Year 2, Day 225: Vacation!

Finally! Today we went on vacation! We haven't been on a proper vacation for 2 years!  Now, I know some people don't go on vacations at all, or they do every 5 years or something.  But the Johnsons have been taking regular vacations for the whole lives, usually summer and around the holidays.  And I got used to them!  Because things were so crazy last year, we just couldn't fit it all in.  We mostly did a staycation.  But here we are, in beautiful Boyne City, Michigan and all I can say is, "Wow!  This is ALMOST like PEI!" The weather is great, we are within a mile of an inlet of Lake Michigan, the trees and forests look similar, and the whole difference is the color of the dirt.  Ok, and there's no signs in French, lol.  We are staying a huge cottage that has a great view of the inlet as well.  So many pictures to share!  But first, a few stories.

Believe it or not, I was actually feeling at peace last night with packing.  I was organized enough that I didn't have to stay up late doing that many last minute things.  I wasn't panicked.  I did write down a list, and that helped.  And this morning went as smooth as silk!  Because the kids were excited, they got up early, got dressed, ate breakfast, and helped load the van.  They had to wait on Jared and I a bit because we had all the extra stuff to do.  Everything fit in the van no problem, even with two big coolers of food.  Some of that was special food for me, some special meat for Shauna, and to get us started on the week so we don't have to spend premium prices on much food up here.  It is a touristy town, so I'm sure things are cheap.  But the downtown is cute!

We got on the road about 8:35 am, and our goal was between 8 and 9, so that was perfect!  The kids and I were sleepy because of the travel medication (I took mine last night, but it still had an effect on me this morning), so we took a nap from 9:30-10:30.  Then Abishai didn't nap again until about 4:30, and about 10 minutes before we reached our destination.  The in between hours were loud and chaotic because we had a stir crazy baby.  Abishai didn't get upset, but you could tell he was jazzed up.  He sang a ton of "Jesus love (Abishai)!" and kicked his feet and said, "You dummy!"  That last bit he heard straight from Jared when Jared was packing the car.  Whoops!  He also recognized the "fry store" from the road, and bicycles, and big trucks.  I had printed off car bingos for the middle kids, but they didn't seem interested.  Justin read his book most of the way up here.  It's a huge, huge book, kind of like the Harry Potter books, and he gets so engrossed in them, that he has no clue about life around him.  It's comical and annoying all at the same time.

Keturah had her Leap Pad with her.  She also did a mad lib with Justin.  She wanted food around 10:30 because she only ate a piece of bread for breakfast.  I had drank my coffee and "pink" drink and needed the restroom, so we ended up stopping around 11 for "fries."  We bought from the value menu so we didn't overfill our bellies.  Abishai got a happy meal and that occupied him for many miles.  And we also saw a ton of those big windmills that reminded me of western PEI and northern Nova Scotia!

Then we drove a few more hours.  I tried listening to a book, reading a different book, listening to a podcast, playing my games on my phone, but I was very restless.  So I did get a little grumpy and short tempered.  I need to remember to take my naturopathic medicine for that on top of my normal medication for that.  And then, about 30 minutes from our destination, we decided to make one last stop.  And where was it?  Well.....

Tim Horton's!  We were all so excited and the people in the store kept looking at us funny, lol!  We hadn't eaten at Tim's for 14 months!  Abishai started chanting "doughnut!"  And I ordered my favorite, "cafe mocha with a raspberry shot."  I was so giddy after letting those words roll off my tongue!  Oh the simple pleasures of our very privileged lives!  I hadn't planned to find a Tim's here, but I knew they existed.  There is one being built on the west side of Indianapolis this year or next.  So, that made it even more exciting that it was on the exit we choose to stop at!  I know that we are to rejoice in all things, so that means the big and small.  I rejoice that we can go on big vacations and I rejoice in small pleasures like hanging clothes on a line or enjoying a coffee at Timmy's.  It was like God saying, "I know you'll be close to Canada, and I know it breaks your heart that you aren't there, but here's a little reminder of how much I love you and I recognize what that means to you."  And Jared, too, since he was the one driving, knows how special these little things are.

Otherwise, the driving portion wasn't too bad.  I just didn't get to rest as much or get as much done as I had hoped.  I walked into the cottage and just needed some space for some quiet time.  They all wanted to rush to get into the pool, but I made them unpack, and eat dinner, and then wait a little bit until pool time.  The cottage is huge with loads of bedrooms and bathrooms, a pool, a pool table, air hockey, home theater, etc.  It was a private home and was given as a gift to a non profit so that they could use it too bless other people in ministry.  And what a great gift it is!

Now, everybody is settling, the rest of the crew has arrived, Abishai is asleep, and I must go greet the rest of the family.  They drove separately because Gary was preaching and Leah and Benaiah were working.  Then they picked up Aaron, Shauna, Everly and Nora, who had gone up to Holland, Michigan with Shauan's family for the past couple of days.  We all made it in 8 1/2 hrs, including rest stops.  Yeah!  Oh, and we were blessed to borrow another van from a church member, so we didn't have to rent another vehicle and try to get it dropped off up here.  Aaron and Shauna and the girls are flying out from Traverse City later in the week, so they won't be driving back to Indy with us.

It was a great day! I can't wait to see what the week has in store for us!

Abishai having some game time with big B before vacation starts.

Water! I see water!  And tree! Our view!

Justin learned to mow before we left!

#blessings I dried two loads on the line on Saturday before we left.  I love how long the clothesline is.  I just have to make sure little boys and girl don't put dirty hands on the clean laundry.  But it does make a neat play thing to duck under!

Momma's ammo....I took the water balloon holders and since they are mesh, the clothes pins can dry out between rain storms.

Not seeing double.  There are two of them.  I can wear them well over my shoulder!

Sleepyheads at 9:30 am.

Keturah brought her big stuffed Siberian husky stuffed animal, as well as my old thin blanket that is a twin size because she says she's always cold back there.  Daddy cranks the air conditioning to help him stay awake.

Proudly carrying his happy meal.

Jared purposefully wore his sky zone socks because they have treads on him so he could take off his shoes while driving.  Genius!

Modern windmills in the distance!

Green metal roofs like on PEI!

Windmills over cornfields.

Gobs and gobs of "giggle giggles!"  "Like a kid in a candy (convenience) store."

Monstrous donuts at the convenience store.  We didn't get them, but who knew we would stop for donuts later.

Yes, people did look at us funny when we kept taking pictures in the convenience store.

Playing leapfrog over the barriers.

Me too, me too! But I'll just zig zag around the barriers instead of jumping over them.

It was a very calm day, so none of the windmills were rotating.

You know you've driven north when you start seeing 80 ft conifers and white paper birch trees like in NH!

So that's how they fold those things down for travel.  Fun!

Squeee!!!!

More sugar!  Canadian in front of a Canadian institution.

Hm,...could I have found my souvenir on the first day? Maybe? I think I'll ponder it some more. 

Cafe' Mocha with a Raspberry shot! And whipped cream!  And yes, I had a wicked stomachache afterwards, but it was worth it!

Keturah's sprinkle donut!

Abishai had Reese's on a chocolate donut, which he proceeded to pick off all the Resse's pieces and just eat them.

Justin got an Oreo donut, and Jared got a tea, plus timbits to share.

The yummiest drink on the plant! Better than Starbucks!  And half the price!

Cheesy face!

What's this?! Tim's in MY VAN?!  Hallelujah!  I was way too giddy over coffee and donuts.

115 miles to the bridge!  The cottage is south of the bridge though.  We will cross the bridge and go to the locks on one of these days.

Big ups and downs as we close in on the shore line.

Boyne City, Michigan!

Abishai fell asleep 10 minutes before the trip was over.  Whoops!

On our way up the hill into the neighborhood.

Up, up, up!

We're here!

(Some of these pics are out of chronological order.) Aaron, Shauna, Benaiah and I played "Qwuirkle" which is an interesting patterns game where you get extra points for getting all the shapes of one color in a row or one shape in all the colors in one row.  You build on the others' builds like in Scrabble.  And guess who won?  Shauna by a landslide, as normal.  She always wins.

Since I told the kids to wait to swim, they found the "secret room" hidden at the end of the hallway, at the end of a flight of curly stairs.

Tada! It's a full size raquetball court!  Otherwise known as a place to throw around some balls, bounce the balls off the walls, and scream really loudly because it echos so much.

There's even a little exercise area.

"Abishai turn!"

Just beautiful!

The great hall!

View from the loft.

Jared said, "Come here! I have something to show you!  It's so big I can turn my car around in it!" Yes, he was pretty impressed and almost giddy about it.

Can't stop taking pictures of the views!

The kids were a little too eager for the pool after I told them they were not allowed in the pool room without an adult.  So, they got a time out before they even got wet.

Swimmer #2

First time in floaties for swimmer #4!

Swimmer #3 enjoying her knew snorkel.

Aw, Jared did this with all our babies.  And all our children have learned to swim just by being in the pool.  We have never paid for lessons.  Abishai went from being afraid to go where he couldn't touch, to swimming from Jared to I or vice versa in the hot tub with no fear.  He loved the pool, but it was a little too cold for his little body.

So that's how you play pool!  Lay down and roll them in!  He's putting the balls "night, night" as he says.

Justin came running to me and said, "Look now!  There's 4 deer in the yard!"  And there were!  They were eating away in the field for awhile, even with our noises and whispers that eventually scared them away.

Home theater, although the projector doesn't work right.  The chairs are super comfy though.

Night night Big Boy Abishai!  He gets a room all to himself right next to Mommy and Daddy's room.  The girls are sharing a room, and so are the boys on the other end of the house.  And Abishai slept right though the night.

Another cheese face.

I'm ready for bed, so, pj's and tickle time!

There's swimmer #3!  Swimmer #1 didn't get up here with the rest of the crew until 9:30 pm.  We had to keep the girls quiet because Abishai was already asleep, so they had to wait until morning to explore.  And they did.  But they didn't fall asleep until after 11pm because well, they had a giggle fest first.