Mom Comes to Michigan

I had so much fun with my mom coming to visit this past week. When she found out I was coming out to Michigan, she told me she really wanted to come out since she grew up here. Of course we were happy to have her come stay with us for a week!

She arrived kind of late on Thursday night because her flight was delayed. Logan was very excited to see her, especially when she showed him the train whistle she'd brought him. When we got home it was pretty late so we went to bed. Mom got to sleep in with Logan so they had a sleepover.

We spent Friday getting ready for our trip to Traverse City. At about 3 in the afternoon we woke up Logan from his nap and went and picked up Jordan from work and started the long drive up to Traverse City, which is about four hours away. It's right on the shore of Lake Michigan and it's pretty far north. We got to our hotel late (again!) and went to sleep.

Logan was up early, as usual, so we got our breakfast and then headed out to Sleeping Bear Dunes, where we walked up a really huge sandy hill.

And then we ran down the hill.

And then played in the sand.

We decided to get some lunch, so we found a little town nearby and found a cute little shop. My lunch was definately the best, I had a gyro that was super yummy. For dessert they had delicious caramel pull aparts. Mmmmm.

Time to hit the beach! The water was FREEZING so we didn't get in, but it was still fun to sit and play in the sand and enjoy the beautiful view.

Jordan and Logan had a lot of fun skipping rocks. Well, Logan was just throwing rocks. Still fun though.

After that we were all getting a bit tired so we headed back to the hotel for a nap. After our nap we swam in the hotel pool for a bit and then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We tried to put Logan down semi-early for bed (like 9:20) but he stayed awake for like an hour. It was lame. He also woke up several times during the night. Oh, the joys of having a baby in a hotel room with you!

The next morning (this was Father's Day, and I felt kind of bad for Jordan that I couldn't let him sleep in!) we packed up and then headed to church. When Sacrament meeting was almost over, a little kid pulled the fire alarm. We were so glad Logan didn't do it. After that, we decided to take off and we went to see a lighthouse that was up a peninsula. Logan fell asleep during the drive so we had to take turns going to see the lighthouse. 

We drove back down, had lunch, and hung out on a little beach for a while. It was much warmer than the beach before because it was in a bay. Logan enjoyed wading into the water.

 Then we started on our drive home! I made an especially lame Father's Day dinner of two frozen chinese food meals. Logan was in an especially crabby mood so he went to bed early. Haha.

On Monday we were planning on having a little birthday party for Logan, so we went to Costco to get some cupcakes. I was extremely disappointed in their cupcakes. Sam's has darling yummy cupcakes and Costco's just looked like their giant muffins with frosting and sprinkles. We also went swimming in our apartment pool. Logan is getting really good at swimming with his little puddle jumper!

Logan was extremely excited about his enormous muffin/cupcake.

Blowing out his candles.

Sorry for all the pictures, I just thought he was really cute with his cupcake.

Then it was time for presents! He's a lot better at opening presents this year. Grandma brought him some fun stuff. He got a remote control firetruck, which is his current favorite toy.

She also got him a Little People Sea World set that he's really enjoying, and a cute puzzle where you have to fish out the pieces with a magnet fishing pole.

On Tuesday Jordan had to be dropped off in downtown Detroit, so we decided to go to the zoo! I was really glad that we went this week, because after Logan turns 2 we'll actually have to pay for his admission! Bummer. 

My favorites are always the giraffes. This time we saw a giraffe running, which was really cool! They are very graceful animals. Logan really likes the otters and seals. 

That night Jordan and I went on a date while Mom watched Logan. It was so nice to be able to go out! We had a really yummy dinner at Maggiano's and then went to see Jurassic World, which we both really enjoyed. The movie theater we went to has the best reclining seats, and they felt SO good on my back I (I've been having a lot of back pain). It was so nice to have some alone time! I need to be better about finding baby sitters when we get back to Utah; I think it's so important to go on dates.

On Wednesday, Mom and I drove to East Lansing, which was where she grew up (cue The House that Built Me by Miranda Lambert). We started our journey at Michigan State, where we found the Animal Science building and the Hall of Fame. Logan found my grandpa's picture immediately. 

We are very proud of Grandpa--he had more awards than almost anybody else!

Then we went to find my mom's old house, her elementary school, and her high school. Mom was really excited about seeing everything again.

Her old friend Colleen invited us over for lunch so they had fun reminiscing about all the people they know, but after a couple hours Logan was exhausted and throwing a fit, so it was time to head home.

On Thursday we were tired from our busy week so we just stayed home and played! We picked Jordan up from work and had Pei Wei for dinner as a final hurrah, since Mom was leaving the next day. Logan really enjoyed having her here, but it got confusing since he would call us both Mama. Haha. We can't get him to say Grandma, but while she was here he did learn how to say, "All right!"

The last day is always sad, but it had been a good trip, and Mom was going off on another adventure! As soon as she landed in Sacramento, Dad picked her up and they went up to Tahoe! She's also going to Tahoe again this weekend, then to Idaho for my cousin's wedding the week after that, and then to Utah with her parents, and then to Hawaii, and then to Utah for my other cousin's wedding. She's quite the busy woman! Have fun, Mom, and we were so glad that we could have you with us for a bit this summer!