Memories made here.....

Grand Beach that is.  A little slice of heaven on earth.  A getaway.  Our home away from home. Grandparents, girlfriends, and cousins!  Coop, Claire, and I got to spend a few weeks there, and we truly enjoyed every minute of it.  Poor Andy just got to come back and forth on the weekends, but although he missed us he was happy that we got to spend some extra special time with grandparents and cousins.  There are way too many moments to share, but I will include a few of our favorite pictures. 

Here we are, about to begin our first official road trip in the new minivan!  It all went relatively smoothly (except for some projectile vomit from poor Coopy)

This soon became Coop's favorite thing to do at the lake, he would just ride it in circles around and around that pool. Somehow he fortunately never drove it into the pool!

And of course there was candy at the lake.....lots of it......

Stand up paddleboards!

 Getting a free ride from Uncle Bryan.  Thankfully he has some big muscles!

Coop looooves his Aunt Heathe!  Favorite memory with her of the trip: Coop found a dead bird on this little ride at the mall and brought it over for her to see.  Heath screamed, Coop thought it was hilarious, and still to this today tells the story.  Always starts out with: "I touched a bird......"

I think Papa wins the prize though, as he was wonderful with Coop!  From golf cart rides to hot tub swims to smashing bugs to playing with the hose, Coop was never bored.  Favorite moment with Papa:  Seeing deer poop on a golf cart ride! (and yes he still talks about that too)

Michigan City Zoo with Papa and Gamma

 

Looks like Papa might be a little worn out.....

With my lovebugs

Celebrating our first 4th as a family of 4! 

 (and happy to have dad there)

Catching up with some Chicago friends (loved seeing Lauren and her two precious children Georgia and Grant!)

 And some more great Chicago friends (at a local brewery in Sawyer, MI). 
Thanks to Papa and Gamma for a night out without the kiddos!)

Gamma and Claire became best friends fast.  She just loved her Gamma ;), and thankfully Gamma had no problem snuggling her all day.

Sand Art (well just an "attempt" at Sand Art, as most of the sand ended up all over the ground or on the grandparents chair cushions!)

Just Like Papa

 Catching up with another great friend.  So happy to see Lauren and finally meet her sweet little man William.  She was visiting all the way from Thailand!

Chi O sisters and our two boys (crazy we used to be roommates not that long ago sleeping in our twin beds just feet apart, and now we have our own little ones!)

And a truly precious moment, Claire learned to smile at the lake!  She started cooing and talking and seemed to suddenly become a little person.  Must be that fresh lake air!

 

The annual golf cart parade, with some ninja turtles and Coop (dressed as the rat....Master Splinter....can you tell?)


Would love to add some more captions and share more stories, but my two little ones are both waking up from naps, so time to run again!  All in all, we can't wait until next summer to make some more memories at grand beach!  (Although I will see Andy is happy to have us home.....could it be because he ran out of clean shirts to wear to work or was sick of eating 3 meals out a day?!?!)

Thanks to Gamma and Papa, Grandpa Wayne and Gigi and the rest of our family and friends for making our time at Grand Beach a vacation to remember!!