Troublesome Act of the Day

Sometimes I underestimate the items that my son can reach. I was in the other room when he came up to me repeating "uh oh" over and over and frantically displaying the sign language for "help me." He then led me to the scene of crime. Apparently he had helped himself to the basil, unscrewed the lid, and dumped the whole bottle onto the carpet. He can't stand messes, so once the crime was complete, he was a little distressed until the mess was cleaned up. That's one more drawer I didn't used to have to childproof.

He also "helped" Troy and I put a dresser together. His nie-night, George, and Froggie helped us too. Blake gathered all his items into the drawer and then hopped in himself. He thought he was funniest person on the planet.

Summer Nights

My mom informed me last night that I was not posting enough for her liking. So, here you go, mom. Life has slowed down for us quite a bit since our return from Michigan. It has been nice in some ways to not be rushed, although I generally prefer staying busy. 

Troy has been going into work at 6am instead of 7am which should mean that he gets home earlier, but he actually gets home later than ever and has been putting in 60+ hours each week. His work volume has increased dramatically because he just took on a group of London accounts and he is also covering for others that are on vacation. 

So, all he wanted to do was relax this weekend and that is exactly what we did. I fit in some yoga and yard work and Troy watched a lot of movies and bought some new shoes. We spent our evenings as a family out on the hammock. Summer nights don't get much better than that.

I realize that we are breaking many fashion codes in this picture. It was Sunday evening and all I can say is that we just try to get as comfy as possible as quickly as possible after church. I didn't realize until I saw this picture that Blake's arms were in the same position as mine.

la carnival

Our neighborhood had a carnival over the weekend. Blake got his face painted, jumped in the bouncy house, and won a prize at the fish pond.

We even got to ride on the motorized train.

We couldn't believe how many people come out to this annual event. I guess it makes sense since they serve breakfast and have free snow cones and cotton candy.

It probably wasn't the best idea to bring Blake since he was hot and exhausted and later that day spiked a 48-hour 104° fever. Luckily it was just the fever because several families in our neighborhood have been quarantined due to swine flu. He is all better now and his appetite is raging once again.

Back in You-Taw

We spent our last few days in Michigan at my friend Katie's house and went to the pool with our favorite twins, Hayden and Mason.

I felt bad that Katie hosted us at the end of our three weeks because we were exhausted by then. We did a lot of napping and repacking while we were at her house, but we did manage to squeeze in a picnic at the park. The boys even pushed Blake around in his stroller.

I have to give a shout out to my little trooper. Whilst on vacation, we slept at 8 different houses, spent over 25 hours riding in the car, and spent 10 hours on airplanes. We were basically packing, unpacking, and repacking every few days, and schedules were often completely thrown off. For my ultra sensitive child, he did amazingly well. That doesn't take into account a few meltdowns, an almost-broken nose, a few fevers, and some panicking whenever I left his sight. However, he was delightful for the majority of the time and he adjusted better to new situations, people, and sleeping arrangements that were thrown at him than I thought he would.

I didn't think I would admit to this, but it is actually nice to be home. All of the traveling and repacking got pretty old after a while. It feels good to be settling back into a routine again. We don't know when the next time we will visit Michigan will be, so I'm glad we got to enjoy it for so long and spend so much time with some of our favorite people in the world. Thank you to everyone who hosted us, fed us, and graced us with your company.

Mackinac Adventures

We spent most of our last two weeks in Michigan at my parent's cottage on Mackinac Island, intermixed with 4th of July festivities and staying with different friends in Lansing and Grand Rapids. On our first trip to the island, my dad decided it would be more economical for 5 adults and 1 large carseat to fit into one SUV (including luggage for 6 people, a booster seat, a pack n' play, two large bins full of groceries, and a cooler) than for us to take 2 cars. None of us had any leg room and poor Jorden (who is the tallest) was crammed into the third row seat with his knees pressed to his chest throughout the entire four hour drive. It was a crammed adventure to say the least.

The weather on the island was rainy and freezing the whole time we were there. It was a shock coming from the hot and humid Grandville weather. We bundled up and roughed it on our bikes in the cold, since that is the only mode of transportation on the island!

Needless to say, we spent a lot of time indoors and one day Blake got silly with some hats he found.

My sweet boy loves to give me kisses.

Our second trip up to Mackinac was accompanied by my friend Stephanie and her daughter Skyler. Skyler and Blake are buds and voluntarily held hands in the car.

We were hoping for some nicer weather, but were instead greeted with downpouring rain and more freezing cold. We prepared to haul our children and our gear 3 miles out to the cottage. The super cool raincoats didn't even keep us dry. I'm the smart one who brought nothing but flip-flops.

Even though it was cold and rainy, we couldn't spend all day indoors, so we still ventured out to some Mackinac sites like the Grand Hotel.

Blake found a gigantic turtle in the front lawn of the Grand Hotel.

We finally had some nice weather on the last day we were there.

We biked 8 miles all the way around the island and stopped at the beautiful Mission Point Resort. Blake gave more kisses to me.

My little gentleman gave Skyler a bouquet of flowers. He brought them over to her one by one, and as you can see, she totally ate it up.

We put the children down for naps and my dad took us on a special interior island tour. He knows every path, road, and gorgeous view on the interior of the island, and willingly gives private tours to those who appreciate the beauty. These are sights that the tourists never see, and though I've seen them a thousand times, they never cease to amaze me. We overlooked the Mackinac Bridge that connects the lower and upper Michigan peninsulas.

We had to bike a long way uphill to see the best views.

The water was so calm and clear that you could see the reflection of the clouds in the water from hundreds of feet up. This was the view from "Gary's Ledge." My dad claimed his prime perching spot (PPS in Nash lingo) long ago.

We finally saw one nice sunset from the front porch as well.

It can be somewhat of a headache to drive hundreds of miles, take a ferry, and then haul all of your gear and groceries on bikes to the final destination, but I am always amazed at the quaintness and serenity that Mackinac Island holds whenever I visit. I loved getting to spend so much time with my bestie Stephie as well. There are just too many states that separate us.