Visit from Mom and Dad

Dad and Mom at the very end of the Peninsula
The water was so blue here...

At the Wine Fest

Ben and I enjoying wine

Me with Mom and Dad-thanks for visiting!

My parents visited us for a long weekend. We had a great time going to the end of the peninsula, eating at the Cook's house (probably top 2 meals I have ever eaten!), shopping the local farmers market, and attending the Wine and Art Festival. Thanks for visiting and we can't wait for Pittsburgh in a few months!

5th Annual Cedarville Trip

A beautiful Cedarville Sunset

Green Team: Brian, Ben, Kate, and Macare

Grey Team: Mike, Jenna, Mac and Dusty

1st Annual Beer Olympic Teams...yellow won! Some of the events were flip cup, fruit pass relay, blind lemon drop race, and beer chug relay.

20 of 23 of us at dinner...the Islander.

All the ladies...

Ben and the boys at the beach

Ben driving us to Cedarville for $1 beers at Bumpas

the boats at Government Island...our favorite beach

Katie, Kirsten, Me and Lindsay all driving to the island on Anna's boat

Our 5th annual Cedarville trip was the biggest yet-23 of our close friends drove from near and far to enjoy a 3 day weekend of boating and relaxing to close off the summer. We had great weather to spend our days at Government Island and doing water sports. At night we grilled out and had campfires long into the night. We even had our first beer olympics, which one can imagine the hilarious-ness that ensued. As always, thanks to Mike's grandparents for opening up thier cottage to us...we look forward to next year.

Green Thumbs

Some of our herbs...I've already cut and dried some already. They have been great to cook with. Ben especially likes making pesto with the basil.

An upclose shot of green tomatoes-there are probably hundreds of these growing and we can't wait for them to turn red to make into salsa, mozzarela salad, and sandwiches.

A picture from above-next year we're building a bigger garden.

Zucchini as big as my forearm. This is just 1 of 5 I have picked so far. I have so many I'll be making zucchini bread for months.

Apparently we have green thumbs, who knew?! It has been fun to watch our garden grow and start using our vegetables and herbs. We've dried our herbs, made lots of zucchini bread, and are making pickles out of the cucumbers. We're excited for our tomatoes to turn red to make salsa...let's just hope the sun starts shining more.

Ben's boys weekend in Cedarvile

Brian, Ben, Jason, and Mike

The boys navigating the water-Cedarville always has the most beautiful sunsets.

Ben with Jason's fish he caught

Ben, Brian, Jason and Mike at the Islander-a favorite watering hole in Hessel

Our friend Mike's grandparents have a cottage in Cedarville so Ben and his buddies decided to head up to the UP for the weekend while us girls enjoyed bachelorette festivities. They fished, boated, and sat by the fire-in Ben's words "relaxed and enjoyed the UP." In 2 weeks around 20 of our close friends will be heading up there for the 5th annual Cedarville weekend so look for pictures soon.

Just because....

I love this picture! What a great evening with wonderful girlfriends!

Molly's shower and bachelorette party

Me and the bachelorette, Molly

The whole group toasting to Molly and Erik!

Love these girls!!

Lindsay and I wine tasting at the bachelorette party

Molly and Ben, Me and the girls, view of Lake Michigan sunset from the house

Ben and I, Ben with Mike & Erik (the groom to be), With Lindsay and Molly

Day 2 and 3: Bowling, Boats, and Beach

The Manitou sailing Grand Traverse Bay
Ben buried Jake in the sand

Ben teaching Jake and Elizabeth how to drive the boat-they did great!

A chilly boat ride but thankfully no rain so we could at least enjoy the bay

Nicole, Savie, and Meg joined us for bowling-it was Savie's first time and she played like a pro.

Elizabeth and I bowling.

Unfortunately it was rainy and cold so we spent Saturday at the farmer's market downtown while Ben and Jake fished at the Boardman. We went bowling in the afternoon and when we got home it was actually nice out to take a quick boat ride on the Boston Whaler. Ben even taught Jake and Liz how to drive. Sunday was gorgeous so we spent the day at the beach. It was a great weekend for visitors and can't wait until they can come back and enjoy TC again.