we headed north for a much-needed mini Doran vacay! As soon as we got there, we headed to the lake for some fun! The kiddos were playing and Ali of course was dancing. I snapped this picture which then caused Al to say, "Ready?" again and again and again and again... (for more pictures). She's really a pretty dancer and the pictures turned out great.  Jeff, of course, had tried to do what Al was doing and we all had a great laugh that she learned all her tricks from him. There's nothing better in this world than hearing my family laugh together! The set up this year was Al and Sean on the pull out couch in the bedroom, Joe on the pull out in the living room and Z on the pull out chair in the living room. We took advantage of the beds at night and had family movie night. We watc...