Our family trip to Michigan

Keith's employeer, Guardian Industries, is headquartered in Auburn Hills, MI. Conveniently enough, Auburn Hills is about 10 minutes from where my mom lives, so I was super excited when Keith announced that Guardian was sending him to the corporate office in October for a conference. Family roadtrip! So, just before Halloween, we loaded up the minivan and headed to Michigan for a long weekend to visit with family and friends. It was really special because, in addition to seeing our Michigan family, my closest cousin Andrew, who lives in Colorado, arranged for his family to be in Michigan that same weekend. I haven't seen Andrew since Nicholas' baby shower in April 2006 and I haven't seen Andrew's family since October 2005--just a few weeks after his first son was born. Now, Andrew's first son John is 3 and they have a new addition to the family, Matthew, who arrived on August 7, 2008--just 2 days after Avery! It was so fun to get the kids together. John and Nicholas played with (and fought over) their trains and ran around the house being wild and crazy little boys. Grandma took them outside to feed the neighbor's bunny and to play at the playground. They had a lot of fun!

We also went to the cider mill. The cider mill is one of my very favorite fall traditions and I was so excited to take Nicholas. I had the whole trip planned out perfectly in my mind. It would be a beautiful, crisp fall day in Michigan. I would let the kids nap for a few hours and then we'd head out sometime in the early afternoon. Everyone would be happy! We'd get there and take Nicholas to see some of the animals, and then we'd take the hayride to the pumpkin patch where I'd take some pictures of the kids among all of the pumpkins. After choosing the perfect pumpkin, we'd head back for some cider and warm donuts. Sounds great, right!?! Well, Michigan had other plans. It was freezing cold and rained all. day. long. No joke. All day. Even though the weather only called for showers in the evening. So, our trip to the cider mill was spent inside the cider mill store. We did have cider and warm donuts, and Keith picked out a big bag of honey crisp apples (he's really been on a apple kick lately) to bring home. It was nice...just not what I had envisioned. Oh well. Next time, I suppose. We did get some good cider mill pictures.

I also had the opportunity to visit with two of my closest friends while we were there. My friend Ann is currently pregnant (and due any day now!) with her first child. I finally got to see Ann's house, which is absolutely beautiful. I want to live in Ann's house (or she could come and decorate my house...either way)! Ann is truly gifted when it comes to decorating and being crafty. I'm jealous :) Then, there is my friend Amy. Amy just had her first baby 9 days after Avery's birthday. Sean was born on August 14, 2008. It was fun to be pregnancy buddies with Amy and it was even more fun to visit with her and meet Sean. He is so super cute with the best cheeks ever! Sean was kind enough to pose with Avery for a few quick pics. Here is one of my favorites. I just love the look on his face! It's like he's looking at his mom saying "ugh, mom...do you know this crazy lady is in our house taking my picture. It might end up on the web or something...don't say I didn't warn you."

While we were there, we also had a family tailgate and watched U of M lose another football game, Amanda and Alaina went shopping with grandma, and we had a bonfire in the backyard. It was a busy few days. We all had a really nice time and are looking forward to our next trip to grandma's house! Here are a few more random pictures from our visit.