Thursday, March 26, 2009

Back from Michigan!

I have not been ignoring my duties as a blogger just for fun, we've been on vacation! (Yes, again. March has been a special month!) This time it was a quick visit to Michigan to see my family and a jump over to Canada to see Toronto and Niagara Falls. There are many pictures to see so be prepared for your finger to go numb scrolling!



Eryn had fun spending time with Grandma!


They had a screaming contest...


You'll never guess who won!

My Mom enjoys feeding the birds in their back yard.


Sometimes it's a little like Alfred Hitchock's "The Birds" back there though!





Michigan's State Capitol building in Lansing.

Eryn tried to ride this scooter because it was pink. This is right outside the football stadium where MSU plays. The 4 Big Ten Trophies! (I touched them!)



While Tom's away and the door just happened to be open... Hehe!


Tom Izzo's Office (MSU Men's Basketball Head Coach).



This part is a little backwards (and I'm sick of trying to fix this excessively long post!) This was the tantrum that came when it was time to leave feeding the ducks.

Mike's so patient and puts up with so much!

Black squirrels from China are around Potter's Park and the Lansing area.

Eryn didn't want to let the ducks and geese eat it all!

She did try to share with them.

She had fun chasing these little guys around too.



I took Eryn to go feed the ducks and geese at Potter's Park where we used to go as a family when I was a kid. A bag of popcorn and a little wildlife is fun and cheap entertainment!
We also went to the Michigan State Library and Museum. I spent many Saturdays there as a child "helping" my Dad with family history and learning about Michigan History. Eryn tried riding on the decoy deer.

Learning about Motown.

Oh my baby! The '53 Corvette they have on display is so pretty!
Eryn really wanted a closer look! (my friend Kathleen)
She got one! Yes, my daughter crawled under the fence around it and jumped right into the display!
She was really content to push her stroller through the museum more than look at anything.

This is how Mommy and Daddy felt after awhile at the museum with an almost 2 year old!



My friend Kathleen let me take a few nice pictures of her!

Then we went and visited our old high school. They remodeled it a ton and we could hardly find our way around. It was a good thing that one of my former teachers is now a principal there. She gave us the tour and made sure that no one tried to make us go back to class. With me being pregnant and Kat's nose ring we fit in around there better now than we did back in the day! (Sad, but true...)
Some of the Detroit Temple pictures that Mike took. He submitted some to the LDSchurchtemples site, so we're just waiting to see if (and when) they are used on there.






She's giving Dad kisses!



We went to visit our neighbor's to the North (East from Michigan) for a couple of days. Mike and I left Eryn with Grandma and Grandpa and left the country! We took my cousin Brian and his wife Eva with us so they could get away for a little while too.


The Toronto Temple.






Niagara Falls was another stop on our vacation!




They have lights on the falls at night that change colors.

The view of the American Falls from our hotel room!

The Horseshoe Falls from our room!

Then, a zoom shot from the room.



It was super cold there and I forgot to pack my winter coat for this trip. I stole a hoodie from my brother Sam's stuff in the basement. He doesn't need it at Fort Bragg anyways!

Our hotel. We had a room with a jetted bath tub and a fire place. It was so peaceful and perfect! We were both so glad that Eryn was with Grandma and Grandpa so we could really enjoy it!





"The Journey Behind the Falls" tour was interesting. The river at the bottom freezes up, so there was no rides on the Maid of the Mist for us this time. (Which is probably a good thing because we would have froze to death and been coated in ice before the ride was over!)

Buffalo, New York where the Niagara River comes out of Lake Erie Look! A picture of the 2 of us on a vacation. This doesn't happen often. I NEVER give my camera to strangers. It was good to have someone I knew to take a picture of us.

Where the Tornoto Blue Jays play baseball.

The CN Tower. Standing at 1,815 ft, it is the tallest free standing man-made structure in the world. (The Sears tower is 1,450 ft)

When you take a tour up it you get crazy pictures like these!

You can really see the retractable roof on the Rogers Center.

In the skypod (1,465 ft!)



Downtown Toronto

We went inside the Rogers Center for a peek!





We also stopped into the Air Canada Arena where the Maple Leafs and the Raptors play.

Downtown Toronto from out near the lake.



When we came back from Canada Eryn was still in one peice! She'd had a lot of fun playing soccer in the backyard and running around free (it's fenced in). I'm still hearing about Grandpa and Grandma and the birds that she saw. I'm really glad that we went, even for such a short visit. We all needed it.

Me and my crazy loving parents!

4 comments:

momtherunner said...

Welcome home! I'm so glad you got to go on such a fun vacation... what an adventure and what fun pictures! It looks like Eryn, Grandma, and Grandpa had a lot of fun while you were away too. I get to head back to my stomping ground in July...I hope I have as much fun there as you did in Michigan!

The McKays said...

Wow! you we're lying....alot of pictures! But that's a lot of fun. We miss you guys!

chelsea mckell said...

ohmygosh...I'm tired after reading all that. Awesome, awesome post. I loved her duck pond tantrum shots - so hilarious! And the skypod - amazing.

the lunch lady said...

lucky!

that looks like it was a lot of fun.