Earlier this week we made it back from a 3 week trip to the US. It was wonderful to spend time with nearly all of our family and friends. Big thanks to our friends & family who took us in once again -we enjoyed every minute of it! And thanks to all the kids for sharing their toys with Tyler. We spent those three weeks in Chicago checking out the new suburban homes of our friends, in Keywaskum visiting (Great) Grandma Kern, in Union Pier vacationing at a huge inn/lake house with friends and 16 other kids, in various areas of Southeast Michigan (I think we covered every inch of Southeast Michigan in fact) visiting family and more friends, and finally back in Chicago staying with the Steads and enjoying windy city life again. Whew - after all that we were exhausted! It was a fantastic trip but it is nice to be back in our own place and our own beds. We spent the weekend settling back into our life here and enjoying all things London. Tyler is still jet lagged which means he sleeps in and stays up late. We are actually enjoying sleeping in in the mornings and enjoying dinner together later. The weather was absolutely beautiful Sunday so we spent most of the day at the Hampstead Summer Festival and in the heath. It was a nice little welcome home for us!
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| Hanging out in Elmhurst with Will and the Grossardt clan |
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| Tyler texting his friends that on his second day back in the US his mom took him to the doctor for shots. The nerve of that woman! |
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| Visiting Colin and the Grabers at their new home in Western Springs |
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| Great Grandma Kern! |
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| Enjoying a trip to the park with great grandma |
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| Group shot #1 with the big kids |
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| Esteemed members of the shark club |
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| Ahhhh - Lake Michigan! |
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| Maggie was the only brave soul to go all the way in! |
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| Playing in the sand |
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| Beach babe! |
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| Birds! |
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| We absolutely followed this rule.... |
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| The adults made it out for dinner one night to celebrate the Chapmans "vow renewal" (aka an excuse to all go on vacation together). |
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| Celebrating Rachel and James! |
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| Group shot #2 with the missing littles from the first shot. The parents got smart for this photo and snacks were distributed before the picture to eliminate most of the tears. |
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| #11 and #12 in the lineup - separated from birth by 1 day! |
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| Shirts courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Chapman for their "vow renewal" |
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| This is how we roll for meals on vacation - no shirt, no problem! |
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| Round Barn vineyard |
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| Big T met a lady friend at the Round Barn |
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| Looks like he likes it at the Warren Woods Inn - it was hard to say "Bye, bye" but it was time to head east. |
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| At Stoney Creek Park for Father's Day - 3 generations of Kerns looking at a truck |
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| Uncle Matt feeding Tyler his first spare rib |
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| I think he liked it! |
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| Fun with Aunt Tari |
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| Trying to figure out the tailgate game. Moments later he got hit in the head by a football - he was OK but the video footage is hilarious. |
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| Breakfast "al fresco" with Lena & Louie and Stanley at the Green's! |
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| Lunch at the Detroit Zoo with Louie, Lena & Mackenzie |
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| Oh and a peacock! |
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| Tyler loved the swim club with the Green's! |
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| Nana built a fountain for Tyler at her place. He LOVED it! He got all wet in a matter of seconds. |
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| He was also very interested in this rocket Nana showed him. |
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| Pizza dinner in Birmingham with the Kern siblings! |
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| Playing the giant xylophone bench in Birmingham |
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| Sibling night in Birmingham |
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| Swinging with Auntie Kris |
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| We visited Tari's new business - Pawsitive Steps. Tyler loved using the rehab equipment and we were all impressed with the facility. |
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| Tyler wanted to join Hercules for a little rest |
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| Checking out the underwater treadmill with a patient |
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| Working it out with Hercules |
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| Dinner at my mom's with family |
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| Story time with Grandma (or as Tyler says Gigi) |
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| Happy birthday Sarah! We had a pontoon party on Matt's parents' lake in Oxford |
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| Happy Birthday Matt! It was also Matt's birthday so the whole family celebrated at his house. |
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| Tyler loves spending time with Uncle Matt, especially when there are Cheetos involved.... |
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| He also loves spending time with Auntie Kris and Auntie MB, especially when there are tortilla chips involved (see a theme here - he's a little food beggar) |
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| Uncle Matt brought out the sprinkler |
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| Soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. Kern singing Happy Birthday |
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| Back in Chicago we hit a splash park near Heather and Jack's place |
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| Fun times with Rush, Emily and Louie (the dog) not pictured were JJ & I, Jack, Heather and Will. Tyler was too tired from all the splashing to take a good picture. |
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| I took him for his first professional haircut in Chicago. He thought the place was great at first... |
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| Until she started snipping. I had to hold him in a headlock at one point. I gave the girl a big tip - it must be one of the worst jobs ever. |
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| We even got to meet with with our old nanny Lili and the new girl she watches, Anna, at a park. We managed to get a little play time in and then got rained out by a downpour. |
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| Then sadly our whirlwind 3 week summer vacation was over. Tyler looks like he is going to be up to no good here but he was actually great and slept most of the flight. |
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| His favorite thing right now is airplanes. He could watch them all day. It makes going to the airport quite easy. |
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| He was digging the in-flight music. |
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| Back in Hampstead - farmers market loot! |
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| Hampstead Summer Fest! |
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| Jude Law was at Summer Fest! The cool thing about London is everyone leaves celebrities alone. I just walked right by him because he really blended in until JJ pointed him out and I had to snap a picture |
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| I thought this stand was so cute and so British! |
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| Fun at Summer Fest with Momma! |
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| Picnic dinner at the Heath |
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| Fun at the Heath |
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| Picnic dinner |
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| Momma & Tyler selfie |
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| Kern family selfie |
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| Perfect end to a perfect day in Hampstead! |
