Dear Molly and Maddy,

Here I go getting behind on my posts again! Oh well, better late than never!

This 4th of July weekend was so much fun! We started it off with the Northville Parade. I have gone to this parade every year of my entire life! Gaga and Pop Pop have been taking me since I was a little girl. So naturally, I have taken you every year since you were born, too! You guys had picked out your “parade dresses” weeks in advance and were really looking forward to the event! Every time we talked about it though, you were sure to remind me that Daddy is afraid of clowns but you are not!

This year, Lauren, Adam and Jon were up north so Gaga, Pop Pop, Mimi, Nick and Jodi tagged along with us. You guys enjoyed the parade and were “supa fast” in collecting the candy! Definitely a fun morning! Afterwards, we stopped at Nana’s for a bit to get some Nana time in because you wouldn’t be seeing her for a few days. Why, you ask? Because we were headed UP NORTH!! 🙂

I love being “up north”. Anyone not from Michigan probably doesn’t understand and is definitely missing out. There is just something about the beautiful Michigan lakes, clear skies, boat rides, fireworks lighting up the sky, snuggling in a hoodie next to a bonfire each night, and living in your bathing suit and no shoes the whole weekend! It’s a little min-vacation and a carefree atmosphere. You went up north when you were a few months old, but obviously spent most of your time sleeping! This year was so much different!

You girls played in the lake, jumped on the water trampoline, collected rocks and seashells, made smores by the bonfire, watched fireworks, lit your first sparkler, learned to fish with Daddy, and thoroughly enjoyed your daily boat rides. Lauren was kind enough to cook us delicious meals each day and let you two snuggle in her bed each night. My favorite part of the trip though- our pirate adventures! You girls have such creative imaginations and I love to get them going! At the pool all summer, we have been playing “shark”- one of us will make a shark fin with our hands on top of our head and chase each other around the pool while you guys scramble to be “safe” and scream and laugh. So, when we boarded the boat and headed onto Higgins Lake, of course I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play shark! You’d point into the water, scream “SHARK!” and duck down into safety! Before we took off, we also found a map on the boat. What kind of map? A pirate treasure map of course!! Molly was the navigator and told Captain Jon exactly where the map said to go 🙂 Unfortunately, we didn’t happen upon our treasure that day. But the next day was a different story!

The second day, we were more than prepared for our pirate adventure! We had new pirate maps, marked with an X. We had pirate bandanas and pixie dust. You girls kept checking the map and telling us which direction to head. And guess what? YOU FOUND A TREASURE! When we stopped the boat, a special pirate treasure came floating up to us on a raft. We wrangled it onto the boat and found pirate bags with all kinds of goodies and candy inside! This was SO much fun! Your imaginations are THE BEST!!

We stayed up north at Lauren and Jon’s house from Thursday night until Sunday morning. It was such a great time and a wonderful 4th of July spent with family!

Hope you had as much fun as I did! Love you girls!

Love,

Mom