Year 2, Day 231: Baby Josephine!

Last full day of vacation, Saturday, August 19th, 2017.

Yes, today was all about Baby Jo!  Josphine is an 8 month old cutie pie, daughter of Donna (Jared's cousin and middle child of Ron) and Willie.  We all love Donna, so it was great to spend some time with her and her little family.  She is adjusting to motherhood easily! She's a full time respiratory therapist, and Willie works full time as well, but they manage to share the duties of parenting quite well and utilize both sets of grandparents as babysitters.  Jospehine is so well loved and it shows.  She's happy, busy, and even chased Abishai!  Usually it's Abishai trying to chase girls (and boys) wanting hugs, but Jospehine wanted to chase Abishai for a hug and use him to pull up on.  She crawls well and is pulling up all the time now.  And, here's the big thing, she weighs 25lbs just like Abishai does RIGHT NOW, so they are evenly matched!  She's also pretty long, too, where as Abishai is a skinny mini.  If Abishai wasn't reaching his milestones, I would be concerned about his height and weight.  But Justin was the same way.  Abishai fell in love with "Baby Josee."  He kept bringing her toys and wanting her to sit in the high chair.  He didn't mind when she got a hold of him.  He was just happy to have a playmate his size!

Good morning!  What a stark contrast from the last two days of rain and gloom!  I know Jared loves thunderstorms, but I don't like the heavy feeling of the wetness and darkness that surrounds them.  So, hello sunshine!  This must be a resort of some sort across the bay, because it looks awesome!

I turned on my compass on my phone and not remembering how we are positioned on the map, I forgot that we are actually facing southwest.  That's why I can't seem to get a good sunset picture!  This particular picture though is mostly south facing.

And this would be facing the southeast.  Still gorgeous!  I'm going to miss

More game time, of course!  While all the adults got caught up on each others' news.  We haven't really seen or talked with this side of the family in years!  The last time we were with all of them for a special occasion was Donna and Willie's wedding in 2012 (or was it 2011?)  That's a long time in our world!

Abishai is actually excellent at fitting this Tetris shaped pieces together.  He'll rearrange them, too, to make them fit just right.  I need to find some things like this that will keep his attention for when we do our homeschooling during the hours he is awake.

Right before what I consider to be lunchtime, we took a 10 minute trip up the road to this 100 year old "General Store" now turned gift shop with a couple of kinds of malts, ice cream floats, and a little lunch/dinner menu.  And yes, the kids got ice cream before lunch.  It is, after all, vacation!

The store was decorated with lots of things you would find in a general store, like this coal burning stove used to heat up the store.  The hobby horse was for sale though.

The sign read something like this uniform was worn by the waitresses at this soda fountain 50 years ago or it had to do with War World II or something.  I can't remember.  (As I type this 9 days after we were there since I'm so far behind on the blog!)

Awesome way to decorate the ceiling!  There were lots of old signs and food containers from 50-75 years ago.

The alcohol was new though.  I'm sure selling alcohol helps keep the store literally afloat.  I love the little signs that say "Repeal the 18th Amendment!"

Old time air conditioning!

Probably original screen door frames.

The drawers on this cabinet held some dishes that maybe they use for the little restaurant out back?  I don't kow if this was previously a stove or what.  They did have some coffee supplies back there though.

Oo, since the Lavender Hill Farm is only two miles away, the store sells some of their products including fresh lavender cuttings!  Sweet!

More fun stuff!

Awesome clock!  And I love the "Horton Bay Lodge" which I think Horton Bay is the name of the area or maybe somewhere up north?

Ah, this makes sense!  And this is, I think, is either an original or a copy of a certificate from when they first started doing the bridge walk.  Or at least I assumed it was the Macinac Bridge.  Now I'm not so sure.  But why else would you need a certificate for crossing a little bridge in a small town?  Hm,....

Well, there ya go.  The history of the store itself.

The teen staying out of the small store doing his thing on his iPod of course.

The General Store is next door to this little bookstore associated with Hemmingway called the Red Fox Inn.

Old fashioned bar that you can eat and get your soda pop from just like when Gary and Leah were kids!  It didn't have every flavor, and they only used fizzy water to create the special floats, but still, everyone got to sit oon the bar stools and drink from the big shake cups.

Gorgeous old mirror like in the saloons of old, plus yes, gas powered lights!

Nice advertisements, one for our favorite ginger ale, which I believe is a Michigan product, Vernor's!

Sweet!

The whole history of this place is on a sign below, but basically, Hemingway was taught how to fish by the owner of this inn back when Hemingway would come up here to write.  Now the granddaughter owns and runs it (but she is an older person) so I think her son does the behind the scenes work.  The store is filled with new and used Hemingway books, some old newspapers, some locally made handicrafts, and a few other odds and ends.  I'm sure if Hemingway is your favorite author, this is a place you put on your bucket list.  For us, it just happened to be nearby.  I did buy a book from them, but it was a historical fiction book based in 1812 on Mackinac Island.  And when I purchased it, I had to help the older lady figure out how to do the Square app.  I told her I use it for my direct sales business so I know the app and didn't mind helping her out.  Poor thing was quite embarrassed.

At first I thought these signs were pretty unique and original to the inn, but then there were more inside that had quotes from Hemingway, so maybe these are references to his real story or the ones he created?  I don't know.  I've never read any of this work.

Must pet every animal he sees even if it is fake!

Ok then!

After the General Store and Red Fox Inn, one van went back to the cottage and the other van drove another couple of miles to the Lavender Hill Farm.  It was Jared, Abishai, Keturah, Leah, and I who went.  I know Leah's sinuses do not handle smelly stuff like flowers and essential oils well, so I hadn't anticipated her coming along and I don't think she did, too.  But others wanted to get back to the cottage for a multitude of reasons, so she gave up her seat to them.  I kind of felt bad about it and hoped that being around so much of the flowers wouldn't affect her negatively.  Anyway, here are some other flowers we found on the grounds of the farm.

Lavender typically blooms in July, so all the plants were duller because they were past their prime.  I wanted to go on this field trip because my favorite essential oil company uses fields of lavender in their advertising.  Lavender is also the most versatile essential oil you can find.  If you don't know what other oil to use, use lavender.  It's mild, as in you can put it directly on your skin without mixing it with a carrier oil but also potent for things like bee stings and anxiety and sore spots.  A lot of people will use it as a spray on their bed lines to help them calm down before they go to sleep.  I love it!

Cute!  There was a gift shop filled of lots of homemade essential products using lavender and sometimes other oils like peppermint or eucalyptus.  There were teas and choclates and lavender flavor maple syrup and lavender sugar, of course lotions, bug sprays, etc.  This spray was for the kids to chase away the monsters at night by spraying it under the bed and around the room.  What a great idea!

Chocolate!  I ended up buying a lavender lemonade that was made off site and actually didn't taste much like lavender and had a bunch of chemicals in it.  But, oh well, it was my treat since I couldn't have the ice cream earlier.  Jared also did not eat or drink a shake because of the sugar content.

The current owners of the farm took it over just recently in 2015.  I think it's been in operation for 15 years or so.  They have about 10 different varities of lavender.  As you would expect, each would be used in different applicants.  Some, like Violet Intrigue, will be distilled into the oil.  The lady said it takes something like 20,000 lbs of lavender in order to make 1 liter of oil.  They also have a drying shed on the farm so that they can make little eye pillows and sachets for closets and maybe even the tea that they sell in their stre.

Jared loves looking at growing things and I'm not being sarcastic!  Lavender likes dry, sandy conditions, which is perfect considering we are so close to the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.  The plants don't like "wet feet" so you have to be careful not to overwater them.  Thus, they have this black tarps so the excess water can run off.  Lavender is a perennial, so it will come back from year to year.

I bet these are some of the older plants.

So many kinds!

Aw, the boys.  Always learning together.

I bet this is just picture perfect in July!  I can nly imagine it!

Yeah, another thing crossed off my bucket list!  And, I actually bought a 1 year old plantling to take home with me.  Again, you have to be careful.  They need full sun, dry conditions and a certain PH level  I'm going to transfer it to a bigger pot for another year or two until we redo our flower beds.  We might get a few flowers off of it next year I can use for tea or something, or crush between my fingers to release the oil.  I'm super stoked to have this on hand all the time!

Then, on the way back, we ran into some wild turkeys!  So now we've seen 4 deer, a skunk, and 7 wild turkeys!  I love northern Michigan!  Real wildlife!

They were able to cross safely, thankfully.  We pointed out to Keturah that we do eat turkey and she didn't seem to mind or she didn't make the connection between the live animal and the meat on her dinner plate.

When we got back to the house, Jared literally took the "path less traveled by" and drove down a little path off the main road.  He decided not to actually drive through the tall weeds, but it was a perfect opportunity for Leah and I to get some pictures from this point of view.

Ah, a slightly different point of view then from the 3rd floor of the house.  This is from the 1st floor.  The way this house i built into the hillside, there's tons of floors.  From the loft and bedrooms over the garage, to the main floor, to the "basement" down to the pool level, then down one more to the raquetball court.  It was such a maze!

Gorgeous!

I wish I was a better photographer that could capture little ones' antics quicker.  I just never know what angle to take and it's hard for me to get up and down to the floor quickly.  I say that because oh my goodness, these two were SOOO ADORABLE!  First of all, you can tell they are second cousins with their blonde hair and blue eyes.  Baby Josephine does look like her dad Willie's side a lot, too, and most say she looks like him, but I see Johnson in her, too.

For once in his short life, the girl was chasing Abishai! Usually Abishai is the one chasing the girls and boys around trying to get them to play or give him a hug.  Nope, not this one!  Josephine was the one using him to climb up on, and basically knocking him over!  Josphine is 8 months, Abishai is 2 1/2 and they are the SAME SIZE!  25 lbs!  They wear the same size diaper and everything!  And Donna and Willie are not that differently sized than us.  I love to compare and contrast though!

Abishai is the sweetest kid and can tell when he's the older child in the pairing.  He's super gentle, shares his toys, and is generally concerned with the baby's well being.  But if you pair him with someone older, he will hang on to his toys and whack them over the head over it.

This girl's eyes are GORGEOUS! I don't know about Willie's genes, but those baby blues definitely are a mark of a Johnson.  And the light colored fluffy hair.  Josphine is a very happy baby, too.  She loves to investigate and Donna had to constantly keep up with her because the house definitely wasn't baby proof!  Donna didn't seem to mind though.  She works full time and so does Willie, and I can tell they both really enjoy the time they do have with their daughter, even "arguing" over who was going to give her her bottle.  They are such great parents!

Sigh. I love watching babies (and older kids) learning about each other.

Grandma Nina held Josephine while the rest of the kids gathered around the "live plaything."  All the kids were interested in the baby, and would tickle her and play with her.  They all have younger siblings, too, which does make a difference.

And no, it wasn't all about the baby.  Poor Mommy's and Daddy's get pushed out of the pictures sometimes, so I made sure to get one of Willie (in the rocking chair) and his father in law Ron. 

What a great grandma Aunt Nina is!  I'm guessing Ron doesn't like to get in the pool, so Nina does, just like Leah does not like swimming and Jared or Gary will get in.  Swimming wears me out too fast, so I prefer not to get in.  I've "been there, done that" in my life.  Plus, I'm just not used to even a pool that was relatively warm.  I like the hot tub better.  So, kudos to Nina for donning her bathing suit and hanging with the kids!

Smiles all around! If I haven't mentioned this before (it's taking me a lot longer than I thought to get these blog posts together and I'm currently 10 days behind as I type this, so, I don't remember what I've said or not said, sorry), Abishai has gone from wearing his water wings for the very first time (I'm not kidding!) and being afraid to step off the seats in the hot tub to literally jumping off of those same seats and kicking his feet, not concerned that he can't touch the bottom, all in one week!  In fact, that little daredevil jumped INTO THE BIG POOL in the DEEP END multiple times, went under the water for a second, and popped up still with a smile on his face wanting to do it again.  All our other kids were deathly afraid of doing such things, as most kids are, and most adults including myself.  I do get quite anxious though because he would get of the big pool, run up the stairs, and was able to get up high enough and over into the hot tub and vice versa. You could get into the hot tub on the upper level of the pool room or get in it from the other side, which was actually a step or two down from the balcony level.  If he had gone over on that side, I think he would have fallen on his head, down the steps, and onto the concrete.  Yes, pretty scary.  In fact, he did run around the pool and slipped a couple of times, tapping his head on the cement.  We are going to need some great insurance to keep up with this one!

One of the happiest kids I've ever known.  Or, he's just our last kid and our parenting style has relaxed a lot in the last 15 years.  Either way, that smile is a winner!

I love it when the big guys jump into the water leaving huge waves in their wake.

Just keep swimming!

Baby Josephine seems to enjoy the water, too.  Uncle Ron and Aunt Nina have a cottage on the lake with a boat, and they go up there often on summer weekends.  Donna, Willie and Josephine often join them as well.  Donna's Instagram feed has numerous pictures from there.

Abishai might be shivering after just 5 minutes in the pool, but he can't get enough of Daddy rides!

Abishai isn't even afraid of floating on his back!

Babies!

She may not look like she does, but did enjoy her pool time before her nap!

Equal rivals!

Grandpa didn't get in the pool as much on this vacation as he has on vacations in the past.  I think it's because he spent a lot of time with Benaiah in the raquetball court.  But yeah that he got in the pool!

So...much....water...on the OUTSIDE of the pool!  Jared used a pool noodle to try to guide it into the drain or back into the pool.

Babies are down for naps so it's time for the grownups to play some euchre!

The guys went outside to eat on the deck, but weren't careful, so down they went.  At least they picked up after themselves!

One of Jared's favorite things to do when he plays with the babies, making raspberries on their feet!  Josephine wasn't so sure about it though.

Hahahahaha!  Then there's this wiggly worm toddler who knows the routine and tries to get out of it!

Taking care of baby!  Josphine doesn't eat much baby food yet, but it's worth a try.

Abishai had much less screen time this week.  I don't know what it is about it, but he kind of looks cute sitting there quietly with Grandma's Nook on his lap and his toes sticking out.  He has several favorite videos on there, plus a game or two.

Wait, isn't the mama supposed to be feeding the baby?  Lol!  Sweet mama and baby moment!

This is the best sunset picture I can get because of the deck facing southwest instead of west.  Oh well.

Now that's pretty!

I spent 10 minutes working on different settings of the camera, trying different positions, and different places to put the auto focus and auto color on.  I wanted to show the trees, but every time I would focus on the horizon, the auto exposure would close because it would be too bright and then the trees would be too dark.  But then if I focused on the trees, the horizon would wash out.  Grrr....I need to work on learning how to work my camera better!

We had hot dogs and burgers for dinner, so someone put a hot dog in a bun for Abishai.  Well, of course it was too big for him to get his mouth around it, so instead of eating it from the end, he started eating it from the top down!  Eventually he abandoned the bun as I had suspected but continued eating the hot dog from the sides instead of the end.  Lol.  And he loved it when we put mustard on it!  He says, "mustard" so adorably!

Ice cream and cake with Ice Cream on the deck.

Big foot!

The garage and bedrooms above the garage are towards the left, while the main living room is there on the right.  The dormers on the right belong to the bedrooms in the loft.

I'm not sure how old these chairs are, but, not only could you sit in it like you would a folding chair, but he bottom slid out and the back reclined making it into a chaise lounge!  I was super impressed because I had never seen something like that before!  I think they will be on a future summer wishlist!

All the decor had a cabin type theme.  And, some (not all) screamed "I'm from the '90's!" Actually, this table and the matching ones were pretty.

There were a couple of these rugs and they would match perfectly with Gary and Leah's cabin themed house.  Actually, with the newest upgrades, their decor has now become a little more modern/sophisticated and less cabin like.  Gary went all out for the cabin theme when Gpa Johnson passed away and the family cabin was sold. 

The sun doesn't go down for awhile, and since the babies had late naps, everyone was up later than normal.  Last night of vacation, so anything goes.

Oh those clouds!  Oh that water! Memories!

We were right under the window where Josephine was sleeping and it was open so she could hear us and was not settling down to sleep.  Abishai was very concerned about "baby crying" and kept looking over at Donna and Willie saying with his eyes, "Aren't you going to go help her?"

Help, baby!

Last night of vacation, so let's build a fire (before it started drizzling rain on us).

Peaceful.

Ah yes, pyrotechnic my kids are.

Looking great as always!

Master fire builder right there!

There was a half set of stairs from the personal gym/raquetball over look that obviously was the perfect spot for Abishai to crawl through instead of using the stairs themselves.  There was a door in that room that led to the outside to where the firepit was.  And in fact, this is the second picture I took.  I told Abishai to do it the first time we passed through that area that night, and he did and I took a picture.  And then the second time we went through, he said, "Take picture!"  Ok then, I'm glad you remember what happened last time.!

But yes, this was our last night of Johnson Summer Vacation 2017.  Super sad face.  I think it was one of the best vacations so far because we were able to spread out.  We had so many things to do right there at the house, too.  And we were all excited about the different bucket list things we did, even those who were "born and bred" Miciganers.  Gary and Jared were both born in Michigan, and Leah lived there for several/many years when her Dad was a pastor there for while, that's where/when/how Gary and Leah met.  They moved to Lincoln, IL when Jared was 1 years old and Gary went to seminary at Lincoln Christian University.  And that's where Aaron was born.  They moved to Indianapolis in January of 1990 when Jared was 10 1/2  and Aaron was 7 1/2.  And they've been here ever since.

Anyway, vacation is nearly over.  All that is left is to drive home, stopping along the way to spend a few minutes with Leah's brother Ed, and Grandma Cook.  I think we are all ready to dig in to reality land though, too, now that we are filled up with lots of new memories and great food and rest.

Road trip tomorrow!