pure michigan beach weekend {wiws}

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Our outfit details~
maxi dress ~ Nordstrom, sold out, bought on clearance // Quay x Desi Perkins  sunglasses // flipflops reef // underneath, still wearing my hermoza swimsuit // sunscreen ~ shiseido // 
Isabel ~ H&M dress
Boys - Gap shirt, Lucas, Gap Romper
Shorts - Old Navy

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dinner + ice cream + laundromat stories {photo diary}

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Dinner ~
Hibachi at Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse- 30 minutes north of Gulf Shores, in Foley, AL. I did not get any photos.
The Crab Trap - on the way back from Pensacola, we saw this restaurant in Perdido, FL. We watched some march Madness games during dinner. The crab legs are AWESOME!
Dinner at a blogger friend's house
 De Soto's seafood  kitchen for more crab legs - see photo below
Burgers! at the BeachHouse kitchen and cocktails - I rarely crave burger. It was one of those evenings. No objection from hubby there.
Fuji San - sushi, thai and Japanese food. No photos taken on this restaurant in Mobile either. The children specially Lucas was very fussy and was just ready to go. Poor baby.

Ice cream ~
Gelato Joe's,  Foley AL - I love their nutella gelato. The children did not enjoy the cotton candy gelato (duh!) They should have ordered pistachio or mango or something else!
Matt's Ice Cream - the children spotted this ice cream shop on our first day driving down to our beach condo. Look at all the photos we took below.
 TCBY - I was the only one that got something here. The children had their *free ice cream from De Soto's. I did not. I got the fudge chocolate yogurt shake.
Rita's Italian Ice - it was the first time for the children to have Italian ice. Daniel and I got mango. The rest got their usual cotton candy.

chesapeake bay photo diary

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Look at that sunset!

Bathing suit, Hollister, my fave this season. EXACT ONE!
Girls flag swimsuit
Paw patrol swim trunks, currently $9.97 and then 40% off with code: STYLE that makes it ONLY $6!

floral swimsuit in Peru

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// floral swimsuits here //

floral swimsuit, Cupshe, same print here
straw hat, jcrew factory, same here
cover up, similar here or here
flip flops, reefs {my fave brand}

southern shores of Lima {photo diary}

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// pink dresses ~ shop using affiliate links //

beachwear details~
straw hat, jcrew, same here
ASOS off the shoulder baby pink dress, exact one, only one size left :(
Reef flipflops
mirror sunglasses, similar and for 1/3 of SRP.

last summer hoorah + more quick takes

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Isabel's suit, Old Navy, hers is sold out.
Lucy's suit, Janie and Jack, hers also sold out.


1. My family's last summer hoorah was this past weekend.
We drove 3 hours north of Indy and went to the beach of Lake Michigan. I have lots and lots of photos but they will have to be resized. I added a few above and I still have 200+ more. Not that I will share all 200+.

The children were so excited Friday night. They were asking as soon as school was out if we can drive to the beach already.

They are definitely my children. They love the beach and the sun and the (cool) water. Isabel and Daniel practiced their glides and floats. I went to the water while watching them. It took awhile till I submerged my body to waist-deep water. I had to get those receptors used to the cold freshwater.

The waves were calm that I let the children swim. Last month, the waves were so high and rip currents were pretty scary.

SW Michigan was also a lot quieter than last month. School started to tourists from Indiana and Chicago did not flock New Buffalo. I bet Labor Day weekend is another story though.

seven quick takes from our weekend getaway with iphone photos to prove it

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1. There were no big week-long beach vacations this year. We have a new baby. Traveling all-day is stressful just thinking about it. Our first beach trip of the year happened last week when we went to Lake Michigan/South West Michigan. Thanks to the bypass and construction of US-31, the drive took us less than 3 hours!

our first stop was in the small town of Three Oaks at a small cafe. I gave the kids a B on their behavior. Not too bad but they were still up and about. What else to expect on a 4 and 2 year old right? But our nice server praised our children, per hubs. I did not hear their conversation since I already took the older children outside. They were ready to move around again.




2. Warren Dunes state park

This state park is north of Union Pier. We arrived there before the crowds came. Three hours there and the beach was packed. The waves were huge. The "red flag" was flying high letting the beach-goers know swimming is not recommended. There was a small tide pool  but the water is pretty muddy and dark. Daniel complained of the "dirty water." He's used to the sea water. He does not remember his time at the lake when he was 2-3years old. So this was like his first time swimming in the freshwater Lake Michigan.

My bathing suit looks ridiculous with the cutout and the shorts combo :( or let's just blame the postpartum poochy belly. #thisisreallife  no photoshop. nothing flattering.

Pangasinan and La Union {photo diary}

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Driving north to La Union and Pangasinan is easier now with the North Luzon Express way expansion. What took 4 hours to go to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary Manaog only too 2.5 hours or so.

The children loved the breeze up the mountain. They ran around. It was not as humid up there.

 

  

Here's the Our Lady of Rosary of Manaoag with baby Jesus

We went to Mass at 9a, ate breakfast, got some souvenirs.... then headed north.

  

  

We did not get to swim that day but saw a beautiful sunset. It's so relaxing watching the waves reach the beach over and over. Lucy was not excited {see video below} because I just took her straight to the water. no acclimating at all.

Here's Sebastian jetlagged and woke up at 3:30a asking for food.

affiliate links are used. Linking up with Rosie, Sarah, Doranda, Leanne, Elena,  Jaymie,  Sydney, Ada, Brooke.

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12 plus 10 plus 4 plus 1

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What are those numbers up there?

Is this a pop Math quiz? Are you prepared?

 

Instead of using the title: anniversary photos ~ I came up with the silly idea of numbers.

12 stands for 12 years together with hubs.

10 is the number of years married to this guy.

4 is the number of babies we have.

1 since we have baby D5 on the way.

 

 

I love how these professional photos turned out. Hubs was such a sport. He just went with the flow when I told him I registered us for a mini photo session. I emphasized mini because the whole hour with an outfit change is not going to fly with this guy. He is used to being the person behind the camera while I pose for my outfit photos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photos by: Kati

affiliate links are used. Linking up with Rosie, Sarah, Doranda, Leanne, Elena,  Jaymie,  Sydney, Ada, Brooke.

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missing the beach + dancing

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final installment of our fun beach vacation at North Topsail.
first ~ HBD little sister!

Amazon prime has given us music for my morning workout and beach- break-dance-time.

Our fave vacation songs were:
Work from home
Worth It
Cheap Thrills
 and many more

 

 

These kids are crazy. We used the super thick sunscreen on our last full day at the beach.

It's like a beauty mask.

But they were aiming for the football face paint look.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's lolo and his 7 grandkids... 7 under 7.

 

 

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Thank you for reading! I can be found on: Facebook  Bloglovin' Twitter  Instagram  Shop My Closet