Last vacation in summer, part 2

The boys and I are back home now, and Greyson is the only one who has some of his summer vacation left (his school starts on the 25th). I start teaching a course on the 25th as well, so I've been working pretty frantically to get that together as well as the other work I have to do. However, I think some of the relaxation of the vacation has stayed with me, because I'm feeling more zen about things than I normally would be.

Starting from where the last post ended, on Thursday my mom had to spend all day at the Baby Pantry, so the boys and I drove out to my cousin Lil's house in the morning and went lighthouse hopping with her and her two girls, Emily and Ava. We climbed the "new" Presque Isle lighthouse first, which I recommend since it is much higher than the "old" one. I only realized when we got to the top that my camera battery had died, so I have no pictures of that day. Lil took plenty and is sending them to me, so when I receive them I'll post the best.

Reece made it up about 1/3 of the way before having a mini freakout, which I call impressive (his uncle Nat still won't go up, and he's 37), and we managed to convince him to go all the way up. He didn't want to spend very much time up there, but we did walk all the way around and stop to admire the view from four sides as well as fly tiny airplanes from the top down to the ground. We were amazed that none got caught in any trees or on the roof of the buildings. We then drove to the "old" lighthouse, which is supposed to be haunted, and the kids got to work old fog horns and put themselves into shackles. We completed that trip with pizza and ice cream cones, then went back to Lil's where Greyson and Emily took the paddleboat out to the drop-off to fish and Reece and Ava swam and caught minnows.

Friday we headed back to Black Lake to hang out with Uncle Dan, Jackie, Jill and Susie. Anyone who could read played Whoonu, we had steaks for supper, then went out fishing where we caught nothing but had to hightail it back to beat a wicked storm. That thing lasted most of the night, but by morning it had moved on, leaving a lot of tannic acid spilling into the shallow water in runoff. It was necessary to go back out to fish in order to have tall tales to tell when we returned, so we rode the boat to Uncle Tim's and Uncle Dave's to pick up my cousin Mike, his daughter Jenna, and his nephew Joe. Reece and I were the most successful, with Reece catching the biggest perch (and only keeper). Jackie even drove up on the jet ski and attempted to fish off it (to no avail). Then we went back for lunch and went swimming/snorkeling for most of the afternoon. A great ending to an overall very relaxing vacation. We even stopped by my cousin Dave's outside Detroit on our way home Sunday to have a break and visit with him and his family, so we managed to see a fair percentage of relatives this trip.

And here are the photos:

Playing Whoonu

Reece the owl checking out the loft

Greyson driving at ludicrous speed to beat the storm

Reece driving all by himself (and not watching where he's going)

The rest of our summer vacation, part 1

The boys and I are smack dab in the middle of our Michigan trip, which is becoming an annual event, and I thought I'd better post some photos of what we've done so far because 1) we've been very busy, and 2) I have a new camera that holds a kajillion pictures and takes awesome video (at least compared to my last one), so I have tons to choose from already.

We left home last Thursday afternoon and stopped near Detroit at my cousin Jill's house. While there, the boys found her box of toys and while Reece had me apply kids' make-up to his face, Greyson used the Pickle Pult to shoot at all of us. I didn't get any action shots of the weapon, but if you have a chance, you have got to go to the website and check out the other "pults". At least one of these is going to end up in a stocking this year!

We arrived at my mom's the next day (after stopping at the A&W restaurant in Standish, where the boys got to order their own food using the telephone at the table) and just hung out and explored all of Grandma's toys (and ate ice cream on the deck). Saturday, we ran errands so that we could repack for our time at a rental cabin on Black Lake that began later that day. Sunday the boys spend lots of time in the water while Grandma observed and I drove back to Alpena for a close friend's baby shower, and then we had dinner at my uncles' cabins not too far away. It's always fun to see who will show up there, and this time it was my uncles Tim and Dave (who own the cabins), my cousin Greg (which confused my kids because he is close in age to my uncle Dave), and my dad's cousin Bill, who I had probably seen once or twice before in my life but owns the cabin next door.

Monday was spent in the water - I think the kids went in four separate times and we went for a canoe ride - and playing with the 3-year old girl whose family was renting the cabin next door. That evening, we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows for S'mores. Tuesday was overcast and cooler, so we drove to Mackinaw City and toured the fort and bought fudge. Today we returned to my mom's, stopping to swim at Ocqueoc Falls on the way (sorry, no photos of us at the falls as I had to be in the water with both boys the whole time). Part 2 will be posted after we return to Ohio.

Cedar Point trip

Every year, the Cleveland Clinic offers discounted or free tickets to some event or amusement park to all its employees. It used to be to Geauga Lake, which is about 20 minutes from us, but the amusement park half of that closed last year and only the water park remains. So this year they gave us a 2-week time frame in which to use half-price Cedar Point tickets with the option to buy Soak City tickets at nearly half price. We decided to make it a whole 2-day event and extended the invitation to relatives within a 3 hour radius. Only my cousin, Jackie, was able to take us up on the offer. In addition, Dan's brother, Ben, was still with us and came along. Turns out, a 4 to 2 ratio of adults to children is just about right for a large amusement park! We spent all of last Thursday at Cedar Point, spent the night in a lovely cabin that fit us perfectly (although Dan says any more people and we would have needed a 2nd bathroom), and spent most of Friday at Soak City.

Before we left, Greyson was talking up how he was going to go on all the biggest, fastest roller coasters. We thought it best to start him small and work his way up. Here he is on the Jr. Gemini with Uncle Ben (all the adults took turns riding the kiddie rides when needed, since none of us could stomach them more than once or twice!). The ride lasts maybe 30 seconds start to finish and is even tamer than Goofy's Barnstormer at Disneyworld. When he got off this, he said that was scary and he was done with all roller coasters.




So he stuck to the littler kids' rides for the rest of the day:





Reece didn't want to do the roller coasters but was thrilled to ride anything he could "drive". On the bigger rides, he wasn't allowed to sit in front of the steering wheel, but we managed to let him steer anyway:
I purposely didn't take my camera to the waterpark, but rest assured that we all had a great time there. Dan, Ben, and Jackie hit most of the big slides while I took the kids to the kiddie parts, and then we swapped off so everyone got to enjoy the parts they wanted. We even convinced Greyson to go on nearly all he big slides, and he is now a convert. We rented a cabana as home base, which worked out perfectly. They had table food service for the cabana area, and when we were getting ready to leave, we asked Reece what his favorite part of the two days had been. He said "When we ordered food at the table and they brought it to us!" Clearly, the boy was delerius from the sun.

Happy 35th Birthday, Nick!

Belated birthday wishes to my younger brother (it was yesterday, but he doesn't seem to care much if we actually hit the date). I can't believe you're this age! To me, you will probably always be about 14, which is the age you were when I left for college.

I know I've said this to various people, but I'm actually affected more when my brothers hit milestone birthdays that it did when I hit them. I thought I'd share a few memories of Nick as a child in honor of this momentous occasion.

Nick was usually game to do whatever I was doing, especially baking or playing card games, but if he didn't want to do something, no cajoling could convince him otherwise. He also only gave smiles when he wanted, which prompted one of our aunts to nickname him "sober socks". When he was about 3, I nicknamed him "Piglet" because it seemed like he was the partner to my Winnie the Pooh (and awfully cute and slightly round to boot), but my mom stopped that after a while because she was afraid he would get a weight complex. Of course, now Nick is the leanest and most in shape of all of us! Nick also weathered being called "Nicky" by relatives for as long as he could, only to be called "Uncle Nicky" by one of my boys a few years ago. He was kind enough to allow that - but only from a nephew!

I'll update this post with a few old pictures of Nick when I can get them scanned. Happy Birthday little brother!

A little good news to start the week

We signed the loan papers on Friday, so the renovations can start back up now. The next step is concrete (tearing out what we have, digging down for the foundation of the garage, and pouring it), which I'm hoping will start next week. I'll have to have Dan take pictures of the progress while the kids and I are in Michigan. At least curious kids will be out of the way of the workers, so there's less chance an errant footprint will be permanently embedded in our driveway. I'll leave it up to you to guess which child is most likely to step in wet concrete...

Parents' day at Greyson's day camp

Greyson's camp ended today, and he is already saying he wants to go back next year. This is the first one he's said that about, so we must have chosen correctly.Parents' day was Wednesday, and Dan, Ben, and I all got to go for varying amounts of time. The counselors had mentioned that we should come ready to participate, and they weren't kidding. We played ultimate frisbee and touch football (kids and counselors against parents) and got to try archery. The parents won frisbee (I caught one in the end zone, thank you very much), and the kids walloped us in football. I managed to get one of my three arrows on the target in archery, so I think I didn't embarass my child this go-around. We also got to watch the kids swim, and Ben not only remembered to bring his camera but got lots of video. Here is Greyson doing the butterfly:

Is it really the 3rd week of July already?

What? You wanted to see photos of kids? Updates on our doings? Something to read at work to break up the boredom? I am here to help.

Reece had a bug bite behind his right ear a few weeks ago and we thought nothing of it. Then I picked him up from school the next day and he looked like this (actually, the hair is courtesy of just getting out of the bathtub):I think half of his head was channeling Dopey from Snow White. As you can see, it didn't bother him at all. That same evening, Greyson decided to label his belly with his name. In case he lost it, I guess:

We've had two weeks of company - first some of Dan's fraternity brothers and one spouse for a reunion weekend, then Dan's sister and niece came for six days (they left today) and his brother is here for two weeks. It's been great fun but has left little time for blogging. I also didn't get very many pictures because I could never find my camera when I wanted it and I was having too much fun to care very much.

I stayed home with the two little ones (Carly is 3) on Monday while everyone else went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Much painting took place that evening, with lots of cooperating and admiring each other's art. I fear Reece needs a little sister. Except when she tries to talk to him when he's watching TV. My ears are still ringing from his wails of "CAAAARRRRLLLYYYY! Stop Talking!!"

Isn't she a cutie??!! A real pistol and very sweet at the same time.

No, really??

I get email updates on product recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and sometimes the wording of the warning cracks me up with its obviousness. Examples include burn hazards associated with lighters and laceration risks due to using knives. But this one I received today is by far the best:

Women’s Shoes Recalled by Charles David Due to Fall Hazard

Seriously?? Granted, the actual risk is that the heels tend to break off, but I have to say I just wouldn't be surprised if I fell wearing one of these even with the heels fully intact. I especially like that they're designed by a man...

Attempt to beautify a concrete slab

My mom asked to see a photo of how I "beautified" the back patio, and since I try to do as my mother asks, here are two:

Also, one of Reece's teachers convinced him to get into the water yesterday during swim lessons, so he asked me this morning if we could go to the pool together so he can "swim" in the big pool. That's got to be some kind of record of going from fear of the water to being ready to jump right in!

Renovations update

Kids? I don't have kids to write about. I just have a house that's been partially demolished and no secure funding to build it up again. I'm going to have to rename this blog shortly to something like "The Drama About the House" if things don't get resolved soon around here.

We have now had three appraisers come through -one before the demolition and two since. I'm getting very adept at talking up the best points of our house and skirting around any negatives. The irony is that while we're hoping for the house to appraise high for loan purposes, the county auditor just sent us a notice that they've lowered our house's worth for taxes. Best case scenario is that the appraisals come back high for the bank, we do all the renovations, and we pay lower taxes. Worst case, we start putting away the money we're saving on taxes so we can rebuild the garage, etc. in 10 years and Dan kills me this winter after the 100th day he has to dig his car out from under two feet of snow at 7am.

Most likely we'll know by the end of the week what both banks are willing to give us and then we'll decide from there. Oh and the kids? They're fine. Greyson's loving his camp; Reece started swim lessons at school/camp but refuses to actually get in the water (he will, however, lie on the drain shelf and put his WHOLE FACE in to blow bubbles); we had a lovely July 4th weekend that included all the required activities - a bbq/picnic with friends, pool time, fireworks with the cousins, an Indians game for Dan & Greyson, and planting flowers for Reece & me. I took no pictures during this time and am depending on Tara and her new camera to provide them. Eventually I'll post photos from our Chicago trip a few weeks ago, but I need to get permission from some people who are also in them before I do so. Until then, you're stuck with a whole lot of black print on white background.