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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

We're Baaaaaack!

Well, I've had time to come out of the fog that settles in after you've come back from 10 days of vacation. Leaving for 9 hour drives at the wee hours of the morning is not too conducive to being a productive Mommy (or Daddy) but we've realized that that's the best time for the boys as they sleep most of the time while we (or should I say Tim) drives. But, we survived. Laundry is done and suitcases are put away. Now it's back to reality and the grind of every day life.

We had a WONDERFUL vacation! It started off NOT being so great with Mason developing a 102.5 fever less than 12 hours after arriving at my Grandmother's Cottage at Epworth Heights in Ludington, MI, and then a trip to the local ER on the holiday because there are no Urgent Care Facilities in the thriving metropolis that we were in. The result was a developing ear infection (which was causing his fever) and aggrivation of his asthma due to the damp, musty air up north. But after a few doses of Motrin and Tylenol, you never would have known he was sick, and the antibiotics that he was on the entire time we were there kept the ear infection at bay (thankfully) so we were able to enjoy ourselves.

We celebrated the 4th of July with a parade in town that was a TRUE, HOMETOWN 4th of July parade and it gave me goose bumps it was so cool! A colorguard, fire trucks blaring horns, marching bands, horses, lots of support for the troops and more! A great way to kick off the day. And it was long.....an hour and a half! It wasn't a whimpy parade at all.







We capped off our holiday watching fireworks that were shot off from the Ludington Breakwater Pier from the comfort of the front porch of the cottage. Talk about prime seating - it was awesome as we had protection from the mosquitos and no long walk/drive home. Since it doesn't get dark up north until 10:30pm, Tim and I did our best to keep the boys awake to see them but unfortunately they fell asleep about 10 minutes prior to the start and we COULD NOT WAKE them up to save our souls. Oh well. Maybe next year they'll see fireworks. These were pretty good though - I was sorry they missed them.

We spent lots of time on the beach playing in the sand, building sandcastles, chasing seagulls and even flew a kite (which was a HUGE hit with the boys). The lake was very cold so Jack and Mason weren't too crazy about it but Jack got comfortable walking in to about his waist and had fun when the waves weren't too big. He fell down a couple of times but gathered up his composure and didn't let it stop him from having fun.








Other things that we did to keep the boys busy and not in the sun the WHOLE day included going to a local Hands-on Children's Museum, playing putt putt golf (again Tiger and Phil watch out!), playing at a beautiful playground overlooking the harbor, going to get ice cream at House Of Flavors, and the best of all was an upclose and personal adventure at Amber Elk Ranch where we got to touch and hand feed 1200 lb elk! They were huge and amazing and it was an experience that ALL of us will always remember.
















So that's it...our 2008 Summer Vacation in a nutshell. We had awesome Michigan weather, the boys had a blast and did great in the car (something Tim and I were concerned about) and were as good as can be expected for being out of their "element" and WE (Tim & I) got a chance to relax and take a breather from life in general. Until next summer.................. bye bye Epworth, we'll miss you!



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