The Joys of Fatherhood: Anniversary, Vacation, Goofy Pajama's and Cider Mills

Busy is the word that best describes life right now, busy on the weekends, busy at work, and busy in the evenings, just busy. 9/17 marked Amanda and I's 4 year anniversary, what can I say its been the best 4 years of my life! We celebrated by going to the resturant of Amanda's choice.... Logan's Steak House. I got Amanda a beautiful Ruby and Diamond necklace, Rubies because its not only her favorite stone, but also because its Ellasyn's birthstone, and diamonds well because what girl doesnt like diamonds! Also got her a nice fall themed floral bouquet. Because we havent been on a "Vacation" together since our Honeymoon and because Amanda was going back to work on the 22nd I decided to setup a mini-vacation. I wanted to head north in hopes the colors would be changed (no such luck on the colors changing) and also be along the water. I chose Leland Michigan, its a neat little town with places for shopping and close to the Dunes and some nice lighthouses (learn more Here). I took a half day on Friday to allow plenty of time to drive the 5.5 hours there, good thing too because it ended up taking us almost 8.5 hours, this included several stops to change Ellasyn, a stop in West Branch (Damn Outlets) and a stop for dinner. Saturday Morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. We had no plans for the day other then to walk around Historic Fish Town and check out the beach, and thats about all we did. We walked around the shops in Fish Town got lunch and the Cheese Shop, this was recommended by a friend of Amanda's and I must say Im happy we went there, they have the best sandwhiches made with pretzel bread. After lunch we walked around the shops in the downtown area, by this time Ellasyn was ready for a new diaper and some milk so we headed back to the room before heading to the beach. After the Milk Monster fed we were off to the beach. Once we staked out our piece of sand on the beach I took Ellasyn for her first dip into Lake Michigan! Ok, so maybe I just dipped her feet, but none the less it was her first time in 1 of our Great Lakes! The look on her face was priceless when her feet first touched the water. After her little dip she enjoyed some tummy time and a nap. After the beace we got ready for Dinner, we ate at a really nice resturant across from our hotel, The Cove I believe, it was pretty good, aside from the mass amount of fruit flies everywhere... After dinner we got ice cream then headed back to the beach for the sunset. It was such an enjoyable day spending time with my wife and daughter. Sunday we had to head home, when I left Leland I headed north up to Leelenau State Park to check out the Grand Traverse Light House, we took a tour of the old Light House Facility and walked out to the rocky shoreline, it was another beautiful sunny day so it was nice to just hangout on the shore and take it all in. Leaving there I followed the shoreline down around to TC where we stopped for Lunch and Fudge. Then we embarked on the trip home. It was a great mini-vacation and Im already looking forward to our next, it definately wont be another 4 years!

Here was our view from our door.

Here is the view towards Lake Michigan.

Ellasyn ready for the day!

Yummy Sandwhich!

Sunning on the Beach

Lake Michigan Dip

Lake Michigan Sunset

Family Picture

So Amanda got some pink pajama's with green frogs on them a couple years ago, they are the goofiest pajamas, and I always make fun of her when she wears them.... Well her Mom found a similar pair for Ellasyn to wear! SO both wear their goofy pajamas together....

This past Sunday we decided to head to a Cider Mill, because all of October is shaping up to be busy! We have always gone to a place called 3 Cedars Farms, they have pumpkins, a hay ride, country store, apples, Cider and Doughnuts, and Corn Maze. The people that run it are very nice and its enjoyable to go there, so based on past experiences we went back, and it was a great time. We got lots of pics, took a hay ride, ate some doughnuts, drank some cider, picked some pumpkins, and just had fun spending the time with my parents and Ellasyn. We got a cute little pumpkin outfit from Amanda's mom that we thought would be the perfect outfit for the day, half way through we had a blow out hence the outfit change.

Family Pic