Days with the Dorans

It was the end of an era for Ali but I think that she didn't feel it as much as I did. We moved her out of her "Apartment" which was more like a house (that's her bedroom window up top). She lived there with five other girls and to be honest, I was impressed they lasted as long as they did. Four of them decided they wanted to live elsewhere and so Ali and her college bestie, Hannah, will be be heading to a new apartment in August. Because her one lease ended before the new one started, she had to move her things into storage so Jeff and I decided to make a weekend of it and scratch off some of our adventures. Jeff and I went up separately and we took Joey and his friends Mike and Liam out to dinner at Jon's restaurant. It was great to see him too. After dinner Jeff and I went to Bells. We had some yummy drinks and I ran into a coworker (Danielle- such a small world). There was a Led Zepplin tribute band that we could hear and that made it fun too!  Ali got to Kala...

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 ...

Joey and friends at South Haven I don't get the pictures I used to of the kids since (to be honest), I'm not around them as much as when they were little so when I get a picture with them, it makes me happy! Joey sent me the picture above the other day and I got pictures of Z and Sean from their friends' moms! I love my boys! And since I don't always get pictures of them, when I do, I'm dropping them here! Scott and Zach at Top Golf Sean and friends at Keith's birthday  

I was glad that we had two college kids home to support Sean in his spring concert! This is the last concert of the year and it is such a busy time of year but Nana and Papa were able to make it too. So nice having them close. The concert was great! I took a video of it HERE . The first song his band played was about a foundry so some used "non-instruments" I guess I would call them that you can see at the beginning of the video. The second piece was my favorite. It was like Looney Tunes medley! I really appreciated all the musical selections and am always so impressed with how the bands sound. My mom was able to take some pictures of Sean. Her phone is better than mine. We sit in the back row up top and then always sneak out the top for pictures at our meeting place. It took Sean a minute to get to us. I'm guessing he was turning in his uniform or socializing... When he came up he had his (too-small) tux shirt in a crumpled ball and his tie. We put his tie back on for th...

  I love that Seany is doing pep-band and it's kind of fun to see sports in HS that weren't OUR kids' sports... We ended up going to a hockey game which was fun because we got to see Phoebe play, and Wendi and Scott came by AND... They were doing a pink out came and I saw THREE of my former students!! It was great to see the Olssons but the girls left shortly after the halftime presentation. I got to track down their brother after the game though! Josh now goes to WMU! Go Bronocos!! Of course I was there for MY cutie so had to snap a few pics of him looking pretty in pink! I'm sure he'll love that if he ever reads that! This is a classic Sean look! Love him!

  We had to eat at Panera so that we could see Joe and get a group pic (minus Z) We realized that we hadn't gotten to a WMU hockey game and it was time we did so we got tickets and headed out to see our Broncos! It was a short visit but we take what we can get. We dropped the dogs (and Rizzo) off at my folks' (thanks mom and dad) and then were on our way. I don't think they wanted us to leave! Unfortunately, Joey had to work so couldn't go to the game. Ali and Hannah were able to go though so they took Sean and he sat in the student section with them. I thought I had scored some really great ticket (price wise) and then I realized that I got us STANDING ROOM ONLY! Sigh- no wonder they were such a great deal! We laughed about it though and had fun. The Broncos (and hockey in general) is such a fast paced game, we didn't mind it really. Though Jeff told me to make sure I got us actual seats next time. It is always nice to get back to Lawson. They are building a new ar...