...we had a cancer scare with the boy's mom, Kris, just in the last month (she had just gone through chemo and radiation for cancer in 2009), and they did surgery to biopsy a suspcious spot in her lung yesterday when they did the biopsies they were all cancer free!...this happens to be my favorite pic of Kris, and I just wanted to say I can't wait for her to get back to feeling as good as she looks in this picture:) She has a 3 week recovery period from this surgery now.
So, tonight the boys and I did some crafts for Valentine’s Day coming up…we had the creative juices flowing and after we were done with what I initiated Gage kept going with making something for Steve…this is the result! Don’t get me going, but I just love his creativity and how his mind put this together for Steve:) It’s related to our most recent trip to Paradise too…
...this is the Mackinaw Bridge...we're driving across coming from the left...the sun is shining like when we went across the first day of our trip and he added tons of color dots just for effect...then he took a magnet of ours and took the bottom little sign (that was hanging from a moose head) that says Paradise, MI (I'm not mad he broke the magnet because it's too cute he glued it right in between the towers on his bridge picture:) The the writing is "to Dad I love you from Gage":)
So, yesterday we headed up to Whitefish Point, only 10 miles N of our cabin…the wind was incredible, the air cold which made my hands freeze, so, I didn’t take a ton of pics…like, I felt like my fingers were going to freeze off as soon as they hit air…the boys loved this spot though as we had the lighthouse and tons of ice and waves:)
Beautiful Morning - Day 3 - Looking outside of our cabin window drinking coffee...
...this is looking the other way...this is basically in direction of Whitefish Point...our footprints are plastered around the cabin:)
...the beautiful drive to Whitefish Point...I would love a cabin off this road...seriously, maybe some day...
...our first glimpse of the lighthouse tower:)
Walking under the snow fences to walk around the buildings...in the warmer months you can go into the lighthouse and visit an on-site museum...I believe you can even stay overnight there at times...the water is directly to our right at this picture...
...but first the boys see a HUGE thing that is from a boat...is that an udder, an utter, well, you know what I mean:)
For some reason, I haven’t been able to rotate my pics lately…oh well, anyways…off to the point…
...walking down the deck steps to the beach....a little gray out at the point...
Gage stood at the end of one of the ice chunks and thought he was from Titanic with his arms out! Both boys were great with listening about where they could go near the water...I was very proud of them for listening so well.
...I got closer to the water but not as close as the guys:) Leeettle sceeeerd:)
The waves were crashing like crazy! Garret can't wait to show his teacher these waves he told me:) You could sense the powerfulness of the water with these waves and such...
...more waves...we were actually further from them than the pic shows...if you got wet with this you would have frozen on the spot!
You could see the line of snow falling over the water...
...the cool view of the lighthouse from the beach...
...a nice couple took our pic for us and got a wave in the background...at this point I started really fighting a cold...still am as I blog this from home right now...but there was no way I'm missing the adventures!
...then after we had enough of the wind we headed back to the Jeep and the sun began to shine magnificently...look at the view now!
So, the rest of Day 3, we watched movies, some more football, played on the ice outside of our cabin, and I rested like big time because, like I said, I started fighting this miserable head cold…it felt better just being in a cozy cabin though if I was going to have a terrible cold…
Day 3, nice little excursion, with a lot of fun, and for me rest:) So, this morning we sadly woke up knowing we were leaving…we all want a cabin up north some day, and we’re going to go back in the warmer weather to experience more of the great outdoors up there!
We said good bye to the Mighty Mac this morning…
...and I didn't scream once because I felt that miserable...I think the guys were happy about that;)
Signing off…going to bed even though it’s not even 7pm…
Love,
Sick but Happy (happy with lots of new memories)
...Steve and Gage playing Go Fish:) Steve and I then played some Rummy...I lost terribly:)
…then we headed up to the Upper Falls…
...this is what you see when you pull into the parking lot for the Upper Falls, the brewery/restaurant...
…we headed to the falls first…
...this is the trailhead...it's a fairly short walk to the falls...
...this is the first glimpse you see of the falls...the boys were like, "How cool!"...it's neat showing them these places as I remember going here with my parents as a kid...
...breathtaking!
...the boys were enthralled with how big these were!
Gage wanted his picture by them...you can see they are across the river and so very huge...
…then you go down 94 steps to close-up viewing area of the falls…
Then you’re there!
...this is looking in the direction of where the Lower Falls are...4 miles down river...
...the mist from the falls freezes the trees nearby...it does look like the Chronicles of Narnia, Pa:)
...the viewing platform extends to what I would say is "in front" of the falls, so, you can get a good pic of all the ice at bottom.
Then it’s off to eat…all this fresh air makes a body hungry:)
...waiting for our food...you can see the big things where they make there behind the guys...it's a very cool place inside...
...my food was almost too pretty to eat:) I had a grilled chicken salad (yummy!) and that's an edible orchid right there in the front...
...the guys all had buffalo burgers and brew pub fries...they LOVED their food and wanted more:)
...the waitress took our pic...she was a very sweet lady...
...a little blurry, but this is as you walk outside the brewery...they have a huge outdoor fireplace to the right of this where you can hang out too...
…then we ended the night by watching the Baltimore/Steelers game…good game by the way…and our favorite when going on vacation in Michigan, we watched The Great Outdoors…:)
...the bear story is our favorite part:)
...of eggs with onion, tomato, and cheese and potatos! The boys ate it up like crazy...Gage LOVED the potatos and loves the black ones:)
I was able to read a great series of books I’m reading with some delicious coffee…
...the books are written by an ex-DNR officer and I'm hooked!
…then while I got ready the real fun started for the boys and Steve as they went out on the ice in front of cabin…
...these pics are actually last evening, but since I was inside this morning I'm posting these, virtually would be the same pics last night vs. this morning:)
...the boys were dying to get out there again this morning...:)
...this is our cabin from the ice...the one on the left...
…then we were off to the Lower Falls…but I had to stop off at my favorite little store first, the Blueberry Patch…
Gage looking cute with his hair all a mess after taking off at hat and looking at greeting cards:D
Garret checking out the books...he particularly liked some lighthouse ones...
…ok, now we’re onto the Falls…
...as always, it's really a pretty drive...it's only 10 miles from cabin to the Falls...
…once you get to the Lower Falls you have a .8 walk to the falls…they plow the little parking area, but everything else you just walk through the snow on ungroomed trails, so, it’s more like an adventure…here’s some pics on our walk there…
...the beginning...
...entering the woods...
...we all love making snow avalanches!!
...we arrive at the Lower Falls...
...Gage slides to the water:)...the Lower falls have to falls, one on the left and one on the right...in the summer you can rent little boats to go in the water area...in the winter you can walk down a trail to the lower right falls...
...notice before we walk down the trail it's not really snowing and you can see the falls behind the guys...
...it's about .3 miles to be able to get up close to the Lower Falls...
...Gage resting on snow covered bench:)
...the Lower Falls really are beautiful and pics don't do it justice...
...good pic:)
Cute:)
...double cute:)
...Gage doing snow angels:)
...more of the Lower Falls...the mist freezes and forms these weird ice formations...
…now as we began to head back on the trail the snow just started coming down like crazy!
...this is what was going on...the snow started coming down great and the wind picked up and snow was falling from trees...
...so by the time we walked only .3 miles and got back to the main area of the Lower Falls we could not see either the left or right falls...
...we're about half-way to car...
...taking a break...
...back in Jeep with lots of snow in hair:)
...we were excited we had our snow adventure and looked forward to hot chocolate and spaghetti...:)
In a little while, we will be at the Upper Falls and have dinner at the restaurant/pub which is beautiful and has such great food!
It was snowing slightly in Portage when we woke up this morning which made me a little nervous about what the whole drive would be like going up to the U. P. today…turned out it was really only briefly scary a bit past GR, but then the sun came out and I’m typing at our dining room table in the cabin looking out at Lake Superior…it’s beautiful!
This is the first pic I took this morning on our trip...we were on the road exactly at 9:00am (after filling up the gas tank, quick stop at bank and McDonald's - thank you, Mom, for gift card!)
Gage and I sat in back together…1) Gage likes when I do on trips because we play, read, draw, etc. and 2) because I get less freaked out by Steve’s driving (hehe)…today I was great!
I get a little freaked when I see HUGE plow trucks on road, but they did a great job of keeping roads clear! and Steve drove great! It's not that he doesn't drive great all the time, he just doesn't have the fear factor like I do:)
What also helped was the playing stuff with Gage…
Gage and I read the cool dino book Aunt Carlene and Uncle Dave got us! 🙂 Love it!
…more fun…
We played our Travel Connect 4 game my mom sent us in a care package! Gage won this game...he was very excited:)
…more fun still…
Gage, Steve, and I also love looking at the picture books where you compare te differences between pics...Gage and I got to do quite a few today from 2 different books my mom also sent us in the cool care package she sent us for the trip...way cool of her to do that - so spontaneous:)
…then the fun turned a little “messy”…
Gage was having very much fun playing with the Silly Putty...play, play, play...then I didn't see it for like 2 hours while we were in car, and all of a sudden he says to me, "Ohhhhh, Sarah, see what I did?" He had the Silly Putty under his leg for those two hours and guess what...IT STUCK into the fabric of the Jeep seat...BUT, I texted my KS, Amanda, and she totally saved the day by Googling and sending me the instructions of what to use when I get home to get it out...Gage did sit there in the car and get as much out as he could though as I said that was his responsibility...
...the signs have a certain "feel"...I remember this even from when I was a kid...
…or this…
...barns...barns with advertising on side...
…and I thought of Chris when I saw this…
...of all the cool furniture he could make with the rustic look of an old wood barn...
…then you see this…
...the snowmobiles at the gas stations...
…which leads me to a great, really cool short story…
...a guy was getting gas in the truck in this pic...he got in his truck after pumping and his truck just was not starting...it would make this awful sound, but just wouldn't start...then I said to the guys "Let's say a pray his truck starts"...I started praying, "Dear Lord, we ask and we believe that you can have this man's truck start, please let him get home at least to be able to fix his truck whatever is wrong"...literally when I said the last word his truck started...the boys were so looking at me like, "Wow...pray does work!!"...very cool...
…then we got to the Bridge…
...the boys were sooooooo excited when we saw it!
…some more cool books…
...the boys in front of bridge and dying to go across it while I'm sweating and thinking "we have to drive across that?"...:) Love it, but it freaks me out...
…we also saw this before we crossed…
...fountain in Mackinaw City...the boys seemed like they could have stayed here by the fountain for the rest of the afternoon and started taking parts of it "off", and we had to stop them:)
…the we crossed…
...the boys did great! Steve drove across it GREAT! I screamed...Garret didn't like that I screamed...and, Gage laughed...and we shortly arrived in PARADISE!
…our destination…
...we are LOVING it already...the boys, Steve and I...we couldn't be more cozy, more happy, or more excited to see more...more tomorrow!
So, Saturday morning at 10am I took Denver and Gracie to the vet…just a normal routine check-up for rabies shots, etc. They did wonderful…so cute at vet’s and I really was happy with what I heard overall. Gracie does have a heart murmor (sp?)…and we do have to watch that, but overall she is ok. Denver’s eyes are ok, but yes, the start of cataracts…so, I get home and Gracie starts to throw-up (could be expected because of shots) and then she does it like 3 more times. I am blogging after the last one and she is laying right next to me…I look down randomly and her face is SWOLLEN! I freaked…I called my vet, but they had closed…so, I called the emergency number they left…this is how Gracie looked when I freaked:
...as I said, unbeknownst to me, her face is swelling...
…when I see this I FREAK!!
...see those pinkish spots in the white areas, yea, that's her face swelling...
…I call the vet…UGH!!! They are closed, but have a number for an emergency vet hospital…I call that!!
...yes, her mouth is now bigger...I'm on the phone freaking out to the person who answered who kept me calm and told me this IS from her shots, and she will probably be ok with Benedryl as long as her breathing is ok...
…her breathing is ok, but her mouth and eyes are still scaring me…
...I'm flipping out because her eye is this big!! Steve and I give her Benedryl...
…PHEW!!! After just a bit of the medicine…
...and looking like this for about an hour...there is hope...
…the medicine kicks in…
...she wanted to sleep in a comfortable place while the Benedryl worked - not normal yet...
…I seriously was so scared, but I listened to the emergency vet and was so happy for them being open 24 hours…she is now happy as a bug in a rug running around like her normal self:)
So, that is a happy ending with my little baby…we had to celebrate, so, Steve, the boys, Amanda and her boys all went sledding this morning!
...Amanda, Michael, Colin, and I all get ready to go down the hill...
…ALL of the boys HAD A BLAST!!! We as adults did too:)
...Garret loved what his grandma got him...this snowboard with handle...he could go all the way down the hill like his dad and Gage and not need that handle at all in the future for regular snowboarding...GREAT tool for getting the idea of snowboarding...we all had a blast on it:) Thank you, Grandma:)
Gage, Michael, and Colin all had so much fun together...Michael carried any sled he was using up the hill each time...Gage had fun racing with Michael, and Colin had fun being with the "big boys":)
...boys coming down the hill...
…looking down the hill onto the lake…
...BEAUTIFUL!!
...beautiful morning...just a great way to start the day...
...beautiful shot of ice formations and snow formations on the lake while sledding...
THE CREW:)
...THE CREW with me and Amanda then taking shot of us:)
…then the Michael, Colin and Amanda came over…
...and we had hot chocolate!! 🙂
Neat Victorian House in, I believe, Coldwater...yes, Coldwater...
...the library in Colon...
...old building in Lawton, not sure what it was originally, but I think it had or has antiques for sale in it...
...a church in Coldwater I thought was a pretty building...
...can't remember which town...
...when you drive into Colon from the East...
...this is like an old furniture factory or something in Colon...
…I’m going to try to take more pics on my road trips, better pics…these old towns are my favorite!
This is another fun experiment or just fun things for kids to do…WARNING! It can be messy (but not over the top messy), but it should be noted more so that it could stain your tabletop if you don’t put cardboard underneath (not just paper)…so, to begin you need tissues, hand sanitzer, food coloring, markers, tape, white paper.
You lay the tissue down, pour a fair amount of hand sanitizer in the middle of the tissue, gather the edges up and tape around that so the hand sanitizer sits like in a ball at the bottom…then you either take a marker and color the white paper in a small to medium spot until there is a lot of ink soaking into the paper…then take the ball of sanitizer in tissue and set on top of marker color spot and the hand sanitizer will soak up the color and then stay that color:) It’s pretty cool…you can also put food coloring in a bowl and then just gently set that ball of hand sanitizer on top of the food coloring and, again, it soaks it up.
Gage actually saw this at school and we recreated together:)
Well, we had a little Christmas (still not with my parents and brother, Amy, Walker, and Millie – soon though)…
They love their Grandma:)
…then I try to get a picture with Gracie and boys…
Yea, Gracie just would never look at camera...this is probably the 10th take:) Look at Gage and Gracie...they've had enough:)
…a good family pic…
Love the fam:) Gage looks so dapper with his hand on his chin:) We missed Presley though! Next year we'll be able to see her!
…more Christmas…
I love how Barb's hangs Christmas cards from her archway...
…I love her table with yummy food on Christmas Eve…
Beautiful table with candles and food! A very relaxing Christmas Eve! More food came out as evening went on...
…then Steve, boys, and I went back to our house and Gage wrote letter to Santa, left out cookies and egg nog…
...Santa ate it too and EVEN left Gage a note Christmas morning...
…opening gifts…
A HUGE MESS!!!! 🙂 Blurry, but what can I say...it was early!!!!
…then New Year’s…
We'll just leave it at this!
…and then the next morning…
Steve and I were up early and had breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Red's...(Hmmmm)...we love the food! It reminds me of being Up North.
Then, right after breakfast, I drove to Columbus to see my new little Millie…(I know, crazy!, but a great road trip and time with family:)
I took Denver with me and this is him on the way up wanting to come up on my lap during the drive...
…he then settles down…
...Denver gets the King's treatment on road trips...:)
…on the road…
...love the country roads I take to Columbus...
…I finally arrive and get to see my family…
Ok, look past the fact I had not taken a shower before my trip to Columbus...hey, give me a break:) It was the day after New Year's Eve, I just road in Jeep for 4-1/2 hours without stopping, and I was basically in PJ's:), but look how little Millie is!!!! And, so CUTE!!!
…more family…
...Walker just loves my dad's hard hat...seriously, his smile was so like, "real"...you know? Kids smile for "real"...adults don't seem to so much (though my dad looks like he is too) 🙂
…and more family…
…then I had to leave the next morning:(
Walker and I were just chill day I was leaving...I love him! Ok, I'm like Steve...on the phone?! It was my dad...just giving him last details of when I was leaving:)
…bye, Millie…
...my beautiful sister-in-law...and Millie in her jailbird outfit (hey, I didn't say it - they did:)...remember, I stopped to say goodbye as they're getting ready for church...
…well, Walker, wanted one last look to say goodbye, so, he just HAD TO try on my sunglasses:)
…then, I was on the road again…home:)
...like I said, I love my road trips:)
...moments 2 remember... 