Category Archives: Vacation
Fudpuckers Again
Last year the gang went to Fudpuckers while I stayed home to let Katie get a good nap. This year, we both went along.
They are known for the alligators…and I have to be honest and say they just creep me the hell out. /shudder
Beth and I decided to split this 40 oz margarita-ish drink.
And made mom try it, too. 🙂
Feeding the alligators.
Being a ham.
Attempting to get a cousin pic…and failing. 🙂
More creeptastic alligators.
Owen by his name that he wrote there last year.
Then this happened on the drive home.
First time in the pool!
I was more than happy to take the kids to the pool…because it meant NO SAND. 🙂
iPad cousin buddies
She just loves watching the ocean.
Pre-bedtime cuddles with daddy
Of course holding her new Happy Meal dolly that she can’t let out of her sight since she got it yesterday. 🙂
Cousins dining al fresco
The dining room table seats six so the kids all sat out on the balcony—and loved it!
First trip to the beach with cousins!
Welcome to the condo!
Katie loves the balcony!
She also spent a lot of time like this:
Elevators unsettle her.
Road trip dinner!
The kids’ first time at Waffle House—and both loved it (and both chose waffles and bacon)!
Is it time for my nap yet?
If Katie doesn’t start sleeping past 6-6:15 I might lose my mind.
Yes I’m thankful she sleeps soundly through the night, but 6am kills me. (It can be anywhere from 5:45-6:30 but mostly it’s 6:05-6:10.)
She has learned how to open her door so we’ve turned her knob around so we can lock her in, but that causes loud crying when she can’t get out. But if we don’t do that she gets up and wanders the house and I have to get up anyway to keep her out of mischief. Owen sleeps consistently to about 6:30 so I have to get her quickly to shut her up so she doesn’t wake him (their rooms are next to each other). Then she always says some variation of “Want to get Owee” or “I want to play Owee.”
And of course Owen won’t have to be at the bus stop until 8:30 so it’s not like we’ll need to be up earlier once school starts.
We’ve tried exhausting her (skipping her nap, running her ragged) and it didn’t have an effect. We tried putting her to bed early—no change. The only thing left is putting her to bed later…which I hate but we might have to just try. (She slept in regularly on vacation at my mom’s, and the only differences there were a bit darker room and sometimes staying up later.)
Owen definitely spoiled us…he’d just play in his room quietly until we came and got him. He’d stay there for hours if we let him. But her? NEEDS ATTENTION.
Is it time for my nap yet?
There’s nothing like ending an 11-hour road trip with a little vomit in a car seat.
We were about five minutes from home when we heard an unexpected and unidentifiable noise from the backseat, then Katie crying, then Owen telling us that Katie puked. Wait, what?
I unbuckled and turned around and HOLY CRAP did she ever barf. Ugh. So I was trying to clean her up as best as I could while Tom was trying to get us home (we had been planning on stopping to pick up dinner but then cancelled that so had to get back into traffic). We pulled in, stripped her down in the front yard, and I immediately took her upstairs for a bath. She didn’t seem any worse for the wear so we had no idea what caused it.
Then it was time to try cleaning the car seat. What a nightmare. I think I’d rather buy a new one than try to clean vomit out of one. Seriously. They do not come apart easily—and once you do get it apart, you still have to clean vomit out of all the plastic crevices…with a toothbrush and Q-tips. (I guess I’m lucky this is the first time it’s been this bad…?)
Not quite how I envisioned our return home…
A small 10 vs a big 5!
Nick is a small 10yo and Owen is a big 5yo. This is what it looks like when they stand next to each other. 😯 I had actually thought Owen was a bit closer in height than he turned out to be…but I’d hope Nick was taller since there’s five years age difference!
A relaxing end to a busy vacation.
We left Grayling a day early so we could visit and stay the night at my cousin’s house—and so the kids could play more. And we had fun… We pulled in and they said “Want to go on a boat ride?” Sure!
The kids sword fighting while we loaded the boat.
Ready to go!
On the boat!
The cabin where the kids spent most of the time playing and watching movies!
In the driver’s seat!
Proof we were actually in the water! Yes, I’m a geek. 🙂
When we finally got to the swimming area, Owen didn’t want to go in because he was scared. It didn’t matter that Tom was in the water, the other kids were in the water, and he could see that it was plenty shallow enough.
So Tom took Katie in first! And she loved it, of course!
Grilling. Off the side of a boat. Who knew that was a thing? Of course we had Timmy’s delicious brats!
Katie was having a blast in the cabin bed—she could see out the window which was right where we were sitting!
We finally convinced Owen to go out and he clung to Tom like a second skin. The guys were pulling the boat to a new location (trying to get in shallower water).
Friends of theirs came and moored with us and they had brought their dogs so Katie wanted to go over to see them.
Owen getting more comfortable in the water…
And when he saw they had a football water toy? It was GAME ON.
And suddenly he was having a blast!
He told Tom he was floating just like a balloon!
On the way home…
It was really fun and really relaxing…and the time really flies when you’re out on a boat—we left about 1:30 and were pulling back in about 6:30! Tom and I were exhausted after all that fresh air! The cousins introduced Owen to a new video game…and Katie had to sit there, too!
Then Owen was building with Nick’s Legos, and I heard one of the girls say that Owen builds such cool things! 🙂
Then it was time for Frozen! All the kids were enjoying it!
Our last night at Gramma and Grandpa’s house
After the group photo, he commandeered the tripod to use as a cannon…and then actually as a tripod and was pretending to take pictures.
Sitting by the fire!
Not a bad spur of the moment family picture!
Making s’mores!
Eating s’mores—or in Katie’s case, eating the chocolate bar off the graham cracker.
Napping Buddies
Kaliseum, Day 2
Since we had the time, Tom took the kids back to Kalkaska to the Kaliseum for another day of swimming with Uncle Rob and Grandma Marsha! (I stayed back and went to a Parade of Gardens and lunch with my mom!)
This is how she’d navigate the water when it was too deep for her.
Heading up for the waterslide! He hadn’t wanted to go on it the last time, but then was sad he didn’t do it…so he was excited to go back so he could try again.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, and he came back down within a minute (the time stamps on both photos are 1:06pm). Oh well.
Fire, Fireworks & Stones, Part 2
I got some of mom’s pictures of the day, but not until after I’d already posted…so I’m just putting her pictures in their own post!
Fire, Fireworks & Stones
Gramma Jean wanted to try out her new fire pit…so we all headed outside. The kids loved running around and of course Owen had to get out his new water gun. 🙂
Uncle Rob was nice enough to go in and fill up the water gun…but surprised Owen by shooting him! It’s blurry but I love Owen’s body!
She stayed pretty far from the fire once daddy yelled at her for getting too close. 🙂
Watering Gramma’s flowers.
Smoke bombs! They certainly didn’t last as long as I remembered them to…
Katie liked the pooping dog—except for the popping and crackling at the end.
In addition to Katie’s first fireworks (MUCH earlier than Owen’s first fireworks!), she also got her first sparkler. She was okay with it…but not thrilled.
And then we all went out to the front yard looking for Petoskey stones in the landscaping.
Pretend sleeping with daddy
Who me?
Katie’s new stroller
We got Katie a doll stroller for her birthday…and this is what we found this morning. 🙂
Back to the city park
We couldn’t stay as long as we’d planned last night after Dairy Queen, so we took the kids back today. Of course, Katie was THRILLED to be swinging: “Look Owee! I’m swinging!”
Owen was playing Frozen with two older girls until they left…then he looked bummed and I asked what was wrong. “I need the two girls to be my archers!” Here, he’s “just resting.” 🙂
It took some convincing, but we got him up there.
Then of course Katie wanted up as well.
Guys Gone Shootin’
I forgot to post this on the 15th.
David, Tom, Rob, and Papa went shooting today before Katie’s party. Tom wanted to test out his new gun, David is always game to go, Rob was eager to join, and my dad thought it sounded good, too! I wasn’t going so I made sure Tom took a few pictures! 🙂
Tom’s target:
DQ Kids
Meeting Papa and Grannie at DQ…
Teaching Katie about mirrors.
Katie had just gotten up from her nap and was cuddling with Grannie Lin while Gramma Jean curled her hair. She was very intrigued by the mirror—especially when she realized she could see Papa and Owen behind her if the mirror was put in a certain place.
Papa + the iPad, matching outfits, a ball, and Star Wars
Owen showing Papa ABCMouse on the iPad.
The boys in matching outfits courtesy of Grannie Lin. 🙂
Kicking the ball around.
Showing Papa his Lego Star Wars book. Owen saw me with the camera and immediately gave me a good smile. I love that he’s somewhat trained. 🙂
Then we had to have Papa look up for a good picture, too!
Outside with Grannie Lin
Matching Girls
Grannie Lin showed up in the same basic outfit as Katie—so of course we had to get a picture!
