Live from Tormville!

family time!

On Monday morning, we woke up early and headed west as a whole family. 

We had worked hard to pick a date a few weeks ago. Choosing a date that we hoped for good weather, but that coincided with bringing Allan back to college and hoping dad would be able to get off work was TRICKY and a little bit stressful for a planner like me. Down to two dates - Monday or Tuesday - I switched as often as the forecast, which was a LOT. In the end, we decided Monday looked more promising. 

We arrived at Michigan's Adventure as soon as they opened and got started. Greg, Wendy, Allan and Brian headed straight for the roller coasters, and Mark and I headed for the lockers on the WildWater side. The lockers were reachable before the waterpark opened, so we stuffed our stuff in and went searching for the others, with a plan to head back to the water side when it opened. I was anxious to see how Brian handled his first much anticipated roller coaster. (Great! He's an addict!) 

Mark, not being a fan of roller coasters, ended up being a good partner for me. We wandered around and hit some of the other rides. We managed the bumper boats - where Mark was insistent on getting his own boat and then struggled a bit but did pull it together and figure it out like a champ.  And then we hit the bumper cars, the swings, some of the spinning rides and then another spinny ride (Trabant) that also tilted and felt like a tummy tickler and had me wishing we'd skipped that it. 

Me: Wow, this one really feels like a tummy tickler, doesn't it? 
Mark: It tickles a little bit lower than that on me

Mark and I ended up not rushing back to the water park side when they opened because the temperatures kept getting colder and colder. The park made a killing on hoodies this day. Where I had a little bit questioned Greg when he got dressed in the morning - (Really? You're wearing long pants??) now I was cold and envious. I even went out to the van and emptied suitcases and backpacks just to get everyone's hoodies and flannels which we had brought to walk the shoreline at night when the forecast predicted temps in the 50's. 

And then we ended up getting our suits on anyway. Our mindset was that we came this far and worked this hard to get a date to come to the water park, that we were going to do it regardless of the temps, and besides - there were others doing it, and we're Finns. Enough said. 

The temperature on my phone at this point said it was 63, with a real feel of 61 and then it started to rain pretty hard. It was bitter. I went on a few water rides and changed back into my clothes before the rest of my people. When I dried off, I could barely feel my legs and my back. I have this thing that when I get cold, it takes me FOREVER to warm back up, and it held true on this day. I was cold through our dinner and up to around midnight, when I finally took the hottest shower that the hotel could offer, and then warmed up the whole bathroom with the hair dryer. I still ended up going to bed with my bathrobe on. I'm cold again just thinking about how cold I was. 

The rain let up, and the kids and dad went on a few more rides while I ran the wet bag of towels and suits back out to the van. 

In this picture - Mark and Allan are on the swan ride, and the other three were on the Thunder Hawk behind them, but missed the frame. I took most of the photos with my phone, choosing to be camera lazy. 

We only had an hour of park left as I brought the wet stuff to the van, so I gave my people stern instructions that they were NOT to ride the Ripcord before I got back. They didn't. Wendy is wondering here why they put her in charge of pulling the release lever. 

I tried to take a video of this one, but my video is full of me panic laughing and repeating - "my babies!  my babies!" and it didn't really capture it all anyway, but enjoyed Mark at the end heckling "The line is going to snap!!" followed by my husband's uproarious laughter. I ended up perusing youtube until I found a decent clip which took longer than one would think. I feel validated that it's not easy to capture that 180 ft free fall from up close and really give the viewer an idea of what it's like.  Click for an example. 

They survived. 
Wendy is glad she did it, but says she'll never do it again. Brian and Allan know no fear and can't wait for the next scary thing. 

As for me - I was content being Mark's partner for the day, am glad that I got my suit on to try to the Funnel of Fear, and was talked into getting on the Thunder Hawk right before the close of day. While I can live content without going on another roller coaster for the rest of my life - I do admit to having been curious about these suspended coasters for awhile. Got that knocked off my list.  There were only four of us on that whole run - Brian and Wendy in the front seat, and Greg and I about four seats back. In the above photo - Allan and Wendy are in the front seats. 

The park closed - we then ventured to our hotel. I wasn't able to commit and make a reservation until a week prior, and we ended up booking rooms at the Shoreline Inn and Conference Center in Muskegon. We would recommend, and we would definitely stay there again. The rooms were very nice and clean, the indoor pool and hot tub were open 24 hours - only to adults after 11, and they provided a hot continental breakfast. 

I will say that that burgundy thing on the end of the bed, however, is completely useless for providing any sort of warmth or cover. I would have really appreciated a heavier blanket or throw. 

And Wendy, who rode every roller coaster several times and braved the Ripcord - walked the stairs up and down to our sixth floor room during our stay because she has a very real aversion to elevators. I had to work a bit to get her to appreciate the irony of it. 

I had been excited about the hotel being on the water next to the marina - envisioning a nice evening walk, but it was just far too cold and rainy. 

We didn't swim before bed, but with an eleven o'clock check out time - we easily had time for a swim in the morning. Only Mark and Brian swam. 

It was only in the 50's this morning, but look there - some nutter is in the outdoor pool. 

Yes, that's our ten year old nutter. They had to at least try it. 
It turns out that Monday was definitely the better day to go to Michigan's Adventure. Tuesday barely touched 60 and I'm guessing the water park side never opened today. The workers had been grumbling and shivering yesterday that they never should have opened the water rides. 

We checked out an hour early and headed over to check out the USS LST 393 which had been view-able from our hotel room. On a nicer day we could have and would have walked there. 

I was starting to get that chill again at this point so I grabbed the keys and headed to the van - settling for reading my book and cranking the heat full blast. 

An hour spent on the tour - we then drove the hour from Muskegon to Big Rapids to drop our oldest off for his second semester at Ferris. We stuck around to help him unload, a little visit, a (cold/wet) walk to the bookstore and lunch before we started on the return trip home. 

Family time is good time. 

And edited to add:   

Somehow this photo fell out of my post, and it's my favorite. Taken with my phone, I was tickled to have captured Mark's very first and only roller coaster ride. He's cowering in the front, deep into his dad's lap, while dad is coaxing him to look at the camera and Wendy - a bit miffed at being booted from the front seat at the last second, still managed to give me some good hair for the photo. I wouldn't choose to sit behind her either. 

And now onto the rest of this week. Tomorrow is a free day - where I'll play catch up and make lists, and then Thursday is a full day with karate, 9th grade orientation and more. 

We still have some more summer to enjoy.....

It had been awhile

There was ballooning that week I was in Boyne. I sent Denny a picture of my toes up at the pool when he asked if I could crew. 
There was ballooning the night that I had to attend the volunteer meeting for Melonfest. 
There has been less ballooning this year overall due to the weather. In short - I've not gone much, so it was good to be back on chase crew duties last night. 

It was a fast flight, but not a bad landing. 
It's all good

Happy Sunday! 

 

life skills

Today....

• ....I had to take the boys along when I brought Wendy shoe shopping. Wendy still didn't find any shoes (second attempt this week), but I taught the boys some life skills. 
• ....is Allan' last day of work before he heads back to school. He's working a nine hour shift. We might have to order pizza again. 
• ....Greg left for Chicago.
• ....there is nothing on the calendar, but I feel determined to have something to show for the day by the time I go to bed tonight. 

I best get on it. 

be good. 

Week in the Life Outtakes

After a busy couple weeks, and a full weekend - this week is a quiet one. I did a double take after filling out our weekly calendar - it was just that unusually empty. 

That being said - I'm also doing Ali's Week in the Life this week. It feels different to be doing it on such a low key week, but that's what I love about it. In my attempt to take part every year, and that it's on a different week every year - this is real. This is us right now. This week. 

In this post, just a few of my favorite photos from Monday and Tuesday - minus the ones I accidentally deleted after I printed them. (ugh)

Above - part of my morning routine. I wake up automatically sometime between 6 - 6:30, then come down and feed the dog while my hot lemon water is brewing. He knows to sit while I pour his food, and doesn't eat until I nod and say, "eat". 

The boys know not to ask for Kindles, Dsi' or computer turns if they haven't done their daily reading. This one is working through Harry Potter this summer (nearly done with book four) but here he has a book that Mark picked up at the Melon Festival this weekend. 

 Lunch on Monday was BLTs. I prepped the ingredients, but the kids were on their own after that. 

With six of us in the house, it's hard for me to try a new recipe without someone disapproving. In Monday night's case I made a new chicken Parmesan recipe. Five out of six liked it. Mark - not so much. He managed to down the required amount using the above technique.  Topless because I hauled the boys in from a water balloon fight to eat dinner with the family. 

This evening - bonus. The husband is still in town. 

A friend dropped off a few knives with the hopes of getting them sharpened. 

Our bedtime routine - dad reading bedtime stories. Tonight - the book that Mark picked up at the Melon Festival. He had told the author that he loves scary books. Here he is blocking his ears as dad reads - lifting his fingers for an occasional listen. He may not have known how scary books can really be. 

I'll share the rest of the days photos and stories when I share the pages. Being that it's a quiet week - I'm working on completing them as I go. 

Ten

1. I've been pulling stuff for a Friday garage sale for two days straight (more than that - having been piling things for awhile - but two days straight of pulling all those things from their spots and stacking/pricing in my living room). My knees hurt. 
2. Today's debate is whether to strap on the knee pads and dig for more, or be pessimistic about Friday's chance of thunderstorms forecast and put it off a week - leaving us to play box dodge for another full week. 
3. I can't decide. I might need more coffee. That Purple Heart is coming Saturday is making me lean towards pushing forward, even though we have no set up for a rainy day sale. Perhaps I'll advertise the time as from when the rain stops thru when we have to go run the 5K, with a chance of later if my husband gets home from this week's trip in time. That's not wishy-washy at all, right? 
4. Greg left for Chicago this morning.  He's hopeful that he'll be back Friday. 
5. I'm no longer feeling optimistic that Michigan Adventures will take place this month. We're having a hard time getting a commitment on Greg's work schedule to coincide with our family's schedule. Our hoped for date is less than two weeks away and hotels are all booked. Mostly a bummer only because we had already told the kids. 
6. It's not like me to be so pessimistic. 
7. I need more coffee. 
8. We do still have our Labor Day plans to look forward to, but Allan won't be with us then as he'll already have started school
9. Digging through all my fabric bins from the days when I used to make a lot of denim and corduroy quilts, we scored jeans for both Wendy and Allan. Mind-blowing in that both pairs were the only ones that hadn't been cut for squares yet. Speaking of which - I'm selling all the pre-cut squares I have. And some tops, and some rows that can be turned into tops.  I'm doing Serious purging. 
10. I made up my mind. Time to strap on the knee pads again.  Fingers crossed for no rain. 

be good. 

* And because I use the search feature on my blog to remind me when certain things happened - Greg changed the water heater Monday night. It was needed. Our old one was a time bomb waiting to burst. The kids all had lessons on where to turn off the water if it happened when we weren't home. A good lesson to have, regardless. 

Filling the days

The kids and I got home from Boyne at about two on Friday, and while I should have jumped into laundry and catch-up - I didn't. My mind and body stayed in vacation mode for the rest of that day. The most I did was walk up to town to catch the Friday night concert. Greg was busy on a project at the neighbors, and the kids were all trip weary as well. 

On Saturday - we woke up early and took the nine o'clock van down to Greenfield Village. It was a little drizzly when we left home, but it cleared up quickly and turned out to be a perfect day for the Village. It wasn't crowded at all, and it wasn't sweaty hot. 

My mom rode down with us, and we met up with my brother and family. My brother is hosting my sister's two boys for a couple weeks - so in this picture we have twelve out of my mom's fifteen grandkids. The two oldest (Allan and Anna) and the youngest (Penny) are missing. Allan had been tempted to come until he heard we were leaving at 9am. ha. 

We hung out until about 2:30, but then headed home so Greg could finish helping the neighbor with his porch project. There may have been a custard stop on our way to the exit. There may have been a long nap for me once we arrived back at home, chased by a much needed kitchen restocking trip to the grocery store. 

Yesterday was church, hamburgers on the grill for lunch, an attempt at 5K training for Wendy and I, and then the boys and Greg and I walked to the other side of town to visit, with a stop at DQ on the way home to use up one of my stray gift cards. 

This week? 

• This week is a full one, starting with a dentist appointment for the one in the above photo. I'll be waking her up shortly. She also has her sports physical this week. 
• We also think we're having a garage sale this week, but it'll be a one day only thing because that's all the time we can irk out of it
• Melon Festival and Melon Run
• karate
• two more drive times for Wendy
• the gym
• Allan's birthday
• Greg to Chicago
• a dog sitting job for the boys
• dinner date with friends
• a wedding
• replacing the water heater
• making reservations for Michigan Adventures (still trying to nail down a positive date)

I better get busy.....

zipping along

Today was good. 

My mom and I went for a walk before the rest of our peeps woke up, and her and Judy straggled out sometime after ten. The kids and I lazed around until after lunch (sandwiches) and then hit the pool for a few hours. We chose another pool today - this one I like because I can sit in the hot tub and see the kids in the pool. The kids prefer the 9 foot deep pool that doesn't have a hot tub.

A couple hours at the pool and we were done. I went for a walk before making dinner (tacos). 

And then it was time for the zipline. 

I gave this poor guy a bit of Laakso.  

Him, trying to get the belt contraption over my chest:  um, I think I'm going to have to give you another size. 

Me, looking down: Stupid b@@bs are such a bother 

Him, a little surprised, but laughing: yeah, this job can be really awkward sometimes. 

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And then I was spit shining the daily ice cream off of Mark's face and nodded toward this guy saying, "I bet this guy has been spit shined before" 

that guy with amused raised eyebrows shaking his head: never

Me:  Seriously? Never? 

him: Never. 

odd.  

Ready to zip. 

$25 gets a person two runs down the zip line. 

Mark had talked it up all day that he was going for it this year. He did it last year, but really needed some coaxing to make the jump on his first run. He was probably on the platform for a good ten minutes before he went. His second run he did fine. 

This year - almost the same thing. He talked it up all day how he wasn't nervous since he'd done it before, but then got jelly knees as he climbed the tower. He jumped much quicker than last year though, but with his eyes shut tight and white knuckling it all the way to the bottom. 

This photo was taken before his second run. The first one he wanted to go with Brian. The second one he chose to go with me. 

He still kept his face shielded and and his hands clenched tight. 

As for me - I had given my camera to Wendy on my first run, but wasn't able to turn myself towards where they were, so she just caught my backside and my arm flapping trying to get myself turned. 

On my second run I tried to take a selfie with my camera. This is what I got. ha. 

The girls on their second run. Totally fun. 

They headed back up the chair lift after their run. 

Mark, still not ready to tackle the chair lift again, went with Brian and I to the candy store. The girls back down, and Brian and I headed up. 

On our way back down, we heard something that sounded an awful lot like fire crackers, but then we noticed a huge limb falling from a tree that we've walked under several times while here. !!!  It drew a few gasps and onlookers, but nobody was hurt. I was amazed at how loud it was for us to hear it from our distance. 

Overall - another great day. 

Tomorrow is looking to be our warmest day here and we have plans to spend it at the beach. 

Whenever we decide to wake up.   

A hike, swim, dinner and a visit

 We got a little bit of a late start on our yesterday. The drapes keep our unit so dark, and the clocks were all a bit wonky, giving us zero perspective of time. Having decided to use the cooler morning to take a hike, we ended up at Avalanche for a climb. 

The kids were thrilled. Mark especially. 
We were glad we didn't wear our hoodies as we warmed up rather quickly. 

Brian, are you enjoying this vacation?  Thumbs up. 

Back to our digs for an easy sandwich lunch and then to the pool for a couple hours. The girls ended up walking to the other side to the bigger pool. I was content. 

Back to the room to start making dinner. Having shared what I was making dinner with the folks sitting next to us at the pool, I thought I might get some extra dinner guests, but I may have forgotten to give them our room number. alas.  

Tonight will be tacos and tomorrow will be leftovers. 

My mom and Judy R pulled in at dinner time. 

They are on their way to my neck of the woods and had been pricing hotels at the bridge for their mid-trip stop. I told them not to be ridiculous - stay here. We had good laughs all evening. 

They'll finish their trip south sometime today. 

As for us - more swimming and this evening - zip-lining. 

be good. 

Boyne Again

Yesterday morning I woke up Mark with a whisper:  "How are you feeling?" 

He mentioned that his face was still sore. He had mentioned the pain the night before, just before the power went out. It was then that we noticed the whole left side of his face was swollen. 
I brought him to RediCare as it was quicker than the primary care when we were hoping to head out at noon. Besides, our doctor was out anyway. I did call. 

Mark is the same kid who got tubes last month and just went for his follow-up appointment a week ago Thursday and checked out fine. It was that same Friday that I thought he was starting to sound more congested than I'd ever heard him. 

Diagnosis?  A raging ear infection. That explains the weepy mood he was in over the weekend. 

Home from the pharmacy, the power came back on just in time for me to open the fridge to load our cooler. We left for Boyne right on schedule, stopping for corn on the cob and melon on our way out of town, and at Meijer in Gaylord on our way into town. All unloaded, settled in and fed (pizza)- we were then ready for a walk. And the rain began. 

A half hour later and the rain stopped and we walked over to the other side for ice cream. The kids say it was good. I'm just taking their word for it because I'm determined to win round 3 of the gym's challenge. 

Brian and I took a ride up the ski lift. We got wet butts. 

Brian and I back down - the girls then went up. Mark has been there and done that and has decided he's not a fan of heights, so we kept someone at ground level with him. 

We wandered around a bit while the girls were headed up, and happened to notice that the last hay ride of the day was about to take off. We hopped on - and it was just us three, while the ride before us had been packed full.

Mark really enjoys his ice cream. 

The ride was a little longer than I realized. The girls were up and down before we got back. It was a good test for Wendy on how to keep her cool and assess the situation. She was pretty sure we'd been kidnapped, but seemed cool about it. Not quite what I was going for. 

Back at our room - we looked at the clock and noticed we had a half an hour before the pool closed. The boys and I did a quick change and scooted down to the clubhouse pool only to be met with a sign that they had closed early for cleaning. 

ugh. 

We hopped in the van and drove over to the pool on the other side. We floated on our backs and found the Big Dipper. A great end to our first day, and this pool is open an hour later than the others. 

And as for this day? We're getting a lazy start, and that's okay. We're contemplating a hike up Avalanche Mountain at some point, and my mom is coming sometime this evening - spending a night on her way downstate. 

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We haven't noticed any storm damage here, but on our way up my Brian happened to mention at nearly two o'clock that he forgot to eat anything. It's a bad habit of his - he tends to wake up, get distracted, heads outside and fails to eat. I've been on him about it for awhile, to no avail. 

I might have glared and rolled my eyes when he mentioned that it happened again, and his stomach was audibly grumbling.  The next stop was Houghton Lake, so we pulled in to see what we could find, and everything was closed for power outages. 

I admit to laughing and telling him - "that'll teach ya" 

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be good. 

Getting our run on

Friday was a full day. 

Kid shuttling, a walk to town to pay the taxes, Wendy's second drive time (not as good a report as her first time, but not horrid), a drive out to Lansing to pick up our race packets, more kid shuttling and then a cookout and long overdue visit with friends. 

And then came Saturday. Allan, Wendy and I woke up bright and early to head out to the Insane Inflatable 5K. We had chosen the third heat. I was so glad we didn't run any later. It was hot. 

It wasn't a timed race, but we were all surprised how quick we got through, especially when someone shared that it was a bit longer than a 5K according to their tracker. We'd do it again. Next time I'd bring Brian. 

Allan got through the obstacles in under thirty minutes, and then headed straight to the air force booth to win a t-shirt for breaking the day's pull-up record.

Back at home - Greg took the boys out to the Fowlerville Fair, and while I was tempted to go to, I had to make some time to get things ready for our Monday trip. I did laundry and some packing. And I made zucchini bread. It ended up with a funny upper crust and an under-cooked middle, but it all went regardless. I ordered new bread pans. I had thrown out my old metal ones about six months ago and I can't quite get my glass ones to perform for me the same way.

Home from the fair, Greg changed the oil on the van and gave it a good interior cleaning. We're a bit obsessive about starting trips with a clean vehicle. 

In the evening, there was music. Two of my brothers and Uncle George came over. I was being a bit lazy about getting off the couch to get my camera, but then a text request came in, so I got off the couch and got my camera. 

I then went back to being lazy. 

As for today? 

Mark woke me up at a bright and early 6:30. 
You can thank him that I had time to blog.