Mini Vacation

On Friday, we went on a little mini-vacation. Dad and Mom left their car here and we all drove up to Mishawaka to pick up Jared from work. After picking up Jared, we got on the road to Saginaw, Michigan. We took a somewhat different route since we were leaving from South Bend. We wanted to avoid the toll road so we didn't have to pay the tolls. Jared and I had some difficulties navigating the route. I seemed that we were doing alright until it came time to turn or take an exit. Inevitably when these times would come, I was not paying attention and neither was Jared. I think we ended up missing almost every exit we were suppose to take. Eventually,

we got to the hotel. We stayed at a Super 8 in Saginaw. My Grandma, Uncle John, Aunt Janet, and Cousin Lindsay and her kids were all staying there too.

We went to my cousin Kaleb's wedding while we were there. It was at my Uncle Ken's house. The wedding was on the porch of their home and the reception was in the side yard. It was a very nice, quaint wedding. Kelly, my sister was unable to attend since she is now living in Minnesota, so she joined us by video chat at the reception. The connection was not great, but at

least she got to see some of the family that we do not get to see very often. The food was really good too. Aunt Judy made all the food, it was wonderful.

Kaleb waiting for his Bride. Kaleb and Heidi on Uncle Ken's porch

Lilee dancing with her "Bubby Boy".

Lilee and Connor on Uncle Ken and Aunt Judy's porch

Connor and his new Buddy, Aaron.

Lilee getting her groove on with the Bride Heidi.

I got to spend some time that night back at the hotel catching up with my cousin Lindsay. She has two little boys that are adorable. We sat and chatted for about an hour after everyone else was in bed.

Saturday we all got up and ready for the day. Then we all carpooled to Frankenmuth. My other cousin Aaron went along too. While we were in Frankenmuth, we visited Bronner's Christmas Store. This is a huge store that is filled with an enormous amount of christmas lights, tree ornaments and other christmas decorations and things. There are tons of different santa claus' set up everywhere, along with snowmen and nativity scenes. The store is absolutely huge and it can be sort of like a maze. After spending quite a while in the store, we all carpooled back to the center of town and went to eat at The Bavarian Inn. It was a really neat inside. They had several different rooms to seat people in. We were in the "Family Crest" room. They served several German dishes. Jared, the kids and I all dined on a fried chicken dinner. It came with mashed potatoes and dressing. It was very good. We were stuffed afterwards.

Connor looking into the telescope at Bronner's

Lilee and Connor in front of Bronner's

Lilee in front of the Bavarian Inn

We did a little shopping around Frankenmuth after lunch. It was hot and sunny so we went into several stores just to cool off. We went into a store called The Funky Skunk. We got the kids slap bracelets. They thought they were really cool. It brought back memories of elementary school in the 80's. Cheap gift, but they didn't care. Shortly after that

we decided it was time to head home.

We drove home the same route as on the way there, but with no hiccups. We didn't miss a single turn or exit. We stopped for dinner at Wendy's and made it home around 9:30. It was a nice little get away. I am all unpacked and ready for the next little adventure.