Friday Find

The kids and I were running errands this morning, something I dread and try to avoid as much as possible.  But when I have to do it, I'm all business.  Stick to a list, bring snacks, avoid any unnecessary aisles, and for the love of God....stay away from toys and breakables.  Simple, right?  Wrong.  I'm so easily distracted, even in my least favorite place, Home Depot!  Who knew there were so many choices for garbage cans.  Moving on.  Sometimes I just can't pull myself away, be it shoes (for Lauren) or that dreaded dollar bin at Target.

Much to my surprise my children were acting like little angels and I was able to browse all things cute at Home Goods.  Talk about breakables?  I actually was there for the purpose of finding a new lamp for the living room that "not me" broke.  

I wasn't there looking for a lamp for Lauren, but as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was coming home with us!  Cute, right?  And only $30!  

Let's hope "not me" keeps this one in tact:)

XOXO

Aubrey

Going to the Chapel

This song was playing as I sat on the limo bus next to the bride on our way to the church.  We were all singing with such excitement for what was to come, but it was the hours before that often set the stage.

  

Getting ready with my girls.  Each of us had our own time for hair and a few of us joined forces for makeup...sometimes you need a little help from your friends.  We don't often get to be "girly" together.

The mother of the bride put out a beautiful spread to fuel us before pictures and the ceremony.  Nibbling and toasting to the bride while telling last minute stories of weddings past was perfect before leaving for the church.

And of course, seeing the bride for the first time.  She was smiling from ear to ear and was cool as a cucumber.  She looked stunning!

The little moments are my favorite.

The evening was spent with many of our favorite people.  We danced and talked...drank, of course, and danced more!

Congrats to the newlyweds!  Thank you for letting us be part of your big day!

XOXO

Aubrey

Field Trip

We got a little break from the summer heat last week and thought it would be perfect to take the kids to Greenfield Village for the day.  It's located right next door to The Henry Ford Muesum which we visited in January.

Greenfield Village is a trip through America's past.  Not only are there historic homes and shops, but visitors can see how things were made and people lived.  We are lucky enough to have a family friend that works there and lets us have her employee perks.

William and Lauren may have been a little too young to make candles or care to seeThomas Edison's laboratory, but they were the perfect age the train and carousel.

Two train rides and two carousel rides!

I think they would have done of this all day if I let them.

Especially Lauren.

We had picnic lunch, 

walked to see the geese, 

and visited a school house where we were instructed by Lauren.

A great day just us three.

Choo choo!

XOXO

Aubrey

Fried Green Tomatoes

As silly as it sounds, I've wanted to try one of these ever since I saw that movie.  I'm not sure if I've just overlooked it on a menu or living in Michigan one doesn't find it, but I figured I'd just try it myself.  

From what I've read, the tomatoes aren't just under ripened red tomatoes, they are actually green tomatoes.  They aren't always in stock, but on one of my rare shopping trips without kids I had a moment to explore the produce section.  

Ask and you shall receive!

After I posted my bucket list a few months back, my mother beat me to the punch and fried some up first.  Lucky for me, she researched the recipe and was the guinea pig.

There were a few messy steps, but they didn't take long and were delicious.  These tomatoes were quite large so next time I will slice them a little thinner and would love to find the perfect dipping sauce too.

And how am I doing on my bucket list with one week to labor day?

50% complete.

I've had go to Drive In on my list for years so I knew that was a stretch.  I swear we went to a fair and even if I don't get to a diner, I've taken ice cream and cones to our playground for all the neighborhood kids a few times to make that one count.

William's room, you ask...it's coming along.  Hope to make a post next week with some progress.

We've gone out and celebrated summer a lot of ways and while I'm ready for school to start, I'm not jumping into fall just yet.  We're holding off on cider and pumpkin spiced lattes until the colors start changing!

XOXO

Aubrey

Trip Report: Island Lake

After our short stay just past the Mackinaw Bridge we continued on to "camp."  A place just outside a little town called Ishpeming, Michigan where a 100 year old cabin and twenty family members waited for our arrival.

I have visited camp twice before, but never with our kids.  Billy has vacationed here every year growing up and couldn't wait to show Lauren and William all that it had to offer.

After a few quick hugs we showed the kids the lake.  It's not filled with boats or jet skis and due to some chilly weather there weren't many people filling it either.  But even blue lips and shivers couldn't stop these two.

Our visit started out filled with cousins for Lauren and William to play with...keeping them very busy and very entertained.

Camp has a few traditions, Black River Falls is one of my favorites.  It's a five minute drive to a little hidden treasure.

This was taken August 2008, we had just found out that I was having a girl.

I really wanted to show that picture so you could see that we were actually going to see a waterfall.  It was sad to see how little falls are there now.

Another tradition is a camp picture with all the grandkids standing oldest to youngest.  But now, it's the great grandkids.  Attempt #12

Attempt #21...these were the best ones I got!

And taking turns ringing the dinner bell too:)

I've seen years of videos of the infamous camp talent show...but I gotta say, seeing it in person brought it to a whole new level.  William did a little dancing and Lauren brought down the house with her singing:)

And my new talent...paddle boarding.  Another thing I was hoping to do all summer, and the cottage next door actually had them.  Don't mind if I do:)

We had a perfect trip!  

Spending a few days with lots of extended family then as people left it was nice to enjoy a little quiet and have a few people all to ourselves.

This was our by far my favorite trip and I think seeing it through the eyes of your kids was what made it...ok, having our own space might have helped too...Thank you Robin and Bill for letting us have your camper, it was much appreciated!

  How 'bout those cutoffs?  Looking good Crawford, real good:)

XOXO

Aubrey

Trip report: Mackinac Island

The Crawford clan spent the better part of last week traveling in our great State.  We barely made it one hour into our road trip and had to stop because of two hungry and cranky passengers.  

Have you heard about or tasted the world famous chicken dinners in Frankenmuth?  We decided to stop and judge for ourselves.  I don't see what all the hype is, but Zehnder's might be Lauren's new favorite restaurant.  During our entire meal she would pause and say "oh my gosh, this is so good."  Winner, winner chicken dinner:)

We continued our drive peacefully and overnighted in St. Ignace before really starting our vacation!  The next morning we hopped on a 10am ferry for a day trip to Mackinac Island.  It was a Crawford first for the entire family.  

We just happen to have made the ride that gives passengers a bird's eye view of the bridge...and get this folks...no extra charge:)

Upon arriving we walked straight to the Butterfly house, a must for kids.  

Lauren was lucky enough to hold a butterfly.  As you can see William was very jealous, and my expression...well, I had just overheard that Lauren's butterfly was about to make it's final trip to the sky, thus explaining why it would stay on the hand our quick moving daughter.

We stopped at The Pink Pony for a delicious lunch (thank you Joc).  Cold beers and sandwiches were the perfect fuel for our adventurous afternoon.

I had been talking about renting bikes on Mackinac all summer.  My vision of Billy and I riding side by side didn't quite pan out, but this was by far the highlight of the day for me!

The timing was perfect, we buckled them in and both went down for a little nap.  We needed the momentary silence, there had been a little too much whining for the start of our vacation!   The ride was about eight miles long and while it was mostly flat and fairly easy (I wasn't pulling two kids), we weren't dressed the best.

My outfit coordinated well with my bike, but there are a lot of areas where you can stop and go hiking or even swim.

Next time we'll be prepared!  After returning the bikes, the kids went into full on meltdown mode so we caught the next ferry out. I guess we'll have to save the world famous fudge for next time!

We enjoyed the day, but we'll wait a few years before we come back so that the kids can enjoy it as much as we did.

XOXO

Aubrey