First this Blog needs some background….
So over the years I have kept in contact with my core Meteorology study group from college. Sarah, one of my good friends, decided it was time to have a reunion of this core group. Probably before last Christmas Sarah started planning this get together.
It was to take place in East Tawas Michigan on the shores of Lake Huron (at her grandparents cottage) in August.
Well it turned out FABULOUS! Sarah did an extra job—especially since she pretty much planned the whole thing!
As always here is my point of view (hey it is my blog after all!)
I was a bit hesitant committing to this journey. After all I was going to be over 34 weeks pregnant and with Ky I had complications at that time. I saw the doctor a few days prior though and was given the big “OK.”
We left Thursday after Rob got home from work. Our plan was to have half-way stops for the journey to and from E. Tawas. My family actually turned out to make good half-way points. (This was a 9 hour drive for us.) Thursday night we drove to my brother’s house. Ky was excited to see U. Joel. And of course U. Joel taught Ky a new game—now instead of “Wait for me!” it is “Don’t shake the bed, I’m trying to sleep!” This is actually a funny game because Ky will just start yelling it out at random times (not even when he is laying down.) As always, I love catching up with my brother and his wife on how they are doing. They have been extremely blessed and actually just recently had their own miracle occur. Long story short—Joel was laid off and then rehired. His employers were so impressed by his Christian attitude of the situation (it was on the front page of the local paper) they created a position for him because they did not want to lose an employee that shone that brightly!
Anyway—we left the next morning and finished our drive rather late. We arrived probably close to 5 PM on Friday (we were hoping to get there around noon.) Ky did excellent on the drive. He got a little grumpy in the last half hour, but who can complain when he has spent 9 of the last 24 hours in the car.
Sarah’s grandparents cottage (or house) was great. It had 2 downstairs bedrooms and a bathroom and then a loft filled with beds. The house had a huge lot with a long backyard that stretched quite a distance and then had beachfront with perfect sand. Not a rock was found in that sand. What a great place!
So we arrived and took some time to settle and greet my fellow alumni. We then walked down to the beach and let the kids play for a bit. It was chilly, but the kids did not mind. Bear (yes we brought Bear) was ecstatic to have the run of the beach and all these people around him.
Little Noah had grown so much since we last saw him. Mike was building castles and he was eagerly destroying them. Dylan is as tall as Ky—which surprised me since Ky is usually taller than most boys his age. Katelyn was as cute as a button and very content to play in the sand (or eat it). Dakota was the sand wonderboy—he would spend a lot of time concentrating on building or digging in the sand. I love kids—and it is always neat to see how they have grown and who looks like who—too bad Rich was unable to make it with Brooklyn to finish out the bunch of Met kids.
It was great to see all of my old pals again. Everyone in different roles of their lives as parents and/or professionals—somewhat different than our carefree days of college. Sarah I hadn’t seen if FOREVER—and she looked great—and just had such a warmth and confidence gleaming from her. She has definitely taken life by the horns. Linda has managed to keep her same sarcasm that turns any conversation into a surprise. Her little boy has also changed her with a motherly softness that comes as needed. Karen was right on top of things as far as planning and having ideas—we could always count on that. At the same time her devotion to her son and husband was definitely priority for her. Jason has turned into a man of adventure and confidence. I really enjoyed seeing pictures and hearing stories of where he has been. His career has really taken him to a lot of places. Melissa is a busy mommy—and balances both her kids so well. I am impressed by her patience—I hope that I can have that when my second one comes. I didn’t get as much of a chance to talk to Kelly as I would have liked—but I can tell that she has become even more inquisitive and observant than she even was in college. She is always thinking & doing. I wish I lived closer to her –she inspires me to always take the time to reflect.
So after some beach time—we all got cold and were ready for some good food. BTW—KUDOS goes to Sarah for planning, purchasing, and then preparing all the meals. They were delicious—and I honestly have to say it was nice to have a break from having to make meals for a couple of days. Night 1 was hamburgers & brats and such—and it was well-balanced, like all of Sarah’s meals, with fruits & veggies. YUM. After dinner it was decided that we needed an ice cream run. Poor Dakota fell asleep so didn’t get to enjoy the ice cream, but the rest of the kids devoured theirs. From there we went on a WalMart run for odds & ends and then back to the cottage. The moon was BEAUTIFUL over the lake, so I took some pics experimenting with camera. In one of the pics above you can see Jason in the moonlight bending over the water. Pretty cool!
We then put the kids to bed. Ky however decided that it was a new place and he did not want to go down easily. So we left him to cry. He EVENTUALLY fell asleep. We then tried to have some adult conversation, but were overcome by sleepiness. And in the end Ky ended up in bed with Rob and I. We were beaten and kicked by that little guy—this is why we don’t like to share the bed with him, but we survived.
The next day was our official relaxation day. After getting the kids fed & dressed (which took a LONG time) we all beached it for the morning. The kids had fun in the sand and perhaps dipping their toes in the water, but it was a bit too cold to wade in—however the men & Sarah had more guts than the rest of us and waded in chest high. (There’s a pic of them coming out.) BRRRRR!!! I can’t believe they did that.
For lunch we had –I forget what you call them—you basically make your sandwich over the fire. It was delicious—and Rob and I decided we needed to get some of these sandwich makers for ourselves.
The afternoon led to naps for the kids and some adults, for the rest of us we had some good ole games of UNO and SkipBo. I don’t know how I managed to NOT win even once, but I blame it on the Michigan air. My lungs just weren’t adjusted to such purity.
Dinner was a taco extravaganza. Sarah once again out did herself. There was so much food! Every pregnant lady’s dream! And then came the cake as we celebrated Miss Kelly’s 30th birthday (of course we didn’t forget!) Ky was very excited he LOVES cake!
Kelly told him he could have a second piece if he sang happy birthday to her again—he was happy to oblige.
That night we enjoyed a nice campfire and sat and talk. Karen and Dakota were too cute (check out the picture.) Of course Ky would never fall asleep like that in my arms when there is the excitement of other people and a fire. I miss it when he was little and he would sleep with me (nicely—not the torture that we were put through both nights in MI).
Anyways, Sunday led to farewells. I wish we could have hung out longer---but we have to save vacation for the new one and I was ready for my own bed. We stopped halfway and had a delicious dinner with my mother. Ky picked veggies out of the garden with her and now he says “remember when Grandma Mo and I picked peppers from the garden?”. His memory is amazing. By the time we got home we were beat. We all slept in on Monday and Dad went to work late. It was a needed recovery from the weekend.
Okay one more blog to catch up on---Potty Training and then we will be ready for the blog introducing number 2!
So over the years I have kept in contact with my core Meteorology study group from college. Sarah, one of my good friends, decided it was time to have a reunion of this core group. Probably before last Christmas Sarah started planning this get together.
It was to take place in East Tawas Michigan on the shores of Lake Huron (at her grandparents cottage) in August.
Well it turned out FABULOUS! Sarah did an extra job—especially since she pretty much planned the whole thing!
As always here is my point of view (hey it is my blog after all!)
I was a bit hesitant committing to this journey. After all I was going to be over 34 weeks pregnant and with Ky I had complications at that time. I saw the doctor a few days prior though and was given the big “OK.”
We left Thursday after Rob got home from work. Our plan was to have half-way stops for the journey to and from E. Tawas. My family actually turned out to make good half-way points. (This was a 9 hour drive for us.) Thursday night we drove to my brother’s house. Ky was excited to see U. Joel. And of course U. Joel taught Ky a new game—now instead of “Wait for me!” it is “Don’t shake the bed, I’m trying to sleep!” This is actually a funny game because Ky will just start yelling it out at random times (not even when he is laying down.) As always, I love catching up with my brother and his wife on how they are doing. They have been extremely blessed and actually just recently had their own miracle occur. Long story short—Joel was laid off and then rehired. His employers were so impressed by his Christian attitude of the situation (it was on the front page of the local paper) they created a position for him because they did not want to lose an employee that shone that brightly!
Anyway—we left the next morning and finished our drive rather late. We arrived probably close to 5 PM on Friday (we were hoping to get there around noon.) Ky did excellent on the drive. He got a little grumpy in the last half hour, but who can complain when he has spent 9 of the last 24 hours in the car.
Sarah’s grandparents cottage (or house) was great. It had 2 downstairs bedrooms and a bathroom and then a loft filled with beds. The house had a huge lot with a long backyard that stretched quite a distance and then had beachfront with perfect sand. Not a rock was found in that sand. What a great place!
So we arrived and took some time to settle and greet my fellow alumni. We then walked down to the beach and let the kids play for a bit. It was chilly, but the kids did not mind. Bear (yes we brought Bear) was ecstatic to have the run of the beach and all these people around him.
Little Noah had grown so much since we last saw him. Mike was building castles and he was eagerly destroying them. Dylan is as tall as Ky—which surprised me since Ky is usually taller than most boys his age. Katelyn was as cute as a button and very content to play in the sand (or eat it). Dakota was the sand wonderboy—he would spend a lot of time concentrating on building or digging in the sand. I love kids—and it is always neat to see how they have grown and who looks like who—too bad Rich was unable to make it with Brooklyn to finish out the bunch of Met kids.
It was great to see all of my old pals again. Everyone in different roles of their lives as parents and/or professionals—somewhat different than our carefree days of college. Sarah I hadn’t seen if FOREVER—and she looked great—and just had such a warmth and confidence gleaming from her. She has definitely taken life by the horns. Linda has managed to keep her same sarcasm that turns any conversation into a surprise. Her little boy has also changed her with a motherly softness that comes as needed. Karen was right on top of things as far as planning and having ideas—we could always count on that. At the same time her devotion to her son and husband was definitely priority for her. Jason has turned into a man of adventure and confidence. I really enjoyed seeing pictures and hearing stories of where he has been. His career has really taken him to a lot of places. Melissa is a busy mommy—and balances both her kids so well. I am impressed by her patience—I hope that I can have that when my second one comes. I didn’t get as much of a chance to talk to Kelly as I would have liked—but I can tell that she has become even more inquisitive and observant than she even was in college. She is always thinking & doing. I wish I lived closer to her –she inspires me to always take the time to reflect.
So after some beach time—we all got cold and were ready for some good food. BTW—KUDOS goes to Sarah for planning, purchasing, and then preparing all the meals. They were delicious—and I honestly have to say it was nice to have a break from having to make meals for a couple of days. Night 1 was hamburgers & brats and such—and it was well-balanced, like all of Sarah’s meals, with fruits & veggies. YUM. After dinner it was decided that we needed an ice cream run. Poor Dakota fell asleep so didn’t get to enjoy the ice cream, but the rest of the kids devoured theirs. From there we went on a WalMart run for odds & ends and then back to the cottage. The moon was BEAUTIFUL over the lake, so I took some pics experimenting with camera. In one of the pics above you can see Jason in the moonlight bending over the water. Pretty cool!
We then put the kids to bed. Ky however decided that it was a new place and he did not want to go down easily. So we left him to cry. He EVENTUALLY fell asleep. We then tried to have some adult conversation, but were overcome by sleepiness. And in the end Ky ended up in bed with Rob and I. We were beaten and kicked by that little guy—this is why we don’t like to share the bed with him, but we survived.
The next day was our official relaxation day. After getting the kids fed & dressed (which took a LONG time) we all beached it for the morning. The kids had fun in the sand and perhaps dipping their toes in the water, but it was a bit too cold to wade in—however the men & Sarah had more guts than the rest of us and waded in chest high. (There’s a pic of them coming out.) BRRRRR!!! I can’t believe they did that.
For lunch we had –I forget what you call them—you basically make your sandwich over the fire. It was delicious—and Rob and I decided we needed to get some of these sandwich makers for ourselves.
The afternoon led to naps for the kids and some adults, for the rest of us we had some good ole games of UNO and SkipBo. I don’t know how I managed to NOT win even once, but I blame it on the Michigan air. My lungs just weren’t adjusted to such purity.
Dinner was a taco extravaganza. Sarah once again out did herself. There was so much food! Every pregnant lady’s dream! And then came the cake as we celebrated Miss Kelly’s 30th birthday (of course we didn’t forget!) Ky was very excited he LOVES cake!
Kelly told him he could have a second piece if he sang happy birthday to her again—he was happy to oblige.
That night we enjoyed a nice campfire and sat and talk. Karen and Dakota were too cute (check out the picture.) Of course Ky would never fall asleep like that in my arms when there is the excitement of other people and a fire. I miss it when he was little and he would sleep with me (nicely—not the torture that we were put through both nights in MI).
Anyways, Sunday led to farewells. I wish we could have hung out longer---but we have to save vacation for the new one and I was ready for my own bed. We stopped halfway and had a delicious dinner with my mother. Ky picked veggies out of the garden with her and now he says “remember when Grandma Mo and I picked peppers from the garden?”. His memory is amazing. By the time we got home we were beat. We all slept in on Monday and Dad went to work late. It was a needed recovery from the weekend.
Okay one more blog to catch up on---Potty Training and then we will be ready for the blog introducing number 2!
No comments:
Post a Comment