Vacation day 5 and 6

On Sunday we took the kids to South Haven, Michigan. This is about 1/2 hour from Kalamazoo and where as kids and teenagers we would spend much of our free time. If you didn't have a boat, you probably knew someone that did and spent lots of time over on the coast. It is a beautiful old town that is still booming, even with the poor Michigan economy. When we left Kalamazoo, it was pouring rain and we took the chance to go see the lake and lighthouse anyways. We got beautiful weather when we got there. If I had a chance to buy another house, this is where it would be!

We met some of our dear friends from highschool there. Kevin was one of our groomsmen in our wedding. His wife Laura and him got married two weeks before we did. Even though we live many miles apart, we have been able to stay in touch. There first son, Parker is 6 months older than Aidan, Jax there second, is 2 days younger than Brenna and there 3rd child, Lainey is 6 weeks older than Carsyn. We wish we lived closer to them so the kids can grow up together. I have never seen 6 kids play so well together.
Kevin, Laura, Parker, Jax and Lainey Wilson.

After having dinner, we walked over and got some ice cream. All 6 enjoying their ice cream. (I am holding Carsyn's and she looks like she is going to dive into Lainey's.)

On Monday we ventured over the air museum in Kalamazoo. It was awesome! The kids had so much fun!
Aidan getting ready to ride in a flight simulator with his Daddy. His uncle Devin would be so proud!
We also went and walked around WMU campus and got some new gear for us and the kids to wear. The bronco had to make one picture!

Having a barbecue Monday night at Brad's dad's house in Portage. The kids with their grandpa Kudlas.We left around 3 am Tuesday morning back to Georgia. Although it was a wonderful vacation, we are exhausted from all the traveling...2,600 miles to be exact. Thank goodness for unlimited miles! We are resting up for our last 2 weeks before school starts.

Vacation day 3 and 4

There is this great fun center by the hotel and of course the kids saw it while driving around. We took them to play putt putt and ride the go-carts. Carsyn had a lot of fun picking up everyones golf ball. His first time driving a "big boy" go-cart. He did so well. His daddy was proud of how well he concentrated!After packing up our things in Grand Rapids, we headed about 45 minutes northeast to Carson City where my extended family lives. My grandparents are at there house in Michigan for the summer and because everyone was at home, we had to take a picture of all the great grandkids. My grandpa and grandma Regis have two daughters, my mom and my aunt Lisa. Between the two of them, they have 9 children (Me, my brother Drew and Ben, Anna, Nathan, Sarah, David and Isaac) and 4 son/daughter-in-laws (Brad, Arthur, Jessie and Karen) and now my Grandparents have 9 great grandchildren and 1 on the way.
Starting from top left-David (Sarah's oldest), Aidan, Saddie (Ben's oldest), Brenna
Bottom left- Tyson (Nate's oldest..and he has one of the way), Sam (Ben's middle), Carsyn is in Grandma's lap, Jimmy (Anna's youngest) and Stewart (Ben's youngest) is in my Grandpa's lap. They took this picture and are hoping to get it into the newspaper. So cute!!

Saddie (my cousin Ben's oldest) and Brenna are the bestest of friends. It is amazing how much the look alike!

On Saturday, my Aunt and Uncle watched the kids so Brad, my mom and I could go to the wedding. I have been friends with Lauren for about 19 years. She now works with intervarsity at WMU in Kalamazoo and is doing great ministry work. It was a beautiful wedding and I must say, a "total Lauren wedding."

Leslie was also up from Florida as one of the bridesmaids. It was great to see her and visit. I was able to see many people that I haven't seen in many years. I would have loved a few more days to hang out and catch up.

Vacation day 1 and 2

Because we had so much fun (and because I took so many pictures) I will separate vacation pictures into days, starting with the 1st and 2nd day.

We left Georgia at 2 am on Wednesday morning. Some of you may think we are crazy for traveling over night, but I can tell you this much, it works when you have 3 kids! We always rent cars when we travel farther than a weekends travel away. It is not only more comfortable for us and the kids, our cars love having a bit of a break! My mom came with us to go to the wedding as well as visit family and friends. We were happy to have her come along since she is the children's favorite person and favorite entertainment. Thanks mom!

Our first stop was Livonia, Michigan to see Brad's grandmother who is nearing 90. She always has delicious food ready in the oven for us when we get there.

After a couple hour lunch and visit, we took a short drive over to Ann Arbor, Michigan to visit my good childhood friend, Michelle, who the kids call Aunt Michelle. She is working on her master's degree in Architecture at U of M. We are so proud of all the things she is doing. We walked to this wonderful little Italian restaurant for dinner and had a great visit.

We then drove to Grand Rapids to our hotel. We found this awesome brand new Holiday Inn and the bonus was a indoor water park. Thank goodness for the "indoor" part, because for the exception of the first day, they had record breaking LOW temps. That one pair of jeans and one sweatshirt I had packed came in useful...even under those adorable summer dresses I had packed for the girls. We are talking 60-70 degrees everyday. Oh, I am not complaining! I loved a bit of relief from these crazy hot days we have been having in Georgia.

Thursday we took the kids over to Mac Dune rides on Lake Michigan just off of Silver Lake. Even though it was overcast and a bit chilly...we had a blast. These are some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen and I know we took for granted only living 1/2 hour away from these growing up. We miss these beaches so much!

Can you see the people running down them?

Lake Michigan out in the distance. Silver Lake is on one side and Lake Michigan is on the other. It has rained quite a bit here and left the sand wet...the kids didn't mind at all.

Be back soon

Off for some family time in a much cooler place!
The Kudlas family will be back soon.......

Independence Day and more....

The kids have returned from having a week long vacation at my parents in South Carolina. They had so much fun with their Grammie and Papa. After Brad arrived at the airport from California (his team got 2nd in the nation-go NFHS!) we went over to pick up the kids and relax for a few days. It seems as though most of my pictures of the kids revolve around water. Oh well, I do think they are pretty darn cute!


We took the kids over to my brothers golf course in Augusta to get the tour and have a delicious pasta dinner made especially by the chef in front of us. The kids got a kick out of it! It is a beautiful course he has at and I will say that they are lucky to have my brother!

On Friday afternoon we had an afternoon trip down to Atlanta to see our good friends the Perdue's while in town from TN to see family and Stephanie was running in the Peachtree Rd. race on Sat the 4th. We don't get to see them very often and miss them dearly. Thanks for the great afternoon! The kids had so much fun playing and swimming in the pool. Aidan and Jake swam for nearly 4 hours. All 3 of my kids were asleep before we even got on the highway.

Aidan and his swimming buddy, Jake.


The only picture I have of the 3 youngest, Judd, Anna Kate and Carsyn playing in the rocks.
Taking time for a snack, then back in the pool.

We went and watched fireworks on Friday night here locally. We have never been in town for the 4th as long as we have had kids and were not sure where to go to watch a great show, but they turned out awesome! As we were waiting for it to get dark, we enjoyed this beautiful sunset.
The temps had dropped just enough that we needed a blanket around us. Aidan and Brenna just love to cuddle.
We spent Saturday enjoying time as a family and cooking out at home. This weekend we also remember a wonderful lady, Brad's mom Carol, who passed away 14 years ago. We tell her Grandchildren often about how much she would have loved them. She is loved and missed dearly!