Our #5

Last week we had our anniversary and instead of the tropical vacation we intended to go on, we decided to head up north to the Mackinaw area.  Sure a tropical vacation would have been nice, but we also have some things around the house we want to work on, so we thought we'd save money going this route.  It was a beautiful weekend and we had a great time.  It definitely was a bit weird being away from the kids for so long and not having to worry about their schedules and moving slower to accommodate their needs, but it's always good to have "us" time too.  Plus, they had fun with Grandma and Grandpa Bush while we were gone, so it was good for everyone.

We left Thursday and headed up.  We got there around 3pm, set up camp, had a quick dinner and then headed down to the bridge area to get some sunset photos.  Of course Troy has the better pictures on his good camera, but here are some photos from my good ole phone:

We then went to find some ice cream.  OMG it was delicious (so good that we went back on Sunday too!!)

On Friday we headed up to the UP and went to Tahquamenon Falls.  We hiked a few trails and then scoped out the Lower and Upper Falls.

Part of the Lower Falls are way off in the background

More Lower Falls

Part of the Upper Falls, through the trees 

Clear view of the Upper Falls

Bridge view from UP

We then got a few bridge pictures from the UP side and then headed back.  Another quick dinner and then we headed to the pool.  The website of our campground claimed it was a heated pool, but I didn't think it was very warm!  I just decided to hang out in the sun, on the sidelines!

Back at the campsite, we built a fire so I could have those long awaited roasted starbursts and of course a few s'mores.  We met our new neighbors for the weekend and boy were they a hoot.  They could take up an entire blog entry in itself, but I spare you those stories for now.

Boy that starburst looks itty bitty in this picture, but it sure was yummy!

S'mores time!

On Saturday, we hung out at the pool again, had lunch, and then got ready to go to Mackinaw Island.  We thought we would go in the afternoon and stay for sunset to get a good shot with the bridge in the background, since our sunset shot on the Lower Peninsula side didn't work out because the placement of the sun and bridge weren't in line.  We got to the island and rented some bikes to check out some popular sites.  Among the usual sites (The Grand Hotel, Fort Mackinac, The Governor's House, etc), my favorite was Arch Rock.

Arch Rock

After Arch Rock, we rode back into the main part of town to look for a spot to camp out at for sunset.  We found a place and then took some lighthouse pictures and bridge pictures from there.  We also saw these cool rock cairns at the beach we were hanging out at.  According to our Mackinac biking flyer they are small mounds of stones and pebbles built to mark biking and hiking trails.  Traditionally, each person that passes by a cairn is supposed to add a stone, to help counteract the effects of wind and weather.  The habit is to only add to the top and to use a smaller stone or rock than the previous top stone.  We saw quite a few of them along this beach, but this was the tallest one!

Lighthouse view from the beach

A pretty typical site for an island with no cars.

Awesome dinner!!!

We had some time to kill, so we looked for dinner (the most scrumptious pizza!) and checked out the tourist shops to see if anything stuck out.  We got a Michigan print and I got a travel journal that I hope to use to document our trip and then headed back down to the beach.  Clearly, we were mistaken when we thought that the sun would set behind the bridge because from the direction we were at, the sun was going to set behind the Grand Hotel.  NOT at all what we were looking for.  So, instead of waiting around longer, we headed back to the mainland, but we were able to get some pictures from the boat ride back.

On Sunday, we didn't do too much at all.  We again went to the pool, and started tidying things up at our site.  We decided to go walk around downtown so we headed down there.  We bought some fudge, a couple shirts, a cool new dice game and some puzzles for the boys (they are addicted to puzzles lately!)  After dinner we went down to the lake to play our new game and then before heading back to our campsite, we had to get some more ice cream.  The blueberry waffle cone is to die for!

Yup, ice cream again!

Back at the campsite, we had a fire to use up the rest of our firewood and relax.  Our vacation was nearly over, but it was the perfect length - I was definitely missing my boys.

Monday, we were up early, took the tent down and headed home.  Boy were the boys excited to see us - and I think Grandma Bush was too!  =)  An awesome getaway, that's for sure, and hopefully one of these days I'll get the nicer pictures off of Troy's camera and post some of those.

Splash Universe - 1 week later

There was way too much going on this week for me to upload all these pictures earlier, but wow, did we have a blast last weekend.  We headed out to Dundee where Dan and Rosie treated all of us to a weekend at the indoor water park they have as our Christmas gift.

Once we got there we quickly changed into our bathing suits and checked it out for an hour or so before they closed.  Logan was a bit more hesitant (and not sure about the life preserver we put on him), so he clung on to me with all his might.  I literally couldn't take my tank top off to take him in to get used to it, because he wouldn't let go.  Within 5 minutes of watching daredevil Ellis playing, he quickly let go and was off.

The kiddie slide

A little fountain-type area that the kids loved 

Seriously I don't think I have one "clear" picture, but then again I was using my iPhone for a camera and they literally wouldn't stand still long enough for a good picture.  I guess it just shows how much they loved it!

There was also a lazy river that we could float in tubes in, but they liked just floating on their backs and letting the current move them on its own.

Saturday, we headed to Cabelas, which is right across the street, after a morning session in the water.  Of course the boys love their animals, so they thoroughly enjoyed this "trip to the zoo".

Hard to see, but those are turkeys they are looking at.

This was the funniest "exhibit".  After we started to walk away, other people were walking up to look at the elephant and Ellis stuck around to check him out longer.  He started babbling and then looking at these people and babbling more as if he was the tour guide and telling them all about the elephant.  Too funny!

And you can't forget to check out the fun "toys" too.

They were more interested in the vehicle next to them that had the steering wheel in it.  They were just waiting for the kids to get out of that way, to test it out.

Checking out the cot/tent combo.

And yes, they still think that playing in a dog crate is fun!  Weirdos!

Back at the waterpark for the night.  There were a TON of people there (well, it was a Saturday night after all), and there weren't enough life preservers for the little ones, so we stuck around at the kids area where the boys were pretty good playing without giving us heart attacks.  I was more worried about all the parents that weren't around their young kids (seriously who would leave their under 5 year old unattended at a water park?  You'd be surprised at how many there were!)

practicing swimming

Finally people started to leave so we headed one last time to the lazy river and grabbed a tube!

Most of the gang - (Rosie was taking the picture and Brian was enroute to the park).

Thanks again to Dan and Rosie for a great weekend.  We all came home exhausted and slept very well that night.

A Great Day!

Wow, what a day!  Here is our blow by blow (no pun intended)

7am - Troy headed outside to blow snow.  Much to his dismay he didn't do much yesterday (aside from shoveling the deck) and instead wanted to just wait until it was all done snowing instead of going out their multiple times.  So, he paid the price this morning as he was out there for nearly 2.5 hours.  Luckily he wasn't working today either (nearly 20-22 inches in and around Flint)!  We got about 14-16 inches of new snow, but down by the end of the driveway, where the plow had been through a few times, it was really thick - then of course where snow was already drifting, that was as high as 18 inches.

8:15am - I took the kids to their new day care.  I know, I should've kept them home since I had a snow day, but I really wanted them to get adjusted to their new routine.  Plus, I figured that since a lot of people weren't working today (quite a few of the parents of the kids at this day care are teachers), it might be easier for them to get adjusted when there weren't a lot of kids there.  I normally won't be the one taking them (since I leave for work so early), so I wasn't very happy that I had to take them (I really didn't want to see them cry when I left, to be quite honest), but Troy was snow-blowing still, so I couldn't complain.

CRAZY tall mound of snow in the middle of the road near the day care.  Hopefully no one wanted to turn left here!

8:38am - I was on my way home from dropping them off.  There were lots of the workers all in one room with the kids (with maybe 8 kids so far), so I got them situated and Ellis ran off to find a bus to play with and Logan found a plane.  I gave them a kiss and told them to have a good day and that I'd see them later.  Logan started walking to the door, thinking he was leaving with me, but one of the workers distracted him and I took off.  I didn't hear any crying, nor did I see him run after me, so I figured all was good.

10am - Back at home I decided to take this extra day off to my advantage, and went for a run.  On the treadmill of course.  I'm trying to get my ass in shape so today was day 2 and what better way to do it than when the boys aren't home!

11am - Done running and showered.  I decided to call the day care to check in on the boys.  Their report:  They were doing very well.  They did an art project (which they weren't too fond off - no surprise to me) and then they did circle time (what?  we have to sit down and not play with toys?  What kind of place is this?) and of course snack time, which they loved.  LOL.  She said they seemed to be adjusting well, and they were off playing on their own, which is pretty typical of kids when they are new (instead of joining the group of kids when they were trying to do something structured, they were fine with doing their own thing).  She did say that Logan whined a little bit when I left, but he has been ultra-clingy to me lately, so that didn't surprise me either.  So far, so good.

12pm - Troy and I head out to Panera for a little date lunch.  On our way, I got another great phone call - school was cancelled tomorrow too - too cold!  WOO HOO!  So, we had lunch, stopped at Target for a few things, before heading home.

1:30pm - Back at home and after watching Bella try to find a place to pee, I decided to shovel out a little area out for her so she didn't have such a hard time going to the bathroom.

2pm - Finally I relax - watch an episode of House Hunters and then read part of a book I got for Christmas.

4pm - Go get the boys. Troy and I both went to see how the boys did for their first day.  They both got super good reports.  Ellis is really good at cleaning up (I guess we are doing something right at home!) and they both played really well.  Logan spent a good time chatting with Miss Meghan.  She was quite impressed with how they both did for their first day.  Sure, they had been at another day care before, but this is of course a new place to them and I wasn't sure how they'd feel being somewhere new right away.  But I'm really excited about the structure and activities that they will be doing here, versus the random schedule that was at our other daycare.  Even if they didn't get into it much today, within time they will benefit so much from it!  They even did a group art activity that we got to bring home.  HOW CUTE!!

One little boy, Caden, was watching as they were putting their coats on, and Miss Meghan said that the three boys were best buds today.  When we got in the car I asked the boys if they met any new friends and Logan said "Kay Kay".  I couldn't believe it!  Totally sounded like he was trying to say Caden!

Aside from this, lots of talking coming from Logan.  We've been reading a book where he likes to finish the sentences, pointing to lots of things and saying what they are, lots of repeating what we say (better put an end to the profanity around them), and his favorite is "I got you" which sounds more like "I gotchu".  Ellis is picking up quite a bit.  Of course his favorite animal is a horse, which sounds more like "horsch" with an English accent.  He likes the color "blue" and his favorite number he says is "2".  He is trying so hard lately.  In fact, we had a random FaceTime chat with Grandma and Grandpa Bush tonight and I seriously couldn't get a word in!  It was hilarious, well, until I really wanted to say something.

So, that's it for now.  Hopefully everyone stayed warm today and stays warm tomorrow.  Our outdoor thermometer has shown a drop of 7 degrees in the past hour, so I'm happy I'm not out in this frigid air!  Tomorrow I might be out a bit, but not much.  I made an eye appointment for myself (once I realized we didn't have school, I figured I should stop delaying this since it's been 3 years!) and might meet up with a friend that I haven't really gotten to chat with in a while.  Other than that, another run planned and more relaxing.  ENJOY!!

Vacation: Week 1

So much fun we've had this past week, especially since Christmas was just a few days ago.  Here are some updates!

On Christmas Eve, my parents came over to spend the night with us.  On our agenda was enjoying a ham dinner, making sugar cookies, and watching a movie while staying warm with a fire.  The boys were of course excited to see Grandma and Grandpa but weren't too keen on all the "activities" we had planned.  Grandma and I ended up making the cookies ourselves.

Then, the boys were off to bed and Santa came!

Once the boys woke up, they immediately ran to the gifts that were all set up for them to play with.  And in hindsight it looks like Santa wasted a lot of time wrapping gifts this year.  The boys had no desire to open gifts - they just wanted to play with them.  Then after they found a few they really liked from the first couple they opened, they really didn't are too much about the rest.  Let's just say that I think they were a bit overwhelmed with the whole process.  All in all, they got lots of fun toys and it was awesome watching them play with them all!

Another lesson learned - do not attempt a family photo after all the gifts are opened.  After all, who wants to stop playing in order to sit and smile for a photo?!?  Not these boys!  I was a bit jealous after seeing all the cute photos all my FB and IG friends posted with their family around the tree or with another festive setting, but it is what it is, and this is what we got!

After the boys took a much needed nap, we headed to the Reaves' house to finish Christmas evening there.  Lots more fun toys and wouldn't you know that Ellis' favorite toy was one that Parker got!  I will have to keep that toy on my radar for their birthday in March!

Note the yellow transformer he wouldn't put down.  Nope, that's not his toy, it was Parker's.

Still has that transformer in his hands despite opening new gifts!

Now that they boys are older, they were quite mesmerized by the train around their tree too.  Looks like we'll have to find one next year for our tree.

It doesn' t surprise you that they don't have clothes on, does it?

The rest of the week I spent some time cleaning up the Christmas decorations and putting them away for another year.  As much as I love the holiday's, I'm also usually very ready to put them away after the month is over.  With all the snow we got, I ventured out with the boys yesterday for some fun in the snow, but since their sled was in the garage attic, we waited until today to get that out.  Since Troy is still fighting a cough, I thought it was only appropriate that I pull them around the yard.  Boy oh boy, what a feat!  I knew I wasn't in the best shape, but damn, I really need to get my ass in gear again.  Despite the gasps for air after each trip around the yard, seeing the smiles on their faces (mainly Ellis), I had to keep going.

Then it was time to make a snowman - okay, time for me to make a snowman.  They just ran around in the snow acting crazy while I built him.  When I was done though, they walked up to him and started talking to him like he was real, so that was cute!

How long will it take before they will sit still for a picture, for goodness sakes?

As for the rest of the weekend, no major plans here.  Although I feel like I should get ahead with some things on my to-do list, I'm totally slacking right now and enjoying my relaxation time.  Have a great end of 2013 everyone!