Raspberry Picking

Ann Arbor is a unique place. Yes, it's a college town but it still has a very small-town feeling. There are a lot of perks to living in Ann Arbor and the city goes out of its way to make families feel comfortable. They even have city reps that come to your door with a welcome packet outlining some of the fun things to do in and around the area. And man, are there things to do. 

One of which we tried out for our Saturday date this last week. RASPBERRY PICKING!

A farm in Ann Arbor has pick your own fruits. Right now it's raspberry season. Tie an old milk jug to your waste, walk through the fields and start filling quarts!

It was a beautiful day to pick berries. Say what you will about the Michigan winters, but the falls are Heaven.

The fun of picking isn't the only perk to this date. It also comes with an "all you can eat" while you pick buffet. James might have gotten a little carried away.

Yum! Aren't they beautiful?

Like I said, Ann Arbor is a unique place. I am a six minute walk from the middle of a bustling down town with shops and restaurants and people gallor AND within a five minute drive from farms and dairies and orchards to explore. 

It's very ... midwesty. It feels more like a home than a city. I like it. 

Oh yeah, That's plankable

On our most recent visit to my parents house, a discussion arose about one of Amanda's dates where they had taken pictures of themselves planking all over BYU campus.

HA! "Who comes up with this stuff?" we said. "What a ridiculous waste of time," we said. "How could something so dumb be entertaining," we said. "Hey look at me! I'm planking!" we said sarcastically as we flung ourselves onto the kitchen island.

"... I'm a little embarrassed, but that was kind of fun. What else can we plank?"

Quickly the giggles of teasing turned into the laughter of joy as the magic of planking took over our lives and, consequently, our Friday night. The planking extravaganza had begun.

We planked high,

and we planked low.

Some planks were easy,

while others were a little more difficult.

We attempted the backwards plank...

the unthinkable plank...

the multi-plank...

the log cabin plank...

and the kissing plank.

We planked in door,

and out door.

Everyone wanted to get in on the planking.

We soon realized that we could plank anything,

and even nothing.

Before the night was through we had planked the whole town.

A Superior Vacation

We wanted to go on a camping trip before James started his classes and so we decided to go to the upper Peninsula of Michigan. We decided the Pictured Rocks National Park on the Superior Lakeshore would be the perfect vacation spot.

Our camping site was very close to a beach on the lake. We really loved playing in the waves and picking up lots of rocks. 

We also hiked to some huge dunes along the shoreline. 

I LOVE fires. They are mesmerizing. There were lots of yummy campfire meals to be eaten. And for dinner... roasted starburst! Delicious!  

We went on 6 mile hike to see a beautiful rock formation on one of the beaches called "Chapel Rock." On the way we found the roots of a huge tree that had fallen over. Cool huh?

It was awesome to be able to sit on the beach by our tent and watch the sun set. What a great trip.