Home Sweet Home

 

A few months ago, I asked Luke what his favorite vacation of ours has been. He rattled through a few... "Colorado.... no wait... California...."  And then it became crystal clear to him "Michigan!" Somewhat surprised, I asked him why. 
He told me "Uh, mom, because our best friends in the whole world live there!" 
Of course, he was talking about Evan and Noah.
It was in that moment that I decided that we would spend a summer vacation in Michigan this year.
It honestly warms my heart that my boys have learned to love the state where I was raised. We have a few important ties there - but otherwise our whole lives exist only in the south. While I am pleased to no end to raise my boys in Knoxville, Tennessee and to enjoy the mild weather, mountains, and of course the football, I can't deny that I'm a northern girl at heart.  So I feel a piece of my past growing in them when we make new memories in Michigan.

We started our trip heading north towards Beulah, Michigan - without really knowing where we would stay on night #1.  We landed in Grand Rapids, MI at a lovely riverfront hotel.  The boys were to the moon over the hotel for some reason.  

The next morning was lovely as we walked along the riverfront and ate a fabulous little lunch along the way.

Been having fun with Richie's new iPhone that has different aperture settings... but still somewhat pleased to see the imperfections with it in the picture above...  Not quite ready to replace my big girl camera.

Day 1 was a success.  Off to Beaulah!