Magical Mackinac Island on Kate's 4th Birthday

When you move to Michigan you start to hear about Mackinac Island. It is this magical little place that transports you through time. You hop on a ferry boat to get there and once you arrive you won't find any vehicles. There are horses, carriage rides, bikes aplenty, but NO motor cars. The main street is lined with hotels, fudge shops, souvenirs, and the hustle and bustle of foot traffic. While Main Street was super cute, we much preferred the back half of the island.

We took a two hour bike ride around the entire island. The high lights were throwing rocks into the water near British Landing, Arch Rock, Kate peeing in the woods, and picking wildflowers. Vince got a real kick out of riding a tandem bike with me.

ON the Island we enjoyed playing and eating ice cream at the Grand Hotel. Kate also chose to get three flavors of fudge to celebrate her birthday: blueberry, mint, and caramel. Incredibly delicious but also incredibly painful. It only took a few bites to get a belly ache! We wanted to go on a carriage ride but it just never worked out. Instead we saw the Governor's Home, military buildings from the war of 1812, and a beautiful old church. After all the site seeing we let the kids be kids and concluded our time on the island by playing at the school playground.

Following the ferry ride back to the mainland, we found a restaurant that served pasties-- a traditional food that miners would eat. The kids stuck with Mac & Cheese but Paul and I liked trying something new. While at the restaurant we took time to open presents and sing to Kate. She is such a smart four year old. She is reading like champ, rides a bike like there's nothing to be afraid of, gives me all the cuddles, loves to "chat" while she takes ALL DAY eating her meals, cares for baby dolls while simultaneously destroying stuff with her big brother, hums so loud that she misses half of what we say, has the brightest eyes you've ever seen, and has a heart of gold. She loved her magical birthday on Mackinac Island.

It's a GIRL

On Friday, June 22 the five of us filed into the ultrasound room and waited eagerly to ensure this baby was healthy and to discover the gender. I felt a wave of relief and excitement as the technician revealed that we would indeed have another daughter coming to our family this November. 

The anticipation of waiting 20 weeks to know my child's gender has been excruciating. Thankfully the other three littles have been keeping me occupied. I'm not sure whether Paul and I will choose to add any more children to our family after baby #4 so I was especially hopefully to have another girl. From the beginning of this pregnancy I had the feeling that this little one was a girl. Vince was the only one who guessed it would be a boy this time. He was open to the idea of a sister though, stating, "If we have a sister we will have 3 boys and 3 girls," and that just made sense in his head.

Kate has been referring to my growing bump as "Baby Sister" ever since she found out I was pregnant. I continually reminded her that it could be a baby brother... but she remained confident that it was a girl. 

Drew, of course, has no idea what's going on. 

I cannot wait to swaddle, rock, and love on this baby girl. She is going to be adored by many.