S and S Michigan Open House

Sam and Sarah had a wedding open house in Michigan at the end of July and we wanted to be there for it.  Sarah's parents also came to Michigan for it.  We had fun showing them around Olivet.  Here we are after taking a shop tour.  What a great group picture! Tyler and Gabriel are even wearing the OMTECO shirts.

We love our Michigan vacations.  Melody looks like a fairy princess running and playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

One evening we walked down to Tim's pizza to enjoy some ice cream.

The day of the open house was the Fireman's Festival in Olivet.  We went downtown to enjoy the festivities and met up with Gigi.

Claire was selling Marley's maple syrup with her mom at a booth so we took her along with us.

There is a car show every year at the Fireman's Fest and Uncle Mike's Airstream was on display.  Gigi took the kids inside to check it out.

We had some time before the parade was to begin so we stopped at the water slide.

Rachel remembers sliding on this when she was a kid.  The kids weren't wearing bathing suits but it didn't stop them!

They had fun sliding down a bunch of times.  When the parade was about to start there wasn't any line and they got in a few extra runs.

Tyler got some free hot dogs from one of the booths and we got a good spot to watch the parade just in time.

The parade was fun!  The kids got fireman hats and candy.

Walking back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We had lot of food to make for the open house!  Melody wanted to help.

Sylvia posing by the beautiful cake.

This picture shows the canopy set up with tables and chairs for the guests.  A lot of family and friends showed up to congratulate Sam and Sarah.

We had a fun filled day and like all Michigan days, the kids wanted to end the day by playing in the dirt area.

What a way to end a full day.

After baths and putting the twins to bed, the rest of us watched Fireman's Fest firework show from the comfort of the backyard.  We had a pretty great view.  It was fun to spend more time with Sam and Sarah and her parents.

Carson Summer Visit

We had a week in July where we weren't traveling for vacations and during that time Grandma and Grandpa Carson came to visit.  The kids love it when they come and play with them.

Here are some pictures that Grandma actually took of the kids playing on the back porch.

She even got a cute one with Daddy before he left for work.

We bunk the beds when we have visitors and it is a perfect place for story time.

The weather was great while they were visiting so we could spend a lot of time outdoors.

The Carson grandparents wanted to celebrate Andrew's birthday with him so we had an early birthday party for Andrew.  He just wanted the Lewis family invited in addition to his grandparents.  It was a Lego party and all the kids got these pixilated sunglasses as party favors.

Happy early 6th birthday!

He wanted a crepe cake for his birthday cake.  Stay tuned for the surprise inside reveal.

Time to open presents.

Andrew received many cool gifts!

As he was opening this present the tissue paper flew into the air.

But of course his favorite gifts were the Legos!  He also got the Lego Movie 2.

The kids had fun swimming, swinging, eating, and playing together.

Happy Birthday to you Andrew!

Blowing out his candles.

So the cake he wanted was a rainbow crepe cake!  The inside looked really cool as we cut into it.

The cake was a big hit!

Everybody loved it!  The kids even finished the rest of the cake off for breakfast the next day.

Look at those cool guys.

We also went to Carlsbad Caverns with Grandma and Grandpa.  The visitor center has a lot of interesting displays.

Andrew is looking ready to go down into the caves.

This was the second time we visited the caves and was a very different experience.

The formations looked awesome as always.

And the big elevators were fixed so we could easily ride them down and out of the cave. 

But this time we had very squirmy toddlers instead of content babies.  They did not want to be carried.

We rushed through the caves because the twins just wanted to hang on the railing or sit down in the path or climb into the cave area which is definitely off limits.

It was fast but we still got to see the cool cave.  They were also loud which is not good for the echoing cave situation.

Luckily there was a bench to wait on by the elevators where the kids could run around and not damage any part of the cave while we waited for Grandpa and Grandma.

The visitor center had a lot of information about the bats that live in the cave.

Here is picture of their evening exit.

Rachel and three of the kids went home while Tyler, the grandparents, and Sylvia stayed to watch the bats.  They said it was pretty cool!

Playing on our indoor trampoline mattress.

You can see Christian loves to jump and slide down.  He is fearless.

Picture with Grandma and Grandpa before church.  We are glad we could spend time with them during their visit.