Traverse City State Park

We spent a long weekend in Traverse City camping at the state park and enjoying the National Cherry Festival. The various playgrounds around town were a hit. 

 There was a lot of shopping to do downtown, plus a huge craft show and a car show. Of course we had to stop at Toy Harbor.

 We did a lot of biking since Traverse City has such nice trails on their TART system.

 This little guy reminds me of his sister when she "biked" like this. 

 We went to the beach, 

 and the vineyards, 

 and the drive-in!

 This was a parenting decision we still laugh at. What were we thinking?! Trying to eat messy burgers and greasy fries while four of us crammed into the front seat was definitely a memory maker. 

 A trip to the Festival is complete without a stop at the carnival!

 They had a great airshow too! (in spite of the fact that Obama cancelled the Blue Angels this year).

It wasn't loud, since they were over the water, the head phones are so we could listen to the announcers and music that went along with the show. :)

Zeeland Zoom

 Here are both kids sporting their own Z! tattoos for the Zeeland Zoom 5K, ready to race...

 ... and here are their "drivers"!

Who is that?!

There's nothing cuter than a baby that's discovered his reflection in the mirror. All the funny expression he makes at his new "friend"...

Strawberry Picking

 Abigail helped me pick strawberries at Visser Farms U-Pick.

 Elijah just gave us moral support...

 When her attention started to fade I told her to go find the biggest strawberry she could find and she did. I looked through my baskets and none even came close to the one she had found! Way to go!

 These were made right into some yummy jam for our freezer. 

Eight Months Old

Abigail at 8 months.

Saying goodbye to the 'Tour

Derek saying goodbye to his Contour. He's had her for a long time (10 years maybe?). We all took one more ride before selling her (we just went around the subdivision, hence no seatbelts or carseats). 

Whitecaps Game

 We went to a West MichiganWhitecaps game with my dad. 

 Elijah didn't know what was going on but Abigail was excited!

 A perfect evening... for ice cream!

Our New Nephew!

 Welcome to the world Micah William Frederick Draeger! We can't wait to see what crazy business you and Elijah get into (and double-up to give Abigail a dose of her own big-sister/cousin medicine)!

A is for Abigail

Since it is MUCH easier to photograph one child at a time we took the opportunity to snap some of just Abbi since A was one of the letter we were using. I can't believe we have a three-year-old already!

Fathers Day letters

This year I tried to take photos of both kids with the letters D-A-D-D-Y for Derek's frame at work. It was much harder to get them both looking AND holding the letters the correct orientation, even with my mom's help! Here's a peek at the previous years' pictures.

Our Princess Turns Three

 A princess theme was the perfect choice for this year because Abigail is all about dressing up and changing again and again. Pink and purple seem to be her favorite colors right now too. 

 Notice how many different outfits she wears throughout the two parties. 

We wrote on the invitations to have the guests dress as princes/princesses or wear pink/purple. We also had a whole slew of dresses and accessories to offer the guests to wear when they arrived. 

 Everyone really got into the theme. It was cute and we just HAD to take group shots of everyone!