Visiting the Great Lakes/Wolverine State (depending on who you ask)

Sienna and I just got back from visiting my sister and her family in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We had a great time and did so many fun things. A week wasn't long enough to do everything we wanted. I guess we'll have to go back again and bring Jeff with us. He was homesick without his girls.
Sienna loved playing with her cousins. Ashlyn is only three weeks younger than Sienna and they were so cute together. And Collin is so full of energy and full of it!The first day we went to an apple orchard. Elizabeth said visiting apple orchards is very popular in the fall. Although, it did not really feel like fall; they were experiencing a heat wave and it was very humid (at least to me). Elizabeth, Collin, and I picked half a bushel of Empire apples (later, Elizabeth made a yummy apple pie). We ate apple and pumpkin donuts and drank fresh apple cider. The babies sure enjoyed their apples, until a bee attacked little Ashlyn. Somehow it got into her mouth and stung her tongue and lip. Poor Ashlyn!
That night we went and played WhirlyBall, a midwest favorite. It was actually more fun than I thought.

We went to the Huron River and walked around, played at the park, and Collin fed the fish. It was beautiful and the fall colors were just starting to appear.
We walked around downtown Ann Arbor and searched for the fairy doors.
People leave random things on the fairy doorsteps and Collin thought he should take the coins that someone left. After I told him someone left the coins for the fairy, he found a cheerio and put it on the doorstep for the fairy. He is so funny and so cute!I didn't plan on going to a University of Michigan football game while I was visiting, but Elizabeth somehow managed to get us tickets for $5 each, so I had to go. She even found someone to watch the kids! It was so hot, but it could have been a lot worse. Apparently the stands weren't even close to being full because the game was against Eastern Michigan (not a big team); Ryan and Elizabeth said it would have been miserable if the stadium was full. No one sits in their seats and instead piles into the student section. I was lucky, but I was still sweating. We were really close to the field and I was even there for a record breaking event: a UofM player broke the record for rushing. I'm still singing the Michigan fight song...One day, we drove to Kirtland, Ohio. It was three hours each way, but the kids did well. We toured the church history sites and saw Joseph Smith's home; someone lives there now, so we couldn't go inside. It was inspiring to be in the places where Joseph Smith received many revelations which are unique to our church and essential for us today.