Grandma's House

We spent the last week of our trip traveling 3 hours to Niles, Michigan. Its a small town on the west side of the state, very close to South Bend Indiana. We visited Grandma Elva, & Grampa Myles, (Alan's side of the family). They live in a lovely house on the St Joseph River. Its really like a vacation staying there. I spent lots of time swinging on the wooden swing overlooking the river and listening to the birds sing. Quite relaxing. I also started reading Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert ( yes, it took me a long time to get to that book). My good friend Leslie passed it on to me, and it was a perfect time to read it.





Chloe spent her mornings walking with Grandma, in her garden, while Blake and I slept in. Each day there was a new Day Lily that greeted them with amazing colors and shapes, among many other beautiful flowers. We also took a few pontoon rides down the river into town. Grandpa let the kids each take turns steering the boat. Chloe & Blake did some fishing off the dock, and Chloe caught her very first fish ever ! A small mouth bass. After taking pictures, she threw it back in the river. This was a very exciting moment, because Chloe was determined to catch something, so she sat for a long time just waiting for that first bite !



Chloe learned one of her very first card games, "war". There was much time spent on the back porch with Grandma playing it. Blake even got in on it! We found out it could be an endless game. Perfect for a lazy afternoon on the river !



I think the highlight of our trip to Grandma's house for the kids, was a ride on Grandpa's Harley. Look at how shiny that bike is ! Its very well taken care of by Grandpa Myles, he even built it its very own room in the garage.



We also ate alot of Michigan Sweet Corn...bought on the way to Niles. We took a driving route that took us through quite a few small towns, and in between their were farms. Pretty much all they were growing was corn & soy beans. Oh, and we ate lots of fresh peaches and blueberries to....I even made a cobbler...mmmm, All in all, we had a nice relaxing time. It was really the first time we had more than a few days to visit Niles, very enjoyable !! We recently heard from Grandma, and she informed us that it was pretty quiet around the house since we left. I know there will be more happy visits in the future !