Saturday morning, my mom joined us on our journey and we drove to Valparaiso, Indiana to visit my sister Colleen. We saw her apartment and then walked to the campus of her law school (only a few blocks away) for a picnic lunch.
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| Heritage Hall, the oldest building on Valparaiso's campus |
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| 2 future lawyers? |
That weekend just so happened to be the "Orville Redenbacher Popcorn Festival" in Valparaiso. I guess Orville was born and raised in Valpo, so they celebrate him every year! We walked around and looked at the booths, listened to the band, and of course tried some popcorn. It was Jack's first time trying popcorn and he loved it! We bought a big bag of a kettle corn/caramel corn mix... it was so addicting. We enjoyed that the rest of the weekend!
After the popcorn festival, we headed less than an hour north to Union Pier, Michigan. My mom and Uncle Roger own Elephant Walk Cottages: a big rental house that sleeps 12 and a few cottages surrounding it, located a few blocks from Lake Michigan. These are usually booked all summer long, but the big house just happened to be available this weekend so we were able to stay the night (Jack and I shared the master suite!). I haven't been here in several years, and I always enjoy visiting. Southwest Michigan is just so quaint with beaches, restaurants, and antique shops.
Jack arrived and found the first elephant he could play with-- our bronze door stopper (there are hundreds of elephants decorating the property-- my Uncle Roger loves them). It was really heavy, and he kept trying to pick it up and walk! He was able to carry it for a few steps before it got too heavy for him. He was very determined!
We enjoyed cocktail hour in the back yard before heading to dinner. Jack just loved running loose around the backyard! Uncle Roger came over to visit us with us too. By the time the adults finished their wine (ahem), it was a little late for Jack to go out to dinner, but he did great with the schedule changes!
The next morning, we enjoyed coffee (and milk) on the porch before heading on a walk down to the beach in our pjs.
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| Lake Michigan! (It stormed the night before, but was clearing up) |
On Sunday we drove another half an hour along the lake to St. Joseph, Michigan. Anne, my best friend from medical school, and her husband Ryan were hosting the baptism of their daughter Rosemary. We were so excited to be a part of her special day! My mom came with to help with Jack. The baptism at the church was followed by a beautiful party at the Dudleys' new home. We had just seen the Dudleys a little over a month before, but it is nice that we are so much closer and we can visit more often!
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| Kisses for Rosemary! |
After the baptism, we headed back to Barrington for the night, and then Jack and I came home Monday morning. In our weekend away we visited a lot of places, visited a lot of people, and Jack was a great little traveler! And I love having Mondays off with my new job-- it makes trips like this weekend much easier!
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