Days with the Dorans

I feel like this may have been the longest we have spent in Elk Rapids but it went by so fast. On one hand it was nice not having to worry at all about the dogs. I know my folks don't like watching them and although Garrett is awesome, it is nice to have them staying with family. On the other hand I hate that we didn't even have ONE day where all six of us overlapped and I'm hopeful that next year will be the year when we ALL are in our happy place! On our last night we hit the beach with guitars which is always a favorite for me. Z has recently started playing bass which is fun. I think that Sean needs to figure out a string instrument to play so he can join the males in this family. Playing music at sunset is always a favorite way we love to spend the time. The weather overall wasn't super hot (which I LOVED) but it meant not a lot of swimming and no pool time. I remember when the kids were little, that's all they did was SWIM! It was great having Ali up even if i...

  On Saturday, I was still a bit sore from my kayak adventure, but I got my miles in while Ali ran and the boys did disc golf. After we were all home and showered it was time to hit the Wineries. We decided to do a similar thing like we did when we went snowshoeing in February but Jeff would drive since it was a bit hot. We hit two wineries we had before and then one new one. The first one we went to was Bowers Harbor. I love the way they serve their flights and it is such a cool place. There is a lot of outdoor seating (which we also took advantage of in the winter). It was so cool to see it all greened up! Of all the places, this one is my favorite. We got a flight of red, a flight of sweets and a flight of ciders. While the wine was pretty much mine and Ali's thing, Joe will have an occasional glass (more than Jeff's once a year wine when the kids decorate the tree) and he really does prefer ciders to beer so he liked it took. Sean got a lemonade (which is usually his drink ...

  So if you are reading this in order, you know that on Thursday we did one of our "Adventure Dates" and went kayaking which was a ton of fun. After that we decided we would go to a Pit Spitters Game. We went last year with the boys and it was such a fun day at the park. Forgot to add this "Group Shot" to our Kayaking adventure. As I mentioned my arms had started hurting a bit on our way to the game. They just felt achy. The game was OK. There was a Bronco on the team and we loved watching the fun things they do in between innings. We had beer and a pretzel, Joe got dinner and Sean opted for popcorn. As the innings went on though, my arms REALLY started to hurt and so we left in the 6th inning. The boys didn't mind because they also wanted to get home to watch the World Cup. But on the way, Jeff stopped to get me Tylenol and Icy Hot. I popped that Tylenol in my mouth as soon as I could and lathered up my arms but it didn't seem to help one iota! That night I...

Elk Rapids has been our happy place for as long as I can remember. I know my parents got it right after I left for college but I feel like every summer we have been lucky enough to take our kids and enjoy Lake Michigan. It feels even more special now that Z goes to school so close and knows Traverse City (20 minutes south of us) so well. Because of work schedules, there wasn't a day when all of us were together which was a bummer. The good news (I guess) is that we didn't have to have anyone watch our zoo. Still I wish that we could have ALL been together. Those times feel so precious to me. So it started out with just Jeff, me and Sean. I walked every morning (5 miles) and Sean even joined me once and we walked to a beach about a mile away that I hadn't been to. Thankfully Jeff picked us up after his disc golf because it got buggy. Speaking of disc golf, I joined a few times (to walk the course and listen to my book). Sean is not a disc golfer so he caddied for Jeff since ...

A picture of the whole fam... The Bigs were on FT. ZACH IS 19!!! I can't believe this is his last year as a teen! He's grown a ton I feel like since he's been away at school and it's so fun watching him get so excited for his future! He loves school and Traverse City and he has a girlfriend who could potentially keep him in Michigan... We'll see. The thought of not seeing him on his birthday felt wrong to me. I always take off Joey and Andrew's birthday, Ali is always home for hers (because of the holiday) and even Sean's felt weird so we made a point to all get together. Still we didn't TELL Z we were going to come up~ mostly because this was a kind of last minute idea of my own. His birthday was on a Thursday and so I had my class facetime with him and sing "Sto Lat" which he got a big kick out of! (but we woke him up). My friend Nicole, who also teaches music with me, has started her own cupcake business and so I told her to make a dozen cup...

We were so lucky to be able to spend our mid-winter break in Elk Rapids! Danny usually goes but he went and visited Nicole and now that our baby is in Traverse City, we're trying to get up there as much as possible! Joey wasn't able to join us but Ali was able to come for the tail end of the weekend. Most of the week though was me, Jeff, and the Littles. Wendi and Scott came too and I'll write separate posts of some of our other adventures. It was so great to see Zach! I feel like I don't see him enough and he's far enough away that you can't just go for a day or weekend. It's a lot of driving. They had A LOT of snow up north (you can't see it in that picture. Of course Z was in crocs! I've never been up north in the winter but it was gorgeous! I realized that I forgot my shoes!!! EHHH! So I did miles in my docs. Not the best footwear for longer treks but oh well. I love my five mile route there and I was going to do it with or without shoes! Another...