Birthday + Fruit Picking

I love birthdays, I love my family, and I love fruit picking. 

Luckily this last week included all three.

sleeping nephew

my sister said I could lay him down so I could pick berries

he woke up, and promptly began stuffing his face with berries. My kind of nephew!

a 1/16th of what we all picked...

my husband playing mini golf with a nephew

heh.

priceless

 Elisa's birthday was great-she turned 11! I remember when she was born.....3 months early, and came out way too small. She is a fighter though, so she has come really far. We love her and are so glad she's a part of our family!

And we picked blackberries and peaches to our heart's content on Saturday. Family, berries/fruit, love. Perfection :)

Michigan Vacation

Vacation with my family in Michigan was pretty close to perfect.

No major accidents, no ER visits, no car accidents, and one of the jet skis didn't die until the FINAL day on the lake (half way through the day, mind you). 

But we were missing a sister and brother in law who both had to work (sad day! But they were off being responsible, but were VERY missed!)

We all (each family) rendezvoused in Michigan to hit up Crystal Lake. We all drove (some longer hours than others), and settled into a huge cabin on the lake.

We were literally right on the lake!

We had great weather for 3/5 days, and the other two days we hit up blueberry picking, a cherry store, Lake Michigan, sand dunes, a quaint village (town?), and picnicked lunch.

schlepping a sleeping child all the way across the 'dunes. Serious man power.

at Lake Michigan

The other days were spent lounging about, waterskiing, 'trash' boarding, tubing (my personal fav--I mean who doesn't want to be flung from a high speed tube??), and reading/laying out.

the boys found this 'trash' board--made of styrofoam--that quickly became the most popular thing to play on and ride on (behind the jet ski with a tow rope! My husband was the first to do it.)

go hottie!

Lot of chill time was spent outside under the stars, sunsets, and rain. (Um, kidding on the last one....we went inside when it rained).

I got some work done in the evenings before dinner at the local library, borrowing their free wi-fi while sitting among the bugs. Score! Hey you take what you can get, ya know?! (P.s. I did get a sweet job as a personal health coach for a huge, nationwide insurance company. Saaawwweet :) ) 

And of course, great food was consumed.

homemade peach cobbler with fresh peaches! Yumm. Thanks Lara!

It was seriously a fabulous trip! 

A week on a lake with your family, hot husband, and the sun = awesomesauce. Would've only been better if my sister and her hubby had come too! (p.s. that's why there are TONS of pics, so they can 'be' there too!)

But it was truly excellent--and a great way to kick off the end of the Summer!