Right before school started, Cheryl visited us to take care of the kids while I tagged along with Jeff on a business trip. She had recently turned 70, so we took her to the coast for her birthday. At this time of year, it seems like every place on the coast is crowded with people trying to make one last trip to the beach before school starts. Because of crowds and cost, and also because Jeff always finds interesting places for us to go, we went to a new-to-us place that was a little chilly and not crowded at all. Happy birthday, Cheryl!
I should mention that our GPS told us we needed to turn here. Clearly, GPS cannot always be trusted!
Around this time, Jonathan was working on a birthday image for Jeff. He chose the four Lego minifigs that he thought represented Jeff the best and made this little poster for his birthday. We love it.
He wanted to make one for me, too, but it was a little harder because the range of female minifigs is a bit more limited. Still, I thought he did a great job!
We stopped at this winery on the way to our destination. The kids and I amused ourselves while Jeff and Cheryl did their thing at the winery.
Thank goodness for this classic!
As is often the case, Cheryl wanted to get a picture right at the end of our experience, and the kids were done. Especially Grace. So, this is how our pictures looked. We did have a nice time before the pictures were attempted, though!
Before Jeff and I left on our trip, the kids and I did our best to make him feel very special for his birthday. We celebrated the day before his birthday because we'd be traveling on his actual birthday.
Now Blogger is switching to some photos we took on the business trip. Unlike most trips, in which Jeff is working hard doing the hosting, this was a trip when we were the guests. Here's an excursion we took to beautiful Lake Michigan.
Jeff climbs down - and then up - this gigantic sand dune. I didn't know places like this existed at Lake Michigan, but they do!
We took this photo for Jonathan.
The crew on the excursion.
Here I am relating and enjoying the fact that it is beginning to rain. The Michiganders thought Jeff and I were ridiculous for enjoying the rain so much!
And now the pictures are back to our time at the beach with Cheryl.
Jonathan customized the cornhusker for Jeff's birthday, and the kids and I surprised him with the hiker because we thought it represented him so well.
Right before we left for our trip, we visited Mom and Don. Mom always supplies popsicles, which the kids love, and playing with Darcy and Mary Ann was a bonus.
The kids played a rousing game of hide-and-seek in which Grace fooled everyone!
Here we are on the Michigan trip again with some flowers that I thought were so interesting and unusual.
When we got home, we were so glad to spend time with the kids! We had missed them so much.
I brought books back from an actual two-story, local book store, and this one was a huge hit.
Cheryl gardened with the kids while we were away...
and took them to the movies. We were so thankful to go but even more thankful to get back!
