We're so boring.

On Monday school will be back in full-swing, but right now I still have summer on the brain.  We have had been on two trips, back-to-back, the first of which you caught a glimpse of in this post.  That picture was taken at Tablerock Lake, Missouri, a favorite spot of Marc's family.  We had a wonderful time water skiing, tubing, hanging out with our spread-out family, and celebrating Ryne's birthday.

The second trip was to my favorite state, Michigan.  I am a Midwestern girl, through and through, even though the majority of my growing up years were spent in Texas, south of Houston.  But I was born in Chicago, lived there three years, and then lived in Michigan six or so years.  Both my parents and their families are Michigan natives.  I have so many good memories of living there, that I always knew someday I would be back in the Midwest.  Thankfully, God paired me with Marc who is equally Midwestern at heart (of course that's not the only reason I'm thankful for my hubby!).

My only living grandparent is still in Michigan -- she goes by Grandma Van or Grandma Grace (our little Grace was named after her) -- so I have tried to visit her every year, especially since we started having kids.  Thus started our annual Michigan trip.  For five years now we've settled into a routine that changes little.  We spend a day in Battle Creek, MI visiting Grandma and several other family members.  My aunt and uncle live on a nice lake there, so we hang out the deck and watch the kids splash in the lake.  It's a real treat to take a spin on Uncle Jeff's jet ski.  Grandma celebrated her 90th birthday last month, so we celebrated with lots of yummy goodies.

Then we head north up the shoreline of Lake Michigan, making camp in the little town of Manistee (sometimes figuratively, but the last two years literally).  This is where we get real boring.  There are hundreds of neat things to see and do in this area of northern MI, but each year we do the same thing:

1. Eat at Big Boy in Ludington.
2. Stay in Manistee (the last two years we have camped at Orchard State Beach).
3. Take a 3.5 mile hike (all in sand) at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
4. Eat the best-ever soft-serve ice cream at the Frankfort Dairy Maid.
5. Canoe on the Platte River.
6. Eat the best-ever soft-serve ice cream at the Frankfort Dairy Maid, again.
7. Buy a case of the best-ever organic blueberries off Highway 31.

And then we head home.  I'm telling you, we are boring... and we love it.  Take a peek at how boring we are.

P.S.  This is my first post on my new laptop!!!  So I'm officially back in the blogging business!  Thanks for being patient with me in my time of technical difficulty.  And special thanks to Ruthanne for linking me up to the blog hop while I was gone.