Year 2, Day 226: Staying In

Today was a planned rest day.  Aaron's family wanted time to explore the facilities and to swim, and my kids just needed to not be in the car.  So, everyone puttered around this morning.  Then Abishai and I both had naps.  I had a 2 hr, very intense, almost scary dream filled nap.  In fact, when I did wake up because Abishai had gotten up and came to find me, I need about 15 minutes to shake off the effects of the dreams.  Meanwhile, Gary declared, "We are going hiking!"  Oh boy, give me a few minutes, ok?  Because of my treat yesterday, I have felt physically "off" so I've had to take it slow. I haven't done any work that I wanted to do either.  Why?  Because I hate missing moments in my kids' lives.  And I want to be part of the adult discussions so my opinion is heard.  I need to learn to trust and let the kids have their own memories without me hovering over them with a camera.  And I did that while I slept, right?

So, the kids and Jared went swimming this morning and then again after supper.  We did go on a hike, but the trail was a bit muddy, so we didn't finish it.  It was part of the state park that is down the road from us.  We might revisit the beach there another day.  Then we came home and got dinner on the table, swam, got kids to bed nearly on time (9:30 pm) and finalized plans for tomorrow.  Plans keep changing based on everyone's needs and wants.  Because Gary's brother is going to join us later in the week, we are going to start our travels by going to the Sleeping Bear sand dunes tomorrow, and see what other shops we might want to stop at along the way.  It's a 2 hr ride one way.  So maybe I can get some work done in the car.  Or not because I'll want to talk to everyone.  But that's kind of the point of vacation.  We want to do as much as we can together.  In fact, Abishai is now comfortable with everyone and calls Nora, "Noree" and Everly "Evie."

I think the pictures will bring out more of the story today.  So, here we go:

Mr. Early Riser at 6:45pm.  He easily found our room this morning and came in to snuggle lots and lots, just like at home.

Benaiah's been playing a ton of raquetball.  He has his own racket because he used to go all the time with Grandpa to the gym.  So, he brought it along.  It was neat seeing him hit the ball around.  I hadn't seen him to do it before.

He's so big and strong.  Sigh.

They put the shallow/deep line across the pool so they could know where the steep drop off is.  It's very deep, very fast.

Whose splash is bigger?  Benaiah's or Jared's?  I think it's a tie!

All 4 middle kiddos can swim without aids, they love to swim, and they learned without lessons.

Oo! I caught Jared's jump mid air!  Nice!

Benaiah.  Yes, I can tell the two men are very similar, scaring the kids when they bad big splashes.  Uncle Aaron did it later as well.

Keturah did a great job organizing her and Joanna Grace's stuff!  I can't wait to see what she gets up to!

"My cars!" No, Abishai, you need to share you cars with everyone!

Let's wake up Bubby!  I think Benaiah feels loved when we make the effort to jump on him and wake him up.  It says, "We love you and want to spend time with you."

Morning game time!

The girls organized the donut puzzle by donut frosting's colors.  This puzzle is 500 piees!

Having lunch together.

All the Grandkids!  Benaiah age 15, Justin age 12, Everly age 10, Keturah age 9, Nora age 7 and Abishai age 2.

Blooming lillies in the pond at the sate park.

Some of the largest white paper birch trees we've ever seen!  The white birch is NH's state tree!  I grew up with them in my yard, and we would peel off some of the "skin" to write on.  But you have to be careful not to take too much or you'll damage the tree.

Abishai's perch.  Someone suggested it, so he wanted nothing but to be on top seeing the muddy trail

I'm always at the back on our hikes.  Oh well.  The trail was muddy and overgrown, but we managed.  The kids picked up walking sticks, but we made them leave them there.

Abishai said, "Choo choo!"  Yes, these do look like railroad track!  They were put there by people to help with the muddiness.

The park within the park and campgrounds.

Finally, first dip in lake Michigan!  And Abishai was only a little bit scared of it, but Daddy rescued him.

Babies in the waters of Lake Michigan. The water is just as cold as PEI's is.  But the sand is tan, not red.  Bummers!

Water, hills, clouds, open sky, what's not to like?

Kids can''t help but play in the water!

Outdoor toilet paper!

Lichen on a tree.

This fish was painted to look like winter and summer on this part of the inlet.  It was pretty neat.

I'll have to identify it later, but I've never picked up yellow feather before.  Cool!

Benaiah doing homework because he's missing a whole week of school.

Abishai made this combo to be Carrie, from Tayo, who carries the baby cars.

Aaron grilling hot dogs and sausages.

Hm, I've never tried cheese and avocado on a hot dog before.

Blue tongues from blue moon ice cream!  It's a special ice cream you can only get in Michigan!  It's almost like cotton candy.  Yum!

Aaron's turn to make a big splash!

Uncle Aaron was kind enough to take care of Abishai so that we didn't have to get in the pool again.

Instead of swimming, Jared build a fire in the firepit.

Beautiful landscape.

And older log with tunnels for carpenter ants.

Handsome boy.

Great smile this time on this big one!

Warming up by the fire.

I don't want to warm up!  I want to go back in the cold pool!

Dusk!

The pool table is the perfect place to put my cars on!  And then, I'll crash them into whatever balls are near and ruin the game others are playing.  Oh, and the cars can go night night in the pockets as well.

Justin loves playing pool and is determinted to practice a lot on it.  Grandpa sort of knows how to play, so he played against Justin.  And Abishai inserted himself many times, including moving the stool seat over so he could reach the balls better.

Tomorrow: Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes! 4 hrs in the car!  What other sites will we see?!.......