Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Family Vacation

Well, we were barely home a week when it was time for Todd to be off work for vacation. We decided this year to keep it low key. I decided it actually, I just couldn't muster up the energy to chase Callie all over anywhere we went, so keeping it close to home seemed more manageable! This was one of those kind of trips where you sort of have plans, but just take off and see where you end up. We knew we had tickets to the White Sox/Yankees game in Chicago, we knew we were going to Six Flags, and we knew we were going to the College Football Hall of Fame. Other than that, we were just winging it.

Well, sort of winging it. Is it still winging it when you have a GPS and two phones with Internet and Mapquest? (And a map thrown in for good measure!) We decided our first stop would be the College Football Hall of Fame on the Notre Dame campus. Todd was looking forward to this, I was looking forward to getting it over with :)! So, we put the address in the GPS and we were off. It was a nice drive to South Bend, Indiana. But, we didn't realize that the time changes in Indiana, part of the state is Central Time Zone, most of it is Eastern Time Zone. How weird would that be to live in a state with different time zones? We stopped to eat because we thought we had another hour and half on the road, when we really only had a half an hour! Learn something every day!

The Hall of Fame was nice. Just the right size, IMO. Todd thought it was too small, but he is a little football obsessed! There were a lot of things for the kids to to enjoy as well, so it was a nice family outing. Since this is the College Football Hall of Fame, we of course had to dress in our Oklahoma University clothes. We ran into a man from Oklahoma. He lives in Indiana but his whole family lives in Oklahoma and his parents live in Seminole where my dad grew up. I think that is so fun to see who you run into when your traveling. Someone in our family usually has something OU on so we have people stop us, or if Todd sees someone with something OU on he stops them. We've seen people all over the country that are OU fans. Anyway...


Todd and the guys.

Inside the Hall of Fame they had activities for the kids like kicking, passing, etc. Here are the boys trying their hand at being some kind of linemen. Not sure this position is in the cards for any of my boys!


Callie in her OU dress. Luckily we had been to Oklahoma a couple of weeks before this so she had something appropriate to wear!

Just because this is the cutest face! She is so happy because she is out of the stroller and climbing on it rather than being strapped in!


Todd and the kiddos in front of a giant football.

The gang on a mini football field.

Since South Bend is so close to Michigan, we decided to venture to another state. We hadn't been to Michigan before, so why not! We headed in the direction of Lake Michigan and ended up in St. Joseph, Michigan at the beach. This was my favorite part of the trip. The weather was perfect. The crowds were manageable. The only thing wrong was that we couldn't spend more time there! The kids had so much fun. Callie wasn't too sure at first about getting her feet dirty in the sand, but once she got to the water she was loving it.
Confession time. When I had one, two, and sometimes three kids I was always prepared with just the right clothes at just the right time. Everyone had their hair combed, their nails clipped, matching shoes, everything was even ironed. Well, times have changed! I give up. It is just too much for me to keep up with four kids and their clothes every minute of the day. Don't get me wrong, I can still pull out the old ways occasionally and we show up matching and shined. But, not always. And, it is hard work dressing a girl! She is taking all of my energy! So, I say all that because as you will see in the following pictures, we are at a gorgeous beach at the beautiful time of day. Perfect photo op, and we have on OU CLOTHES! We had other things in suitcases, but do you know how long it would have taken to dig it out and change six people? Too long. So, it is what it is. We had a great time and we have some cute pictures, regardless of the non-beachy clothes!

Here is Mama trying to get Callie to leave the sidewalk.

She finally decided it was OK when we got to the water. She loves playing in the water so she decided to sacrifice her pedicure for fun!

Garrett and Gannon splashing in the lake.

Garrett and Kellen playing football (of course) in the water.
Sam's is never far away .

Callie has decided she has had enough of her feet in the sand. I couldn't get her to put her feet down at all! Can you see her little feet barely peeking out of the bottom of her dress?
Family picture taken by some kid on the beach. Not bad, OU clothes and all :)!



Lake Michigan, so pretty.

We did all of the above on a Friday. Saturday we planned to get up do a little shopping then head to some dunes just south of St. Joseph. Well, the day didn't turn out as planned since it rained and rained. Oh well. We shopped a little longer and headed on to Chicago. We made it in time to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and shop at IKEA. Have I ever mentioned that I love Chicago? Well, I do. And, since I like to include lots of pics, I will continue our family vacation in another post. I never know how many pictures and words I am going to be able to do before the blog starts going a little weird on me! So, stay tuned...:)

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