Wiers Family Vacation (Part 3)

Well, I have GOT to get these vacation posts finished up!  Here we are at the beginning of the school year, and life is about to get much busier!

Thursday (obviously not this past Thursday... but the one during our family vacation!) was really our only day with nothing planned AND the day the entire family was at the cottage (Ben arrived Wednesday after out train ride)!

We spent the day relaxing at the cottage and hanging out outside on the lake, and thankfully we had another beautiful day!

Jeremiah and Josie had a fun time feeding the fish off the dock!

Cutie-pie Evan

Jeremiah and Josie played so nicely together (for the most part)!!

Playing "Crazy 8's" with Aunt Cheryl and Josie.

Grandpa and Grandma and their grandkids!

 Thursday night we had a fire, and of course had to make s'mores (or just roasted marshmallows, as the case may be!).

This very dirty boy was a big marshmallow fan!

A beautiful evening!

One more night of bedtime stories with Grandma!

Unfortunately, Friday came, which meant we had to pack up and be out of the cottage by 10 am. :(  Wait, didn't the week just START?  Sure felt like it!  But at least we had a bit more to look forward to!

After packing up, we all drove a couple hours to Michigan City, IN to meet up with my Dad's side of the family ("the other Wiers'" as we call them!) for lunch and time on Lake Michigan.  They were all staying at my cousin Adam and Jess' beach house at the Beachwalk Resort.  What an awesome place!

Lunch with a whole lot more kiddos-- second cousins!

Fun in the water!

And fun in the sand!

And then it rained.

We walked back to the house in the rain, and then it was time to hit the road for our next destination.  It was so fun for the entire Wiers family to be together, I'm not sure when the last time was that has happened!

Ben and Abby & Neil headed back to their homes in Chicago, while the rest of us headed to Elmhurst (a western suburb) for the night.

We stopped for dinner at one of my favorite Chicago area restaurants-- Portillo's!!!

Love this place!!!  Mmmmm, cheese fries.

We got to our hotel and let the kids swim in the pool for a bit.

J had a blast-- he is getting braver in the water!

Friday, we spent the day together again.  We enjoyed the continental breakfast at the hotel, let the kids swim in the pool yet again, and then went to spend some time at Cantigny.  Abby suggested this, and it was an awesome place to spend a gorgeous afternoon!  They have beautiful gardens, a couple museums, a play area, golf course, etc.  Fabulous place!!

J LOVED climbing and playing on the tanks outside the museum!

The gardens were gorgeous!

And the play area-- these 2 played together for hours and had a blast!

So fun to watch J and J play and interact!

Not sure what they are conspiring here....

In the late afternoon, it was finally time to say good-bye.  We had to head off to finish our drive to Iowa, Grandpa and Grandma had to head back to WI, and Matt, Cheryl, Josie, and Evan were off to the airport to fly back to CA.  Jeremiah was SO sad when we pulled away in the car-- he had so much fun with his cousins!!!

So sweet!

We have been back home now for 2 weeks, and of course it is back to reality!  Tomorrow is the first day of school, and it's back to daycare full-time for J.  Why, oh why does vacation have to end?!?!?

I have a few pics from the end of summer yet to post-- including some from our evening trip to the Iowa State Fair last week, so I will be back soon (hopefully)! :)

A final sidenote:

This is the best ice cream in the world!  Hands down.  I would move to MI right now JUST to be able to buy this ice cream!!!!!!!  Sigh.  Now I want some. :(