LaMarche family reunion/trip to UP - Aug 4, 2012

Friday - Aug 3
Woke up at 7:40, Violet wanted help taking out her curlers that I put in her hair the night before.  she looked so cute with bouncy curls.  I showered up, the next 4 hours were spent feeding breakfast, feeling Eli and packing up the whole family for our trip to Michigan to visit Dave's dad.  Dave did some work in his office for an hour or so, he was supposed to mow the lawn but knew that would take 2 hours that we could be using to travel.  He noticed a mowing service pull up to mow our neighbor's lawn, so he walked out there and negotiated a reasonable price for him to mow our lawn too.  Yay!
We will also be with Josh and Carrie who will be there in a cabin near a lake next week, we plan to drive home on Thurs.  We are staying in Ted's new camper.
We have been on the road for 3 1/2 hrs, and have stopped once.  with 280 miles to go and approx 5 more hours on the road, we should get there by 9pm. 
I will update this post as the days go on...


Saturday - Aug 4
Night went well, everybody slept well. Calvin and Violet woke up first, Vanessa slept in longer.  She did well in the tent.   Dave was by the river with kids picking out crayfish with sticks. Ted and cindy made pancakes/sausage...we ate outside on big picnic table.  Spent most the morning playing with river.

 The camper where we stayed

Figured out and texted directions to J&C for the flat rock pavilion.  Went to family reunion at 2pm, kids played on playground equipment, cousins arrived. Talked to family, ate food, dave cleaned calvin up in the bathroom twice, he was covered in dirt from head to toe.  Rained a little, umbrellas came out, one got broken.

Josh talking to Uncle Donny (Ted's brother)

 Carrie meeting Eli for the first time

Home from reunion and kids played some in yard at Ted's house, gave them ravioli for supper, bathed, in bed, and sat by campfire outside. Josh and carrie and kids staying at Ted's house too.  Jokes, storytelling, dave asked Ted about what it was like when his dad Lawrence died.  Eli was with me, had s'mores by the fire, tortilla chips.

Sunday - Aug 5
Night went well again, all slept except calvin woke up screaming a few times, couldn't ask him what was going on, he wouldn't respond.   Gave him melatonin, Vanessa got some too for fussing. Played around in river/woods again, kids made a fort in woods. Cindy found a caterpillar in violets hair, dave found a huge fat green caterpillar that turns into a moth the size of an adult hand. Went to Wildwood restaurant for breakfast.

Sunday morning we packed up and all went to Wildwood Restaurant nearby for breakfast.  Calvin and Austin sat together, were crazy, Dave said he would give them a quarter to be quiet. All the kids ate pancakes/sausage, I had a big omelet.  J&C went on ahead after breakfast to go to Walmart in Escanaba and shopped for groceries for their week ahead at the cabin.  We were going to stop at Mike and Ali’s farm and see the horses but skipped it because of time.  Went back to Ted’s house and spent a couple hours getting the camper prepared to travel.  Ted filled up big tanks of water, put in the slide-ins. Packed up food, connected the truck, filled it with firewood, chairs, a table.  Finally left. Got gas, drove to Walmart in Escanaba to get a few groceries, Dave dropped me off and got coffee while I got a few things (groceries, diapers).  Drove to Hiawatha National Park, Wildwood campground, set up campground. The drive was about an hour.  No cell reception there.  The challenge was connecting with Josh and Carrie, they were 2 miles away in a different cabin.   I had 32 oz enchilada sauce she needed so we had to get that to them.   As Dave helped set up campground I found their cabin with a map and found a note with where she went, she said she went to the store to get some enchilada sauce. I drove up to the store and met here there, she was looking for a pitcher as she forgot one.  I gave her the sauce,  picked up the rest of my family from the campground, went to J&C’s cabin.  Carrie was planning to make dinner for everybody, she made a taquito casserole, white rice and a salad.  Dave went down to dock with kids to do some fishing.  They caught lots of little panfish.  Carrie and I stayed in camper with younger kids (Wesley, Vanessa and Eli).  Cindy gave the kids coloring books and crayons.  Renee was excited to hold Eli.

I bathed Violet, Calvin and Vanessa in their bathtub.  Renee and Wesley also got in tub to bathe.  Austin took bath after that too.  Carrie cleaned up kitchen.  All tired, back to camper, to bed.  I think we stayed up by the campfire with Ted/Cindy after putting kids to bed.  Violet threw fit because she couldn’t sit by the fire.  Plan for breakfast was to go to J&Cs and have eggs/bacon/toast between 8:30-9:00.  

Monday, Aug 6, 2012

Woke up at 9:10, scrambled to get to J&C’s cabin without showering, cooked eggs, Carrie fried bacon, Cindy toasted bread with the goofy toaster that threw the toast and only toasted one side.  Cooked 24 eggs for everybody and every last bit was eaten.  Went back to camper to shower up.  Josh and Dave worked out some pontoon rentals.  Carrie and I packed up lunch- sandwiches for everybody, grapes, chocolate, granola bars.  Got foggy directions on how to find the pontoons put in the lake (Skeels ? Lake).  Finally found it through twisty off roads.  J&C were already out on a boat, they left us a walkie talkie on our pontoon.  They were across the lake already and communicated with us that their boat motor wouldn’t start.  Drove over to them, Ted started boat motor somehow.   Boated around, Josh boated over our sandwiches (they were in Carrie’s cooler).  Ate lunch on water.  Eli was a great baby, he slept when he was tired, we held him most of the time.  Fished some, went to the edge of the lake and got out and picked up clams.  Josh caught a northern pike fish.  Lots of the chocolate candy got eaten. Decided to stop boating for the day, packed up the vans, drove back to J&Cs cabin.  

Cooked cheeseburgers over charcoal grill for dinner, Cindy brought those over.  I cut up a watermelon.  Violet was too full of candy to eat any supper, she had a few bites of watermelon.  Carrie cleaned the fish Josh caught.  The kid’s favorite place to play was up in “the attic” which the kids referred to…it was just an upstairs balcony where they could climb up a ladder and play in a small space.  Austin’s PSP was the game of choice.  Next everybody went over to campground by the camper and Ted and Cindy put together a campfire and we roasted marshmallows.  Kids were crazy, running around together, Cindy gave the kids glow bracelets/necklaces.  One ended up in the tree.  Night got way late, everybody was up late til 11pm – J&C left to put kids to bed.  

Tues, Aug 7^th, 2012 – I slept in with Eli and Vanessa until noon.  Dave was up with Violet and Calvin in the morning, he took them fishing down by the river next to campground.  We never set a time to have breakfast.  Josh came over to our campground to figure out what was going on with us.  It was tough not being able to call them  and make plans with no cell reception.  Carrie had make pancakes, kept them warm for us in the oven.  We made our way over to J&C’s cabin to eat breakfast.  She also served strawberries/blueberries.  Made plans for the day to go boating again, ride boats through canal that connected a few lakes together and hang out by the beach at Corner Lake (the lake Dave always visited as a kid).  We brought over some pancakes/fruit to Ted and Cindy at the campground.  Had such a late big breakfast we didn’t pack an official lunch, just snacks and drinks.  Drove van to where boats were on shore, boated over to Corner Lake by going through 2 lakes and 2 canals, the canals at times were so shallow we had to get out and push the boat through.  Josh lost a crock in some quick sand.  Once we got to Corner Lake (had a shallow spot in the center of the lake with volleyball nets set up in it!), drove the pontoon around the border where Yuno Lodge used to be (now it is a private home), the lodge Dave and his family used to go to when he was a kid.  We beached the pontoons by the beach and let the kids play in sand/water for a few hours. 

 pushing our pontoons through shallow water, this is where Josh lost his Croc.

 the building now where the lodge used to be

Dave, Ted and Josh took a pontoon out and went fishing, caught nothing.  Plan for supper was to fry some walleye fish Ted brought.  Left the beach around 5-6 pm…found a spot to fish where Josh had caught that northern the day before, fished for about 45 min.  hard to know what time because nobody had a watch.   Brought boats in by 7:45 pm, drove back to J&C’s cabin, Dave took kids down to dock to fish, Josh went too, he caught 4 bass fish.  Carrie went to clean all the fish.  Kids were here and there, going fishing/cleaning fish/playing up in balcony.  Ted came over with fish fryer, heated up oil.  Ted/Cindy prepared walleye, breaded it, fried it, we all ate it up, it was delicious.  I got creative opening a bottle of white wine with no corkscrew bottle opener in the cabin. 

Dinner wasn’t over til about 10pm, kids all tired, whiny.  Drove back to campground and put them all to bed. We went to bed too.  

Wednesday, August 8^th, 2012 – got up around 9ish, showered, went over to J&C’s cabin for breakfast again.  We brought over 2 dozen eggs, the men cooked breakfast that morning, Carrie, Cindy and I sipped coffee while kids played.  Dave scrambled all the eggs (had to remove too much pepper he shook in there), Josh toasted the toast with the goofy toaster, Ted cooked all the sausage.  Ate a yummy breakfast, made plans to go to Munising with everybody.  Ted/Cindy took camper home, we drove up north to Munising with plans to see some waterfalls and hike some very short trails (1/2 mile).  Walked on trails, I forgot moby wrap so Dave carried Eli the whole time.  Was a struggle to keep kids from running far ahead.  Took some pics. 

That's Josh standing behind the waterfall.

 

Drove up to the beach by lake superior, let the kids play on the sand for about an hour.  We told them no water, we didn’t want a dirty sandy mess so they did a good job.  Wesley got soaked and dirty.  Found a sand spider, buried it, watched it climb out and chased it across the beach.  Fed Eli on beach, he pooped, changed him in the van, asked a lady to take our picture together. 

Carrie/Josh then went to a Laundromat, put their laundry in washing machines, met us for lunch at the DogPatch restaurant.  I had a gyro, Calvin had PBJ, Dave ate ham/swiss sandwich, Violet/Vanessa split chicken tenders.  Carrie put laundry in dryer halfway through lunch.   Kids colored on activity/coloring books.  Bathroom breaks…back to van.  Carrie took Austin and Renee with her to Laundromat to fold laundry.  Dave drove there with van with Vanessa, Eli and Calvin.  I walked with Violet, Josh and Wesley down there – it was only a few blocks from the DogPatch restaurant.  Wesley sang “Oh no you never let go” Christian song, so cute.  Quickly folded laundry, Dave discovered change machine gave back 1.10 if you put in 4 quarters so Austin and Calvin bought a pop with the $ they made.  Went to the Frozen Flamingo place to get ice cream cones, sat outside in chairs, all got super messy, Josh took this pic with his phone. 

Fed Eli while I ate ice cream.  Cleaned up with wipes, said our goodbyes to J&C and family, drove in van back to Ted/Cindy’s house.  It was close to 7pm when we left Munising.  Air was chilly. (stopped at J&C’s  cabin to pick up some food we left there and coloring books, bathroom break),  (was about 2 hour’s drive).  Got back to their place sometime around 9pm.  Watched some Olympics on TV, said goodnight to Ted/cindy. We gave the kids some leftover pancakes that were in the fridge of the camper (the chocolate chip pancakes that were leftover from breakfast Sunday morning at the wildwood restaurant).  Kids to bed.  We went to bed.

Thursday, August 9^th, 2012

Ted was working today.  He left for work at 4:30 am and gets home by 3:30.  We made plans to go to Iron Mountain Mine in Iron Mountain.  Cindy made omelets with ham and toast for breakfast.  Kids watched PBS all morning for 3 hrs.  Drove to mine about 30 miles away, took pics by Big John. He is 40 ft fall. 

Tickets for mine tour at 1pm.  Really cool – down in train into mine, was cold and dark.  Wore hard hats/rain coats.  Saw two stopes, places where iron ore was take out.  One was small, one was enormous.  Train ride back up.  Calvin liked the train ride most.  Clothes/shoes stained red.  Eli slept in moby wrap during the whole tour, so convenient to have that thing.  Kids each got a little thing from gift shop – Violet picked a helmet with a light on it, Calvin chose a blue jet.  We drove to a nearby town called Norway to get lunch.   We walked around for awhile, found a coffee/ice cream place where the kids had a place to run/play in little kid playground.  Got mochas on the way out, drove back to Ted/Cindy’s.  They had supper ready for us, hot dogs and mac n cheese.  Calvin hugged Lance after supper a little too hard and Lance snapped, bit his face.  Ted upset.  Calvin cried some, peeled bandaid off, cleaned it with peroxide, calmed down, dog put away.  So thankful the injury was not ON eye, only near it.  Dave asked Calvin if he was afraid of dog that night, Calvin said, “No, not yet.” Thankful he calmed down well and slept well that night.  Ted went to bed at 9pm.  We stayed up after putting kids to bed and watched the Olympics with Cindy…track and field, platform diving.  Bed at midnight.  

Friday, Aug 10^th, 2012

Cindy made oatmeal for kids.  Cooked eggs for Dave and I.  I went to local credit union, took out $20 cash, exchanged it for quarters, went to Laundromat and put in 4 loads of clothes.  Wash cycles were only 30 minutes.  Came back and fed Eli, brought him back when it was time to put them in the dryer.  Clothes in dryer, came back for 30 minutes. Brought Eli and Violet with me to fold clothes.  Folded all the clothes, brought them back and put them in everybody’s bags.  All in van, Cindy rode with us, I was in the middle seat in back with kids.  Got some gas, grabbed sandwiches from gas station for lunch.  Drove to DeYoung Family Zoo (40 minute drive).  At Zoo we saw tigers get fed, white Bengal tigers too.  2 bears, lots of animals, fed them seed, birds, kids put snake around their necks,  fed hippo lettuce, pigs, saw little chimpanzee that was the zoo owner’s pet, done with zoo, Eli slept in moby almost whole time we were walking around. 

He woke up, squirmy, fed him, we went across road to a little shack called Ice Box and got some treats, Cindy and I had chocolate malts, kids and Dave had blue slushies.  It became cold and windy out, we turned heat on in van for the first time in months.  Drove back, stopped at Fazers Foods to pick up s’mores ingredients, and agreed to order pizza for them for dinner, Dave and Ted and V and C went to get pizza and brought it back, somewhere around 6-7pm.  Ate pizza outside on big picnic table, started fire, had smores.  Kids were bored, put them to bed.  Adults stayed by campfire,  talked for awhile, Eli fussy so I wrapped him up in moby, fell asleep immediately.  To bed around 11pm.  

Saturday, Aug 11^th, 2012

Woke up at 8:40am, showered up, Ted made creamed eggs/toast for breakfast.   

Everybody ate it up.  It was quite yummy.  We spent the next hour packing up and cleaning the camper.  Kids played outside.  They made funny faces for us, calling it their “show.”  Made Vanessa sit on the couch for a long time while we packed up.  Eli fell asleep, so I put him in the car so he’d  be ready to go.  Went to the bathroom one last time.  Violet and I walked across the little river, stepping on rocks, to stand on the flat rock one more time.  Ted pointed out a bald eagle flying high above.  We left at 10:40am (9:40 central).  Had to stop twice in the first 5 minutes, first to reprimand Violet for a bad attitude, next to spank Calvin for disobeying.  We stopped to get gas in Wisconsin where the prices were 30 cents cheaper.  We stopped at Sequins – we bought two chunks of cheese (tomato basil cheddar and vegetable Monterey jack), two packs of string cheese, one t-shirt and Mackinac island fudge.  Eli woke up, so I pumped 5 oz and gave it to him in a bottle.  We drove for a couple more hours.  Stopped for lunch at Culvers in Waupun, WI at 2:30pm.  Vanessa and Calvin each ate a whole cheeseburger.  The kids got their ‘energy’ out by running on some grass and hanging on tree branches.  We noticed people lining up on lawn chairs by the road, Dave googled with his phone and discovered there would be a parade starting at 3:00 pm, so we packed up and got out of there fast, despite the kids begging to stay for the parade.  We switched drivers, Dave handed out the fudge.  We drove to Dubuque.  The George movie they were watching finished right as we  were stopping.  Eli also woke up right then, in Dubuque, and we could tell Vanessa had to poop by the faces she was making.  We stopped at Quick Star in Dubuque.  Vanessa had not pooped, so I coaxed her to use the toilet.  I told her I’d give her a sucker if she used the toilet.  She sat on the toilet and pushed out a big one.  When she was done, we walked through the gas station aisles and found a big sucker.  I told her it was her ‘poopy prize,’ so she hopped up and down the whole way to the check out yelling ‘poopy prize!’  We sat outside at a table while I fed Eli.  Violet and Calvin ran on some grass to get their wiggles out and Vanessa finished her sucker.  The kids said they were hungry, so we bought three bananas and the all got eaten quickly.  About 6:00 we got back on the road and the kids watched Thomas the train and we drove all the way to Cedar Falls.  Vanessa chanted my-na-my-na-my-na-my-na.  Eli screamed.  We got home about 7:35pm.