{the tew family}

I celebrated the 4th of July in Michigan visitng my dad, my younger brother Tyler (15) and my little sister Abby (8) - all of whom I haven't seen in 4 years!

When we pulled up from the airport I saw the cute sign that Abby had made for my arrival...

We got my stuff settled, ate dinner, and took advantage of the incredible weather by going to a nearby park. The weather was warm but there was zero humidity...I wish it would have stayed like that the whole trip!

We had fun using the timer on the camera.

You can tell we all inherited my father's goofy face gene.

I lost count of my neck chins.

Had to get some shots by the "Beef Barn"

Snuggles for the plastic cow...

We got some tasty breakfast at Big Boy.
Pecan pancakes....yummy.

We got adventurous and bought a yellow watermelon.

Of course we had to document everyone's first taste:

Throw in some freak show faces for good measure...

When my dad's girlfriend Jennifer got home from work
we made her taste it too! It was tasty, not quite as sweet as a red watermelon,
and a little more dense.

Abby said it had a squash aftertaste.

We spent a day at Tyler's house swimming and working on friendship bracelets.
Got some glamour shots of my dad sporting my sunglasses.

Tyler's mom Kristy treated us to ice cream at the Parlour -
a cute 50s style diner.

Kristy and I got parfaits...holy huge and delicous!

Classic Father Daughter Shot

Sister Squeeze

I love this picture!

Took some pictures by a cool old World War II Quonset Hut
that my dad has always wanted to check out.

Then off to the book store! My dad is a regular here -
constantly scouting the scene for National Geographics.

I collect National Geos primarily from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and there were a lot to look through...

Abby took this shot of us deep in discussion about the way the bookstore smelled.

We went to the park Saturday night with some of Jennifer's family to check out the fireworks.
My dad got a new camp chair complete with a built in arm rest cooler. Pretty sweet.

Fresh lemonade...

Flower Girls...

Snowcones...

The weather was still perfect and we had fun playing with water balloons,
people watching, and relaxing.

As the sun was setting we took a walk over to the lake.
It was beautiful!

Happy 4th of July!

The next morning we went out to breakfast and then out to game of mini-golf. The weather changed overnight and the humidity kicked in big time. It was so hot! We finished golfing covered in sweat and treated ourselves to much need slurpees.

My dad totally dominated with 3 hole in ones!

A cool old cabin at Ella Sharp Park
(Abby just scraped her leg so she wasn't too happy).

The museum was closed but they still had some unique sculptures outside.

Of course we had to get official shots for the freak show channel.

Cool old sign downtown...

We came home to have some pool time and when
I went outside to get in this is what I saw:

I laughed so hard at Abby all decked out in her snorkel gear!

My dad got out his old Ray Bans!

Cute little sister pics:

One morning I was up early and looked in the backyard only to see this little critter staring back! My dad said this is the mother and that they have seen the babies too.