Michigan 2016

...or as Eli calls it, "Mich-in-gan:

Michigan 2016 – July 29-Aug 13

Friday, July 29

-          Packing day! Well, most of it happened Thurs too.  My mom came to take kids to Finding Dory so I could pack.  We decided to invest in the Jeep, get a 6^th rear seat in the back, add a soft top, and tow a borrowed trailer. Thank you Dave Williams for that!  Writing about packing is pretty uneventful…but notes to remember are that Vanessa wanted to pack ALL BY HERSELF and put four articles of clothing in her suitcase and decided she was done.  And we discovered upon arrival at the cabin that Violet forgot her swimsuit! 

-          Dave had an extremely busy day at work wrapping up some things, then he spent 2 hrs putting on the soft top, then he packed.  So we left about 9 pm.  The drive to the Homewood Suites in Madison, WI took 3 hrs.  Nobody really slept well on the drive.

-          Got to hotel around midnight, kids to sleep around 12:30. 

Saturday, July 30

-          This was the grueling day.  Lots of driving, lots of food shopping.  We had a big yummy breakfast at the hotel and got on the road by 10:30.  Drove with top down, kids only tolerated that for a short time, ha!  Dave worked a bit.  Snacked for lunch, met up with Ted and Cindy for dinner, they grilled burgers. Beautiful weather – ate outside. Saw new improvements with their place (back porch, laundry room, front porch), Ted took Dave and kids for ride on the side by side thing in the river....pretty funny.  Left T&C’s about 7:30, 20 min drive to Walmart in Escanaba.  Dave dropped me off to start food shopping, then took Jeep to get bugs washed off front.  Dave and kids met me in Walmart, finished shopping, then it was a big project to load the food into the trailer.  Finally finished, then drove to cabin! Took about 50 min to get there – big unloading began.  Kids hungry – ate cereal.  Got to bed after massive unpacking about 2 am.

Sunday, July 31

-          All in cabin slept in til 9:30! Pancake breakfast.  Beautiful sunshine, devotion time and have time to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Sang songs, played guitar, “Lord I lift your name on High” meaning of lyrics explained.  Clean up, change into suits (Violet then realized she forgot her suit…oops..), and head down to lake to swim.  Swam for awhile, til about 2 pm, then got hungry, had ham/swiss sandwiches/applesauce/pickles for lunch…then geared up for fishing. All had popsicles on way to store to get worms.  Picked up taco seasoning there too.  Violet/Calvin swam more, Vanessa and Eli wanted to fish.  Catching bluegill takes about second with a hook and a worm…fish after fish after fish coming out of the water.  Stored some in bucket, but dumped them out.  Met another girl (11 yrs old, Mikayla) who came down to dock, swam with her for a bit.   All done swimming by 5:30, came back to cabin, taco dinner…mmmMMM…favorite meal there.  Chill on couches and watched Planet Earth video on cable and played movie Ice Age on TV.  All a bit tired.  Eli fell asleep during movie and I put him right in bed.  Vanessa and Dave went out fishing.  Vanessa caught 4 fish (2 northern, each 20”, too small to keep, and 2 bass, each 12”, too small to keep).  Dave caught 20” northern, and then lastly caught a 17” bass.  One keeper out of the bunch!  The fishing review from Vanessa was “the best time ever in Michigan!”  Dave reports she was bragging the whole time that she caught more fish than Dave….trying to tell Daddy how to catch fish.  She netted the big fish Dave caught at the end.  She was tearful one time, but mostly smiling and talking.  Overall good experience.  I stayed back at cabin with Violet and Calvin.  I brought them down to dock and they wanted to take out the paddle boat to where daddy was fishing.  They went out on the lake for awhile, then we talked about constellations and ate beef jerky.  They really wanted to stay up late and see the stars.  I agreed, but they ended up fighting over some kindle game, and I put them to bed.  I went with Dave to fish house to clean the fish...well, I just watched…he did the duty.  We tossed the fish guts in the trash and brought back two nice white bass filets.  About an hour later I woke up Violet and Calvin to let them down to the dock and see the stars.  The milk way streams across the sky from N to S and we identified a few constellations.  I saw one big bright shooting star.  Kids felt too cold and wanted to go back to bed.

Monday, August 1

What a beautiful, beautiful day.  Hot sun shining and a cool breeze to make it tolerable.  80 degrees.  The day began around 8:30 sometime when Eli woke me up saying he was hungry.  I gave him a fruit bar, the kindle, and the headphones and he played quietly while I went back to sleep.  I might just put a fruit bar out on the table in the morning he can grab because I taught him how to open the wrappers, and now he can do it himself.  At least he’s confident he can.  The rest of us woke up around 9:30-10.  Dave had planned to go fishing with Violet in the morning but he was too exhausted and decided not to go.  She was mildly bummed, but understood.  They plan to go tomorrow morning.  Violet said she doesn’t like to fish at night because it gets too dark, and she likes the idea of it getting lighter out as the fishing time goes on.  So, breakfast happened.  I didn’t go back to sleep fully after Eli had woken me up so I got up and made blueberry muffins, got those in the oven, and then people started making appearances.  Calvin got up and watched Eli play kindle for awhile.  He asked me what that delicious smell was that was cooking.  I gradually finished making breakfast…washing strawberries/blueberries, cooking bacon, and by that point, Dave was up and cooked the eggs for everyone while I set the table.  We all made it around the breakfast table and had a yummy meal.  Violet was grumpy because we didn’t serve toast with the eggs (the girl HAS to have toast under a fried egg), but we didn’t give in.  Eli and Vanessa attacked the eggs and ate them up quickly and she took notice and ate hers just fine. 

We made up our plan for the day and decided it would be fun to see a tour on a boat with a glass-bottom viewing area to see some shipwrecks in Lake Superior.  We put the top down in the Jeep, ironed out some fighting children, and headed towards Munising.  It was close to 12:30 by the time we got ready and out the door.  Talk about vacation timing…we put the top down on the jeep and enjoyed our 20 minute drive up to town.  We got some tickets for the 3:45 boat tour, and had some time to kill.  We tried a couple store to look for a swimsuit for Violet, but there aren’t many options up here.  Shopko and the Family Dollar store are about it, and all were completely out of suits.  She’s been swimming in her shorts/tshirt up until now, which are working just fine.  Believe it or not, kids were hungry.  We got food at the DogPatch restaurant.  Calvin & Eli had uncrustables PBJs and Violet and Vanessa had grilled cheese…Dave and I loaded up with salad bar/soup.  We recognized the waitress – I asked her how long she’d worked there and she told me 40 years!  I didn’t really believe it…the lady looked only 40!

We spent the next 2 hrs on the big tour boat called “Miss Munising” which took us out on Lake Superior to see two shipwrecks.  The Bermuda and the Hettler, both with different stories.  One sank in 1870, was carrying an enormous heavy load of iron ore, and got caught in a storm.  The frigid waters of the lake keep it in really good shape.  This was pretty cool!  The other came upon a sudden shallow spot in the water and crashed.  We could see the anchor was 5’x8’ and weighed 2500 lbs!  Saw train tracks on the second boat which had its own type of transportation system on it.  The captain’s bathtub and toilet were still visible! 

The boat tour lasted a couple hours and gave us some great views of the shoreline that had a mixture of multicolored sandstone/rock and caves that the shores have eroded over time. 

We made a quick stop to the grocery store to get charcoal, hashbrown potatoes, and ice cream cones (I know, random), then came back to the cabin.  Kids were hot and wanted to swim, so Dave took them down to the lakeshore while I made supper.  Eli had fallen asleep on the ride back so we laid him on the couch and I think he got an hour long nap.  Someone covered him up with Vanessa’s pink blanket and he looked so cozy.  I chopped carrots and made up a chicken pasta Florentine soup chock full of veggies, V8, tomatoes, spinach, and little tiny noodles.  Eli slept through dinner, so I called the swimmers in for supper, and it was a welcome treat to have warm soup in their chilled bodies from the lake.  Dave took Calvin out fishing after supper, and Violet n Vanessa wanted to swim, so I grabbed Eli from the couch, got him his own bowl of soup, and brought him down to the lake so he could eat and watch the girls swim.  He ate up ¾ of his bowl of soup quickly and he decided to swim too.  Dave and Calvin reported from the walkie talkies that they’d caught a lot of fish but none big enough to keep.  Violet, Vanessa and Eli swam for awhile.  Vanessa got a little grumpy…Eli wanted to fish…so he and Calvin switched spots so Calvin could help Violet work on their “burrow”…which is some underwater “dig” they’ve been working on and keep making bigger and deeper.

Eli got a chance to jump in the boat while Dave was out fishing in the evening and at one point, Dave reeled in his line and found a northern pike hooked on the lure.  So funny – because they didn’t notice the catch.  Eli said “That’s a biiiiiig fish!” compared to the little bluegill he’d caught the day before.  He kept talking about how “heavyyyy” the fish was as he reeled it in.

When it got too dark to swim, I walked in with the three kids and somehow only 3 of the 4 got showers.  Violet cleaned up Eli, Calvin was in and out.  Calvin likes to take two brushes and “spike up” his hair. 

All were hungry … again … so all 4 kids had seconds on the soup which was still on the table.  Dave took another round on the lake – I got kids to bed.  All seemed SO wired.  It wasn’t until about 11 pm that they finally settled down.  Calvin was so sweet to Eli and Vanessa – he let them sleep with his much loved stuffed animals.  Eli got Calvin’s new “woofie” animal which is a large beanie boo animal, and Vanessa got his little white tiger named Tundra.

I journaled for awhile and Dave read a book.  Nice relaxing nights!  We discovered that if Dave puts his Elipsis Verizon Jetpack device up on a wall it receives the internet signal to give to our laptops and devices, so he was able to check in with work and see how things were going.  We are praising the Lord that the teams Dave put together have exceeded their goals.

Tuesday, August 2

-          Dave and Violet went out fishing at 6:45am – caught a handful of fish (northern and bass), almost caught a bass but it got away, Violet lost her lure (northern ate it, snapped fishing line).  None to keep.  I got up around 8:30.  Made some lemon poppyseed muffins and everyone ate cereal.  I chopped up some green peppers for GP sandwiches (Dave’s fav).  After breakfast cleanup, I read Bible for awhile.  Dave read a book and kids played games.  We didn’t have any energy “to make a plan” so it was quiet in our cabin for a couple hours.  Dave fell asleep after fishing so early.  Talk about relaxing.  I’m reading through the Bible chronologically and note-taking at the same time, so it is more like a Bible Study, and it is taking a long time to get through some parts but it is really helpful and thorough.  We felt the need to get outdoors so the kids suited up and went to the beach to swim.  Right before that though, Violet, Eli and I walked up to the store to check Amazon for a swimsuit for Violet.  The storekeeper’s granddaughter, Mikayla, was there too (she’s also swam once or twice with the kids) and she decided to meet us to swim.  She’s 11, and has what I observe to be a difficult life.  She said she doesn’t have a mom, and we haven’t seen her parents around much.  She’s quite bossy and we’ve had to tell her to stop treating our kids in certain ways (putting frogs close to their faces when it is apparent they don’t like it, or pushing them).  But we’re keeping a close watch, and 80% of the time, all 4 of our kids and her have fun together.  I think she’s incredibly bored and loves having kids to play with.  Next week will be interesting.  Kids swam until 1:45 when Dave and I decided it was time to get lunch, so all 6 of us departed the beach and went up to our cabin.  Dave’s the “sandwich maker” guy.  Calvin had one ham/swiss/mustard and 2 pbjs (that boy can eat when he’s hungry) and Violet got creative and used 2 pieces of bread to make 2 different types of sandwiches on either side of the bread…one side turkey/cheese and one side PBJ.  I noticed some lettuce in the fridge getting frozen so I chopped up what was left and used some leftover taco meat and toppings to make taco salads for Dave and I.

-          We wanted to stop into Munising to see if any stores had a different fishing net (made of rubber so lures wouldn’t get caught up in the netty net like we have but none had any).  We hit Sand Point beach for a couple hours, and that was also beautiful.  Crystal clear water, soft white sand, gorgeous weather and happy kids.  Can’t really improve on that!

-          The drive back home after that beach turned a little sour…kids got mad, started fighting over really silly things, Violet fuming, Eli konked out, Vanessa’s unbraided hair a massive tangled disaster, Calvin remaining calm somehow…all a little tired out and hungry, I imagine.

-          Dinner was a joint effort between Dave and I – we made chicken & shrimp fajitas with 3 colors of peppers, complete with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and hot spicy cheese. 

-          Dave took Vanessa out fishing, and I started a fire for s’mores.  Calvin and Violet collected a huge amount of pinecones which are amazing fire starters, and we roasted marshmallows on sticks found in the woods – who needs expensive metal roasters you have to clean…haha. 

-          We also ran a really random errand.  Violet found a red thing that belonged to a person who lives on this lake.  We knew this info because the night before, a guy canoed really slowly by the swimming area and asked us if we’d seen a red “torpedo shaped” floaty, and said his grandson was playing with it and let it drift off across the lake on accident, and he was looking for it because it was pretty expensive.  Violet noticed this red thing by the dock and came up to me so we decided to  get in the paddleboat and boat it over to his property.  Calvin put it in the guy’s canoe, and we went back to our cabin.

-          After such a sweaty, sunscreeny-sticky and sandy day, all got showers (and I bathed Vanessa and Eli in the kitchen sink! Haha!).  Dave read them a Bible story from the Action Bible and got everyone to sleep.  We found it is best to put Vanessa to bed in our room separate from the rest of the kids and later transport her to the place where she sleeps in the kid’s room, so as to give the other 3 kids peace and quiet.  She can be a little stinker so tonight we did the same thing and it worked out much better in terms of going to bed much faster.

-          I kept plowing through Numbers and Dave went up to the store to use the WiFi to check work email.  He is so happy about work progress going so well in his absence, what a blessing from the Lord.

-          He’s reading a book, and I’m typing!  Signing off til tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 3

Everyone agreed that today was to be called “the swimming day”.  I made breakfast sandwiches (inspired by how much Vanessa loves them!), so I toasted 6 english muffins, cooked 6 sausages, 6 eggs, ½ slice cheese, and they were ready.  Dave cut up a peach for us to share too.  I can’t quite believe all the kids were hungry after such a big hearty sandwich but they all had cold cereal after it as well.  We title this day “the swimming day” because that is all we did in the morning and all we did after lunch.  We went down to the dock by Town lake (the lake our cabin is on) and swam from 10-2.  Calvin and Dave collected big rocks for Violet and Calvin’s underwater “burrow” and I don’t even know what that means, but V and C are constantly digging underwater and outlined this burrow with rocks, whatever that means.  Vanessa is gaining confidence in the water, taking off her life jacket and jumping off the dock where she can’t touch, purposely bouncing straight down to the bottom and straight up so she can get a breath, then letting herself go to the bottom and bouncing straight up for a breath.  She can swim for a little bit, and knows how to tread water a little too.  It gets shallower where she can touch rather quickly.  She liked it when I would sit on the dock with my feet in the water and she could hold my hands and stand on my feet like “she was walking on water”.  Eli is fearless, wearing his life jacket, and jumping anywhere.  Calvin prefers to stay where he can touch and Violet is daring enough to swim about anywhere too.  The water is really clear and most the swimming area is sandy. 

We brought down the new net from the hardware store and a paper bowl with a couple slices of American cheese to try catch some fish the untraditional way.  When I was a kid, my friends and I would go across to the more clear lake across the street and us a plastic crate with holes and some American cheese and try catch fish that way.  We’d hold the crate in the water and drop cheese pieces right in front of the opening and scoop them up and let them go.   We did this with the net and caught maybe 5 fish.  It works only to hold the net horizontally under the water’s surface and drop cheese on top of it and wait for a brave fish to swim over the net then yank up quickly.   The smell of American cheese transports me right to the neighbor’s blue-outside-carpet-covered dock!

Dave and I used the “wrists locked together” to launch the kids high into the air which everyone except Calvin liked.

Lunch at our cabin was leftover tacos, soup, whatever could get finished up.  I scooped ice cream cones for a treat.  We cleaned up lunch then kinda collapsed on the couches while kids played legos.  About an hour later at 3:30-4 we packed up and headed 1 mile north and 1 mile east to a lake called Pete’s where there’s a large public swimming area.  It is a very clear lake, very sandy, and an easy to swim in lake.  Violet and Calvin got busy making burrows again but cracked themselves up not being able to find any that they’d created and just kept making new ones.  This was a much bigger swim area than by the little dock by our cabin!  Vanessa made a new friend named Crystal.  The kids swam there for 2 more hours.  We brought folding chairs and didn’t swim with them this time, rather let them explore, and we sat in the shade and watched. 

Dave cooked up spaghetti, sauce and Italian sausage for dinner.  We planned to go fishing and let the kids watch some movies, locking the doors and leaving Violet in charge.  We got everyone happy and settled and kept checking in with her over the walkie talkies and it all went very well.  Dave and I had a good time fishing – we caught northern on the north side of the lake only, and bass on the south side of the lake.  Only 2 bass were big enough to keep, but that was good!

Kids did really great and got ready for bed when we got back in the cabin.  It was a hotter day and kinda stuffy in the cabin so it took everyone a longer time to go to sleep despite a lot of fans moving air around the cabin. 

Thursday, August 4

Eli is always, always the first one awake.  His tummy wakes him up and he’s always hungry at 7:30.  He loves strawberry tiny toasts cereal.  I was feeling super sleepy, but realized that I forgot to journal about the day so I stayed up and am currently writing about Wed on Thurs am. 

Thursday was one of the hottest days.  I am writing a day late so I’m having a hard time remembering.  I checked my phone pictures and don’t have any.  I think it was a “stay in the cabin and play games” while daddy read a book and I kept going through my Bible reading.  I think we just relaxed for 3 hours.  We did end up swimming by the cabin’s shore, and finished off the veggie soup for lunch. 

I think the kids swam by the cabin lake again.  We got out a kayak we thought was for anyone’s use but later discovered it belonged to someone else.  An amish family!  Anyway, everyone took showers while Dave grilled pork tenderloins and made wild rice.  I heated up broccoli.  Vanessa and Eli bathed in sink again.  We ate our meal outside on the deck table, because it wasn’t too hot.

In evening, Dave took Violet and Eli out on the boat, I played slapjack with Vanessa and Calvin.  They both got their stuffed animals out to be their audiences and cheerleaders.

With Eli on the boat, his last catch was a bluegill using a bluegill shaped lure.  He thought it was so funny he caught a “blueskill” with such a big lure.  Earlier in the night Eli caught a 20” northern pike fish too.  He likes catching the big ones. 

Friday, August 5

Dave took Violet fishing in the morning today.  Kids played games, I read Bible, cooked hashbrowns and fried eggs.  Dave took nap, we got going by 1!  Oh my.  We had to wash clothes, mail some letters, get some groceries for next week.  Dave dropped me off to do laundry in silence while he took the kids to a park for an hour.  I used his computer to look up some recipes and come up with my final plan for meals sharing with Lisa and family next week.  We got quarters from a nearby bank and returned 2 unused rolls for $10s.  We ordered pizza from Main Street Pizza and ate it there.  Such delicious pizza!!  Calvin remembered the place and said it was his favorite place.  They have memorable pictures on the wall.  We checked out the waterfalls map before heading out and decided to look at Scotts Falls which was a 7 mile drive west.  We drove past the “Sasquatch” statue, Eli called “Sea-squatch”.  We drove past a little cute city called “Christmas” and then parked near the waterfall sign.  We had to walk across a street which required hand holding. J The “Waterfall” was more like a trickle, but it was interesting anyway.  We could walk to the top and see the stream that was its source.  The shore of Lake Superior was right there so we walked down there and enjoyed the sand/water/views/rocks.  I noticed something overwhelmingly black in the water, whether it was dark weeds or whatever, but it washed up on shore in shape of the waves at their peak and made the coolest black squiggly lines. 

Vanessa got attached to a pretty white stick she called her wand.  I had her leave it on the beach and as we walked home she broke down in crocodile tears because she wanted to keep it.  I went back with her and got it.  We got some quick shopping done at the local grocery store, and discovered how small the aisles seemed as the 6 of us moved through with 2 carts and 6 bodies. 

You should have seen Vanessa piled in the back of the Jeep with the huge bag of laundry AND all the groceries back there! J

We got back and were greeted by the gal, MiKayla, and she wanted to swim with our kids so they went swimming for awhile.  I gave Calvin a haircut.  Dinner was leftover pizza, peaches, and popsicles.  Vanessa was really into the peaches and got full eating 1 ½ of them.

Dave took Calvin out fishing and Calvin caught a 15” bass to keep.  He even wanted to watch Dave clean the fish.  Calvin showered up when they got back and headed to bed.  While the two boys were out fishing, Violet showered, Eli and Vanessa played with their new matchbox cars Dave got them from the grocery store.  I tried the find the hole in the air mattress with no success.  I played a few Bible stories from the Bible app on the kindle to each of their choosing, and the 3 of the kids with me fell asleep by 10.  Eli and Vanessa were incredibly hyper and after a little dose of melatonin, were asleep in seconds. 

We are all anticipating a very different day tomorrow.  We need to pack up our stuff, move it into the trailer, go meet family for lunch in Escanaba with Sean & family, Josh & family, and us with their cousin Michael, Jamie, and their children.  Then we come back, move to a different cabin, and Lisa and family will arrive tomorrow night.

Tonight Dave and I finished up the chicken/shrimp fajitas, I read more in my chronological-read-through-the-Bible (currently in Deut 29), and Dave read a book.

Saturday, August 6^th

We spent the majority of the morning from 9-11 moving out of our cabin and into the trailer.  We had to leave everything (except fridge food) in the trailer so the cleaning people could get in the cabins.  George told us as we drove away that they’d be done by 4ish.  No problem.  We parked our trailer up by the new cabin and took off for Escanaba to meet up for lunch with Dave’s cousin Michael and his family.  We found Van Cleve Park, actually located in the little town near Escanaba called Gladstone.  Vanessa and I went for an adventure to find a bathroom.  We discovered finally where the rest of the family was at this enormous park.  It was gorgeous, right on the Lake Michigan shoreline.  Sean had gone to pick up Michael, his wife Jamie, and their three kids, Jordan, MiKayla, and Danny.  Neither of them can drive.  Sean had gotten pizza and different flavors pasties.  It was near a wooden park structure so mostly all the kids went off to play leaving the adults some conversation time.  It was really interesting to hear what’s going on in Michael and Jamie’s life – their interests, health struggles, and things their kids are up to.

Ted and Cindy had come up for the family lunch, and Josh and Carrie also appeared a bit later than everyone else.

Sean and family were off to grocery shop, so Josh & fam followed us back to the cabins.  We busted it to clean out the fridge and get out of their way so we could move into the new cabin up on the hill.  The “move in” process took a couple hours.  Kids hauled things in, I told them where to put it all.  The most thought was required of me in the kitchen, where to arrange fridge and pantry things to leave Lisa room.  This kitchen is 10 times the size of the previous cabin so I was thankful for this!   Violet immediately “fell in looove” with one bedroom but Dave wanted it because the double bed was a queen, not a full, so they had to work that out.  We got the room we wanted. 

Nobody went anywhere – everyone just spent time moving into their cabins and enjoying the views.  Some kids went fishing, some went swimming, some went paddle boating.  Everyone had supper in their own cabins.

We gave our kids leftover pizza, some applesauce, etc.  I searched the community center for a baking pan and found something.   I made a chocolate cake with 43 candles for Lisa (Vanessa and Carrie helped me with the chocolate). 

Lisa and family arrived close to 10ish and everyone gathered in our cabin to greet her and sing her happy birthday.

After getting kids to bed we hung out by the campfire a bit, then looked at the stars on the dock. 

Somewhere over Thurs/Fri I got sick.  My throat started hurting and I lost the majority of my voice.  This makes for a difficult time but thankful for walkie talkies. 

The first night consisted of a lot of tossing and turning for me.  Violet climbed into a bunk in our room early in the morning. 

Sunday, August 7

Kids slept until 8ish.  Lisa and I were up making bacon, eggs and toast, she cut up pineapple and honeydew melon.  She’s a morning person, not many people are in the cabin. :P

Breakfast lasted a couple hours feeding people as they rolled out of bed.  Everyone spent the majority of the day by the dock again, either swimming, fishing, or paddleboating.  Violet, Renee, Adalynn Lynnea just fished, put fish in a bucket, and played with them, and let them back in the lake.  They claim they could catch bigger fish by fishing off the raft a few feet off the dock. 

Lunch happened around 2.  Lisa wanted to go see Corner Lake so the crew headed that direction and played there a couple hours.  Calvin found a huge amount of clay in the swimming area under the water and stacked a mountain of it on the shoreline.  Lisa found a lilypad and took it to put in her pond in Texas, I hope it survives!  She put it in the lake near our cabin and plans to take it back in a bucket.  Lynnea, Violet and Renee discovered the spa treatment the lake provided…smearing clay all over them and counting to 100 before rinsing it off.  I remember doing that as a kid.

We left Corner Lake a couple hours later with the idea that we’d all eat supper, then go fishing.  I cut up a watermelon, made mac n cheese and Dave grilled burgers/brats for dinner for everyone in our cabin.  Delicious! 

Kids played around, we had a campfire.  While heading out to fish, Alyssa accidentally got a fishing lure hook lodged pretty deep on the inside of her hand near the bottom of her finger.   We didn’t see it happen but Corban was part of moving the pole out of his way while he tried pushing off the shoreline.  Sean tried getting it out but the barbed part it would have torn a lot of flesh.  It was lodged pretty deep into her tendon so they drove her up to the Munising hospital to have it taken out.  They numbed her up with lidocaine.  Not a fun way to start he week, that’s for sure!  Alyssa is OK.  She came back smiling.

The rest of the fisherman on the lake caught nothing.  A few too small to keep.

Kids to bed (after making Calvin shower for getting soooo dirty) about 10 and campfire at night.  Sten shared a bit about Kristina and things she’s learning.  My voice is still to weak to talk. 

Monday, August 8

Calvin/Eli were the first two awake.  I realized I had not gotten my journaling done since Saturday so I spent 30 min typing while Vanessa woke up, and got some Tiny toast cereal for herself and Eli.

Plans formed as we looked at the weather report for the week.  The hottest day was supposed to be Tuesday so we planned to do jetskis that day over at Pete’s Lake, and hike the Miner’s Beach trail today.

After a yummy breakfast from Lisa (creamed eggs) and announcing that there were leftovers and they’d be handed out first come first served, Josh and Sean came running up the hill to have a bite.  This is a favorite Martha used to make for them.  Lisa said this was a heart warming moment to have your brothers come and enjoy your food.

The whole group in our four packed vehicles got on the move towards the trail around Noon and we tried stopping at a coffee place for some delicious espressos, only to discover the employee didn’t know a thing about brewing espresso. 

The hike was gorgeous, as always.  Because it is now the third time we’ve hiked this same trail, it becomes more familiar and seems less of a distance every time.  I get a better sense for when the next turns are and what’s coming up after major landmarks.  Eli was a trooper, as I knew he’d be.  No backpack carrier for him!  “I don’t meed help” and “I can do it” were his words if I offered help up or down a difficult part on the bumpy trail.  He tackled most things himself.  We had one photo op where we all gathered on a bridge and used my selfie stick to get a shot of ALL of us.  Turned out ok!

The beach was gorgeous, as always, and looked different than last time – the structure of the back water entering the lake reshapes the sand path it takes.  It also seemed more populated!  We parked ourselves in the sand or in the lake and enjoyed a few hours by the water.  Sten didn’t realize there was water at the end of that hike so he went swimming in his jeans.  Dave and Sean both got in with their shorts.  Frisbee was thrown around, sand structures were made and destroyed by the occasional bigger waves the big tour boats would make. 

The sand was like big rocks.  It wasn’t fine powdery sand, it slipped right off and didn’t stick.  Josh and Carrie’s dog, Jade, enjoyed being buried by the sand.  Carrie said it was funny to see this because Jade likes being cozy under a lot of blankets.  Because she’s black, it may have felt nice to get cooled off by the wet sand.  The biting black flies were an issue though, and we buried our legs/feet in the sand to keep them off.

We headed back around 5 to get dinner in our cabin.  The hike back seemed shorter, but harder.  My chest was still tight.  Lisa cooked up a yummy supper of tacos and chips/salsa.

Kids swam in the lake again that night.  Fished a little but didn’t catch anything.

I think we had a campfire again that night by Sean’s cabin.  The topic of discussion leaned towards history, and Emma asked some interesting questions.

Tuesday, August 9

I think the cabin woke up (with the exception of Calvin and Eli) around 9:30.   I made breakfast sandwiches and coffeecake, and Dave helped me with cooking and cleanup.   Lisa was helping me but got called to go help clean a fish.

The plan was to do rent jetskis and meet George up at the store at 12:30.  After breakfast, kids played outside and swam, and it was 12:20 by the time I realized what time it was!  It was hard to gather kids fast and get packed up for the other beach day we had planned.  Life jackets, chairs, towels, snacks, water bottles, sunscreen, and 4 kids in the jeep within 15 minutes! 

The jetski day went pretty well – all the kids enjoyed rides, and hangout on the beach was relaxing….all except for the last 10 minutes of renting them, somehow, Carrie got stuck out in the middle of the lake with no gas and Josh tried towing her back and she accidentally flipped the jetski and lost the key. 

Vanessa spent a lot of time making a U shaped sand structure that she wanted me to take a picture of.

We had also discovered that Ted and Cindy arrived at the campground right before we left so they joined us at Pete’s Lake when they got set up.  This was the first time in about 10 years that Lisa and Ted had seen each other.  He hugged her for a long time. She invited him for dinner, which was noodles/Italian sauce/garlic bread/salad.

Lisa and fam went back to the cabin a little early to get dinner started.  Right when she left is when the jetski incident occurred so that delayed our coming back by 20-30 minutes. 

Dinner together was really pleasant and nice.  We enjoyed having them there. 

A group went fishing but I don’t think much was caught.  Anja caught two bass off the dock!

I went to the store once to check my messages and some others also walked by and found me, so we chatted and decided to make a fire.  I went back to the cabin because I’d heard Eli was awake and hungry, so he ate noodles and watermelon.  Weirdly enough, I started getting a bloody nose right then.  I laid down to hold it until it stopped while Anja asked me “Would you Rather” cards as something fun to do while we waited.

Josh, Carrie, Sten, Dave and I “campfired” and chatted about random things.  I remember talking about Carrie’s book and Sten’s new job pastoring.

Wednesday, August 10

I woke up around 7:30 and wrote in this journal in the morning.  Eli and Calvin were up, of

course.  I wrote about 2 days.  Calvin had played a game with Austin he badly wanted to download so after I wrote about Mon and Tues I brought the boys with me to the store to connect to the WiFi and download the game (bad piggies…where you construct a vehicle using propellers, jet packs, blocks, helium balloons, etc and try get to the end of a track or something).  MaKayla was there and chatted with the boys too while it downloaded, which took 15-20 min.  I think we ate pancakes for breakfast.

It was a cool feeling morning and looked overcast, so I put on jeans.  By the time the morning warmed up I was ready for shorts.  It was a “play by the dock” day for everyone.  Some groups went to Munising to do laundry and other things.  We decided to keep the rental for the paddleboard another day so we played with that in the water too.  Dave swam with the kids. 

At some point in the morning we got a demonstration of the drone that Sten and Lisa brought. 

Some went fishing a bit earlier in the evening but came in to join the group for the corn roast.

That evening at 6pm, Ted and cindy prepared dinner for the group by roasting some fresh picked from Wisconsin sweet corn and serving BBQ meat on buns.  They served up a big cupcake cake and handed out gifts/cards for birthdays.  There were so many glow sticks it looked like craziness outside.  Wands, glasses, balls, all glowing.  Eli played with a little toy truck that rolled and made truck sounds. 

I tried out the paddle board and gave Wes a ride around the dock.

The campfire got started, and we somehow ended up singing a lot of patriotic songs.  Dave and I broke away to put kids to bed, after a round of baths, because the Deet had to get washed off.  The mosquitos were pretty bad that night.

We did return to the campfire around Ted’s camper. 

Thursday, August 11

Lisa made sausage gravy for the group.  Emma, Vanessa and Eli snuggled on couch, people woke up pretty slowly this morning. It was cool, overcast, and felt like you just wanted to keep sleeping.  Lisa mentioned she’d never seen any waterfalls yet so we made a plan to go see “twins falls”…where you park by the split in the road, and walk up a little staircase you have to find that goes up into the forest.

A short, but medium difficulty hike led to a sweeping open round sandstone area with a waterfall.  Sten Geocached and told us there was one in the area, so we all searched for it.  Lisa found it, we looked at the randomness in the little box and signed the log.  We took some pics, then another trail to see the other waterfall which was smaller but we could go up to the top and see it from that side.  We searched for another geocache and it was harder to find but Sten found it a hole in a log.

Eli decided he needed to go poop so I found a spot for him in the woods.  I had brought wipes and things so we had the needed supplies, it just took him forever to go.  The whole group couldn’t wait so just the Dave LaMarche family stayed and waited.  They went on back on the trail “the long way” and we went the short way, thinking we’d meet up with them, but instead, they waited for us at one point but we didn’t know.

We tossed in a load of clothes at the laundromat, went to a gift shop, met everyone else there, and then tossed the clothes in the dryer, got T shirts, then met everyone else at Frozen Flamingo for ice cream.  The rain in Munising kept us inside.

Lisa and crew were hungry so they took the cabin key and went back early to start cooking the frozen pizzas.  We headed back to the cabin after a few minutes.  Back at White Fawn Lodge, it was a little drizzly so we all met at the community center and played games.  A crew of kids swam for a couple hours.  The only plan later was for Sten to give those interested a “whiskey tasting” experience.  He had brought quite a few really nice kinds (single malts and blends) and gave Dave, Josh, Carrie, Sean, Ted, Cindy and I a tiny sample of each kind, learned how they taste and how a drop or two of water changes the flavor.  Kids watched a movie (Madagascar). 

Dave got funny and started trying to get rid of leftovers.  He had kids eating ice cream, loads of noodles, and leftover pizza.

Friday, August 12

Dave took our older 3 kids out fishing (Vanessa said she only wanted to net fish) and Eli slept in.  I got up to journal over the last couple days.  Josh came by our cabin to look for his lost cell phone with no success.  Carrie sat with me for a bit while I finished journaling.  I have continued to cough and hack.

Dave came back from fishing with no bites.  Vanessa said she was cold but refused to try to warm up because she wanted to be ready to net the fish. J

Sten and Lisa, Kristina, Emma and Alyssa all rented kayaks and took them on a chain of lakes north of our area, which upon returning, said it was really neat.  Back at the cabins, everyone hung out by the dock, campfire, and around cabins.  We pretty much had s’mores for lunch.  I found sticks to roast marshmallows.  Before we knew it, it was around 4 pm and the plans to organize the fish fry needed to happen.  We all figured 7 pm would be a good time.  Sten got the drone charged and we got a family photo taken around 6:30 by the lake.  Armitages let everyone use the kayaks for the remaining time on the lake, Carrie and I went out across the lake, and Renee and Lynnea went out across the lake.  Other kids got turns with the kayaks too.  Dave went fishing some of Friday with Sean, Vanessa and Adalynn. 

April, Carrie, Lisa, Sean, Dave, Josh and I got going processing the fish.  There was a smorgasbord of food for the fish fry.  Cut up fruit, baked beans, corn, fried and seasoned grilled fish, mac n cheese, meat/buns, and pink lemonade.  Fish was delicious…the grilled was my favorite!  Everyone stuck around for a big campfire after the meal and a lot of sharing stories happened by the brothers/sister/dad.  The kids got busy making a raft out of floating logs, which turned out pretty cute and adorable.

Lisa went up to pack because their family needed to leave by 6 am.  Sten and girls helped.  Sten joined fire afterwards.  There was a strange rain/mist that we couldn’t feel on our skin but looked really cool with a flashlight shining on it.  Sten caught a leopard frog and put it in his bucket to take back with the lily pads.  So funny.

Saturday, August 13

Dave woke me up at 9:50.   I ended up sleeping on the top bunk of the bunk bed for the last 3 hours of the night because the light from the window was waking me up.  I peeked around the cabin at 7:17 and the Armitages were not there. 

Dave had warmed up breakfast for me, and made coffee.   J&C came to say goodbyes.  I showered up. Sean’s family came to say goodbyes.  We packed up like crazy, and got of there by 12:30.  We loaded the trailer, Calvin made PBJs while we loaded up. 

We took one last look at the lake, snapped some pics, and left at 1:00.

 

What a wonderful time, such a blessed experience, and we are so thankful for such fantastic family.