Back on Walloon

August for me is a calming time of self gathering and contemplation. It's the time of year when the garden work is done and the most beautiful flowers are blooming, the most delicious foods ripening. The beginning of the month is also one of the hottest times of the year and as such has historically sent many a family headed to cooler, more relaxing climes. I remember Jon's dad once referring to the Zilwaukee Bridge as the place where, when headed north, he leaves all of his worries behind. Although for me that drop point is probably farther north, in Westbranch, I completely understand the sentiment, and for the past week my worries have lived in Westbranch while we took in the turquoise waters of Walloon Lake.

Saturday saw us up bright and early, headed for north of the forty-five, our spirits weighted only by concern for what we may or may not have forgotten. Good thing they have a Meijer up there now. One thing we didn't leave behind? The caterpillars. By the time we left only one of them had strung himself to a branch and was preparing to go into chrysalis mode.

We arrived in time to share in the beautiful sunshine and warm water (78 degrees!) with my cousin's family before they headed back south. It's hard to believe that thirty years ago we were those little kids, our parents were the "kids" and our grandparents were the parents. 

Two kids in a hammock. I think our grandparents would have loved to see this.

Sunday dawned bright and windy. Did I say windy? I mean batten down the hatches kind of windy. The sun was warm, the water was warm, the wind was windy.

The caterpillars were happy. And just look at the color of that lake.

Wind just means having to work up a sweat before getting in the water, for whatever that's worth when you go to get out and you're wet all over.

Look at that churned up water.

Monday was sunny and windy and slightly less warm and we headed to Charlevoix for some entertainment and some smoked fish. Because you can't go north without enjoying smoked fish and smoked fish dip.

Tuesday, after breakfast in Petoskey, we spent the morning on the farm of an old friend (of Gram's) who was kind enough to invite Calvin for the morning chores. We met pigs, fed chickens and collected eggs, drove out to count cattle (who were elusive in the woods, of all places), and bottle fed a calf.

Wednesday dawned bright but chilly, so half the crowd headed to town for Pirate's Cove golf.

But it turned warm and sweet by early afternoon and we ended the day in the beautiful lake as the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky.

Thursday, after breakfast in town, we were lucky enough to meet Ada, the newest member of our extended family, who was born to Polly and Justin just the day before. I can certainly say she's a beautiful baby. I can also certainly say that Calvin was glad to be leaving her there.

Calvin seemed to greatly prefer these babies, which we passed on the way home, to the human one.

Thursday afternoon was almost as beautiful as Wednesday afternoon and we spent the time relaxing on the dock and in the water, but ended the day in town at the aptly named Sunset Park. Every year, it must be done.

 Friday morning I took my coffee out on the dock and watched the storms rolling in, by, and beyond.

With weather like that predicted all day we headed into Mackinaw City for fried fish at the Key Hole and fudge from Murdick's (what you don't know is that we'd gotten fudge in Charlevoix, too...)

And would you believe, by the time we got back to the lake the sun was shining and the storms were blowing just north of us, close enough that we could visually enjoy the line of contrast between the storming clouds just north of the lake, and the wisps of vapor sporadically obscuring the sun shining over us.

What a beautiful afternoon with which to bring up the rear of our vacation week.

And the storm that came after we were already inside for the night was like a final farewell, a reminder of the baggage waiting in Westbranch for pickup on our way back down.

We don't give in easily, though, so on our way home we made a stop at the Huckleberry Railroad for one last bit of vacation (the touristy kind), but that's for another post.

There's another 44 pictures from throughout our week at the Lake in the Walloon Lake 2010 photo album. Enjoy. We did.

Seven years

It actually doesn't sound like a lot of time, especially both of our parents celebrating their fortieth this year and the next. When we look back, though, and look at not the years but the experiences, that's when it feels like it starts to add up. It's strange to realize that we've had the blog for five of those years, so a lot of those experiences have been journaled here over time. In 2005 there was our first furniture purchase, a trip to D.C., separations, and togetherness. And who can forget Raspberry? In 2006 it was all about Calvin, of course, or about being new parents, with an occasional reference to pets, zoo trips, or bald heads. In 2007 he got there was great sadness, many joys, and even some travel. 2008 found us in a new house in a new town, traveling to much more distant lands than before, and trying our hands at new things that happen to be still in progress (I can't believe how small our veggie garden was then!). 2009 was our first ER visit (can't forget that), more travel and trying new things (and hey, I knew the garden got bigger). It's amazing how much has changed. Now let's come back from that short jog down memory lane.

We have wonderful families who gathered last night to celebrate our seven years together with great conversation and fabulous food—thank you to everyone for the food (because everyone except us made something), the fun, the love, the gifts, the all around great time.

And we tried to get one of just the two of us, but some strange little tyke kept running up to join in the fun, not to be left out.

Celebrating four

I say celebrating, not turning, because he's not actually four yet and I want to hold onto every last second of three that I can. So while he turns four on Wednesday, we opted to celebrate the event this weekend in our usual fashion—with cake and ice cream, a few gifts, and the love of family.

He asked for strawberry cake, so that's what we made. The face is something he learned from his gram.

We always ask that gifts, especially toys, are kept to a minimum, and our families are very obliging. The gifts this year were Lincoln Logs, a tool belt with tools, a wood baking pie for his kitchen, and books (our favorite).

I think that my favorite part of the party was the cake, but that could be because it took quite a bit of time and creative energy to make that strawberry sheet cake into a freight train carrying carrying fruit and zoo animals.

NAI Auto Show

It had been quite a while since I ventured into Detroit proper. In fact, I can't really remember the last time I was there, other than that I'm pretty sure it was before Calvin. There are lots of reasons to go to the Detroit and when I was in college I made it to the big city at least once a year, if not for a Lion's game, then maybe the Tigers, if not for a stage play, then maybe a musical performance, and the one event that kept us returning every frigid January was the North American International Auto Show.

Now, I could swear that the last time I went to the show was, well, not all that long ago, but if that were true, then Jon would remember having gone and he swears up and down that he has never been before this year, so that would mean that this was my first visit to that illustrious event in at least nine years. Nine years??? That's not possible, we're not that old, are we? At least we're not old enough to remember cars like this one that greeted us when we walked in the door.

On the other hand, there's nothing quite like seeing your firstborn climb into the driver's seat of a car to make you feel ancient, right? I can't tell you exactly what car he's sitting in here, but there's also a good shot of him sitting in a Corvette convertible.

The thing that most caught my attention this year was the very toned down atmosphere of the usually elaborate event. In comparison to years past (be those ever so long ago) it seemed that fewer representatives were breathing down your throat, far fewer elaborate stages were set, and exponentially fewer of those gratuitous, and often undesired, booklets were being shoved in your face. I can only imagine why (oh so tongue in cheek), and these seemed like vast improvements to me. It's hard to say which is the "greener" improvement, the paring down of printed materials, the decrease in materials used for elaborate but worthless displays, or the greater emphasis put on greener vehicles; the whole downstairs this year was dedicated to a test drive track for electric vehicles, and it was decorated with what seemed to be entirely reusable resources (as in still potted trees and plants).

A good time was had, in between chasing the quick little three year old who was intrigued by everything, that is. Between boxy cars displayed in boxes, trucks hung from the ceiling, and working engines displayed in cases...

his little legs just could not carry him fast enough to see it all, which was good because that way we were able to keep up.

I think his favorite thing about the whole trip, though, was the ride we took on the People Mover over to Greektown and back. The kid does love trains, and this is about the closest he's come to one since riding the El in Chicago while visiting Uncle Curtis (which makes Uncle Curtis, who also gave him train stuff for Christmas, a very popular fellow).

A quick tour on the People Mover is a great way to not really see Detroit. The only part of that tour that really caught our attention, besides decrepit buildings of course, was the view over the river into Windsor. And any trip that results in a stop at a little bakery for ice cream and mini mouse cakes is a winner in my book, although I don't recommend ever eating at the Parthenon for any reason whatsoever, even for the flaming cheese.

And on the way out we stepped back into the show for one last view of those last classy cars: My favorite, the Morgan, and everyone else's favorite... Mercedes anyone? All I can see is the Delorian from Back to the Future; it's those darn gull-wing doors.

New Years up north

And now, a final installment of our holiday times. Like we have in previous years, we packed up the car and headed north to celebrate the new year in snowy and frigid style. As it turns out, they definitely had more snow up there, something we'd been missing down here, but the three degree weather wasn't actually any colder, not that we'd have noticed anyhow; once it gets down that far we tend to stay inside.

Our trip was as delightful and relaxing as always. We did some snacking, some napping, some eating, some shopping, some napping, a lot of reading, some snacking, some movie watching, some eating, and some walking. Yes, outside. Hey, if the deer can do it, why can't we? (to be fair, we walked when it was 20 degrees, not 3).

New Year's Eve was quiet and fun. Well, sort of quiet; my mother and godmother thought fit to open a package of party horns before Calvin went to bed. Thankfully not too long before.

We did our usual goofy gift exchange while sipping champagne. If you think the pooping santa claus candy dispenser ever gets old, you must be wrong; I think it has circulated now for upwards of four years. The cork coasters, on the other hand, have only just started their lifetime of riducule.

I'm sure you've caught on that we do a lot of eating when we on this trip. Most of that is a combination of snacking (mmm smoked fish), and traditional meals (mmm bot bie), but whenever we've made it that far north we always have to trek those last 45 minutes north to Mackinaw City to eat at the Key Hole Bar where the fried perch is to die for (and I don't just mean because of the grease content).

While in Mackinaw we usuallly shop, too, between the few clothing stores that remain open, the Hush Puppy place, and the fudge shops, you really can't go wrong. We didn't find much to bring home this year, though it took some convincing to get Calvin to leave the monkey behind. The Indiana Jones getup (yes, that's a cow backpack), was slightly less of a problem.

We didn't find anything to buy in Mackinaw, although on New Year's Eve, while shopping in Petoskey, we came away from the used book store there with a 1904 numbered edition of Flaubert's Sentimental Education, so we weren't too heartbroken.

By the way, does this remind anyone else of Chevy Chase? I'm thinking Christmas Vacation...

This, on the other hand, reminds me of Norman Rockwell. Or at least it would, if it weren't for all the SUVs, minivans, and crossovers. Still, it's pretty and quaint. That's one of the reasons we love Harbor Springs.

And this concludes the holiday series. We will now return to regular life.