We arrived in Alpena on Thursday, June 26th in the early afternoon. After a new battery was purchased for the tractor and the lawn was mowed, the girls both enjoyed their 4 wheelers. Mia was safer than I expected and we had no 4 wheelers colliding into each other. Olivia was always aware of where Mia was on the trails and would slow down and pull aside if Mia was heading straight at her.
Mia tearing up a new trail.
Both my girls having a blast.
Mia did occasionally get stuck. We had her throttle turned down low so she couldn't go too fast. This caused her to get stuck going up hills a few times. She also veered off course once or twice, and according to Olivia rolled her 4 wheeler over once. She was just scared by it, but thankfully not hurt in the least. She got right back on once Andy got it unstuck for her and off she went.
Mia has also been discussing buying Grandma Janie a princess balloon for over a month. So we headed out and let her pick out a princess balloon and took it to her grave site. The whole life and death concept is still quite a confusion for Mia, but she is full of questions and eager for answers.
John and Esther arrived in Alpena on Tuesday, while Jennifer and Robert showed up on Thursday the 3rd of July. My dad and Patty had all of us over for a delicious dinner on the deck the night Jen and Robert arrived. Andy decided on our way over that it was high time he got Mia her own fishing pole, so we stopped at Dunham's and she is now the proud owner of her first pole. So they dabbled with fishing a bit that evening off the deck.
We were also blessed with a gorgeous double rainbow that evening. The second one is off to the right a bit and harder to see. It was more prominent at different times. Seeing the reflection of it off the water was quite a sight.
A view of the full rainbow.
The Fourth of July in Alpena means the annual parade. We got ourselves parked in our usual spot and Aunt Julie and Uncle Dale were there with their family as usual. The parade didn't disappoint and was full of fun with every float that passed on by.
Mia drinking her frozen lemonade courtesy of Aunt Jen.
Neiman's grocery store passed out (delicious) bagels, toilet paper, and bottles of water. When the humane society was walking dogs by there was this little guy who kept sitting down and refusing to walk. I offered them my bottle of water. Boy was that guy thirsty, and soon we had about five dogs over drinking in front of us. The girls loved it. We found it comical that the humane society of all places, were the ones without water for their dogs. Granted we sit at the tail end of the parade, but regardless, we were glad we could help.
After the parade we headed to Ocqueoc Falls. We went last year and loved it, but Robert and Jen had never been. The weather was perfect for it. Not too hot or cold, and the water was refreshing.
Jen all smiles after a fall into the river.
A gorgeous view from part of the falls.
Mia walked all the way to the top with us this year. I left my camera behind for most of that trek. I know my clumsy limitations and thought that best. When we returned, Mia hung with Nana and Papa, while the rest of us headed downstream, to which I braved it and took my camera.
Jen and Andy. No Andy is not pregnant either.
Olivia and I stopping for a photo opportunity in one of the waterfalls.
When we got back and were heading up the rocks, we heard people discussing a rattle snake. This little guy scurried under some of the rocks that people go up and down. I'm sure glad he retreated away and no harm came to him or anyone else.
Nana and Papa relaxing.
Andy and I (mainly Andy) got some more work done on the barn this year. It may not look like much, but we are pleased with it. The window upstairs was added to let a much needed breeze and natural light source upstairs.
Stairs were built to have access to the upstairs.
A view of the upstairs. It was just enough of a project to get done. We were able to accomplish the project in about 2 days, giving us time to enjoy ourselves and time with family.
A view from the upstairs window.
Another big accomplishment was we sold the main camper! We didn't get much for her, but she was leaking bad, and someone was willing to take her off our hands and put a little extra spending cash back in our pockets. Needless to say, we slept in the barn the entire trip.
Olivia playing ladder ball at the motel with some kids and Robert.
Mia ready for the fireworks. She stayed awake for over half of them this year.
Snuggling with Nana.
I put my camera up for the fireworks, but they were again, phenomenal. Other parts of our trip that happened, but were not documented with photographs were lots of shopping, eating great food, the Besser Museum, Wineries, miniature golf, and Mia getting her ears pierced! (That ordeal is a whole blog post on its own) Andy does have photos and video of that on his phone. Thanks to all our family for making it another wonderful and memorable fourth of July!
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