fourth and final week!

So I am a bit behind but I had to post about our last 10 days of Jeremy's vacation. The best part-- Nana was able to come and spend those 10 days with us! Here are my two favorite conversations from that week.

Mommy: Who do you want to read to you tonight Hyrum?
Hyrum: Nana! Because I love her sooo much!

&

Daddy: Who is your best friend Hyrum?
Hyrum: Nana!!!!

Holland part Deux-we just couldn't stay away! We had to take Nana to enjoy the chilly beaches and tulips that were still blooming. We hope to make many more trips over there this summer.

We went to Belle Isle in Detroit. I wasn't too impressed with the island because there was trash everywhere. The part we loved was the conservatory. Wow. We are DEFINITELY coming back in the dead of winter and enjoying the large range of tropical plants again.

Ann Arbor Arboretum. My only question to myself is why hadn't we gone before in the previous 3 years we have lived here??? It's 10 minutes from our house! It was gorgeous and huge and very green and we will be going back a lot.

If asked where his big belly is, Hunter is only too happy to show you

Fun at Millpond Park-it has an amazing castle-like structure. I've never seen a play structure that was so enormous!

Greenfield Village (part of the Henry Ford Museum) I have always wanted to go and it was so fun. They were having Civil War reenactments and people were really getting into it. They had tents and supplies all set up and people were dressed up and marching around. Highlights for me: We saw some old trains, I was able to sit in an old Model T (if only I could drive one now!) and Hyrum overcame his fear of the carousel.

Hunter gave some great hugs

Hot dog roast at the "Hot Dog Park"

The Castle Park at Eberwhite Woods

Jeremy, Nana & the boys went to Brighton for Memorial Day and enjoyed a parade, walking along the river, a yummy lunch and playing at the park. I enjoyed a long nap at home :)

Nana had a birthday (almost) while she was with us and we celebrated with home made Pad Thai and Texas Sheet Cake-Happy Birthday!!!

Jeremy is now back at school working hard. The month went by fast but we made lots of great memories and have about 1000 pictures to prove it! Thanks U of M-we're looking forward to another week break in July!

third week

This was our errand and cross off the list week, so we didn't do anything too exciting but we did get a lot done around here.

We did finally make it down to the Toledo Zoo for the first time and enjoyed a perfect sunny day-here are my all time favorite zoo animals

After a previous traumatic experience with sunscreen rubbed in the eyes, the boys were happy to wear their matching hats instead

Hunter meeting Dori for the first time

Park time any chance we got

This is a good contrast of our before and after lawn-it was quite the jungle

Hyrum really thought his lawn mower was cutting up the grass along with Daddy's. He was so proud to help

Jeremy & I went on a date where we had to pick out clothes at the mall for each other to try on (OK we were trying not to spend any money and stay inside where it was warm). My favorite part was Jeremy's model poses

Cute boys excited for Nana's visit coming up next week!!!

second week

Here is what the Shakespear family has been up to this second week of vacation

The first thing was a two day trip to Holland...see previous post for more details

We had a family movie night complete with popcorn, chocolate chip cookies and 'Wall-E'. We even let the Bug stay up (till 10pm!!!) to watch it this time. Good flick.

Ice cream cones on the front porch

I turned the big 30 this past week (weird) and Jeremy made me a delicious ice cream cake (just the right kind of cake for us). Two layers of chocolate cake with a layer of cookies n' cream in the middle and then he softened vanilla ice cream so he could spread it around for the frosting. We each ate like 3 pieces that day. We went to a Lebanese/Mediterranean restaurant that I love and Jeremy suffered through 'Bride Wars' with me because I really wanted to watch it.

We spent two days in Pittsburgh to help Zac and Joy move into the "new Pittsburgh" house that Hyrum calls it and to celebrate Anne's 7th birthday-so fun!

Best of all lots more Daddy time

holland

I was going to just post everything we did each week of Jeremy's vacation in one post per week but the Tulip Festival in Holland deserves it's very own post.

Someone (can't remember who) said that the anticipation of an event usually exceeds the actualization of an event but not so with Holland Michigan. After our trip I was just about ready to start looking at Real Estate :) Well we did actually and there's some pretty good deals going on for anyone interested.

Monday we spent the whole day admiring the tulips and our cute boys in front of them

No surprise to us, their favorite activity that day was chasing each other through the park

The Bug and Daddy-at least that's what he calls me. I must say it's so cute when he sees me and lovingly calls out "Daaaaddy!!" Although he does mix it up with 'Nammy' once in awhile

These yellow tulip pictures are for you Mum

The pictures do not do it justice! Everyone should really go here at least once in life!!

Hugs

Tuesday we spent a good four hours playing at the beautiful beach on Lake Michigan

At first Hyrum was determined to NOT go to the beach but once he realized we weren't going swimming but just playing in the sand he had a grand old time. We hiked dunes and rolled down them and had a yummy picnic. I love, love, love the beach and although it's not the same as the ocean it was close enough for me for now! I could sit on the sand all day and watch the water.

And this is pretty much how we all felt after 2 days of playing hard

first week

Here is what we've been up to for Jeremy's first week off from school

Hunter's first experience playing in a sandbox (he's almost 16 months-sad I know)

Hyrum caught his very first FISH!!! Oh Boy! Thanks to Daddybear for making a fishing pole out of a nearby reed, some random fishing wire & hook we found in the bushes and a piece of stale bread (yes we threw the fish back in after a quick photo shoot)

Hunter sneaking some stale bread we brought to feed the fish and ducks

3 handsome haircuts-two of which were extremely traumatic

One Daddy/sons date to the dinosaur museum per Hyrum's request

And last but not least one very happy visit to Jump City, the happiest place on earth for Hyrum (no, he hasn't been to Disneyland yet)

We have also had about 5 picnics, visited the cities of Jackson and Chelsea and gone to some new parks despite the rain. Jeremy has been able to do some fun things (well deserved) like golfing, basketball, boys night out (playing video games of course), lunch with dental friends, a dental potluck with his clinic, and doing some construction work with a friend (yes he does enjoy it).

3 weeks and two more days to go!