Strawberries and balloons!

Our days have been packed over the last month.  We have been on a bit of an emotional roller  coaster.  We have spent what feels like every waking moment looking for a home to buy.  There is not much on the market right now and so when something does come on it is gone within 24 hours and typically much higher than asking price.  We first placed an offer on a house we both fell in love with in Ann Arbor only to learned we were out-bid by $15, 000.  We looked at what seemed like 100's more houses and then we found one that was at the higher end of our price range, in a decent neighborhood but was really priced high for the type of house it was.  We submitted an offer, both felt awful about it and so we withdrew the offer.  Then 2 days later we found another place that we have submitted an offer on, the place needs a lot of work but is in a good location.  We just learned that there are at least 2 other offers on the place.....so the saga continues.  Sometime in all of this we spoke with the landlord and he agreed to let us stay in our current location month to month, then 1 week later he called saying nope we needed to move by the end of July.  Colin convinced him to let us stay until the end of August.  So for now we are hoping that we are able to find a place and move by 8/31 or we will be knocking on the doors of those near by with our bags packed!  There is nothing on the rental market at this point either.  So our schedule has been at the mercy of the homes coming on the market.......when a new one comes on, we drop everything and go and take a look.  If we are not physically looking at the house we are scouring the web for new listings popping up.  I am pretty sure our real-estate agent is about to kill us.  In our free time we have been up to see Mimi and poppi in Gaylord, pick strawberries and a few other things in-between.  The strawberry picking, tractor ride and park has been Lily's highlights.  It is so cute how she, even today, continues to recount the day (this was 3 weeks ago).  This is her version: go pick strawberries, Aunt Megan, Mama, dada and Lily; go on a tractor ride; go to the park; pick strawberries; see goats.  I also reminded her today that we had donuts!  Yes all at the same farm, who could ask for more?

Such a big girl!

We went at 9 am.  It was so hot so we finished picking by 10.  I realized that crouching in the hot sun pregnant is NOT my favorite thing, it made me very nauseous.

Testing the goods.

Aunt Megan and Lily

This weekend was the Howell Balloon Festival.  It is quite a sight, 40 balloons take-off at set times,  together all weekend long.  Saturday was Aunt Kalie's birthday and so we woke to find 22 hot air balloons rising above the lake for Aunt Kalie's birthday.  Lily LOVES hot air balloons,  Curious George has a story about hot air balloons and the come over the lake frequently and so this weekend was so exciting - not only getting to sing Aunt Kalie happy birthday but also getting to see the balloons take off.  If you click on the picture you will be able to see the balloons better.

Watching the take off.

Who can look at the picture when there are so many balloons back there?  Hello?

A picnic for the babies.  She was feeding them each gold fish and making sure they went in their mouth.  It was so sweet.

Too much fun!

I have not had a chance to add picture or videos for a while because we have been having way too much fun.  So here are a whole bunch of photos from the last few weeks.  more cute videos to come.  Here is Lily in her new bathrobe after a long swim in the lake.

Mommy's little helper.  Yes, of course she picked out the hat to wear.

We had a great Birthday dinner for Grampy May 17th!  We even got to eat on the deck.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!

It has been so much fun, Lily is finally starting to get into pretend play......she has been making her baby and Colin and I lots of new food.  Grandma Carol made all of this amazing felted food for her and now it is getting a lot of use.  Thank you Grandma Carol.  Here the baby is eating eggs, pizza and gold fish.  A well rounded diet for anyone.

Colin, Lily, Roxy, Aunt Kalie and I made it up to the cottage for Memorial Day weekend.  We met cousin Katie and Mike and their new addition to the family Will!  William was such a good baby and we had so much fun playing.  Roxy was in doggy heaven running through the woods and all of the trails with her new friend Olive.

The first swim of the season - well Lily got in 2-3 weeks ago but this was the official first swim here.    

We finally managed to make it camping.  We use our new 3 person tent......yes we will need a bigger tent soon.

We all had a blast and Lily did amazing for waking up at 6 am and going to bed at 10.  I forgot how light it stays here until waaaay past bed time.    She even got to use her new sleeping bag.

We stayed at Warren Dunes State Park.  It was a beautiful beach filled with dunes that allowed for sand in every possible spot on Lily. Here I am half way up one of the dunes.

More dunes to go and Lake Michigan in the back.

3/4 of the way up and Lily and Colin are the speck you see 1/3 of the way up.  The height was deceiving.  It was quite tall.

Colin at the top.

We made pizza on the fire from real dough!  It was the best pizza I have ever had.

Lily, Kalie, Seth and Kalie's friend Lisa from Colorado.

Good morning!

More beach, could not resist.

Lilybean prints!

Cold, cold water!  Our second trip to Lake Michigan, last weekend Lily got in the Traverse City Bay.

The beach lines pretty much the entire mitten of Michigan.  It was so nice to be near the water.

Birthday Party

Following the race (pictures in the next post) we all headed to the park to celebrate Lily's 2nd birthday.  Annette and Lily had a blast running from the picnic table to the playground at their hearts little desire.  It was quite ironic though because it sprinkled Oregon rain on and off through the whole picnic (not big Michigan rain drops) and it was a beautiful weekend in Oregon that weekend.  Aunt Megan brought princess crowns for the girls.

Second outfit after the rain.  Thanks grandma Carol and grandpa Bill for the great sweater, if she had it her way she would wear it with every outfit.

Lunch!

First present.

She stopped after the first and wanted to just carry it around (thank you Aunt Susan) and immediately return to the park.  What 2 year old do you know that does not want to open any more presents?

Aunt Kalie made amazing birthday cup cakes.....pineapple, orange, pecan and banana.  They were amazing.

Chasing bubbles and each other.

Good friends!

One very tired girl following an awesome party and a big walk thanks to all of the guests.  We had a great time, thank you to everyone for chipping in and making us part of your day!  We all felt so special and loved, especially this big little girl.

The Race

A group of us ran/walked a 5k glioblastoma multiform (GBM) fundraiser race last weekend before Lily's birthday party.  The race raised money for GBM research.

Here is most of the group at the end of the race.  The runner's came back to walk the rest of it with the walkers.  Lily was a trouper and road in the backpack the entire way.  Colin was the muscle man that carried her.

Mimi and poppy drove down for the festivities.

We made Lily a group t-shirt too but she opted not to wear it.

We made t-shirt that said:
One Family Fighting Together
Strength
Wisdom
Faith
Laughter
We brought necklaces and of course mustaches for all to wear.
Left to right: Colin, Seth, Chuck (poppy), Sheila (mimi), Megan, Laura, Kayla, Kalie
Julie, Lily, Aunt Susan
Many received metals- Seth, Drew, Aunt Susan (Megan also ran) and they all had great times.
The rest of us walked it in sub-60 minutes - also a personal best -hahaha! 

Before the walk

The night of Lily's birthday we had hot air balloons come over the house.  They come over frequently in the summer but these were the first of the season.