It's been several weeks now, but I've been meaning to share photos from our fabulous July vacations up at Love Lake in Wisconsin (where Tim's family has a cabin) and Walloon Lake in Michigan (where my family has vacationed for over 25 years).
LOVE LAKE:
As is tradition, we spent the 4th of July at Love Lake with Tim's entire family, which now includes 6 cousins. Tim took this photo our first morning up there... we assumed that because Caleb slept but 1 out of the 7 hours in the car the day before and went to bed at 10:30 that we might get a few extra minutes of sleep. Ha! The second he woke up at 5:00 a.m. and saw (to his delight) his parents sleeping a few feet away, we knew we were doomed. Thankfully there was this view to wake up to:
We had a great time celebrating America:
 |
| Caleb was not feeling the Flower Power |
 |
| Tim bounding up the steps from the lake to the cabin. |
Even though Caleb only slept an hour on the drive home (which took 10 painful hours, including 4 hours of te-ri-ble traffic), he kept us all entertained with his babbles and favorite game of peek-a-boo:
 |
| He was so excited to sit in the booth and drink out of a real cup - it's the simple joys in life! |
WALLOON:
We wrapped up the end of July with our week at Walloon Lake. I have so many fond memories from decades spent at the cottage, and it was so fun adding Caleb to those memories (Tim couldn't make it up this year as we are saving the vacation days for baby #2 due in just 3 months - woo hoo!)
We spent most of the time on the pontoon on the water, on the deck, or playing in the yard:
 |
| Caleb's first tube ride - I don't know if you could call 1 mph really "riding" but it was still fun |
 |
| My brother Dave tearing it up with the cottage in the background (the blue one with the 4 big windows in front) |
 |
| Dave and my dad deep in conversation |
 |
| Until Caleb comes zooming through! |
 |
| Couldn't leave the lawn mower at home! |
 |
| My dad took Caleb kayaking almost every morning. The first few seconds were rough, but then he loved it. |
 |
| His hair is finally coming in :) |
 |
| Caleb was a big fan of Kilwins ice cream. Don't be mistaken though... I might say that I bought him his own cone so that he could enjoy it himself and we could take cute pictures, but the real reason was so that I didn't have to share any of my own! |
 |
| Uncle Dave |
 |
| Grammy! |
 |
| The sisters. Lindsay (on the left) is my sister-in-law and is also expecting. She's due just 3 weeks before me. I can't wait to meet their little one and see Dave and Lindsay become wonderful parents! |
 |
| Reading bookies with Gramps |
We came home from the cottage on Friday so that Tim could make the 3 hour drive from Wheaton and spend the weekend with the family.
 |
| Caleb in the pool with Gramps and Uncle Dave |
Rarely do we have all 9 of us in the same location (Dave & Lindsay live in Hong Kong and Hannah & Michael live near Ann Arbor), so family portraits were a must.
 |
| Mom and the kids |
 |
| What a great picture of Caleb with his Grammy & Grampa! |
And last but not least, here are a couple of my recent favorite photos of Caleb:
