June 25 marked our FIFTH wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast it went by, but I also am completely shocked at all the changes five years brought! Four different cars (oops!), our first apartment, our first house, two babies, two jobs, moving from my corporate office to a home office...and that's only the beginning!

We decided to join a group of friends of ours camping in northern Michigan. We proooooobably should have known better as we started to pack the car and the bags were piled to the ceiling.... but hey, we're newbies. Our two year old was literally acting the craziest he ever has in his life. Tantrums were abundant and I'm pretty sure I saw horns popping out of his noggin a few times. He's always been a relatively easy toddler. He's pretty laid back and is great at entertaining himself. This trip? Nope. Boyfriend was bonkers. The highlight of the trip came as we all sat down for a calm dinner in our little wooden cabin by the lake. Stories were being told, friends were laughing, memories were being made... then out of the corner of my eye I see a little stinker HIGH tailing it to the waterfront. With. My. Husbands. Phone. In. Hand. He looked back with a devilish glimmer in his cute little eye and as my husband yelled "Liam, NO! Come back here!" I watched helplessly as he confidently shaped his little 35 inch body into perfect diving stance and DOVE IN. IN THE WATER. WITH THE PHONE. Keep in mind my dear child cannot swim, so the phone was thrown into the murky lake and he was struggling to stay above water. My husband jumped in the throw him out of the lake and then desperately searched for his phone. RIP iPhone 2016.

We immediately took the kids back to the cabin to put into bed so missed out on the times with friends. We went to bed cracking up at how our anniversaries have changed. Joe sighed as he glanced over at me in bed that night, "We just aren't the camping type." HA.

The next day we remedied the situation by heading over to Lake Michigan where my child finally transformed back into his sweet self and away from the little terror he was the day before. If you've never experienced the Great Lakes, do yourself a favor and go NOW. It is absolutely beautiful here. Lake Michigan especially has incredible beaches and sights. This is the time of year I love my state.

Stay tuned for some wedding photos as I glance back on our five years together!

The BEST Bow Shops- Volume 1

First off, sorry for the wacky text in this post. Not sure how to fix it, but I have to share this one with you! :) 


As soon as I found out I was having a girl I JUMPED to buy the hair accessories. I scoured etsy to find the cutest ones and now girlfriend's bow collection is something that dreams are made of. Ha! I want to highlight a few bow shops I LOVE regularly to introduce you to them. This week's shop is Pickles & Co. bows! 

I absolutely adore fabric bows on nylon headbands for baby girls. I love that the nylon doesn't hurt their little heads, and grows with them so you don't have to buy multiple sizes as they get bigger. I've bought lots of bows from many well known shops, but Pickles & Co. are definitely the best quality I've tried so far. I've tried so many shops where the bows flop around on the head, but these stay in place and look great! 

The owner was very easy to communicate with and the bows are fantastic quality. Silliest thing in the world, but I absolutely love when shop owners interact with their customers through their social media outlets. It really shows that they go above and beyond for their customers and I definitely take notice. Pickles & Co has the cutest page and I love that she spends time talking to her customers! I will definitely be buying more! 

Great Wolf Lodge- Making the most with a toddler and newborn!

It's been a crazy few weeks! My beloved Macbook Pro (going strong since 2011!) seemingly took a turn for the worst a week ago. I brought it in hesitantly to the Apple Store and they said there was a recall for that part so they fixed it and multiple other things for FREE! Even out of warranty. I LOVE Apple products. They are so great about standing by them and fixing any quality issues! All that to say I've been out of commission for a while during the computer's time away.

We just returned from a fun trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, OH. We decided on a whim to go with our friends Ben, Brittany, and their 8 month old daughter Allie after catching a great Groupon deal. I was hesitant to say the least. The idea of a waterpark with a 2 year old, a 4 month old, and an 8 month old seemed daunting at best, but we had a blast!

I scoured the internet before our trip desperately looking for tips on these age groups, but it was hard to find anything that told me what I wanted to know. So, I want to fill you in on everything in case you end up going in with the same questions I had!

When we first got there for check-in they gave us two pairs of those precious wolf ears in the pictures above for the kiddos for free! They were such a sweet souvenir and so appreciated. Liam didn't want to take them off!

You can use the waterpark starting at 1pm the day of your check-in even though technically the rooms aren't ready until 4pm. Our room was ready early, but it was nice to know we had that extra time to come early and swim.

Quick tip: You can bring your stroller into the park! We didn't realize this until the second day and it was perfect for naps and storing all our stuff.

One thing that I could't find anywhere for the infants in our group: you cannot bring floating devices for them (other than coast guard approved lifejackets) and they don't have any there to use. So... you either have to hold them the entire time OR you can invest in a water baby wrap. I bought this one online and was so pleased with it. It was nice to wear Kate in the water so she was safe, and I could still chase after my 2 year old with ease.

We brought Liam's own Puddle-Jumper Lifejacket, and I'm SO glad we did. They do provide some at the resort, but even on a non-crowded day there were none left. We would have been in a bind with that!

Liam was able to do the two slides at "Whooping Hollow," and the tiny one at the toddler zero entry pool. Kiddos can't ride on parent's laps, so he wasn't allowed on any of the other slides. He mostly enjoyed swimming in the bigger pool with the basketball hoops.

The hotel room had a wall to split off the living room from the other beds and that worked great for setting up the pack n' play where my toddler couldn't see us. We didn't sleep too well with an infant and toddler, but I think we did pretty good for the situation. The room also had a mini fridge and a microwave! We were able to bring our own breakfasts and snacks because of that, and it definitely saved us a few dollars.

We really enjoyed our trip and other than coming home sick (ah, the joys of lots of people in close proximity!) we had a great time. We will definitely be back someday!