Christmas with ALL LaMarche siblings 2014

I have been wanting to blog about this for awhile, but haven't really known how to tackle writing about it.  My style is usually to take notes every day and do an accurate recap of events.  That is not possible this time.  I was too busy to keep track of everything being "the host" of the event.  My first thought was to look at my meal organization schedule, but that got all jumbled up and food planned got mixed around.  AND my computer has issues so my main computer I normally use isn't available for me to load photos onto.  I'm using our kitchen laptop right now but don't have photos to go with my blog.  I'm all out of sorts. :) But I figure I'd better at least write something not too far away from the event so I remember details.  I've had lasik in my right eye since the event and we hosted some friends for New Year's.  So much going on!  I must thrive on being busy because I don't mind it, but it makes my memories all foggy.  Much to my disappointment, I had to wear my glasses the entire time (having lasik requires no contacts for 3 weeks).  I don't do so well with glasses.  My correction makes glasses seem like everything is moving when it isn't and made me have bad peripheral vision.  I knocked over a lot of stuff.  

I'll say first as a general thought that the gathering OVERALL was amazing.  Dave was absolutely thrilled to have all his siblings and mother all together.  He and I enjoy hosting so we make a good pair.  The LaMarche family members are thoughtful, kind, funny, easy-going, flexible, and grateful. 

The first thing to note is that Sean and April had an opportunity with Sean's work and timing to come out a day earlier than Josh, Lisa and Martha.  Sean's normal work hours are 5pm-3am.  Apparently he's used to being awake all night, so he chose to pack up his family of 9 and drive through the night Monday night/Tues morning.  They left PA at 5 pm or something like that and arrived at our house Tuesday morning at 8:30 am!  I had some baked french toast, scrambled eggs/cheese and hashbrowns ready for the group when they arrived Tuesday morning.  After the meal we all hung out and helped Sean and family unpack and get settled.  April is a real worker in the kitchen and was always willing to help out with meal prep or clean up.  I had pre-cooked some pulled pork the day before so we made some mac n cheese and ate pulled pork on buns for lunch along with some veggies.   Baked teriyaki chicken, rice and broccoli for supper.  The Sean LaMarche family ages of kids are 16, 15, 13, 10, 9, 7, and 6.  Those are approximate ages.  Getting snapshots of families years apart makes kids growth really obvious!  All the kids are well behaved and cousins connected quickly.  Bowen and Calvin immediately started on legos.  Lynnea and Violet connected and ended up sleeping in Violet's stop bunk bed each night.  Adalynn and Vanessa hung out and the older kids mostly hung out with adults and enjoyed card games at night.  They taught us (and gifted us) a game called 6 Nimmt.  Nimmt means "takes" in German - all the instructions are in German so you have to learn by watching.  Easy to pick up, fun to play.  

Tuesday sometime Dave, Sean and some kids went out to buy a Christmas tree. 

Next morning (Wed - Christmas Eve) was sausage gravy over biscuits.  Sean and kids set up the tree and decorated it with our ornaments.  Violet and some other kids wrapped garland and red bows on the stairs.  We expected everyone else's arrival that day so we kept up with their travels.  Martha arrived in the afternoon, Josh and Carrie arrived but first checked into their hotel, Lisa and Sten arrived...and we were all together!  I was preparing dinner toppings, etc...the plan was chipotle chicken rice bowls, chips, salsa and queso.  Whipping up that meal with tons of kitchen helpers was a breeze!  Rice, topped with chopped grilled chipotle chicken, black bean/corn salsa, lettuce, mexican cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, cilantro, tomatoes, etc...it was fantastic!

We borrowed a 6 foot table and some chairs that we set up during meal time only - otherwise it was in the way.  We used the countertop to the right of the sink for "buffet style" serving.  

One of my favorite parts of the week was right before mealtime we'd all gather in a huge 26 person circle and sing a song before praying.  Usually it was the doxology.  We have some amazing singing voices in the group - every note gave me chills.  And what a blessing to all have commonality in Christ.  There was no "awkward religious oddball" - we all claim Christ!  

The rest of the night was games/etc.  We prepared the cinnamon rolls and cut up a big bowl of fresh fruit for the next morning.  

Thursday morning (Christmas day!) we baked up the four egg casseroles (one cheese, one sausage, one bacon, and one 2 meat), two pans cinnamon rolls, and a huge bowl of fresh cut up fruit.  We had every color of fruit!  Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwis, grapes, bananas.  Breakfast was delicious!  

After cleaning up breakfast Lisa kicked-off the gift exchanges for kids/adults.  The kids exchanged gifts (each brought one and it was supposed to be a white elephant game but we decided the kids couldn't handle "stealing" from each other).  All ended up with something they liked!  Kids off to play.  Adults did gift exchange - Emma, Kristina, Emily and Alyssa joined in adult gift exchange.  Rule was to bring a gift worth about $10 for the white elephant game.  All have numbers, then go in order choosing gifts.  Next number in line has option of stealing gift or opening a new one.  Fun!  Gifts I remember being handed out were Starbucks gift cards, york peppermint patties, cashew brittle, whiskey, mugs, sock monkeys, crackers, peanut butter cups, pens, scarves, dark chocolate tim tams,  Sten was given verbal award for the gift with the most thought put into it.

All the kids packed up to go swimming at the hotel where Josh and Carrie were staying, which was a nice break for those who stayed home.  Rachel brought over some paper and showed the older girls how to make these pretty paper snowflakes.  Emma put three together to make a 3D snowflake - so pretty!

Some people had lunch meat/chips that Carrie brought for lunches prior to going swimming.  

I stayed home with some others (April, Martha, Rachel, older girls) and prepared Christmas dinner.  Ham, green beans/bacon, and mac n cheese.  Martha made up the pans of mac n cheese, Lisa put a glaze on the ham, and others helped with green bean meal.  Lisa had brought up a lot of buns so we put those out also.  Sean/Josh carved ham.  Everyone pitched in with meal prep/serving, it was so nice.  I almost felt like it was easier having people here than when I'm on my own at home!  Eclair cake.

Conversations seemed to flow naturally, every room in the house was filled with people.  Lots of card games were played.  Josh learned strategy for the game BS.  Sten organizes 6 Nimmt cards better than anyone else, and I discovered Instagram.  Jokes about hashtags and "ain't nobody got time for that!" were frequent. 

Friday the plan was to make pancakes/sausage but we had so many leftovers from previous breakfasts that we reheated a lot of food.  Egg bakes, sausage gravy and biscuits, cinnamon rolls, etc.  

The day was spent at Bethany Bible Chapel.  We had reserved the coffee nook, gym, and kitchen for our family's use most of the day.  We packed along lunch and supper food and ate both meals there.  Set up volleyball, 9 square, and enjoyed playing more games, coffee, and food.  I had a hard time playing volleyball with my glasses.  But it was still fun.  Martha had a tough experience that day when her knee swelled up to the point that she couldn't walk.  I made a run to a pharmacy for her (her boss called in some paid medication for her) so she could function.  We had lunch meat/chips again for lunch, and heated up Lisa's black bean chili with toppings/chips/salsa for dinner.  A big plate of chocolate chip cookies that April baked a day or so earlier got consumed.  Calvin may have eaten half the plate of cookies.

Saturday morning was supposed to be something but we ended up putting up a continental breakfast bar.  Cold cereal, english muffins and bagels to toast, and some leftovers.  People felt like eating up leftovers was smarter than cooking new, and we had plenty, so we went with it.  We knew everybody was planning to leave Saturday except for Sean/April and family so we scheduled in our visit to Waterloo Trampoline and Tumbling Center right after breakfast.  We jumped and jumped for two hours.  Snapped a lot of family photos, including one big group photo that Rachel was so kind to take for us.  Everyone had fun at the gym!  Many thanks to Lee and Linda Whitmore for allowing us to have such a fun time there.  Some planned to leave from the gym but all decided to come back to our house for lunch.  There was plenty of food so it worked ok. 

Lunch was reheated ham and pulled pork to put on buns, mac and cheese, veggies, green beans, and a cheese/cracker plate.  

Ping pong games were played, but I don't remember when.  Emily, Alyssa, and Corban are all good players! 

Josh/Carrie and family left.  Sten/Lisa left, Martha left.  Martha left but then turned around to come back since she had forgotten to get something, plus, she'd asked for a "to go" bag of leftover food.  We packed her up a lot of goodies and sent her on her way.  

Sean/April and crew - what did we do when everyone left?  I have no clue.  I can't remember that day! haha!  Dave doesn't either.  I bet we cleaned.  And played more games.  

Specific memories of each person involved:

Martha - poor knee inflammation.  Loves to help in kitchen. Enjoyed gift exchange game. Snuggled with oldest girl grand daughters.

Josh - happy. Learned to play Speed and taught nieces/nephews.

Carrie - always willing to help! Brought yummy lunch stuff.  Told Vanessa she'd mail her pink sparkles for stocking.

Austin - wanted to play perler beads but didn't get to. :( Didn't enjoy volleyball coaching.

Renee - played with Violet and Lynnea

Wesley - got out viewmaster toy and broke it, haha

I'll try finish others later...that's all I could finish right now.

Calvin's 7th Birthday

My first little boy is SEVEN!  I gotta brag on his learning this year in school (1st grade).  He started the year taking a reading test and getting through 17 words in a minute.  He has progressively improved with each test, moving up into the 30s, 40s, and 50s.  The last test he brought home he read 77 words per minute!  His teacher, Miss Schoonhoven, said the goal for first graders is to read 40-60 WPM by the end of 1st grade.  He has sky-rocked in his reading ability.  I'm so proud of him!

Ok, back to his birthday.  I feel a little bad that his birthday is 3 days after Christmas.  This year his birthday fell on the day that most of our Christmas company left.  I had made him a big chocolate oreo cake the night before and we all celebrated.  He was surrounded with ALL his LaMarche cousins to sing him happy birthday.  That was a fun moment!  I couldn't really tell if he enjoyed the attention for his birthday or not.  

He got a shark backpack, robo bug kit that holds a pop can, and the Lego movie.  He got to watch the movie that day.

And of course the "7" pancake!!

  

My mundane ramblings

I think I start all my blog posts something like, "wow, its been a long time since I've written anything down..."
Then I feel a slight twinge of guilt because I haven't written down things the kids are saying lately.  Eli makes us laugh about a thousand times a day.  He's so stinking funny.  He is building on his "adoraber" thing by saying, "you're the best.  NO, you're the best.  I wuv you."  and "Try to get me!" and running away.  He wants to be "super" by bringing us one of his baby blankets and wants someone to tie it around his shoulders for a cape.  He runs back and forth, one time saying, "I'm super woman!" copying Vanessa.

Vanessa is improving her speech with her own efforts.  She's making a point to say the letter "R" in words like "green" and "bright" and "decorated" ... she's trying.  She still says "F" for the sound that "th" is supposed to make.  She tried saying a word over and over to me the other day and I DID NOT get it.  She was saying, "Uuuf!" over and over.  She finally explained it differently by saying, "the world where we live!" and it clicked that she was saying "Earth".  Well, the poor girl can't say R and TH so it came out like "Uuuf".  I helped her say "ERR", then pause, then stick tongue between teeth and enunciate the "th" sound.  It came out like "Err...*switch mouth and tongue*....TH"  She can do it!  Its a matter of it becoming natural.  She is working on it and I'm impressed and encouraged.  She has continued to sound like a 2 or 3 yr old pronouncing things like a toddler, but her making improvements with her speaking is encouraging to me.  She'll start kindergarten in 8 months!

Ever since my dad once mentioned trying to stop using the word "should" in our daily language and communication, I've been sensitive about saying it or using it.  It really does bring on guilt.  It ends up making anyone feel like they're not measuring up.  Instead, just do it. :)

So, I'm doing it.  I'm blogging.  With no real point to this post, other than to write "what's going on lately around here".  My life and tasks seem mundane, well, because, sometimes they are.  I'm not going to write down what seem like my biggest accomplishments because, well, let's just face it...nobody cares that I've washed, folded, and managed to get the kid's help to put away 6 loads of laundry.  Two or three days later, repeat.  Or managed to serve 18 meals in one day.  Sleep, repeat, serve 18 meals again.  Wipe down kitchen for the fourteenth time, sweep.  Load dishwasher.  Unload dishwasher.

What to write about.  Feeling rather random tonight.
Tonight's pork tenderloin was delicious.  Vanessa called it chicken.  Violet called it beef.  Whatever! haha!  Served along with rice and green beans (from the garden!) that were picked too big and took extra chewing to get down.

For not too much longer I can say the kid are 2, 4, 6, and 8.  I think that's pretty cool!  Calvin will break the system when he turns 7 in sixteen days.

I spent a lot of time just picking up this house.  There are always tons of papers to organize, kids crafts to admire, say WOW, and put up with magnets on the fridge for as long as they care and take down when they don't notice.

We are in the process of finishing the basement.  There will be a ping pong table (SHHHH! don't tell the kids! they don't know it is in our garage in a box that isn't labeled) to set up in the new play area, re-organized space, super cool colorful carpet, neat lights,, a small kitchenette/bar area, and a movie theater.  The storage space was moved to an interior boxed in room that includes the utilities area.  We've been working nonstop tearing down walls.  There's always cleaning to do down there.  Dave has framed in new walls, built an entire ceiling support for drywall and suspended ceiling, and is re-wiring cut openings for recessed lighting.  Every spare moment Dave has is dedicated to making progress downstairs.

We have a ton of family coming for Christmas!  I've sketched out my meal plan and written down almost the whole master shopping list.  I'm not done yet.  Barb Anderson came over Monday this week and we cranked out FOUR LASAGNAS for the freezer . She's so fun and helpful!  So glad to have that done.   I still have to do the major shopping trip to buy everything, but I'm sort of planned out.  Dave's sister Lisa and her family (husband Sten, daughters Kristina, Emma and Anja), his brother Josh (and wife Carrie, and kids Austin, Renee, and Wesley), his brother Sean (and his wife April and their kids, Emily, Alyssa, Corban, Logan, Bowen, Lynnea, and Adalynn), and his mother Martha.  Rachel will join us too!!  Rachel will kindly host 4 people and 2 will stay in the vacant CF home of Mother Rowena.

Right now I'm waiting for some clothes to finish drying.

OH yeah!  Another NEW THING.  Dave and I discovered we have a big chunk of cash still sitting in our "health savings account" for the year 2014.  This money will be gone are swallowed by the government if it isn't used in this year.  Dave suggested I get lasik eye surgery to correct my vision.

I looked into it.  Long story later (and I've seen the eye doctor at Mauer Eye Center for an approval)...I'm scheduled to have one of my eyes surgically corrected on Dec 29th, and the other eye on January 15th.  Why one eye at a time?  Well...it will cost SIGNIFICANTLY less.  This year's HSA amount will mostly cover one eye.  The other eye would be completely out of pocket.  Unless we did the other eye in 2015.  The next year's HSA will cover the other eye.  I'm so excited!  and nervous! The eye doctor I've chosen to go to is the best rated and has the best technology available in eye surgery.  He has his own laser machine with Wave Front technology right in his office.  All other eye doctors that perform lasik use a laser at the hospital.

I'm just going for it.  I really can't wait to wake up and be able to SEE.

that's my news for now.  I have to hit "post" and go help Dave in the basement.

4 yr old theology (Vanessa)

Vanessa said to me today, "Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are the same thing.  Just like God and Jesus are the same!"

"The basement project"

It is happening! We have a motivating event (hosting a lot of people for Christmas) that put the flame under Dave to get started with the basement.  We have our good friend and expert designer Kim on the project with us.

Walls have come down, new walls are going up.  It is a dusty mess, and everything that was in our basement has either been sold or moved to the garage.  The carpet has been ripped out, new drywall and supplies purchased, and a plan is in place.

It will NOT be completely finished by Christmas.  But the new walls will be built, and new colorful carpet tiles will be in place, and a new ceiling/lighting will be installed.  We have plans to add some electronic equipment for a theater area and a hang out table/bar area, but those will have to be finished in 2015.

The main direction we've advised Kim to go is "colorful, lots of texture, and FUN".  Dave said, "It's the basement, why not go crazy?" it will be polished and NICE looking, but also be very vibrant and lively.

Carpet tiles, you're wondering?  A combination of lime green, bright pink, orange, brown, and cream....that's the beginning. *GRIN*

"No, you're adorable!" ~Eli

Eli is so, so funny lately.  *Sigh* I guess that little guy has to grow up.  He's developing a sense of humor that fits right in with our family.  Today after we played a song/game with me squeezing him and him giggling, he kept saying, "Do it again!" so I said, "You're adorable."  He said, "No, YOU'RE adorable!"  And I said, "no, you're adorable!" and he said, "No, you're adorable!" But it comes out more like, "You're adoraber."

I think he said, "Mom, I love you" after I changed his diaper today too.

Earlier today he also pushed a little toy stroller up to me as I was loading the dishwasher.  He said, "Oh, hi mom" and waved.  Then he paused for a moment, looking at me expectantly, like he wanted me to respond.  I said, "Hi!"  He then waited, then said, "Bye. Bye mom." and waved and paused for a moment, then pushed his stroller in the opposite direction, and went around the corner out of my sight.  A few moments later, he came right back up to the dishwasher as I was continuing to load it and he repeated the whole scenario again, saying hi, waving, waiting for a response from me, then pausing, and saying goodbye, waiting for my response, then leaving.  Silly little dude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
more about this whole topic, so I'm not doubling up:

Variations of this conversation happen a lot.  I told him he's nuts one time, and he responded by saying, "No, you're nuts adorabor!"  And he'll say, "I wuv you you're adorabor".
Kids all love telling him he's adorable and hearing his response.  He often turns to Violet for help/comfort if a parent isn't available.  She's always ready to comfort him!  She loves his attention and hugs.  Unless he's yelling out, "BIOLET!" at 6 am.  She doesn't respond then. :)

Vanessa apologized to me for something

A few days ago I found Vanessa in the climbing tree that Violet and Calvin like to play in.  I'm not comfortable with her in the tree.  She can't get in and out with out assistance and her climbing skills aren't as adept as the oldest two.  So, I told her she can't climb the tree.  Violet and Calvin were instructed to not encourage her to climb the tree.

So, yesterday, I found her in the tree.  She had to come in for a spanking.  After crying that out and being alone for a bit, she came to me and said, "Mom, I'm so sorry for climbing the tree.  Will you forgive me?"  I was pretty floored.  Of course I forgave her, we hugged, she snuggled, and was happy and went along skipping.

Now only if I could figure out how to get my 8 yr old to admit mistakes like her younger sister.

Vanessa keeps telling me that she's big enough to climb in the tree...maybe when she's older.

Eli said the sun stinks

On our drive to school, we pass a smelly skunk and carry the scent with us. We then go over a hill and can see the bright orange sun on the horizon. Eli says, "the sun stinks!!"

Fall 2014

I just realized the other day I hadn't blogged in quite some time.  I'm not sure really.  Maybe its the switch in seasons from summer to "school".  Things seem to be falling into a rhythm and nothing seems like its changing.  We're plowing through each day and time is soaring.  As I'm sitting here there are an unending things on my "to-do" list, but Eli is on my right eating cream of wheat wanting his fingers wiped off every 2 minutes.  There's a printer on my left that I plan to use today to print envelopes for each Spark and T&T clubber for keeping track of the "bucks" they've earned.  There is laundry to be put in the machine, diapers to be folded, dishes to load into the dishwasher.  I don't think life ever slows down enough to feel caught up.  Just keep going and don't fall under the piles.

What I can think of off the top of my head that might be worth blogging about that has occurred in the last few weeks:

- Awana has begun every Sunday evening.  Dave and I are very busy with keeping that going as commander/secretary roles and the new software we purchased for running the program keeps me on my toes.  We have four clubbers this year! Eli is a Puggle, Vanessa is a Cubbie, Calvin is a Sparky, and Violet is in her first year of Truth & Training.

- Last week was full of sickness.  The two boys started throwing up at the same time one night.  I stayed up with them helping clean up after each episode from 3am on through the day.  Vanessa caught the bug two days later.  Dave stayed up with her that night.  Violet somehow escaped it.  Dave and I showed symptoms of a tummy virus but no throwing up.  I washed many sheets, pajamas, towels, rags, and car seats last week.  I'm glad it seems to be over.  Violet wrote me a note that says "Dear Mom and Dad, I am sorry that Vanessa is sick. I know it is hard. Your truly, Violet. "

Our days start at 6:45 am.  I get up, shower if I feel up for it, and then make sure Violet and Calvin are awake and getting dressed for school at 7am.  We try our hardest to make sure we are quiet and don't wake up the younger two but Eli always gets up with them 90% of the time.  He says, "diaper stinky" and wants to be changed.
We eat breakfast asap, get lunches packed, and get them out the door in time for Dave to whisk them off to school at 7:35 am.  I pick them at 3:15.  In-between that time Vanessa goes to OHCP M, W, and F mornings 9:00-11:30.  She has the same teacher as last year, Mrs. Nuece, who knows her well, and Vanessa really enjoys it.

- I started Women's Bible study in October as well.  Every other Tuesday morning.  We meet at the chapel and are going through 1 & 2 Peter following a John MacArthur study guide.

- The garden activity is dwindling down.  There is a big pumpkin we have yet to pick, and possibly more butternut squash.  The squash has been delicious!  I have a LOT of carrots in the fridge too!  Can't wait to make a yummy soup out of all of it.  Overall the garden was A HIT this summer!  I hope we get a chance to do it again.  Too bad we got almost no tomatoes.

- Our family has chosen to not be part of a small group this year.  Dave and I both feel a little burned out with committing to something like that weekly on top of our individual Bible studies and Awana taking up Sunday nights.  We're trying to make family time after school a priority.  Another reason we've noticed is a decline in the kids behavior.  Small group nights inevitably get late. Kids get to bed late.  They lose 2 hours of sleep they'd normally be getting if we were home, and it shows.

- "After school" time is eaten up quick.  Violet has a two-sided sheet of math homework daily, a few pages of reading in her science book, a spelling list to review daily, and a Bible verse to memorize.  Then she practices piano, and I have both Violet and Calvin read for 20 minutes to filfull requirements for a reading chart they both fill out called "Book It" - their school encourages the reading, and the kids get free pizza coupons if they meet the reading minute goal.  By the time this is all done, it is time to eat supper, and bathe if necessary, and get ready for bed.  The "bedtime" process for both parents takes an hour, which includes books and a Bible story.  Violet often complains she never gets play time at home.  I don't let them watch TV shows or play on the Kindle during week days.  It is too much of a distraction for all 4 kids.  If one kid is watching something, all four are glued to it.  So its just not on.

- We're considering something physical for Calvin to start.  Not sure exactly what, but that is being considered ~ also I don't know if we can add that expense to our monthly budget.  Praying about that one.

A quick recap of each kid:
- Vanessa spends most of her day thinking "princess".  She loves choosing something to print, usually Sofia the princess or Frozen characters.  She could color all day.  She loves pink, and is very affectionate.  If she gets to watch TV, she chooses Bubble Guppies or Daniel Tiger.
- Eli thinks he likes to print things he likes (airplanes or trucks or helicopters), and he scribbles a little on the paper, then throws it on the floor.
- Calvin is in a stage right now where he folds everything into a paper airplane. He also loves Ninjago and ninjago legos.
- Violet is deciding to grow out her hair - its getting very long.  She visited our favorite orthodontist on Oct 3rd and the plan is to revisit her tooth growth in 6 months.  She is improving her flossing/brushing on the new adult teeth.

I gotta wrap this up!

Conversation with Eli and daddy at bedtime

Tonight, as I was sitting guard outside of the kids room after putting them to bed, Eli began calling. 


Eli: Dad.  Daaaad.
Dad: Be quiet Eli.
Eli: Dad.  Daaad.
Dad: Be quiet Eli.
Eli: Dad.  Daaad.  Waan tell u someping.  Umm oer here, Dad.  Waan tell u someping.  Umm oer here, Dad.
*Dad goes to Eli's bed*
Eli: *unintelligible mumble*
Dad: Give me a kiss
*Eli kisses dad, with his big puckered-up stuck out lips*
*Dad walks out of room*
Eli: Tank oo for kiss, Dad.
Dad: You're welcome, Eli.


Love that little squirt.


Dave

Violet's 3rd grade teacher's short feedback

I had an opportunity to greet Violet's 3rd grade teacher today.  I hadn't seen her yet because Dave usually takes the kids to school and when I take them there, I drop them off and don't come in the  building.
I walked up to where the kids were standing after school to be picked up by parents and my van was out of sight.  I greeted Calvin first, then saw Violet come out of the building.  Miss Rosenberg walked out with the rest of the 3rd graders and said to me, "You're Violet's mom, right?" I said yes.  She said, "Violet is doing excellent.  She's one of my finest.  She is eager to learn and makes me a better teacher."
This comes from a teacher who is careful and few with her words.

It was so refreshing to hear this.  I won't go into detail but this week and some of the decisions she's made at home regarding respect for her parents and telling the truth haven't been the best.

Michigan 2014 (August 8-16)

Michigan 2014 (August 8-16)

Last year I kept sketchy notes on Dave's laptop.  This year I had the computer but didn't want to get it out every time I wanted to write notes so I traveled around with a notebook and used a pen for handwritten quick notes about what each day's activities held.  There wasn't much "down time" as there was in years past.  

This year was unique from other years because we chose to share a large cabin.  The same cabin we rented in 2013.  The biggest reason for sharing was to save money since both Josh and Carrie's budget and mine and Dave's vacation budget this year wasn't as big as previous years.  Making this choice was helping each of us save about $500.

Since we rented the same cabin last year, we expected the cabin to be the same.  Not an unrealistic expectation of course, but we had planned to split floors, with one family upstairs and one family downstairs.  The big surprise upon arriving was to find the cabin completely renovated!!  The upstairs bedrooms were torn down and this created room for a much bigger kitchen, large eating table, large full bathroom, and large living room area.  This forced all the bedrooms to be set up on the lower level.  So all 11 of us were splitting space among three bedrooms off one small hallway downstairs.  The accommodations were nice, with new beds, fresh bedding, nice sturdy bunk beds, and a renovated bathroom on the lower level as well.  The rooms were pretty small though.  A large room with two sets of bunk beds and a queen bed housed all 7 kids, and the couples each took one of the remaining smaller rooms.  The "set up" wasn't what we expected, and it didn't provide any separation between families, but we "rolled with it" and made the best of it.  One of the downfalls from that set up is the fact that the kids didn't sleep as well as they would have had they been separated from their cousins.  Some of them are early risers and woke everyone up early along with them.  

Anyway, here's my "journal" ~ I'll decipher my chicken scratches the best I could.  I'm already 10 days post trip so my memories are already not as good.  But I'll do my best!

Josh and Carrie's journey to the cabin and our journey to the cabin were very different from each other.  They left early on a Friday afternoon to go to Green Bay to stay overnight and swim at a hotel in the morning.  We did this last year, but we did something different this year.  The end of VBS at Bethany connected with our leaving for Michigan.  Dave was an actor in the VBS drama this summer and the performance of all 5 scenes in sequence happened on Friday night, August 8th.  We planned to finish up the performance, be packed and ready, and drive as far as we could make it Friday night.  After the VBS play on Friday night, we ended up in conversation with so many people we hadn't seen for years that it was hard to get out of the church.  The Duppong family was there, as well as Matt/Nicole Rhoad and their kids who came to see the play (they were in town for conference).  Rachel so sweetly and thoughtfully gifted us with some treats for the kids, fun pens, drawing pads, and a Starbucks gift card on our way out.  She's amazing.

I haven't even described the "packing up" day yet.  Ohhh man.  Stress.  Not sure I want to go there.  I'll wrap it up by saying that I pretty much thought of everything, formed the list of needs, packed for everyone (except Dave), and loaded the van.  All while Dave was running to and from the church for play practice and simultaneously painting all the exterior doors in our house and the shed with a fresh coat of blue paint.  He likes to be productive when he’s not “at work in his office”.  I don’t blame him.  I wasn’t frustrated with him.  I was glad he was working on the house.  It was just hard to do it all myself.  All while watching and feeding kids and letting them “help” me.  It got done though.  I arranged the car seats in the van so a 1/3 of the back seat was folded down, which meant Violet and Calvin had to squish on the 2/3 of it left.  I took off the back of Calvin’s booster and Violet didn’t ride in a seat.  Eli and Vanessa were in their harnessed car seats in the two captains chairs. 

We left approximately 9:15 pm from the Bethany parking lot.  We dropped off Dave’s costume clothes at our house and took off.  We weren’t sure where we’d end up that night but we thought possibly Green Bay, or if we didn’t get that far, Appleton or Madison.  We made a reservation using Dave’s Hilton hotel points for a hotel in Madison.  We got there about 1 am.  Eli slept in a pack and play crib, the three older kids shared the pull out sofa bed.  The wires under the mattress bothered Violet so I made up a bed for her using the couch cushions on the floor.  She seemed to like that.  I knew ahead of time to pack ONE bag with toothbrushes and a change of clothes for the next day for this particular hotel stay.  The year previous I didn’t do that and it was a big pain to haul everything in.  I think we all slept ok. 

Saturday, August 9^th

Violet and Calvin needed showers in the morning, so they both showered with mom/dad respectively – and we headed down to the lobby to get breakfast.  There were waffles, cheesy omelets, sausage, VERY cold milk, fruit, cereal, etc.  Delicious breakfast.  I snagged some cute little boxes of fruit loops, the kids were excited to see someone’s pet dog in the hotel (big fluffy white thing).  We washed hands, went to the bathrooms, and got packed in the van.  Off we go! 

Vanessa found a letter "V" chocolate cracker in the bucket of crackers

The drive seemed very easy.  All happy – stopped at Seguin’s cheese, communicated with J&C via text on our progress, drove thru Culver’s in Marinette for lunch, made a stop at Ted and Cindy’s house because Dave wanted to see his new roof (they weren’t home), and we made our way up to Escanaba to meet up with J&C.  We planned to have the kids play at a park with the dads while Carrie and I shopped.  Met up, beautiful day! Got to park, Carrie and I took off.  Drove to Walmart parking lot in her van – we pow-wowed meals and then got to shopping. 

Yayyyy Walmart...our favorite place...

It took much longer than anticipated even though we were moving as fast as we could.  Guys were impatient.  Had a tough time at park with kids (dealing with somebody else's stray kid pooping in the wood chips!), it was supper time so we chose to grab McD on the way back to the park so kids could eat supper there before getting to cabin.  

Kids were FILTHY.  Drove to cabin.  Discovered it was all renovated (wowza! Shock!), unloading frenzy, discovered the main new fridge in the cabin was not working so we moved things to the spare fridge in the “mudroom” area.  Kids ran downstairs to discover their room and shortly returned with reports that Calvin broke the ceiling.  Discovered the suspended ceiling had come down in one part and bars were sticking up every which way.  A screw driver and 30 minutes later and all was put back together like new.  Bathed all kids, settled them into bed, WHEW! Adults stayed awake awhile longer to hang out, Josh got string on all his fishing poles, played some guitar, went to bed.

Sunday, August 10^th

Josh was the first to get up and go out fishing early in the morning.  Caught at 16” bass.  Wes, Renee, and Violet went out on the boat with Josh.  Carrie and I made breakfast.  Made blueberry muffin bars and eggs.  Devotions, sing, pray.  Decided what to do with our week, plan things out.  Checked weather, discovered Sunday was predicted to be the hottest day of the week so we chose to go to Pete’s Lake and rent two jet skis for the afternoon.  Planned to go at 1 pm after lunch.  Or was it 2pm?

Kids went out on dock with fishing poles for the rest of the morning.  Josh helped on dock, Dave put worms on hooks.  This whole scene is a little hectic with kids holding fishing poles with hooks.  Eek.  Carrie and I showered, then made lunch for the crew (pbjs, cut up peaches, carrots, chips) and discovered we had no mayo to make turkey sandwiches so we made pbjs for guys too, haha).  Brought food down to dock, kids ate in shifts.  I wore Eli in backpack carrier.  Kids caught little fish we threw back.  Time to get to Pete’s lake (across the road and a mile north of our cabin, not too far) – packed up stuff, drove over there, snacks were chocolate crackers and peanuts.  Jet skis went in water at boat ramp, guys drove them over to the beach area where Carrie and I and kids met them.  Weather was beautiful – sunny – warm.  All took turns on jetskis.  Vanessa, again, was fearless.  Wanted to jetski 100% of the time.  She flattened the gas button while riding with me, wanting to go fast.  Violet was more cautious, wanting to be in control, and Calvin (who seemed more uninterested in the jetskis than anything) only wanted one ride, Eli got a ride too and seemed happy about that.  J&C went out together, then Dave and I went out together.  Dave showed me how to turn fast.  It was way more fun driving a jet ski alone than with a kid in front of you.  Vanessa tubed behind jetski also, she went under water a bit and seemed sad, but got over it quick.  Dave gave me a ride on the tubes, gave Josh a ride, Josh gave Dave a ride...nobody else went.  Eli finally warmed up to water splashing and doing the alligator crawl, then shortly after that the sun was going behind the trees and it seemed time to go.  

Wesley 

Violet and Renee 

Drove home, made tacos for dinner, yum!  Got kids to bed at 8pm.  Dave told a funny made up story and kids liked the “wa-bang” part.  Not sure what the story was about (DL - it was about two adventurous kids, Ben and Amy, and their trek into the woods and encounter with a bear.  Whapped the bear in the nose (wa-bang) and made it puff up red like Rudolph...kids went into fits of laughter).  Dave and Josh went out fishing for the evening, Carrie and I stayed back and enjoyed some mojitos on the deck.  Beautiful night.  

Guys joined us for awhile on the deck.  Josh caught a 24” northern pike and wanted to show us the fish but when we got to the dock discovered it had thrashed itself against a cinder block at the bottom by the dock (while on stringer) and its insides were all ripped up and hanging out…had to let it go.  Bummer.

Monday, August 11^th

Kids all up at 7.  No sleeping in on this vacation!  Josh and Renee went out fishing.  Caught 1 13.5” bass.  Threw it back.  Kids watched cartoons – Carrie and I made pancakes/sausage.  Guys decided to move their 4x4 Wildcat car reservation to the next day (instead of today) because guys arms were tired out from jetskiing/tubing day before.  Decided to chill today.  Dave and Josh had a breakfast of hashbrowns/eggs.  Sang a few songs in the kitchen w/ guitar.  Josh was tired – took a 2 hr nap.  Dave did a devotion with the kids outside rewarding them with chocolate crackers for answering questions correctly.  Devotion was about how Samuel chose King David.  I got Eli down for a morning nap somehow (he was mad going to bed because he wanted to swim) after that devotion while the rest of the kids went to the lakeshore by the cabin to play.  Paddleboats, played with fishing nets.  Vanessa initially scared to go down slide but got brave, did it, and said “fun fun fun!” while squealing.  Josh slept through lakeshore playtime.  Renee played with a baby bass another family caught, moving it from bucket to bucket.  

Eli woke up from his nap and came outside to find us (smart little guy).  Carrie and I made lunch, mac n cheese with broccoli.  Josh and Dave took Renee and Violet fishing.  Not a nibble but lots of weeds (DL - Violet was bummed because everyone else got weeds but not her...lol).  Meanwhile Wes took a nap.  Calvin and Austin played legos.  Vanessa played Kindle, Eli played around, Carrie and I sang songs w/ guitar.  We whipped cream by hand and made strawberry jello for later.  Did some dinner prep – chopped veggies for soup.  Boys had jello/cream.  Felt “antsy” so had to go outside.  All out for walk on trails.  Kids wanted walking sticks, I wore Eli in backpack carrier.  We found “Spot Lake”.  Felt rain drops, Calvin freaked out, scared of the rain and possibility of a storm and wanted shelter and cried.

Vanessa says, "I'm going to look out for the cabin," then put her hand up like this.  :)

Back to cabin.  Girls had jello/cream.  Finished dinner, made creamy chicken soup, Carrie made cheddar biscuits.  Kids watched Cloudy with a chance of meatballs movie until dinner was done.  Yummy soup!  Kids all bathed and showered, to bed.  Wes too hot in PJs so changed a few times.  Vi and Renee up for an hour talking.  Josh and Carrie went out fishing together.  Caught some but fish threw the hooks and fell back in.  

Meanwhile I gave Dave a (bad) haircut.  Cut it really short to fix it.  Stopped to journal while he showered after haircut.

Tuesday, August 12^th

Dave got up early to go fishing with Violet.  Weather was cold, foggy and windy.  Kids were all up first.  Josh turned on cartoons.  I made oatmeal with blueberries.  Austin complimented my cooking by saying “You’re a better cook than I thought,” LOL

Carrie slept in.  Josh went to pick up Wildcat car at 9am.  Dave and Violet came back from fishing with no fish.  Dave and Josh headed out in the Wildcat for a few hours.  Carrie and I tried making cotton candy with the machine she brought along.  It worked pretty cool but didn't make much per kid.  They all enjoyed it.

Violet was feeling pretty yucky for some reason and slept the day away on the couch in the living room.  She did spike a fever of 102 but it went down by the end of the day, thankfully!  She really did sleep most the day.  Unusual for her, but I'm guessing she was affected by the cold windy morning of fishing.

Carrie and I tried entertaining kids outside but with the wet, cold, windy weather (50 degrees) it was nearly impossible.  There was a lot of cartoons watched that day.  We tried going outside but nobody was happy and there wasn’t much else to do.  Some card tricks, coloring, Spot it games, etc.  “10” magic card trick with Austin – he liked that.  Carrie and I got tired of sitting inside so we bundled up with blankets on the deck to sing/play guitar but right then the boys came home.  Carrie and I took Wildcat vehicle thing to general store down the road a few miles to get some butter and other random needs.  Dave was quiet, a little grumpy.  Dave and I went out fishing – I caught one fish but it flipped and the hook came off.  Dave caught 12” bass, threw it back.  Then caught a 15” bass, kept it.  J&C fed kids supper (spaghetti, sauce, garlic bread, roasted cauliflower, salad, berry pie) and Josh gave kids rids in the Wildcat.  

that's Austin in there - Josh is the photographer

Dave and I came back in to eat supper – then all 4 of us went outside to lay on dock to watch the stars.  Meteor shower!

Wednesday, August 13^th

I got a chance to sleep in a bit this morning.  Josh and Austin went out to fish early in the morning.  They caught 2 fish.  Dave and Carrie cooked breakfast – English muffins, bacon, eggs.  Packed up to go to Munising.  Goal was to get out the door by 10:30 but we left at 11:30.  Packing frenzy.  Carrie and I packed lunch for group. Turkey sandwiches, mixed fruit, chips.  Got to Laundromat and discovered we’d left detergent at the cabin and basket full of white cabin towels.  Dave went back to fetch them since Eli was napping in his car seat.  Josh made a run to store to buy detergent.  Carrie and I got started.  $5/load!  There were lots of toys in the corner to play with so kids stayed entertained.  Violet and Austin had a hot wheel track system they designed.  Renee had Vanessa all dressed up with butterfly wings and pushed her around in a laundry basket.  

Done with laundry around 1pm.  All hungry.  So went right to beach on Lake Superior  (Sand Point) to have picnic lunch.  Kids got feet wet but ended up getting legs/pants wet too.  Eli fell belly first into the cold lake water...funny...he wasn't happy.  Wash off sand, all back in van.  

whoo! I made it in a picture!

yes, those are my toes

Eli was mad he got wet 

my beautiful 8 yr old!

Decided to hike on trails at Miner’s Castle which ended up at Miner’s Beach.  This was absolutely beautiful!  One hiccup in the plan happened when I realized I’d left Calvin’s shoes on the ground where I’d shaken the sand out of them after lunch.  Dave and Calvin drove back to get his shoes (45 minutes round trip, ugh).  Wes had fallen asleep in van so Carrie stayed with him.  Josh and I took Violet, Austin, Renee, Eli and Vanessa to the Miner’s Castle look out.  Eli said “oh water!” which sounded like “oh wa-er”.  Renee and Violet's hair stood straight up from the upwind draft while looking over the edge.  

view of the "castle" from the lower observatory

Dave and Calvin got back, Wes woke up.  All were together again, started down hiking trail.  I hiked down with Eli in backpack carrier.  Trail was really neat.  Roots to climb over, rocks to dodge, up, down, logs to climb on, bridges over water, etc…it was really neat.  

look at all those cuties!

look at these adorable adults!  (photo courtesy of Violet)

Wes straddled a little twig and made it bend over, then posed this expression.  ha!

We could hear splashing water and waves as we got nearer to beach ~ getting to the beach was like something out of a movie.  We were just missing the majestic music.  Beautiful.  Sunny, windy, white sand, big waves, smooth rocks, clear water to put feet in, no bugs, warm but not too hot.  Kids and adults splashed in ankle deep water. Kids dug in sand.  Hours went by there.  Pics taken, air breathed in.  

We felt a little hungry and noticed it was 6 pm and we still had to hike back up trail.  Asked someone else to take group and family pics on beach.  Highlight of the week for me for sure.

Hiking back up trail seemed to go faster.  Well, maybe its because Dave carried Eli on the backpack carrier.  Vanessa fell four times while hiking (DL - spread eagle face down...no injuries, but funny to watch, poor girl).  At end of trail Eli fell asleep on Dave’s shoulder.  Dave led the pack so nobody got too far ahead.  Plan was to get pizza at Main Street Pizza.  This was in place of the expensive-not-so-good-cooking at the Dog Patch restaurant we've normally gone to for years.  On the drive, Dave was complimenting the kids on how well they hiked and didn't complain.  Vanessa said, "No I'm not a good hiker, I fell four times."

saw these stickers on the back of someone's vehicle in the parking lot

yeah, that.

Tried something different and it was delicious pizza.  All sat down to wait and kids seemed nuts.  Got them all paper/pens to draw and it seemed to calm them down while waiting.  Dave told them if they whispered the entire time, they would each get a quarter.  Almost perfect quite the entire meal...lovely.  4 pizzas, all w/ extra cheese. 2 cheese, 1 pepp, 1 saus. Sierra mist and root beer drink options.  After dinner Carrie and I made a run to Glen’s grocery store to get odds and ends – milk, peanut butter cheerios, cinnamon rolls, paper towels.  Drive back home and washed kids feet (they were black!) – we had no energy to bathe them all.  While getting kids to bed we discovered blood drips everywhere.  Eventually discovered it was 2 of Eli’s fingers that must have come in contact with the razor in my bathroom bag.  Dave, Carrie and I got it all cleaned up.  Bandaids on Eli’s fingers.  Put Eli to bed in my bed so he wouldn’t distract the older kids.  He was a bedtime stinker.  Sometime in the middle of us getting home from Munising and washing kid’s feet Ted and Cindy had arrived and walked over to greet us.
After putting kids to bed, Carrie and I “stood guard” outside the kid’s doors to make sure they were all sleeping while Dave and Josh chatted with T&C.  We joined them upstairs.  To bed at 11:30.  Tiiiiired!  Moved Eli to kid’s room.

Thursday, August 14^th

Dave and Violet woke up to go fishing early again.  Were out there til 9:30 am.  Carrie and I made a “Yooper breakfast” – scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, sausage and hashbrowns.  T&C came over for breakfast.  Kids only ate cinnamon rolls.  Except boys who ate everything on their plates. 

All showered. TV stopped working. Kids played games, Kindles, T&C went to shower, walk dogs.  Maria journal.  Carrie, Josh went to clean fish.  T&C hang out with us, gave kids coloring books, new crayons, sticker scene game.  

Guitar songs, went outside for campfire.  Sang some songs by fire. 

thanks Dave for taking this pic. :)

T&C join.  Decided to heat up leftover pizza for lunch.  Walked over to general store to get ice cream cones for all. 

a happy Eli.  I'm in more pictures than I thought.

Josh got rental fishing boat while we planned to take to Fish Lake twice.  Dave and I packed up to go fishing at Fish Lake.  J&C stayed and fed kids leftover soup, garlic bread, and salad.  They had fire and s’mores. 

Fishing on Fish Lake was a dud.  Caught nothing worth keeping.  Unfamiliar with lake.  Used minnows and caught some little northern but threw them back.  A few bites with worms but no fish.

Fished from 6-9 pm.  Got back in the dark.  Campfire with T&C, J&C.  Saw 2 shooting stars, went to bed.

Eli slept in our room and moved him to the lower bunk in our room for the night. Somehow he got all wrapped up in some nylon thread from the mattress, all in his fingers and toes.  Thankful it wasn't his neck!  Didn’t work well as he woke up sooo early Friday morning.

Friday, August 15^th

J&C up early in the AM to fish with rental boat at Fish Lake.  They had a memorable experience catching no fish with small rod.  Dave took Calvin and Violet out fishing.  I stayed in cabin with rest of kids.  Austin and Eli were up first.  Austin played kindle.  I fed kids breakfast, bagels and stuff.  Washed Eli’s dirty blanket in sink and let it air dry.  D, V and C came back about 9:00 – caught nothing.  T&C came for breakfast at 9 am….egg/bacon/cheese English muffins.  Josh & Wes went out fishing.  Austin and Calvin eat oatmeal.  Dave, Vanessa, T&C take rental boat out for boat ride on Fish lake.  Carrie took out garbage.  Eli napped 2 hrs (approx. 12-2pm).  Carrie took oldest 4 kids to lakefront.  I stayed to make sure Eli was napping, joined Carrie and kids at lake.  Challenged kids “stuck” on floating dock to swim back to shore – motivated them with bars of chocolate.  Austin went first.  Calvin followed, Renee next.  Violet hesitant, but eventually went.  Vanessa was trapped on dock in turmoil until Dave rescued her and swam out to get her and swim back with her.  She got her chocolate bar.  Josh and Wes came back from fishing – caught nothing.  Wes wanted to fish from dock.  All kids then wanted to fish from dock.  J and D helped kids fish from dock – all caught little fish.  

Vanessa's first fish

Violet's fish

Wesley's fish

Carrie was happy to be avoiding the worming/fishing scene

Calvin's fish

Carrie floated in floaty and Dave threw fish at her.  T&C joined us on dock.  Kids all had cereal bars for snack.  Adults had chips/cheese dip for snack.  Eli woke up.  He wandered outside w/ a bouncy ball and his blanket to find us.  I brought him inside to eat.  Renee, Vanessa and Eli all came in with me to have cheese, crackers and Cheetos for snack.  All ate under table like puppies.  I journaled in cabin for ½ hr.  Back outside with everyone.  Dave and Josh went back out fishing and brought Calvin along.  Calvin was bored on fishing boat...wanted someone to paddle out and rescue him.  Violet and Austin weren't up for the rescue mission so I decided to help.  I took Austin, Violet, Eli and Renee in paddle boat on mission to get Calvin in paddle-boat.  It seemed like the never ending paddle boat ride, inching along in the lake to get to the fishing boat across the lake.  Austin helped paddle there.  Austin and I decided paddle boat steering made no sense.  (paddleboatsthatmakesense.com)

Calvin got on paddle boat and sat in front to help weigh the paddle-boat front end down.  Violet helped me paddle back. 

Carrie and Vanessa wave from dock.  All back on shore eventually. T&C joined us on chairs.  Hang out by shore to play in lake for the next couple hours.  Austin, Violet and Calvin went inside to play with legos.  Eli wanted help going down slide.  At one point Eli was floating in water with life jacket near shore and my back was turned.  Ted jumped in to pick him up and got jeans all wet.  Got word via radio that Dave and Josh each caught a perch.  Called them in at 6:30, they said they were planning to cook fish.  Dave, Josh and Carrie went to clean their tiny perch fish. Here's the fish from the week.  On the left on the paper towels is the perch. It makes me laugh.  I know, guys, I'm not calling your fish tiny.  Maybe I am.  On the right in bags was the delicious flaky white bass.

We estimated approx 5 lbs of fish.

fish fryin'

Mmmm....yummy....

Carrie made run to store to get tartar sauce.  How could we have forgotten that? Ha! Josh said it was a must to go with the fish fry.  I agreed.  Along with fried fish, we served cut up watermelon, coleslaw and chips.  Campfire.  T&C brought a birthday cake for all the kids, passed out cards and gifts. Thank yous! Glow sticks.  Vanessa and Eli needed baths, so did I…I bathed with those two, somehow.  I put Eli to bed at 10:30.  Got Vanessa’s hair tamed – captured her made up song on video “some people think I’m a toy but I’m not”.  Campfire a little longer. Rest of kids showered/bathed and in bed.  Stayed out by campfire a little longer but all were so tired. 

Saturday, August 16^th

Dave and Josh back out to fish in the morning again.  Caught nothing.  I made the rest of the pancake mix.  Made 14 pancakes, this split among all the kids.  Carrie whipped cream.  We had last few pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.  Boys came back.  Dave ate leftovers from taco night, Josh had peanut butter cheerios and English muffins/honey (yum).  D & J took all the kids to dock to fish so Carrie and I could have some silence to pack.  We used this opportunity to eat a piece of leftover cake in silence then go to work speedily packing.  We split up pantry food, then split up fridge food.  Then started packing our own family’s things.  Shower, pack, Dave pack van.  J&C got packed first and headed out first.  Said our goodbyes, paid bill at general store for cabin.  Josh paid for rental things, they decided they’d settle differences later.

Dave and I sit in parking lot of general store while we had internet reception to plan the rest of our day.  We weren't going home yet, the plan was to go to Jeff and Denise’s house until Tues AM in time for us to leave for Mason City to get our teeth cleaned and visit with dad.  We looked at the map and decided the entire drive to Ramsey, MN was too long and far for the day’s goal – we called them and made sure it was OK with them if we came the next day.  We really wanted to get Main Street Pizza again for lunch so we drove to Munising, got gas, went through car wash, got pizza.  This was the worst van ride in history.  Violet and Calvin were fighting like they wanted to kill each other in the back seat.  I moved Eli to the back with Violet and Calvin sat next to Vanessa in the middle of the van.  Vanessa slept in van and continued to sleep through 1/2 of lunch, but eventually woke up and ate.  As we made decisions on where to stay for the night, we discovered all hotels in Duluth were booked up so we re-routed through Wisconsin a little further south and ended up booking a hotel room in Plover, WI.  We arrived there about 8 pm.  The hotel staff there was really cheerful and helpful and let us put our fridge/freezer items in their hotel fridge overnight and re-freeze our ice packs.  So convenient.  We took all 4 kids swimming in the hotel pool from 8:30-9:30.  Eli was obsessed with jumping off edge of pool into my arms in the water.  Over and over, he would say “again!” and repeat.  Vanessa demonstrated her swimming skills – she can swim a few feet on her own.  Tried out hot tub.  Very hot.  Calvin didn't get in and got frustrated he wasn't allowed enough time to get used to the hot water.  Back to hotel room.  Single bed on floor was a fight...thought Calvin would like it but he refused. Vanessa volunteered to take it, Calvin was happy to let her and sleep on a big bed with Violet.  Eli in a pack and play crib.  He’s head-to-toe touching in those things so it is probably his last month sleeping in those.  Our trip to Ramsey the next morning was after a nice breakfast in the hotel lobby of biscuits/gravy, scrambled eggs, waffles, toasted bagels and cream cheese, fruit, and yogurt.  Got refrigerated things, packed van again, and left. 

I hadn't planned on journaling our time in Ramsey, but it was nice.  We went to a bouncy house on Monday morning, had a campfire with Jeff and Denise one evening, I helped them prune some tomato plants, and we enjoyed their cooking talents every meal.

We left for Mason City Tuesday morning at 10am.  We got to my dad’s dental office right at 1:50 pm in time for our appointments.  All 6 of us got teeth cleaned, no cavities!  We killed some time at East Park while dad finished up working from 4-5 pm and we met him back at the house for dinner.  He brought home some good ol’ comfort food – KFC, mac n cheese, baked beans and biscuits.  Kids climbed favorite tree in backyard.  I took some kids out for canoe rides with life jackets.  Calm water. 

Dave helped my dad put up a roll up shade in the house by a window.  I walked around the lake using the back trail to get them out of the house.  Got a good pic of all four kids.  

We said our goodbyes and took off, arriving home in Cedar Falls about 10pm.  Super fun, totally exhausting, and absolutely worth it!