We had a very busy summer this year, full of lots of driving to see friends and family. First, we drove to Minnesota to run the Grandma's Marathon with other colleagues from our school in India. On the way, we stopped in the UP to see Pictured Rocks; it was beautiful! We ended in Duluth at a friend's lake house where we stayed for the race. There we enjoyed boating, fishing, and lake life while we also fit in a running race. Justin ran the full marathon, and I joined two other colleagues in the half. It was an awesome race, beautiful course, and fun atmosphere in Duluth.
For the next adventure of the summer, Justin flew to Bolivia on a mountaineering expedition while the girls and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Pepera for two weeks. Uncle Joel came out too, so we had many days of endless activities and fun. We went to a trampoline park, wave pool, and a Tiger's game with plenty of roller blading, jump roping, trail running, and playing school in between. The girls also had a great time playing in the woods. One of their favorite activities was building "Scotland" in the sand box where they made castles and rivers and labeled each part Castle Edinburgh, Inverness, Glamis, and then added Birnham Wood, Arthur's Seat, and Lake Loch Ness. After finding lots of frogs and a turtle in the yard, they added these new friends to Scotland and put the turtle into Loch Ness so he could be the Loch Ness monster!
Justin came back in time for the 4th of July where we watched the parade and the girls collected candy. Afterward, we headed over to Aunt Judy's for some pool time fun. The local fireworks were actually a week earlier, and the girls were able to stay up that late for the first time to see the event. We met up with Michelle (Taelyn's godmother and our good friend from high school) and the twins at the fireworks, and all four girls had an awesome time playing and watching the fireworks.
Our next endeavor was on the west side of Michigan where we visited Liz and Mike (Kaelia's godparents and our good friends from college) and their family, stayed with the Jettner's at their lake house, and then rented a lake house with Uncle Matty and his family. Throughout this week, we had a lot of relaxation in the sun and boating and tubing fun. Ari especially wanted to take the girls to a petting farm near her lake house where the girls all got to feed lots of animals like goats, donkeys, bunnies, camel, wallaby, and even a lemur. There was also a pedal cart track and a giant air filled "pillow" for jumping. One of the highlights was the parakeet section where we got to go into a large room of parakeets with a stick covered in food. The birds swarmed us all, landing on our heads, shoulders, fingers, feet, and anything they could hold on to. They seemed to really like Taelyn; at one point she was covered in dozens of birds.
While we were on the lake with Uncle Matty's family, we also went to an adventure park at Crystal Mountain to an alpine slide, rock climbing wall, ropes course, and pool. The girls did an awesome job on the ropes course and rock climbing. One day, we took the girls and Jayden to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and hiked the entire way to Lake Michigan and back. It was definitely not easy for the kids, but they did a great job and really enjoyed swimming in the lake.
During our last week of summer, the girls spent lots of cousin time with Jacob and Riley while we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Walker. They went to the pool, the movies, a robotics fair, and a Lego exhibit. Once again, another fun-filled summer is in the books!
For the next adventure of the summer, Justin flew to Bolivia on a mountaineering expedition while the girls and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Pepera for two weeks. Uncle Joel came out too, so we had many days of endless activities and fun. We went to a trampoline park, wave pool, and a Tiger's game with plenty of roller blading, jump roping, trail running, and playing school in between. The girls also had a great time playing in the woods. One of their favorite activities was building "Scotland" in the sand box where they made castles and rivers and labeled each part Castle Edinburgh, Inverness, Glamis, and then added Birnham Wood, Arthur's Seat, and Lake Loch Ness. After finding lots of frogs and a turtle in the yard, they added these new friends to Scotland and put the turtle into Loch Ness so he could be the Loch Ness monster!
Justin came back in time for the 4th of July where we watched the parade and the girls collected candy. Afterward, we headed over to Aunt Judy's for some pool time fun. The local fireworks were actually a week earlier, and the girls were able to stay up that late for the first time to see the event. We met up with Michelle (Taelyn's godmother and our good friend from high school) and the twins at the fireworks, and all four girls had an awesome time playing and watching the fireworks.
Our next endeavor was on the west side of Michigan where we visited Liz and Mike (Kaelia's godparents and our good friends from college) and their family, stayed with the Jettner's at their lake house, and then rented a lake house with Uncle Matty and his family. Throughout this week, we had a lot of relaxation in the sun and boating and tubing fun. Ari especially wanted to take the girls to a petting farm near her lake house where the girls all got to feed lots of animals like goats, donkeys, bunnies, camel, wallaby, and even a lemur. There was also a pedal cart track and a giant air filled "pillow" for jumping. One of the highlights was the parakeet section where we got to go into a large room of parakeets with a stick covered in food. The birds swarmed us all, landing on our heads, shoulders, fingers, feet, and anything they could hold on to. They seemed to really like Taelyn; at one point she was covered in dozens of birds.
While we were on the lake with Uncle Matty's family, we also went to an adventure park at Crystal Mountain to an alpine slide, rock climbing wall, ropes course, and pool. The girls did an awesome job on the ropes course and rock climbing. One day, we took the girls and Jayden to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and hiked the entire way to Lake Michigan and back. It was definitely not easy for the kids, but they did a great job and really enjoyed swimming in the lake.
During our last week of summer, the girls spent lots of cousin time with Jacob and Riley while we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Walker. They went to the pool, the movies, a robotics fair, and a Lego exhibit. Once again, another fun-filled summer is in the books!
