Year 4, May 24th-27th, 2019: Memorial Day Weekend 2019

Friday was a travel day to School Section Lake in Walkersville, MI to Uncle Ron's Cottage. Everybody was up and ready to go on time by 9am. Socks is being taken care of by Jessica Holton and our neighbors' Jim and Adrienne Smith, and we had settled that earlier in the week. Everything was a go and the ride up there was uneventful.  We did take the drive leisurely and made a couple of stops.  I'll mention it here while I'm thinking about it, but I did feel like Gary was more like his old self and able to fully relax and unplug and be at peace.  He interacted more, didn't feel as "driven" or "time crunched" as he has been on other vacations to write books or sermons or lessons.  In fact, he read pre teen books on the countries he and Leah will visit next month instead of reading the next book on leadership or theology.  I am so grateful for this sense of "breathing room" and getting back to a regular person's normal pace of life.  He can finally be Dad and Grandpa again.  And he knows it.  We all knew it.  It was a season of transition and it's over. Back to much more balanced life. Praise the Lord! Therefore, he felt free to make extra stops on the way up to Michigan instead of "hurry up and get there."  Ah, it's so freeing!  And if you know Gary well enough, he has looked forward to just having one full time job instead of two.  It was a beautiful weekend of many memories made between him and the grandchildren.  I am full of joy because of it!

And as I am typing this up nearly a week later, I am being interrupted by kids and I can't remember all stories, so I suspect that most of them will come up as I caption photos.  I might not get a blow by blow "what we did" paragraph done, but we'll see what we can come up with.  It was ingrained in me long ago when I was a consultant for Creative Memories, it's not about a perfect scrapbook page or perfectly formed sentences or pretty handwriting.  It's all about the stories you do get written done for future generations.  And this blog is just that, not perfection, but some of the stories from our journey.  Here goes.  Disclaimer: I thought I was going to do 1 post per day but since I took way less pictures this time, and the uploading was weird because of a malfunction in my mouse, I managed to get it all into one post.  So, you might want to read on in stages.  Here goes!  Videos will be linked to a YouTube playlist down below.

Memorial Day Weekend 2019

CFA, always, one last CFA before hitting the Michigan border!  Abishai asked for and ate an adult meal of 8 chicken nuggets, medium fries, and Sprite!

An hour later we stopped at the Dutch farmers' market.  It was pretty cold out but some people had ice cream.  It's not a Johnson vacation without lots of ice cream stops.  They had some unique dutch things, but it mostly about local crops like Michigan cherries.  They had a frozen or refrigerated 5 gallon bucket of sugar sweetened Michigan cherries for $67.  We all know how Gary loves Michigan sweet cherries! They weren't in season yet, but we did see lots of cherry and apple orchards in bloom.  One orchard had a flowering tree (non fruit tree) at the end of each row and I can only assume that it's for attracting bees so that the apple trees can be pollinated.  It was just a tad odd to see a purple flowering tree at the end of a row of white flowering trees.

Just a little drizzly and rainy out to have ice cream, but that's ok.  Remind me of PEI in June, when the touristy places start opening up.  They do open up about this time of year, although it's still only 60 degrees through the month of June.  It's fun to think about the summer season and seasonal places like dune buggy rides or ice cream shops that are only open a few months of the year.  PEI was like that, and rolled up their carpets from November through April.  Their season used to be shorter, but with their never ending cruise ships, the tourist seasons has been extended.  I love how Memorial Day and Labor Day book end the summer like Benaiah's and Justin's birthdays do (June 4 and Sept. 9).  And that's why I try not to do school between these two holidays as well.

Cute Dutch themed mini golf!

When we got to the cottage, Jo Jo and Donna were already there.  I think Ron and Nina were picking up Luke and Clara at the time.  Donna had found a toad in the grass and had moved it to the woods, but they found it again.  Abishai did not hesitate one bit about holding it.  So cute!  He seemed to know exactly what to do as well, perhaps from seeing Silly Safaris at the Rooted celebration. 

Cute cooperative toad.  I think Donna would be a great homeschool mama because she loves to explore and doesn't mind dirt!

Justin and Luke spent three nights in the tent!  There was technically room for them inside, (Jo and Donna didn't spend the night), but they opted to "camp out" instead.  They only had blankets and sleeping bags, no air mattress and were on the concrete patio.  The first night it poured rain and the bottom of the tent got soaked.  But it wasn't too cold and they didn't come inside.  We got everything dried out for the next two nights, and they had a blast, and slept well  What fun!  This is Grandpa's camping/hiking tent he's had for ages.  Very lightweight and easy to hike with.

They did plenty of gaming, too.  There's no wifi at the cabin, but they had downloaded things to look at and had phone app games to play with.

Just a little bit of sand and swings to play that the littles enjoy.

More tent set up.  Abishai at one point prevented JoJo from coming into the "boys only" tent.

Boys only, JoJo!

"I sweep (sleep) here, too!"  Nice try, buddy, nice try.  We've only been camping twice and the second time, I was barely 8 weeks pregnant and still very ill with this guy.  Camping is fun, but not with back issues and fibro pain.  It's just not something I desire to do.  Backyard camping though is fun and fine!

Nice little patio area near the boat.  We spent a lot of time hanging out here.  We did go out on the lake every day and thankfully, besides that first night, it didn't rain too much.  It was too cold to do a lot of water things, but the kids did swim a bit.  Crazy!

We didn't actually get to roast marshmallows, but had planned on it, so Jared tried to keep the fire go going the first night we were there.  BTW, sloppy joes and mayo noodle salad were dinner tonight.

Let's be safe on the boat.  And warm.  I'm so glad I brought my jacket(s) and some towels!

Keturah, Donna, and JoJo.  Yes, they are all related, lol.

My little water bug!  He loves the boat!

Uncle Ron was kind enough to let Abishai drive his boat!

Sweet Donna.  She's the only one of Justin's actual cousins we see.  She's Aaron's age, actually.  Her husband Willie was fishing with his family this weekend.  As they say, she holds the pants in the family and will most likely be the one taking care of her parents someday.  She's got a big heart.  She works at the hospital as a respiratory nurse, meaning she helps create plans for and administers treatments to patients with respiratory issues like respiratory failure, asthma, breathing treatments, breathing tubes (I don't think she does the actual trach procedure, but helps decide if it needs to be done.)

Trying to keep warm because it was pretty windy on the boat.  I think the temp was around 65-70 degrees.  But we all know how cold a wind that comes off of the water feels like.

Ooooo, archery!  Compound bow and long bow!  We couldn't remember all the steps we learned about stance and stuff, but Justin, Keturah, and I did our best.  Fond memories of taking lessons on PEI the fall/winter before Abishai was born.

First night on the lake.

Close to bedtime, but the sun hasn't set yet, so pjs on, but still playing.  #lakehouselife

Pj girl

Brothers hanging out.

Doing a little light reading before their big vacation.

Whoops, I forgot a bedtime shirt (and my capri jeans, but thankfully it was just cool enough I managed without them).  It's a good thing that Justin and I where the same size shirt!  #CIYmix #msm #momlife

Lots and lot of card games of course!

 Abishai ended up falling asleep really late in our bed before Jared transferred him to the big bottom bunk bed.  But then he was in our bed again at 4:30am when a huge thunderstorm rolled through.  Thankfully, it lasted less than an hour, but half the household was woken up by it.  I worried about the boys, but they seemed ok and never came in.  #camplife

Saturday

All the carbs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Narry a veggie in sight.  Sometimes a stray fruit.

Early morning game time.  Lots of board games were played.

Wake up Big Brother! Benaiah did spend a significant time sleeping and lounging in this bed because there was an outlet nearby.  He always downloads videos before a trip but I think he was using some data as well.

Why are you in our tent? Go back to your own bed!

An old Lego coloring book had some stickers leftover, so why not put them on the shirt?! Thankfully, they remembered to take them off the shirt before it went in the wash.

Must have been a hard day/night yesterday because naps were had before going to the dune buggy ride after right lunch.

This is what happens when there's a storm right outside your tent.  You don't sleep!

Here we go!  The dune buggy company leases 1/3 of the state park for their operations and stays clear of other tourists and buggies.  These are the only dunes east of the mississpi that you are allowed to go on.  The rest have been claimed as wildlife preserves, like the one on PEI.  There's one path where you can climb up and over the dune, but you can't stray off of it or you'll hurt the wildlife.  But here, there's so much of it and it's spread out, it's fine.  There is a few areas you have to stay off of, but that's it.

Just like a real roller coaster, there was a couple of steep downgrades where your gut went into through throat.  A bit scary to me!  But the boys loved it!

Our lovely tour guide.

There once was a forest here, and I think they cut most of it down and shipped it to Chicago for it's fire in the early 1900's.  There's still some driftwood from that but also new trees and shrubs are growing, very slowly, but they are growing.

Way off in the distance is where you can take your own off road vehicle to go have fun in the sand!  I think he said you can get like 300 vehicles up there or something.  There's not perfect road course, so it's a free for all.  Eek!

Just a little windy on the dune and on the buggy ride.  Not cold, but trying to keep my hair from going crazy.  This is looking from the top of the dune inland to the lake that comes off of Lake Michigan.  It's the mainland, this lake, the dunes, and THEN Lake Michigan which is really one mile from the mainland to Lake Michigan.

Of course my silly boys have to go DOWN the huge dune!  We only got off once on the 40 minutes ride for about 10 minutes, but we waited for Jared, Justin, and Abishai to come back up.  Down below, boats can come up near the shore and people can jump out and swim and climb the dunes, have a picnic, etc.  It can be a little crowded once the summer really picks up.  It's still a bit chilly up there in Michigan.

They made it in record time!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the boys got in the water.  Brrrrr......

And the littles stayed warm and dry.

Teens and their toys

Com on roly poly

Pals

I needed a mental break, so Jared suggested a walk.  And out I went.  It was glorious!  1,200 steps, too, and a way to keep my bowels moving and my restless legs at bay.  Perfect 76 degrees with a little breeze.

Michigan Woods

Lots of different homes and campsites that fit all kinds of budgets on this lake.  Some being torn down and rebuilt.  Some are just camping trailers.  Some are $300,000 luxury homes.  And a few people have been here for 30 years and wanted to rename the lake after owning several of the properties.  No internet unless I guess you want to get it, but rabbit ears/cable? And house phone service, plus decent cell reception, public beach, clean and neat.

And yes, mailboxes!  Although I believe all these homes are secondary homes for people, this must spend a lot of time up here to have their mail forwarded up here.  And an older original looking cabin behind them.

Ah, so quiet.

Cattails with birdhouses nearby.

Lots of Canadian gees with their goslings.

Ron with his apprentices.

The boat is great to sleep on!

He's so at home here.

Carefully shooting off some old bottle rockets.

Yeah, really?! You two play Monoply?  Who knew?  Benaiah beats Grandpa every time, but Grandpa beats him at Nerts.

Abishai was sleeping in our bed, so Jared came upstairs to try and grade papers.  Plus he had either too much caffeine or too long of a nap.  I brought some history DVD's we borrowed from the library.  This one was about Mongolian heritage.  It was filmed by an Eastern company so the subtitles were in English but it was originally filmed in eastern languages.  Very neat films to watch.

Jo Jo loves apples and leaves them everywhere!  Including in her toybox where they attract ants! Whoops, JoJo.

A girl after my own heart.  Jo's apple fell in the ground, so Donna washed it off in the lake.  No fear of germs, despite her being a respiratory nurse.  Way to go, Donna, for letting Jo build her immune system by getting dirty and not having everything perfectly clean!

Going on a bear or lion hunt, so cute!

Daredevil.  Get down!

DSLR pics of the dune buggy adventure.  Check out this cool playground they had at the place!  The place was busy but we still didn't have to way more than 10 minutes.  Yeah!

Old dune buggy msueum.

Well, it costs about 10 times that now.  Eek!  Same 40 minutes though.

I LOVE this quote!  Wowzers!  Whether it be just memories in your head or pics and videos on your phone, this makes total sense!

Original dune buggy!

They tease you as you go over Termite Bridge and say that we won't make it across because the termites ate perfect holes in the bridge.  It's just two grates that the buggy passes over some inland water.

Whoops, someone got his head in the sand! (Good thing, it's fake!

There's the mainland.

It's a desert! No, it's a sand dune!

Are we in New Mexico? No, in the background, you see Lake Michigan with fog rolling in.

Now it looks more like scrublands.

As you should know, sand dunes shift quite a bit.  So park rangers don't know exactly what it exactly look like each other.  But, it is marching steadily inland.

Hands and knees up the dune.

No, I love the beach, I love sand!

Sand angels and throwing sand! I was "done" after the throwing sand part because my sister through sand in my eyes when  I was 4 and she was 2 and I had to go to the hospital to get it flushed out.  Not a fun experience.

Michigan or Canada? We belong there.

Abishai jumped into the front seat with Grandpa Johnson on the way back.  Can you tell they are related?  And then we went down the steepest hill of them all and Abishai screamed with EXCITEMENT.  He wasn't the least big scared.  I guess Grandma and I and Keturah can all stay home now and send the boys to theme parks.  Sheesh!

On a safari, deep in the Sahara Desert....

They all had unique names. 

It was just warm enough that the ice cream melted extremely quickly.  Jared had to hold the cone out away from them and let it drip while I ran to get a cup for it.  Eek!

It costs less than $100 to get two permits and access to the dunes for the season.  You have to have the right gear and a 12 foot pole with an orange flag on the front of your vehicle.  You were responsible for your own safety though.  Gary didn't understand why people would put money into it and Jared and I were like, well, I guess you wouldn't appreciate the YouTube channel called "Dirt Every Day" where they sometimes takes weeks to tear apart and soup up a vehicle for off roading and then it's ruined by the end of the day.  That's why you call it a HOBBY.  And you know what? I got to thinking.  Gary doesn't have a traditional hobby.  He does yard work, sometimes rearranges furniture at home, he used to paint/wall paper his home, but other than that, if he's doing something non work related, it's actually work related because he's reading a leadership book or preparing a class or making phone calls and visits.  He plays Boggle on his phone. And he watches House Hunters sometimes.  Ok, you could call watching Fox News 24/7 a hobby.  But that's it.  He doesn't spend money on any hobby.  Jared works on various projects beyond regular house up keep.  Jared loves buying and planting and caring for trees.  Jared enjoys cars and trucks and planes.  He reads biographies and non fiction adventure books.  But yeah, Gary doesn't spend anything on any hobby.  Interesting.  Oh wait, he does work out.  Does that count?  Sometimes. So, he doesn't understand why you would ruin your vehicle running up and down sand dunes.  We think it's cool though.

Vacation = ice cream every day.

Never give kids ice cream cones.  Always ask for them in cups.  Clara was a disaster!

Justin barely got his done before it was a mess.  I got a watermelon slushie and it was delicous!

Cute sitting area around a tree.

Slides and sand, a staple in Lake Michigan coastal cities.

Pre teens, never too old for slides.

Goofs.  And oh yeah, it was here, not on the dunes, that Abishai threw sand all over Luke.  I was NOT happy.

Abishai! It's too cold! But he lasted 10 minutes anyway before his lips turned blue.  Justin was the same way when he was little.  The kids were fine as long as they stayed IN the water and swam, using their muscles and body heat.  Abishai didn't.

Good thing there's lots of adults around.  I never have to worry about the kiddos near the lake.  Well, Abishai, but typically Nina's already down there with Clara so we're good.

Dad, I don't want to be done!

Wait, who's out there now?  It's Justin!

Benaiah wears a hoodie until it's 85 degrees.  It makes him stink more but whatever.  Playing Nerts with Grandpa.

Sunday

We went to church at the Wesleyan church they went to last year and it was ok.  We sang all four verses of several hymns including America the Beautiful.  I hadn't done that for about 26 years in the Congregational church we attended.  We were greeted warmly. The sermon was on Christian service and reaching out to the community.  We did get a welcome gift with a mug and instant coffee and tea.  Abishai got a coloring book and a few crayons from the dollar store. They didn't announce that the kids had their own class during the sermon, so he stayed with us instead of going there.  Whoops.  I think at Cornwall Christian Church we either announced it or it was very, very obvious when a stampede of kids left after the singing.  We also did not have communion because it's a Wesleyan church and they don't do that weekly, if at all.  Not sure.  I attended Indiana Wesleyan University and would go to the Sunday campus service or go with someone to a Wesleyan church the weekends I stayed on campus, but I didn't get into their doctrine.  Then we came back to the house and Mike and Pam came to visit for the afternoon.

NOT sweet Michigan cherries, but sweet cherries all the same.

We didn't tell Abishai he needed to spit the pits of the cherries out.  He just followed Grandpa's example.  Grandpa will sit in a chair near the railing and send the pits flying over the railing one after another.  THAT'S a fun childhood memory for him.

The littles having a yummy.

Oh yeah! It's race weekend!  Indy 500 time!  We weren't able to see it on TV despite being away from the city, but Jared and I listened to a lot of it.  Gary and Leah would pop their head in a bit and ask about it.  Leah at least printed out a listing of the drivers' starting positions.  Simon Pageneud won it this year after winning the Indy Grand Prix (road course) and the starting poll position.  First time winner, led the most laps, he had an incredible day.  But the last 5 laps were crazy! Two others kept jostling for the winning position.  The only major accident of the day happened with 14 laps to go.  No one got hurt this year, but there were several cars with mechanical failures.  One female driver.  No rain.  85 degrees I think? Pretty normal day at Indy 500.  Good for them! Although accidents make the race memorable, it's actually a great thing when a fairly clean race can be one.  One mechanical error by Marco Andretti and his team, (grandson of Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti and owner of the team), was in the pits when Marco pulled away before the gas line had been pulled out and when he pulled away it ruined the fuel tank.  He as out for the rest of the race.  He was very mad too.  One guy couldn't get going at the start, so there was a gap in the starting line up.  Once he got going, he still wasn't able to get into position before the green flag starting lap.  Another guy was out about 6 laps in.  I think 6 or 7 out of 36 cars in total had incomplete races.  4 of them made it to the accident at the 186th out of 200 laps.  Ouch.  But that's racing for you.  I wanted to do more crossstitch and reading on vacation and less blogging/taking pictures but my new medication made me too sleepy and unfocused.  I took two naps each way on our driving days.  I never sleep in the car that well.  And I hadn't been overly anxious about having eveyrthing perfect before we left either, so I had had enough sleep. Except the first night with the thudnerstorm.  Kind of frustrating.

Now look who is in the kayak! Big one! He didn't expect to get dunked so he's not wearing his swim shorts that I did bring him.  Well, his brother dunked him.  Lol.

The three matriarchs of a family.  Sitting in a row for the last 40 plus years.

The water was too cold even for the guy who normally doesn't mind the cold.  He had gotten in with the kids or had started working on putting the rest of Ron's dock out.  He said his feet were going numb.

Die, spinner, die!

Benaiah on a kayak and Luke and Justin in the water.  They certainly didn't swim as long as they did last September but they did have fun.

Where did Benaiah go?  Under the kayak!

Putting out the dock time!

Justin learned how to paddle board using he kayak!  He was up on it for like 15 minutes until he got tired! Wow!

The men in the water with Aunt Pam supervising.  Aunt Pam is a problem solver!

Is that the right way to float on a kayak? Nope, but he did it!

Gary and Mike didn't expect to do this so they didn't have the proper swim clothes with them.  But they made it work.  Eventually, their legs got numb and they just ignored them.  I think they worked on the dock for maybe a half hour to an hour.

Bye, Jusitn! No life vest either!

Last piece of the dock.

Keturah loves the kayak, too. I think Grandma and Grandpa should take the kids to Eagle Creek State Park and rent kayaks during Grandparents' camp.  Again, no life vest.  Because she didn't go too far and she's become a really good swimmer.

Ok, that's too far Keturah.

Do you like my new hair do?  He keeps talking about leaving it long and then making sideswept bangs, but then he wants to cut it.  I think he should keep it all long like Jared's was between haircuts so I can play with it.

Then Benaiah decided he wanted to try kayaking around the WHOLE lake!  We did make him wear a life vest because we weren't sure of his endurance and he would be out of our sight for awhile.  It was hard finding one that fit!

Off he goes! We'll see if he makes it!  He doesn't have a phone, so I'm not sure how he would communicate with us.  However, we did follow him in the boat once the dock was done.  Just like ice skating rinks and American racetracks, there tends to be a flow of boat traffic going counter clockwise.

Always swimming.

Aunt Pam helping with fencing maybe so the geese don't hop up on the land from the water.  They on't typically land on the grass but go from the water to the grass.

Abishai was looking for Benaiah through Ron's very nice binoculars.  We had to be extra careful that he didn't drop them in the water.  He also wanted to use them backwards.

The boating crew.  I think Luke and Justin stayed behind this time.

Can you see Benaiah?! It's hard to tell but we DID see him and were surprised he was already 1/3 of the way around the lake.  He did say he had to stop a couple of times and lay down flat in the kayak to take a break.

What a natural boat lover and life explorer.

I see your nose hairs Dad!

Jared the Explorer (the song from Dora the Explorer kids' tv show comes to mind.)  Or Jared the Crocodile Hunter.  Hm,....

The blue of the water, the blue of the vest, the yellow that matches his pj shirt (yes, this kid was in pjs still), the blonde hair, blue eyes Swedish/Finnish mixed pale skinned kid belongs here don't you think?  Yup, he's a Johnson through and through.  Love the snow and cold.  Loves the Michigan water.  Cutie!

This never ever gets old.

Keturah doesn't smile for camera well, but can you tell she was eating cherries? 

This is how long it took Benaiah to make it all around the lake!  He did not go into one of the inlets that we sometimes go in, but other than that, he made it!

His thoughts on vacation....he doesn't just play around watching dumb videos or texting Ava.  He is a deep thinker. Now, I am going to hold him to this though.  He's in a tough spot with so many great student leaders the past two years.  It is hard to fill their shoes.  But I'm sure he will do well.

Hey, we know that person!

There he is!

It's an eagle and it's swooping down to catch a fish!  Actually, we saw a few fishermen this weekend.  One older guy just sat out on his dock and 1 out of 3 times he was actually asleep.  It was so cute!  He had his veteran hat over his head, a thick coat, and was just snoozing away while his pole was in the water.  Sometimes, that's all you need.

Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandson the explorer.

I think we've worn our Miss Clara.

She fell asleep! Lol!

Hm, I wonder what this door leads to?

Wait a minute?! How'd Abishai get in there! I was actually surprised that Ron allowed them to play in there for a few minutes. I don't think anything was stored in there, but I'm guessing you can get to the electric panel and such.  It was great fun and Clara got in it for a minute, too.  Abishai was not scared when the door was closed either.  He's not scared of the dark or tight spaces.  Yeah!

Little people again.

Daddy, can you help me with Angry Birds game?  It's the only game on Grandma's nook that Abishai has learned to play and he did actually learn it!  But then he got stuck.

Monopoly again.

Uh oh.  Jared got past the level Abishai was stuck and then played for another 15 minutes!  Jared played Angry Birds for probably a year while we were in Canada.  He did download it to his phone when we got home but then quickly got frustrated with the app itself and all its ads and having to keep starting over, so he deleted it.

Last perfect evening of the weekend.  Time for more bottle rockets! Or what we call "fireworks."  There were a few people actually shooting off some fireworks, but we couldn't see them and it was already 10 pm before it was dark enough to see them.  Oh well.

 Monday

It took a bit of convincing but we told Gary we probably wouldn't be ready to leave for home until 10am.  He wanted to get home to finish packing for his other vacation and meet with someone.  But first, Jared had to dig up two trees to add to his collection.  Oi! But we did leave right at 10.  Kids were tired and fussy, but we did it.

Very fussy Abishai who didn't want his picture taken.  But we didn't take one last year, so we tried for this year.  We aren't very natural at this, are we?

Oh Gary, goofy smile.  And my kids are in pj type outfits.  Oi!

Driving through Michigan reminds me of NH.  Two lane highways, hardly anyone on the road, and lots and lots of trees, both coniferous and broadleaf.  Beautious!

We stopped in Holland, Michigan, again, for a treat for Benaiah's birthday which is next week.  The folks will be gone though so we are celebrating it today.  Because it's just a coffee shop, Abishai picked out something else from the fridge.  Probably the most expensive bottle fruit smoothie and yogurt ever.  But, he carried it all by himself up the front of the line.

His favorite, Lemonjello's.

Abishai didn't eat much breakfast so he was hungry and thirsty.  He downed that fruit smoothie and tried to drink it while we were all walking to another store.  He did a great job and didn't spill it.  The boys will be back here in just 5 weeks time!

Benaiah's other favorite store was closed for the holiday, but he and Justin will come back during CIY.  It's a specialty candy store of course!

So many fancy things from all over the world!  Kind of like our Rocket Fizz shop on Monument Circle downtown Indy.

Holland's downtown reminds me so much of Charlottetown.  It's a touristy type of place near Lake Michigan and is home to Holland Christian College.  Beautifully kept.  Ah!

Yup, been there and done that.  I'm sure the boys will have a blast when they come for CIY in a few weeks!

I believe it's our first time in a Big Boy restaurant.  I can't remember if I stopped at one on one of my college tours or not.  But, I do know that a lot of people have made a big deal about it and posed with the statue so here I go.

You must finish that expensive yogurt young man! Grandpa was feeding Abishai like he was baby and making airplane noises.  We were all cracking up!  Gary also said he worked at a Big Boy when he was in high school.  I forget what he said he found in the fish, but it was disgusting at the time.  This would have been in the early '70's.

Cheese!

Abishai did eat a ton of food at lunch.  But this is so typical of him!  I bet he'll be the selfie king some day!

They were having a contest as to what could be the loudest, Benaiah's high pitch girlie screaming or a music cd.  Ouchie!  Otherwise Benaiah did zero driving this time and slept a ton.  #teenagers

Eek, are we going to go through this storm? No, we didn't, but it looks cool against the field of goldenrod weeds.

Oh boy, omnious clouds and traffic.  The traffic was because of construction and holiday traffic.  It cleared up quickly.  And we got home before it rained, I think around 7 pm?  Not too bad.  Just enough time to put stuff away, have something to eat if we felt like it (some of us were too stuffed from lunch), and head to bed.

Home, sweet, home.

All in all it was a great little trip.  I could see that Gary was more relaxed and playful.  The kids played well with each other in their own little groups.  The other adults did all the cooking and cleanup.  I didn't fuss too much.   The weather was PERFECT.  The boys got to camp out in the tent.  Abishai slept well in the big boy bed.  There were no injuries or major meltdowns.  The ebb and flow of a family that gets along well is refreshing.  But back to the tasks at hand as the rest of the township is now out of school.  Here we go with the summer schedule!

The End