Fun with Michigan Friends

We were so excited to have our friends from Michigan -- Todd and Jessica and their children (our godchildren), Hannah (age 4) and Elijah (10 months) -- visit us for a week! The Lord blessed us with great weather, so we spent a lot of time outside.
Ian and Hannah became fast friends. Hannah knew just how to make Ian laugh (like by calling him "Mr. E"), and Ian wanted to copy everything Hannah was doing (like drinking out of a normal cup at mealtime).
They enjoyed "fingerpainting" together, though (since Ian currently doesn't like to get his hands all messy) it was mainly "Q-tip painting."
They had fun playing in the sand
and playing on Ian's swingset. Ian can now climb up the ladder and come down the slide all by himself! :)
Baby Elijah liked feeling sand for the first time, too!
Hannah and Ian were great kitchen help and loved to help with cooking and setting the table.
We enjoyed a morning at Burroughs Park, where the kids were sure to take time from playing for a milk break.

Jess, Elijah, Hannah, and Todd ... together!
3-2-1 slide!
We went to the zoo on Saturday. Some of our favorite parts were the sea lion show, the new African exhibit, and the meerkats.
Ian liked seeing some roosters up close!
The Merzes gave the goats a little TLC.
Hannah the prairie dog
riding around in style at the zoo
By the end of the day, Ian was worn out! :)


On Sunday evening, we attended our church youth group's fancy Italian restaurant fundraiser. Ian loved the meatballs and the cheesecake.

It turns out that our friends from TX (Martha and Tim) had some connections with our MI friends through Camp Omega. What a small Lutheran world.
On Monday, we took the Bolivar Island ferry. We saw lots of seagulls and even four or five porpoises on our return trip!
We can see why people call this "the best free ride in Texas!"
We went to Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula...
... where we had a picnic lunch,
played in the sand,
collected seashells,
played in the water,
and fed the seagulls.








Then we took the ferry back to Galveston before heading home.
On Tuesday, the kids had fun playing outside. Hannah made the longest ever hopscotch board with almost 100 squares!
Ian and Hannah had fun following directions, "Run to the green zigzag." "Walk to the red rectangle," etc.
a hug from Hannah Banana"


We fed the turtles nearby our house,
though Ian still eats about 90% of the bread himself.

Kim enjoyed reading Hannah and Ian bedtime stories most of the nights we were together.
Thanks for the fun visit, Merz family!