January 6th

It was a bright and sunny, but cold day.  The anticipated high was 39F.

We were only one minute behind schedule pulling out of the driveway this morning!  Not too shabby after a very relaxed two week break from our regular schedule.

I checked the mail, possibly for the first time this year.  Then went to the bank and then to Sam's.  I was running quite early, as I had already pumped my gas and was pulling up to pick up my internet order and it wasn't even yet 9!

They had some cuuuuuuute Easter dresses out, so I bought them.  Sadly, the twins were too small for the same pattern as the big girls, so theirs are similar, but a little different.  I grabbed a rotisserie chicken (which I usually eat as my lunch) and then headed to the counter to pick up my order. Lansing sometimes feels like a small town, because I ran into one of my MOPS ladies there today!

I headed to the Dollar Tree to gather more things for our party. I found a Lisa Frank calendar at the Dollar Tree that I just had to send to Chelsea. My next stop was to pick up Sarah.  She provided me with a shipping envelope for the calendar, since I was headed the post office anyhow.

It was a short trip to the dealership to reclaim Avia's car.  Then I was off to the post office.  I mailed some German books to Brian and the calendar to Chelsea, and it was still before noon!

Once I made it home, it was time to unload the groceries and put everything Sarah had given me away.

Then I worked a little on our Amazon store, and ended up having to message Haley for help.

Once all of my chores were done, I got to work on my decorations.  I was soooooooo happy with the napkins.  Hopefully Emily and I will get to work a little on the plates tomorrow.

The afternoon felt long and quiet without my children home, so I was really excited to go retrieve them from school.

Homework took a particularly long time, maybe because we were out of the habit or maybe because they were exhausted from school?

For dinner we had 'loaded' French fries to use up the last of the ham!  I thought the were pretty good, but not amazing.  The kids ate well though.  The side of oranges were a big hit though. = )

And my evening took a sad turn when I found that someone in our household has lost the riding lawnmower key!  Sarah and I were planning on taking it in tomorrow, but without the key, I can't = (

I looked on every shirt I would have possibly mowed in (the key has a safety pin on it, so that I can hook it to my shirt while I'm putting the gutters back on, picking up branches, etc.  I also checked the machine's ignition without success.  So, I cleaned out the most likely suspect's computer cabinets: William, Grace and Juliet.  No luck.  at least their cabinets are clean now. = /

Billy braved the cold and dark with me to find the replacement part number, and hopefully we've ordered the correct thing.

Here's hoping that the key comes quickly, is correct and I can get my machine looked at before I need it again!

later days

Whitefish Point, Michigan

It was the best make fun of Sarah night we've had in years not the Vancouver sister's trip that we had planned on our last adventure, but it all worked out because our Mom got to come along for the chaos fun!

The fun started when Sarah wanted to read her super boring book called "The mind numbing journey of people or immigrants or spies who travelled to America from Denmark or Finland or Norway on, before or after the First World War, part II" (or something like that) in the car.  I had to remind her that reading in the car was bad for your eyes and so she started talking about her friend and thumb remover Dr. Stewart.

Then  we found a picture of Grandma Sondra in the bag of food Avia had brought, because she thought we'd want to see it on our trip to the UP?  So, Grandma Sondra became our mascot* for this trip. = )

Here she is politely declining some road trip candy.

Haley was making sure she didn't get wet.

Checking out all of the lighthouses in Michigan.

Crossing the Mackinaw Bridge!

I was the driver for the second part of our evening trip up north.  It was rainy and dark (and cold, but not cold enough to affect the roads) the entire drive up.

Haley was the photographer on my phone when I was in the driver seat. Safety first!

We stayed in a cabin that was just north of Paradise, MI.  It was perfect.

We were all pretty worn out, so it was an early bed time after settling in.

Avia cooked us all breakfast the next morning, before we headed out to the lighthouse at Whitefish Point!

Sarah looks the same in all my pictures, because she hadn't quite figured out what was going on yet and hidden herself away!  But she knew she didn't like it.

My bed with 3 blankets.  The UP is a cold place.

Posing by the mudroom door before we head out.

A few weeks ago I found a replica of the Whitefish Point lighthouse at a yard sale. I was so excited to bring it up for comparison. = )

We toured the shipwreck museum.  It was well done, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Inside the lighthouse keeper's family's former residence.

You can see Canada from the second floor!

We made it to Lake Superior!  So now I can cross seeing all 5 great lakes off my list.  I don't know who took the selfie, but I didn't get it. = (

I wore inappropriate shoes, so I ended up barefooted on the beach and it was cold!!!!

Haley and I each tossed in a rock "for Canada!"

A path that I thought Billy would like:

Grandma Sondra liked the dunes. ; )  We had to give her a make-shift poncho with the off and on rain we were getting.

Next on our trip was a trip to Paradise for coffee, gas and souvenirs.

Another stretch of Lake Superior.  The weather was so much nicer than the rain that they had called for earlier in the week, which was a nice surprise.   We had a little rain, but the sun peeked through the clouds every now and again.

#flatgrandma coming in to checkout the convenience store in paradise.

Food truck!

The Tahquamenon Falls were not too far away, so we headed in that direction. The lines were incredibly long, and parking scarce, but we braved both to get some fun pictures!

Save #flatgrandma Haley!

Haley was about to pose for a picture with me, but instead went off to chase a chipmunk.

When we drove back down to the lower falls the line was shorter, and parking a little bit easier.

We all had our first ever Pastie at the café in the Lower Falls.  They were about to close for the season, so it was particularly good. = )  They were really big, so we took them to go.  I think Seven ended up with a whole one to himself when we got back.

After we finished at the falls we set off to see another light house, but it was 18 miles away on a dirt road (we think the entire way, we only went about 5 miles before we decided that it wasn't worth it.)

Back at the cabin  Avia skunked Haley and I at Scrabble, but Sarah and I won the single round of Pictionary that we played.

The next morning we had blueberry pancakes (since there were no muffin cups) before we headed out.

When we left it was cold and a little overcast.

And it snowed on us, in October,  before we left the UP!

We stopped to take pictures a few times, and wanted some pictures of the bridge in the daylight.

But it was cold, so #flatgrandma and I hung out in the car.

We were running about 5 minutes late for our zip line appointment.  It was lightly raining most of the drive.  When I called they said not to worry, and that they would wait for us.

So, we were surprised to arrive and not be the last ones!

Helmets & harnesses on!

This particular location is a zip line course versus just a single zipline.  So, we went on 10 different ziplines during the day.  Avia was the very first volunteer.

Haley did some acrobatics.

I was thoroughly chilled by the 5th or 6th line, but made it to the end!  I borrowed the boots that Sarah had brought along for Haley, since by 'close toed' they probably meant something a little less likely to fall than my slip on shoes.

The site was only a few hours away from Lansing, so they got me home in time to get everyone ready for Monday.

We don't have any solid plans for next year, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. = )

later days

*when Emily saw my pictures, she had a brilliant idea that I was quite sad we hadn't come up with.  She said we should have hidden the picture in every picture like an Eye Spy! Maybe on our next trip. = )

Edited 7/18/2023: This post is now a part of my project: 78 State Parks! #15

Grand Haven State Park #53