365 Outtake Tuesday - A Significant Birthday in the North

I love this state. I love these humans. I often marvel at how many amazing, thoughtful, creative, supportive, loving people I am surrounded by. I had a Significant Birthday last February, and we celebrated with a Significant Birthday Trip to the North.

It's so rare to spend time being quiet together. Or to share more than one meal together - to cook together. It is truly a gift to be able to sit by the fire while your buds have a snowball fight outside, or to read a book while they're playing scrabble and cooking your birthday dinner. I cherish these memories with my whole being. Here's to cultivating more time for members of our chosen family.

Here are some photos of my nearest and dearest up in Elk Rapids, MI, in Carol's family's cabin on Grand Traverse Bay. I hope you enjoy this peek into some time well spent with my tribe.

the drive up on 75

matt and sarah arriving

time for a drink after a long drive and trying to find the cabin in the dark

the cabin

Ryan with the sneak attack!

a whole bag of balls!

the slowest, slushiest snowball fight ensued

if you look closely you can see the snowball just before it hits eli

and then there was peace again

matt took this one!

matt teaches eli cribbage

group shots are hard!

matt and sarah made my birthday dinner - spaghetti and meatballs!

frozen meatballs!

everyone setting the table

eli and i taking a birthday walk at sunset

we moved the table right next to the fire for dinner the second night

some folks had to leave early, so we had a smaller party this night

eli doing the dishes

the front of the cabin

It was interesting to go back and edit photos I took months ago. It really showed me how far I've come photographically since then. I have the 365 Project to thank for that, I think. Thank you for taking a look!

Much Love,

MLB