Parmenter's Northville Cider Mill

This morning we took our first cider mill trip of the season.  It was a good time to go because it was warm and there weren't any bees out!!  Last time we went to Parmenter's was at the end of last fall and we stayed for about 30 seconds and left because of all the bees.  

I tried to recreate a picture of Lukey kissing Anna from 2 years ago.  It didn't work out. 

Eating donuts and drinking cider together while watching the ducks and fish in the river.

Three pictures of Anna and three pictures of Lukey.

The Zoo and Leah's birthday party

Da's going back to work next week, so Thursday was our last chance for a during the week zoo trip as a family.  There weren't a lot of people there and the weather was a little cooler so it was a pretty good time to go.  The first thing Anna wanted to see was the penguins.

Lukey pretending to hold a lightsaber.  I think they're in front of a turtle.

We got a pretty good view of this polar bear.  I couldn't get him to look in our direction for a picture though.  The polar area was great because for the first time we've ever seen, we were the only ones there for awhile!  The kids had fun running back and forth in the tunnel part looking at seals (my personal favorite thing to see at the zoo).  

Is it possible to not like seals??  They are wonderful creatures!!

Lukey looks old in this picture.  Like a grown up boy.

Though she wanted to see the penguins first, Anna's favorite thing at the zoo is easily this owl.  I asked Lukey what his favorite thing to see is and he said a sign that says "bat crossing" on the outside of the barn.  Da's favorite to see is the anteaters.  I like the seals.  

Later in the day, we went to celebrate Leah's party.  I didn't get very good pictures of the party because the kids were always all over the place.  They had a lot of fun.  There was a bouncehouse there that they spent most of the night in.

Anna and Lukey liked to do somersaults down the bouncehouse slide.

Lukey was not very interested in all the girl toys Leah got.  Mostly American Girl doll accessories.  I've asked Anna a few times if she ever wants an American Girl. She always says she'd rather have kitties.  

Diamond Jack

Lukey and Anna toured the Detroit River aboard the Diamond Jack from Bishop Park in Wyandotte to the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit.

Lukey liked reading his map.

There were a lot of Blue Mountain Quarries.

Anna liked eating snacks.

Holland

Last week we went out to the Holland State Park.  It was a really nice beach day.  The rest of the world thought so too and it was VERY busy.  It was still fun though.  The cousins had fun playing on the beach together.  Sloane stayed at home.  

Lukey put his goggles on and swam in the lake.  He's been doing a great job with swimming this summer.  He was able to swim all the way across Leah and Juliet's neighborhood pool himself, and could swim about halfway across Colony's pool.  He also was able to jump off the diving board and get to the wall himself at Colony.  Maybe next year he'll start working on stroke technique more but for now he's good at swimming in his own style.  

This was not in Holland.  This was at our house. Leah and Juliet came over and watched Big Hero 6 on our outside "screen".  The kids looked cute sitting in the same chairs together.