Ava turns 4!!!!

Well, my not so little girl turned 4 years old today. I feel like it was yesterday that we welcomed her into our family!!! Our friend Megan Kolberg took her pictures for us at Ella Sharp Park in Jackson................

my little girl

one of my favorites

this pose was her idea

so innocent

she looks so grown up in this one

my 1st favorite

my 2nd favorite

Luau Party

Ava told us that she wanted to have a "Hula" party (as she was looking at the Luau party supplies) for her 4th birthday. We had the party at the Aurelius Township Pavilion. We lucked out and had great weather that afternoon (it rained as we were setting up, but cleared up when guest started to arrive).

The Birthday Girl!!!!

(she picked out her grass skirt and lei's)

blowing out her candle


opening her presents......

Ava got a MASSIVE amount of Barbies.

Not sure where she is going to put them all!!!

her Barbie bike from us

Acelynn did get one present!! She wouldn't open it until she sat in the chair Ava was in when she opened her presents.....

As we were cleaning up, Aunt Rissy had to show the kids how the well worked. Ava, Acelynn, Laken and Jackson had a blast playing in the water!!!!

Ava's playing soccer

Every Saturday and Sunday when we drive by our church, Ava sees the kids out there playing soccer and told us that she would like to play soccer when she is 5. During the school year, Upward put out flyers at Ava's school for soccer this summer, so we asked Ava if she would like to play and she said YES!!!! So, we signed her up!! They practice one night a week for an hour and then play for an hour on Saturday. Ava missed her 1st game since we were up north last weekend for Nate's wedding!!! So, here are pictures from her first official soccer game!!!!

warming up

running through the tunnel as her name was announced

ready, set, play.....

Ava & Laine after playing against each other.......

Wombles-Reeves boys.....

Today we went over to the Wombles to have lunch. Mark, Daisy and they boys were in town visiting from Scotland. They come once a year and we always try to find a time to see them!!! Ava & Acelynn loved playing with the boys!!!

Candy made a pancake cake for Ava for her birthday. The boys got Ava a present and wanted to have cake with her!!!!

Calum, John, Issac, Ava & Acelynn

Copper Harbor

On Thursday July 7th, we packed up and headed northwest & north again!!! Our final destination = our friend Nate's wedding in Copper Harbor. What a beautiful drive!!! We actually saw a bear run across the road in front of the Byers'!!!! We stayed at Lake Fanny Hoe Campground. It was small but quiet and relaxing.

The girls relaxing in the camper!!!

We drove to the top of Brockway Mountain on Friday morning and the view was absolutely breath taking. It was a little foggy that morning so we were not able to see Lake Superior.

After Brockway Mtn. we decided to drive down US 26 and along the road were lots of random waterfalls. This is the girls in front of Jacob's Falls.

Kyle standing in Jacob's Falls

We stopped in Eagle Harbor to see a lighthouse and ended up climbing out on the rocks. The girls got brave and stuck their feet in Lake Superior. The water here was a little colder than in Munising......

We traveled just east of the campground a little ways to where US 41 ends or begins.

I did not realize that you can drive from Copper Harbor, Michigan all the way south to Miami, Florida!!!!

On our way back to the campground we decided to stop at Fort Wilkins State Park. It was really interesting to walk through the Fort and to learn about how the men, women and children lived back in the day.

On Friday evening, we headed back up Brockway Mtn. to see the sunset over Lake Superior. I knew the lake was close, but didn't realize it was that close because of the fog in the morning. But gosh it was AMAZING!!!!

For some reason when we took a picture of Kyle and I with the sunset in the back ground the colors were not the same....but still beautiful!!

On Saturday, Nate and Christine got married in Calumet and then had their reception at the Keweenaw Lodge. We had a wonderful time. The drive home was long, but beautiful!!!!

Munising

We left Mackinaw City on Tuesday July 5th and headed northwest to Munising.

Going over Mighty Mac

(that is the Byers' in front of us)

We stopped along Route 2 at the Garlyn Zoo for lunch. I am glad that we did because in doing so, we missed a semi & pick up truck fatality. The girls loved seeing all the different animals at the zoo. They had reindeer, black bears, turkey's, wolves, foxes and alligators!!!

Acelynn & Ava as the Zookeeper and Elk!

After our brief stop at the zoo we ventured on to Munising. As we came into Munising, Alger Falls greeted us on the side of the road. We stayed at the Munising Tourist Park along M-28. It is right on Lake Superior. We had a beautiful view of the lake from our campsite.

While we were there we went to see Miners Falls. It was a little bit of a hike back into the woods and surprisingly the girls did well and oh what a beautiful site it was when we got to the falls.

After we left Miners Falls we headed over to see Munising Falls. A little shorted hike, but just a beautiful!!!


Stacy and I decided to take Ava and Ellie to the beach in front of our campsite so they could play in the sand and for us to have a drink and relax. Well, it didn't take long for the girls to convince us to let them play in the water!!! So, they dropped their pants and off they went!!! Boy did they have a blast!!!!

What a beautiful sunset over Lake Superior!!!!

Our annual 4th of July family picture (only a couple days late)

Ava, Acelynn & Ellie

Ace & Ava playing in the sand and throwing rocks into the water

Helping daddy find rocks, so he can skip them!!!

Well, we have found our new spot. We LOVED Munising!!!! We can not wait to go back next summer and do some more exploring of the other falls, Pictured Rocks and all the shipwrecks. Besides the fact that our campsite was just so peaceful. We felt like we were in paradise!!!!

Mackinaw City

We spent 4th of July this year in Mackinaw City with the Byers' and the Bailey's. We camped at the Millcreek campground right on the Straits of Mackinaw.

The girls on a giant rock by our campsite posing for their annual 4th of July picture!!!

Our girls!!!!

One afternoon we went into Mackinaw City and ate pizza at Mama Mia's. While we waited for our pizza we visited the Mackinaw Bridge museum upstairs. It was interesting learning about what the men went through to make the bridge.

Kyle and the girls going for a stroll

Acelynn, Ellie and Ava doin' their pose on the BIG rock!!!

While in Mackinaw City, we went swimming in the Straits, watched fireworks from Mackinaw City, Mackinaw Island, St. Ignace and Cedarville.