The kids and I went up (and over) to the lake on Sunday as Saturday had been busy in A2 with Colby's 18m appt, the Dixboro fair and Hannah's birthday party. (Hmmm... maybe I should have started with those things. In-laws have the cute fair pics on their camera.) The trip took 3.5hrs and we made it into town right around lunch time with no stops! Yes, three and a half hours in the car with the kids, no stops. They overall did a good job with minimal screaming; the use of snacks is always helpful. The kids and I stayed in one room, my parents in another and Linds, Steve, Caleb and Shannon (Steve's girlfriend) all stayed in the attic space. Though small, it was a true cottage feel. The "best" part of our sleeping arrangements, we had the room right next to the bathroom.... the walls were a bit thin. =) The first week was spent at this smaller cottage. I had the whole week off, Kevin joined us on Tuesday and left again Friday night. My brother Steve worked most days, but was at the cottage as often as he could. (Something about a girlfriend.) I also have to say that I enjoyed hanging out with Steve's girlfriend and if he cares- I approve. During this first week we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes (more on that in another post and I have a ton of pics from that one) and Kevin and I spent a night, just the two of us, at Black Star Farms B&B. The B&B was a fab time alone with some drinking. If we had more money we would have loved to have done 2 nights. At the B&B there were a couple of women that apparently won a week stay there on a game show. How ideal! For us anyway, we heard that they weren't big wine fans. Such a waste!! Yes the food was incredibly yummy, but the wine!! Anyway, we found it somewhat amusing.
The second week was at a bigger "cottage". I use the term cottage VERY loosely as it was a big modern house. My other brother Jon joined us for this week and we lost Shannon. Sleeping arrangements for this week lent us to the master suite as it was the only room big enough for the four of us. We had a private bathroom and a walk out porch... ahhhh... if only the kids didn't go to be so early we could have enjoyed the features more. The house did leave us a lot more room to stretch out. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 5 porches... lots of room to hide if you wanted. Though the size was nice, I did miss the cottage feel. I also didn't find the beach area as nice for hanging with little ones. The house was on the other side of the peninsula from the first cottage so we had a longer time to swim in the sun in the afternoon. Kevin joined us on Monday eve and I had to leave Thurs eve for work. This week we went to the drive-in a couple of times and my dad, Jon, Linds, Caleb, Kevin and Mason all went to South Manitou island for a day.
Overall the trip was nice. I personally didn't find it very restful. Colby decided for the whole 2 weeks that she was going to be mommy's girl and only mommy could take her into the water, push a stroller, push a grocery cart, pick her up, etc. This alleviated a little when Kevin was around, but she still had a mommy preference. She was happy to play with other people as long as they didn't try to pick her up. Also, she usually is the one who sleeps in, but all during vacation she was up early yelling for us to play with her. In order to help keep things quiet enough to make sure that Mason got more sleep and everyone else as well, we were up early with her reading books, rocking, whatever we could to keep her somewhat quiet. I fear that everyone was up a little earlier than they planned. Mason and Caleb were inseparable. They played and hung out like best friends/brothers. The did just about everything together, swimming, boating, golfing... if it could be done together, they did it. Kevin finally got the opportunity to break in the sailboat. He sailed it many times, the longest being the second week when he forgot to put on sunscreen. He sailed from one end of the lake to the other and was gone around 4hrs. He still has a sunburn left. I think that we forgot to take a lot of cute pics of the kids swimming and such. Oddly enough we didn't do much tubing or skiing either.
And some pics....
Caleb reading to Mason
Colby in her bikini. This was not her favorite suit as she didn't understand the concept; she keep trying to pull the top down or the bottom up.
Kevin and his birthday sailboat
Caleb and Colby eating at the kitchen peninsula at the second cottage
Morning hair
Colby in Aunt Lindsey's sunglasses
