One Step at a Time: Silver Lake family vacation with the Vogels

John and I have always tried to vacation in Traverse City each year. I mean, how can you go wrong?! Its an absolutely beautiful area in northern Michigan. Since having Hannah, we've talked about going again, but realized how much of a struggle it could be staying in a hotel with a small child. For some reason, our child simply loves sleeping in a room by herself, go figure! (insert sarcasm) Its a great thing for us that she loves her sleep, but a HUGE challenge when we try to go places and need to share a room with our sleeping child. Once she knows we are right there, its over, she's not a good sleeper at all. Long story short, this began John's search to find a house to rent instead. In addition to the sleep issue, comes the staying in a hotel issue as well. Once Hannah would be ready for bed, we are kind of stuck in the hotel, with nowhere to go, watching a sleeping child... Not a fun sounding idea when you are on vacation. Thus, another reason to find a rental house. Along the way of exploring this option, we questioned vacationing with another family. We knew we would enjoy the time as our family, but thought spending it with another family and their children would make for even more fun times. It didn't take long before we asked the Vogel family to join us. John really worked hard to sell Ben on the idea (he was debating a trip to Germany over Traverse City). A few weeks of emails and texts with Ben and Diana and the house was booked!!

The house was located on Silver Lake, which is a few miles outside of downtown Traverse City. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, beach-front home with a beautiful family charm. Silver Lake was beautiful!! We rented the house for a week and were so excited when we pulled in the driveway!

View of the house, lake-side.

We had a beautiful sandy beach, 2 large decks to relax on, a fire pit, and a pontoon boat to play on. Inside the house we had a large dining room, nice kitchen/bar, and a large family room with a tv.

We had an AMAZING time!! Hailey, Syndey, and Hannah were so good to each other the whole time. The girls were so cute together, they got along very well. I think Hannah had a little soft spot for Syd, she was always following her around, doing whatever she was doing. They were so adorable to watch. Hailey is such a smart girl, she is the cutest little lady! She was always mindful of the 2 little ones, showing them the ropes.

While the girls enjoyed each other immensely, the adults seemed to have a great time as well. We spent every night sitting up around the fire after the kiddos went to bed. We certainly had our fair share of adult beverages while listening to Ben or my ipods. It was so nice to have adult conversation and simply enjoy each other's company. We also had a good laugh or 2 at our neighbor Stacy. He was a funny guy with so many stories to share, he was certainly an unforgettable person :)

We headed to a baseball game, walked around downtown Traverse City shops, spent a few afternoons/evenings cruising around the lake, played in the sand and water, went on walks, *cough* tried to play euchre, listened to lots of music, D and I went wine tasting, John and Ben went beer drinking, enjoyed the company of Nick and Bobbi (friends who live in TC), and tried to rest and sleep somewhere in there too. In the middle of the week, John and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Ben and Diana were so kind to watch Hannah as we went out to dinner to enjoy ourselves for a little while. What wonderful friends we have!

All-in-all it was a wonderful vacation! We really had a great time and can't wait to go back!! (and hope to do it all over again with you guys next year!) Here are some fun pictures, these don't even begin to capture all of the memories we made! xoxo