Summer Vacation 2009

Photos first and stories below!

Eloar with G'ma Yi and Nam, peeling chestnuts in the teeny chicago apt...was soo much fun.

Elora on the big wheel track that I spent countless hours on as a kid...weird but so cool!

Pioneer Cousins - they are SO dang cute.

Joseph and Hyrums resting place.

Ethan yawning - up at the crack of dawn in Nauvoo

Do you see all three shades of 70's orange?


The Pier at Grand Haven

All of us siblings - the beach of Lake Michigan

The fun tool of choice during our few nights of "camping" the Mosquito Zapper!

Charity and I at Lake Lansing- a few blocks from my childhood home.

The home where I was raised

Awsome photo of Sears Tower that Hoon took before we went up.

Elora among the legs of Chicago!

Us at The Feld Museum - awseome!!

Ahh....the chaos behind us of camping! Its ok Ethan is in his own little world

Back to the Midwest - Hometowns, Lake Michigan, Chicago, & Nauvoo Whoo hoo!

Lake Michigan

So - this was an adventure...which we at first were going to drive, but thankfully Devin went along with my firm decision to fly...we'll save the fun family road trips for when the kids can understand why they are locked in a high speed metal contraption. SOO - yes...the good times first came in Chicago where we spent 4 nights 5 days in the tiny apartment of Devin's Aunts place which was awesomely located 2 blocks from Wrigley field in a picturesque neighborhood that was fun to explore. We couldnt get enough of the row homes and tree lined streets mixed in with great little restaurants & shops. We were able to walk down to the El-train and go downtown which was fun and we had great times the first day in the semi-windy rainy weather...we escaped by visiting The Field Museum. Got to see a game going on at Wrigley - (even though it was for only 5minutes through the back 1st plate area) Can I just overall say that we had a great time in Chicago...love love loved it! Would love to visit every summer and explore.

On to Haslett/East Lansing - and hung out at my friends Charity's parents house for a few nights before heading over to Lake Michigan to meet my entire family whilst camping. We were able to stop by haslett and see the home I was raised in and we all ate some cherries off of a cherry tree my mother planted years ago - Elora is still talking about how good those few cherries were. Overall it was a surreal day and fun - and made me realize what a small city Lansing really is. We also stopped at Lake Lansing which was down the road from my old home where we wused to go and ride on this very track with big wheels..So many memories!

On to camping in the rain! - Thank goodness for the trailer that we so graciously got to stay in (thanks Charity & Manny!) cuz camping with a baby that does not walk yet is sooo fun!! Anyway - our highlights were taking Ethan down to the shore and "swimming" with him first time in a body of water and his method of entering the water was by scooting backwards like he does as he starts to do down the stairs...a little wetter here, but it was cute and effective. Also fun: playing a quick game of wifleball with family... and just hanging out in general....but I was bummed that the circumstances did not give us very much time with Erin and Isaac or Angie! .....so.... I officially declare that the next get together will be on a cruise - so we have plenty of time to hang out...and dont have to worry about CRAZY thunderstorms waking us at 3 am. hah! that was seriously unforgettable. We also went into the old downtown area and beach of Grand Haven and walked the pier there where Ethan LOVED feeling the spray of the waves on his face. All in all it was a good time.

Elora and Natalie

Elora & cuz's making drip sand castles with her whitey Uncle Aaron in the background

Charity and Ethan in flight

So - we left the crazy camping said goodbye to the Rivers and headed on down to tiny town of Canton in one day - well not too tiny --- this is where Devin grew up - we didnt spend too much time there, but had a funny run-in with a classmate of his at the Krogers....this guy spotted him and was like HEY - how are you?? you guys here for the class reunion? hah! .... um no - we didnt come to Canton for the class reunion... hehe...it was funny - typical guy who stayed in his tiny home town working as a produce manager. It was fun for me to see and visualize all the things Devin talks about. His old apartment complex that was right next to some fairgrounds and how they would walk everywhere - to Kmart etc... and hearing some funny stories that surfaced while walking around. We saw the branch where he was baptised and attended and drove by the places that held the most memories - some good / some not that great.

On to Devin's other Aunts house in even a tinier town...really really teeeeny....like no lights teeny.... and the highlight was well - we got to eat some more goood Korean food.... but it was the priceless look on our faces as saw the same three-toned orange shag carpet was Still there from when Devin was a little kid...hah - priceless really! It was also good to meet his 2 cousins finally - and again put a pictures now in my mind of the memories that Devin conjures up from time to time.

After our aweome one night there - we headed over to Nauvoo and found the home that my Father rented out for all of us (3 families + Mom Dad Bennett) to stay in, it was in a great location and had a great little pool out back to beat that CRAZY humidity index that started to tear us up the following day whooo! One thing I enjoyed about the house was getting up in the morning with Ethan and taling a walk as it was in the country enough to enjoy the quiet and beautiful sunrises. Nauvoo - what can I say about Nauvoo - if you have been you know that it is such a great place to visit - although take note: try to visit in the spring or fall especially if you have young ones. I wish we had a little more time there, but with a baby and muggy heat we enjoyed the one full day we had. In the evening I opted to see the show they put on and it was extremely entertaining! It was so fun to see the younger service missionaries talents and then see the seniors out there too - what a great spirit! Well we stayed our 2 nights and in the morning of third day Elora spent a little more time in Nauvoo while we packed up. We said goodbyes and headed back up to Chicago for one last treat.

That was our aweseme hotel we got by the airport that had a yummy free buffet dinner and then enjoyed some time in a great outdoor pool. Residence Inn is da best!

So home we came and I'd like to put the flights in a different memory box - as they just dont count towards the vacations memories you want to keep (keeping in mind we did this with a super active 1 yr old!) We also got a quick visit too from Amy and Aaron on their way home as they made their driving vacation with kids - crazy! but fun I am sure.

Thats it for our Summer Vacay - until another grand adventure !!