Out wildest adventure yet!

I truly cannot believe we did it.  On Friday morning we woke the girls up at 5:30.  (Actually, true story, Clare woke up at 4:30 crying because she could not understand why we had not started our adventure yet.)  But...at 6am our car was loaded and we were off for a whirlwind trip!!!

 

Clare rode in the way back of the van by herself and I rode in the middle, which we decided made traveling so much better on everyone.

When we finally stopped for lunch at the park Elle was out cold...of course!

And when we got to my parents around 5:30pm we fit a LOT into our Friday evening.  My dad had the tractor all ready for a ride around the farm.

And it is a perfect time of year in Michigan.  The trees are just beginning to change color, but you don't need more than a light jacket to be outside.

Then before we ate dinner we had to get in a little fishing.

Notice Clare's car hair do.  Her hair is always a HUGE knot after riding for hours in the car and I didn't even attempt fixing it before bed.

Elle and Clare both love being outside at Grammie and Papa's, but this picture is just a perfect picture of fall in Michigan.

Daddy helped Elle catch her first fish.  They honestly cast and within 2 minutes got a fish, which made it perfect for my very busy little girl.

AND...oh my heavens...best treat of the trip!! My parents have a barn cat and this is her second litter.  She actually brings my parents a kitten and drops it on the porch when she has them and they are a few weeks old.  So my parents keep them in the bathroom and every morning "mama cat" (which is really the name they gave her) comes in, feeds the kittens and goes back outside til night, when she comes in to feed them one more time.  It's crazy!!  These 5 kittens are 4 weeks old and ready to be given away, but since we were coming to town my mom kept them for the weekend.  They were a HUGE hit!

After a good nights rest we had a princess party to get ready for.  Saturday morning we had both mine and LD's families over to my parents for a joint birthday party for the girls.

There were about 25 of us, with a few missing in our immediate combined families.  I always grew up having a family birthday party until the year we moved to Charlotte.  I LOVED the my girls got to have a birthday party with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Jayden brought his little jeep, and....

my mom borrowed one from a friend!  Notice Elle isn't wearing her princess dress.  Saturday morning I tried to put jeans on Clare and she cried because girls don't wear jeans to parties.  So, we gave them their princess dresses and within minutes Elle was begging to get hers off. Yes, they are very different :)

My mom and cousin Emily also made this awesome castle.  It was too chilly to play outside in it or eat lunch, but I'm sure my mom will hold onto it for summer.  It was so cute!

Here are all the grandkids minus my nephew Matt, who had homecoming.

This sweet little kitten Clare named Izzy just like our neighbor cat and he was my favorite too.  He would just snuggle and let you hold him...so sweet.

 

Saturday night, LD and his dad headed to the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game, which made a late and disappointing night for them with Michigan's loss.

THEN (are you tired yet???), Sunday morning the girls and I went to church with my dad, before heading to....

THE CIRCUS!!!!!!

 

Yes, it was crazy, but it was so fun.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to Grand Rapids, but there were 18 of us that went and we had such a great time!!!

Each of the girls had a cousin close to their age go with us, which added to the fun!

And it was a great show!!

I cannot believe it, but Elle never batted an eye in the car, so it was her first official day with no nap what-so-ever and she really hung in there!

 

The next morning, we headed home bright and early!  I don't know that we will do many more crazy trips like that, but it really was such a great time!!