Summer

Camping take 2

Camping with our friends has become an annual event that both families have come to treasure. It started three years ago when the kids were five with a short, one night in fact, trip to Irish Hills. It was a trial run, the site selected because it was close to home in case of utter failure, but it went well and has spawned what we hope will be lifetime of outings. Last year and this year we set up camp in Wilderness State Park. Different from our July trip to Pictured Rocks, though, this is the kind of campsite you drive right up to, the kind that has electricity and water, and even camp communal flush toilets and showers. I love Wilderness. From just about every site you can see and hear Lake Michigan, there's swimming, there's hiking, and while it doesn't offer the challenge of the backpacking, it offers the kind of calm, relaxing, introspective vacation that I need at least once a year.

This year we spent three nights at camp. We built fires every night and roasted things like hotdogs, chicken, corn, marshmallows, and popcorn, and we make coffee. We ate granola for breakfast and peanut butter for lunch. We hiked the nearby trail around a pond and went in search of a geocache. We constructed in the sand and splashed in the water. We took day trips to Mackinaw City to try the putt putt course there and get a history lesson at Colonial Fort Michilimackinac. And for entertainment at the campsite, in addition to hangman and looking for the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, we watched the young (oh very young) couple who arrived at the neighboring campsite and unpacked everything from brand new, untested boxes, and proceded on their first camping attempt. It made us feel well-seasoned in our art, and gave us something to giggle about quietly.

hot dogs on our first night

waiting for water to boil for coffee

It's the Loch Michigan monster! Shall we call her Michi?

Colonial Michilimackinac

Colonial Michilimackinac

Mackinac Bridge from Colonial Michilimackinac

Love the red accents...those colonials sure knew how to decorate

A little muncher in the grains...

I shall call this: self portrait in an awesome window with red.

watching the ongoing archeaological dig in the center of the fort

talking to the "trader" in his trader's house

Red Coats (who wouldn't have been called red coats then) demonstrate the unreliability of their rifles.

Posing with the enemy

Fun and games!

Watching the blacksmith at work

Frolicking through the waves

Realizing that the little fish really do nibble your toes

Roasting corn

Geocaching

Putt putt

More frolicking

sand fort

new fangled hangman

marshmallows

more new fangled hangman

CSA visit

We were invited by some friends to join them at their CSA for pick-up day today. Joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) has been a goal/plan/dream of mine for some time. In fact, it's this particular CSA that has been on my radar for some time, so, aside from the great company and beautiful afternoon, we jumped at the chance to give the farm a visit. It's an organic farm just down the road in Chelsea and is well loved by many members of our homeschooling group. After today's visit I can see why. Everything about the place is welcoming and friendly, from the wandering pets to the wandering farmers; the food is beautiful and organic; the yard is full of fun things for kids to explore. We took a picnic lunch and, sitting at one of the many tables available in the yard, ate while the kids explored, vast fields and deep storm clouds setting the most beautiful backdrop. It is probably one of the most relaxing experiences I've had in a while, even with kid chaos erupting all around.

So we had a great time, and I'm a little in love with the farm itself. Of course, good friends and a heavy dose of nostalgia (it reminded me so much of afternoons on my grandparents' farm) really added to that feeling, but I think the only thing left to be decided is if I'll have the energy and time to pick up a share every week. But wait, what's that? I think the chard is calling my name.

Knock my socks off

Friends and family members travel many miles during the holiday season, gathering together as though no time has passed between visits, yet spending hours catching up on all that has been missed over the past week, month, year, even more. There was an eight day stretch last week when we were either out of the house or hosting a party under our own roof every night. Then we left town.

Our travels were mostly local, though, except for the trip north, and today we hopped in the car for a day trip to the west side of the state to see friends who had travelled all the way from the west side of the country. Not exactly meeting in the middle, not even in terms of time spent en route, but we did what we could.

The joy at seeing friends, the type of people who you can not have spoken to for months, even a year, and pick up right where you left off, is always immeasurable. But the joy at having both those friends and snow for a holiday visit? Well knock my socks off.

These are good times.

Off Broadway

The Off Broadway production of Mary Poppins made a stop in Grand Rapids this weekend, and we met it there. Months ago our friends asked us if we wanted to get tickets and we've been counting the days since then. We have great friends in that city that we don't get to see very often, so we got tickets, and made plans to stay with them one night while we were in town. Seeing them alone was worth the trip.

Then...I had forgotten the wonder and magic of a Broadway musical—or perhaps I'd attended so many children's plays with Calvin prior that my expectations had become skewed. The voices, the dancing, and ooooh the set. The set was like a fantastical pop-up book.

Calvin loved very minute of it, and my joy was enhanced by his as he tapped out the rhythms and laughed at the comedy and gasped at the magic, sitting on my lap to better be able to see.

A stop for dinner at the local brewery (a big favorite of ours)—one more chance to see good friends—and we were headed back home with good memories in tow. We'd bought a CD of the live production so we listened to it all the way home, the timing so perfect that we were just finishing the curtain call as we pulled into the driveway, shortly after a usual bedtime. And that was a perfect day.

Journal to follow shortly.