Karly's Visit

Derek's youngest and only sister Karly came to visit. She was here the last two weeks. Even though she came to visit us I feel like we were on vacation while she was here, because we were so busy showing her around Michigan. I especially loved having a buddy to go do stuff with while Derek was at school during the day. Where do I start?

Well, first off we went to Mackinaw Island. Since we moved here we've heard lot's of talk about this place. I was way excited to see what it was all about, and I LOVED it! I can't believe we live so close to something so beautiful! If you've never heard about this island I'll give you a few facts. It's where the classic "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. It has the Grand Hotel (longest porch in the world). No cars are allowed on this island. Only bikes or carriages. It's known for it's delicious fudge, and have to take a ferry to get there.


This is the bridge that takes you to the UP(upper peninsula. We didn't go up that far, but hopefully next year.

On the ferry going to Makinaw Island from Makinaw City.



The fudge was so yummy, but I think we were all fudged out by the end. We sampled at least a pound each.

My favorite part was riding bikes around the whole island. We cruised while Brooklynn...

snoozed!

Karly took this pretty picture of the lake.













The hotel we stayed at had a indoor water park, it was fun to watch Brookie go through it.


Art Fair:
We took Karly to the annual Art fair. It's a huge Art fair, and thousands of people travel to it. Which makes campus super crowded. It's fun atmosphere, and there's all sorts of neat stuff to look at. My personal favorite was the photography.

Brooklynn running around the art fair...what she does best! Busy little girl that she is!




Cedar Point:
If you like roller coasters, then this place is a must! We had to take Karly here. We were there all day and still didn't get to ride all the rides, there are tons.








All the neighborhood kids fell in love with Karly while she was here. They would knock on our door most days asking for Karly. She is so good with kids! She even put together a neighborhood water balloon fight boys vs. girls.

Thanks Karly for coming to visit us, and for all the fun times!!!

Hale Family Reunion '09

We just got back from spending time with my family all last week. It was the first time that all 7 of us siblings were all there in a few years. So we definitely enjoyed being all together again! We stayed at a lake house. We were right by the water, which what would be a hale family reunion without water sports? We enjoyed celebrating the fourth and David and Haley's birthdays. We also had fun playing on the water all day, eating and eating some more, playing games, watching some fireworks, and just hanging out together. Brooklynn LOVED the water, first thing after breakfast she wanted to go on the dock. It was also so fun to see her with all her cousins and aunts and uncles. It's always sad when it all comes to an end and we have to say goodbye, but until next time!