Michigan Peeps

We go to Michigan for the lakes and the beaches and the perfect summer weather.

But most of all, we go for the people that molded my childhood and continue inspire me and shape my children's lives.

There's my college besties, who I never skip a beat with. No matter how much time has gone by, or how many miles separate us, it's always just like old times when we're together.

Our children happen to adore each other too. The boys talk about their Michigan friends all year long and sometimes send letters and stickers to them in the mail.

The kids played together in the backyard for probably four hours straight. We kept expecting them to come inside because they were bored or wanted snacks, but they just kept on playing. Catching up with my girls for hours on end while our children enjoyed each other just as much felt like heaven. 

The day seemed like the perfect of definition of what summer should be for a child - playing and exploring with friends outside all day long. It made me a little sad that we can't do that back home because it's so darn hot in the summer.

The collective group of offspring keeps growing. Three month old Crew looked gigantic next to three week old Nolan.

It's always hard to hug goodbye and know we may not see each other for another year.

Then there's my high school bestie. We spent a day at her beautiful new home and backyard waterfront.

The boys loved their first exposure to fishing.

And even had a few lucky catches.

Nash mostly just caught himself.

It's always a little surreal to see this group of little ones surrounding us when it seems like just yesterday we were writing each other notes and going on spring break together.

We love visiting our favorite people, but I wanted to make sure we didn't spend the entire trip driving all over the state like we did last summer. Especially with a little baby. We loved it when friends and family came to visit us at the beach where we stayed as well. I mean, soaking up Lake Michigan is something that most people want to do. My mom's childhood friend visited, and brought her daughter that was my childhood friend, who now has a daughter in the same generation as the boys.

My "second mom" took a trip with us to the Frosty Oasis ice cream joint. The boys are over the moon for her.

And of course, there are family members galore in Michigan. All of my extended family lives there, so we had many outings with both my mom's side and dad's side of the family. The Nash family beach picnic has morphed into a tradition over the last few years. The boys were ecstatic to be reunited with my cousins who stayed with us earlier this summer.

As beautiful as Michigan is in the summer, our annual visits would be a little hollow without the friends and family that I hold so near to my heart.