Despite the overall impression that people in Michigan have a hard time planning ahead* when I called the campsite in February**, the only cabins they had left did not have indoor plumbing. Sadly, late June was the only time that our schedule meshed with the Prescott's so we "roughed" it, and definitely could not call this a "glamping" trip. = )
As the school year waned and the summer weather began, we all started to become increasingly excited about our trip!
I finally unwrapped our cooler from our move (last August), and inventoried what we had and what we needed.
Emily channeled her excitement into pictures and notes for the Prescotts:
And just before our trip, planning the next round of shots, since medication administration does not get a vacation.
Billy had been at a training in Pennsylvania all week, and did not fly in until Friday morning. My mom came over early bringing a few forgotten items, and helped (mostly) readied the children for the trip. I had almost everything organized and ready to go, but had very little packed when Billy came home from the airport, stopping to buy ice for the cooler. He was able to catch a quick nap while I finished loading the car. Then it was finally time to load everyone up and drive to Muskegon to catch the ferry!
I fed everyone ginger snap cookies, I took a Dramamine, and we unloaded to walk onto the boat. Billy was the responsible party for driving the car onboard.
Inside it was a mix of an airport and cafeteria. We'd brought tons of snacks for the 2.5 hour trip, and then the announcement came that no outside food or drink was permitted. So, I gave last bites to all, and sadly packed away our picnic.
Midway through the trip, Billy bought pizzas and pretzels for everyone to snack on. William at an entire one all by himself^!
Pulling into Milwaukee was very exciting!
It was cold in Wisconsin! Luckily we'd brought jackets (well not Billy) but we had to make it into the car before we could get to them. We were right at the front for disembarkation and had to speed through the typically eternal process of buckling everyone in.
It was drizzling as we navigated to the campsite, but cleared by the time we completed our 25 minute trip.
Our campsite was one removed from the Prescott's, so there was quite the back and forth of excited children across our middle neighbors "lawn."
So happy to be reunited!
Aside from unpacking and snacking, we didn't have much time the first night. Emily slept in the Prescott's cabin thanks to fire code restrictions, but she didn't seem to mind. = )
We were able to play the first few rounds of Stone Age before calling it a night.
*****
Day one was not relaxing at all, but we managed to attend everything anyone wanted. We really didn't need the organized activities, here are the girls entertaining themselves with nothing but an empty firepit. = )
Nothing opened until 8, so when your crew gets up at 6:45, exploring is the only thing on the agenda.
Alice and Scarlett opted to play on the giant chessboard over mini-golf.
William tried to use his golf lessons from Aunt Rocky on the first hole, we were able to talk him out of trying it a second time. = )
Once the jump pillow and playground were open, we turned in our putters and crossed the road, stopping for a few photos.
There was also a sand pit to dig and play, but the only picture I have is of William testing his balance on a spinning wheel!
The waterpark/pool opened at 10, so we headed back to change for the water!
We went to a game that was a little too advanced for the big girls, and quite boring for the little ones, but we learned something new:
The waterpark was perfect. Surprisingly, the water was heated, so even I got in!
William loved the slides, Grace and Juliet spent time being the "big girls" around Baby Kate, and the big girls had fun in the deeper pool & some even braved the big slides!
We pulled them away from the water to visit the inflatables area, which was only open for a few hours each day.
Safe to say we wore out our children with all the coming and going!
We woke the nappers for a fajita dinner and followed up with so s'mores.
After dinner we went to stand in the loooooooong line for the glow "hey ride." It was the only night of our trip that they offered it, so it was worth the wait.
They scored seats at the very top! I took the opportunity of alone time to pick out our souvenir Christmas ornament. = )
We finished off the night by walking over to the dance pavilion. The adults were completely out of battery, so we told the kids one song. It was a good one. The next song was one of Alice's current favorites, and she talked Billy into staying for just one more song, and William wanted to stay too.
The rest of us headed back to the cabins to get ready for bed. There was no fight from anyone. = ) We lacked the energy to even set up Stone Age for another night, so we played an altered version of Cards Against Humanity.
******
Before all of mine were even awake, James had a crew over at the playground. From there they went to "wake up Yogi."
Emily was the last one to wake, so once she was ready, she and I joined the rest of the group in frosting our own donuts:
We didn't try to fit nearly as many things into day two, but we did go back to the pool and let them swim until they were hungry.
One event I try not to miss is candy bar bingo. So, the dads held down the fort while Kate napped and the rest of us went to play!
Caroline won early in the event, so I took those who were finished, as well as a candy bar for each, back to the cabins.
When they finished, we walked over to redeem our birthday cards at the front office.
I'd given mine a budget for crafting, but they didn't have a craft store available, so we all went shopping at the general store. William talked me into a foam plane, that entertained him for hours. It was particularly well loved, since we were only a few minutes from the airport.
The rest of the day we left unstructured, had burgers and hot dogs for dinner.
The adults played 2 rounds of horseshoes while the kids played on the playground. We left it at a tie.
The kids played with toys designated for travel play. We also learned that you can actually eat stones, just watch your teeth! The kids had no trouble going to bed after a second busy day. = )
We ended the day by finishing our Stone Age Game (James was the winner, by a pretty good margin!) Then we played a round of CAH with our own rules before calling it a night.
*****
Monday was our final day with the Prescotts = ( Since they had the cabin for one more night, they were able to make a leisurely exit.
After breakfast, we spent a few hours at the pool, getting out only to eat a picnic lunch, then getting right back in.
William and Gwen braved the tall slides, though only did it a few times before returning to the other areas.
Juliet was terribly sad to be left behind at the gate, because she was not tall enough to slide. = (
Alice and Scarlett spent the majority of that last day on the big slides.
Sadly, the time quickly arrived for us to part ways. Luckily, Caroline remembered to have them stage one last group picture:
Saying goodbye is so hard:
After they pulled out, we all kind of moped about. William built structures out of the remaining cereal boxes. The girls played with their stuffed animals or on their tablets (since we had a no tablet rule while the Prescotts were there.)
Once I snapped out of it, I took anyone that wanted to go to the other playground that we hadn't visited with the Prescotts. We stayed there until they started to fight.
Turns out, they do have crafting activities available, but only at certain times during the weekdays. Emily and Juliet wanted to go make a souvenir to bring home, while everyone else went to bounce on the jumping pillow.
After a hot dog and leftover dinner, we walked over to put Yogi to bed and watch some Yogi cartoons at the theater. It got cold though, so we didn't get to finish the show.
I got a message later from Caroline that they had coined our gathering CrockScott. So, that's our new meetup name.
*****
It was the hardest to sleep the night before our departure, so I was up before my children Tuesday morning.
I had quite a bit packed, and lunch made, before it was time to make breakfast for my early risers.
Once Billy got ready, he took the kids up to mine rocks with BooBoo Bear. Once I finished packing, I joined them in their activity.
We easily made our check out goal of 10:30. It didn't take us long to get to the Ferry, so while we waited in line I had lunches out and ready to go!
Everyone knew the drill, and did well getting on the Ferry.
Tablets were not nearly as entertaining on the return trip...
...because we had a bunch of sleepers!
As we neared Michigan, Billy took the two who were still awake up to the upstairs viewing deck. Emily was very excited, since she'd been asking since we left Wisconsin. = )
We stopped for an early dinner in Muskegon. They had the interstate completely shut down north of Grand Rapids. Michigan doesn't believe in service roads, so that meant a significant detour, during "rush hour" traffic in Grand Rapids. It didn't add much time to our trip, but enough that we made a pit stop halfway.
We were all so excited to be home, but already starting to plan our trip for next summer. = )
later days
*It is impossible to buy "off season" clothes and items here. Right now, you would be hard pressed to find any sort of snow equipment anywhere other than yard sales.
**I guess this was technically Wisconsin, so perhaps their planning skills are better honed there.
^now I just need to figure out where to buy them, since that is the most he'd eaten in forever!
