A senior moment...

It's official.

 I have a senior!  

Emma left Sunday with Grandville's high school marching band for marching band camp. 

 She'll be away for the next six days, living in a hot dorm at CMU and getting ready for her final high school marching band season. 

I couldn't be more proud of my senior. 

The rest of the trip...

I won't bore you with lots of vacation pics, but it was a wonderful trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

When my conference presentation was accepted earlier this spring in Denver, I knew it was going to be an opportunity to do some work and then extend my time with a family trip into Wyoming and Montana.

We flew into Denver and after my conference ended, we then got a rental van.   We ended up putting 2000 miles onto the van in only 6 days!

We absolutely fell in love with Wyoming and Montana.  

Such beautiful and vast terrain.  

We marveled at how frequently the landscape changed.  

The state of Michigan is so flat in comparison.

We also experienced extreme temperature changes.  

It could be in the low 40s at the top of the mountains and then in the upper 80s at the base.

We stayed at the Cody Cowboy Village in Cody WY and had a wonderful time.

We also stayed at the Three Bear Lodge in West Yellowstone MT and had equally pleasant experience.

The only advice I would give about Yellowstone National Park, is that despite its size, it's extremely busy and it really is better to go at dawn (as soon as the park opens) to avoid the masses.

Wildlife is also more active first thing in the morning.  

The Grand Tetons allow for amazing hiking opportunities and I'm glad we invested in good hiking shoes for our whole family.

This was probably the last BIG family trip we will take with Emma going off to college in 2016.
 It was definitely a trip of a lifetime.

XOXO

Back from Yellowstone!

If I've been quieter than usual, it's because we were on a trip of a lifetime!

We flew back yesterday and I'm back to work (boo) but I promise to visit blogs when I can.

I hope you didn't have too much fun without me.

 If you follow me on Instagram, I posted quite a few pics already.

 More to come.
   

Dumpster diving at the dump...

I had hinted that I had a trash-to-treasure story.  Earlier last week, we went to the town dump near our lake house because that's where the garbage service is located.  We had finally decided to pay for a service instead of hauling our trash home every weekend in our van.  Stinky STINK!

Anyways, as we were getting ready to leave with our shiny brand new garbage can, I spotted a rusty outdoor chair near a dumpster.  Knowing we just couldn't grab it and run (although tempted) Chris and Josie went back inside the office and inquired about the metal outdoor chair.  They were told they could take the chair but we weren't suppose to pick trash and not to make this a habit.  Thanks, ladies. Got it!

 After a few hours of sanding, Chris chose ocean mist rustoleum paint.  

I think our trash- to-treasure chair is pretty darn cute now.  Don't you just love a happy ending!?!

Red, white and blue at the lake

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend for the fourth.  

Lots of beautiful sunrises.

Lots of water time.  

Lakeside dining made the food taste even better. 

Quality family time.  

Amazing fireworks on the lake.  

Even found an estate sale near the cottage.  

You know me.

I brought home all kinds of vintage holiday.

Enjoy this week ahead.

I've got a trash-to-treasure post to share later.  Let's just say dumpster diving was involved!  

Hello July!

It's been a busy month.

 Since the girls and Chris have been out of school, I swear June just zipped by.

I'm hoping to slow down July a bit.

Looking forward to some quality time at the lake and then we've got a big vacation planned in Yellowstone.

Thank you, Viv for my newest red, white and blue "mouse" addition!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!