Michigan

Everything is a contest, and all of my moves are measured by the big girls. A few minutes ago, Evelyn said, "If I was covered with ants, and Olivia was covered with worms, who would you kiss first?" I said, "Henry."

We recently took a 788 mile road trip with the kids to Michigan. We spent one night in a hotel, and Robbie suggested we rearrange the pillows, sheets and blankets so that the kids could sleep sideways on the bed. It was plenty wide to accommodate the length of our children, and they looked precious.

The next afternoon we stopped at the Wojo's place, and Henry was in heaven with all of the boys' toys. Brecken and Tanner made Henry's day by giving him some Lightning McQueen blue PJs (which he wore each night of vacation), a Cars pillowcase and wallet, and a Mater toy. We had fun with our friend, but stopping at their house instead of going to Dad's in Springfield made the Saturday drive to Michigan much longer. What should have taken 8 hours of driving plus stops ended up taking over 11 hours. The ridiculous part is that we went 4 hours before we ever stopped the first time, then we only made two short stops. The time change resulted in us arriving at the condo at 8:15 pm. Grandpa Tom and Uncle Anthony were waiting for us in the parking lot, and Grandma Jane had managed to keep dinner waiting for us for several hours. That ready-to-go meal was a blessing.

Henry has some Stride Rite open, strappy, tennis shoe style sandals that have developed a terrible odor this summer. Whenever he removed his shoes in the van, Robbie and I would catch a whiff, start frowning, then realize we were smelling Henry's stinky feet. It was terrible. At one point when baby wipes did nothing to touch the stench in the van, I doused little guy's feet in Midnight Pomegranate hand gel. Later, when we came upon a horse trailer on I-80, which was stop and go for way too long, Henry said, "I wish we had a horse in our trunk."

We experienced absolutely glorious weather during our entire vacation. The temp was only as high as the low 80s, and the skies were beautiful. We spent a lot of time at the beach with cousins and other relatives, and Robbie buried Olivia in the sand again. Henry was not paying attention, and he walked right on top of the sand that was over her chest. Vivian looked very worried when only Olivia's head was visible above the sand. She was afraid to be put down on the sand at first, but before long she enjoyed walking along the water's edge with Mommy and digging with a bucket and shovel in wet sand. She's so cute.

We went to the annual July 4th parade in the pretty Victorian port city of Manistee, Michigan, and Henry made a few mad dashes into the street for candy that wasn't thrown far enough to reach him. The girls made a haul, and the baby just chilled out in her stroller during the whole parade.

Evelyn amazed my brother and dad with her wild girl strength and speed on the beach playground's monkey bars. Lightning McQueen says, "I am speed." Evelyn was speed. I think Olivia's high point may have been our canoe trip. She rode with Grandpa Tom and Uncle Anthony, and they stopped to switch positions at one point so she could paddle. Our little Olivia looked like such a big shot. Henry and Evelyn were in a canoe with Robbie and me, and they spoke barely five words. I think they were afraid we would tip our canoe. I guess my warnings registered. Robbie and I don't get along too well while in a canoe. The river was jam packed with hundreds of people in kayaks, some floating on tubes, and there were many other canoes. It felt as though my husband was aiming for the other watercraft, and I wanted to smack him with my oar. I actually did splash him a time or two. We saw a black bear warning sign that suggested parents use caution and keep their children close. At one point Robbie said, "Look! It's a black bear." It was a little black poodle, and I laughed hard. When Ev said, "That's a bear? It looks like a little dog," I laughed even harder. Grandma Jane kept Vivian from 10:45 am until almost 8 pm, and we had a great day because of her willingness to stay home with baby.

After the canoe trip we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and did a dune climb. The first part was 110 feet, and it was a hard climb if we tried to take it very fast. The kids ran up, then once I was up to Robbie's level, they turned without permission and ran down partway. Robbie said, "Go get them, and make them come back. I want us to go up higher." I did it, but I found the children in three different states. Once told to come back up, Evelyn collapsed into the sandy hill, and burst into exhausted tears in a hot temper tantrum. Olivia did a U-turn and started after her daddy. Henry took off in a third direction over a grassy hill. I sent Evelyn back to Aunt Jean. I took the other two back to where we left Robbie. The re-climb was extra tiring, and I became upset when I discovered that my husband was gone. He had continued to climb without waiting for us. I let Olivia run ahead only as far as I could see her, and I helped Henry. He got really, really red in the face. At one point he said, "Mama, I sooo tired. Can I take a nap?" We were in the middle of a hill. I laughed and held his hand. Up we went until we found Robbie, Uncle Ant, and Uncle Dave. The view was very nice, and the shade was even better. The most hilarious part of our vacation came next. Henry started running down the hills at breakneck speed. His legs moved fast, but he lost control and faceplanted when he was almost to the bottom. Sand clung to his eyelashes, and some got inside his mouth. His sweaty face was covered in sand, and he just didn't know what hit him.

We played Farkle with Ant, my step-sister, Melissa, her husband, Jonah, and cousin Ed with wife Jeni until almost 1 am one night. Jane stayed with the kids who had been put to bed, and my dad looked really tired when we returned to our condo. It was so much fun to have a chance to hang out without kiddos, and we appreciated the late night babysitting. When we told the big girls about the dice game, they started making up nicknames for everyone. Farkle Junior. Farkle Breath. We laughed a lot about the Farkle names.

We always walked to the beach, and one day I got to run on the pier, around the lighthouse, through the marina, and down the road by the lake with my little brother. It was a beautiful day, and I said a prayer of thanks for Anthony's health and presence in my life and the lives of my children. I think he really enjoys Miss Evelyn. He recorded her as she spotted a small fish on the pier. That little girl picked up the struggling fish and flung it back into the lake (surely against the wishes of the fisherman who had left it there to keep it from eating the eggs of other "good" fish). We told her that she saved the fish's life, and she looked very pleased with herself. She found two more fish left to die on the pier, and she helped them. Olivia may have the heart to help a gross fish, but only Evelyn has the nerve to pick one up.

To avoid the terrible traffic, Robbie got us up at 4 am the day we had to depart. We left the condo parking lot at 5:11 am. Not too far down the road, Henry said, "Do you smell what I smell? I don't want to smell poop." There was something disgusting outside the van in the air, and it got to poor Henry. He made us laugh even though everyone was tired.

We enjoyed our time with Daddy away from work. It was a pleasure to enjoy evening meals with 16 of us together. The children had such fun with their cousins. On the final evening of our trip, my cousin, Paul, brought his young chickens to my uncle's house. I wish I had video of Evelyn trying to catch them. Vivian kept yelling, "Bird!" Olivia held one briefly, then Henry took a turn. The chickens were really small and cute, and it was wild that my kids were chasing chickens around a yard. What fun memories we made.