And All Was Right With the World...

We just returned from our annual sojourn up North.  By North, I mean a 16 hour drive to the sandy shores of Lake Huron in Michigan.  I drove to Pittsburgh with the kids, spent the night with my brother and his family, drove to Cleveland, spent the night with an old friend and her family, then picked up Mark at Cleveland Hopkins Int'l Airport (lucky duck to slide in with only 4 1/2 hours remaining!!) and headed North on US 23.  Phew!  I am exhausted just by recalling that trip (the kids were all very, very good for me in the car though, it must be noted!). 

Northern Michigan is my happy place.  Walking the beaches with my kids looking for Petosky Stones and "sea" glass, snorkeling over the weed bed where we fish to see what species of fish are calling it home each summer, and walking down to Taylor's Motel and Cottages to get an ice cream cone (just as my Dad and his 4 brothers did when they were kids) are just a few of the simple delights that await us each summer. 

And while the sunrises and sunsets make truly magnificent scenery, they are but a backdrop to the memories we create with our family.

My Mom, recalling her conversation with Nora (and the subject of my last post) ordered a butterfly cake and surprised the kids with it.  Nora was absolutely delighted, and gasped, "oh, I've always wanted a butterfly cake!"

Thanks, Mom, you really hit the ball out of the park on that one!  Not to mention the whole crumbled-Doritos-on-honey-nut-cheerios-for-breakfast thing....
(the picture is of my Mom fishing one evening with Brennan, Brady and their cousin Graden in her "favorite" little rowboat...Brady hooked into "Walter" the huge, elusive, Walleye of the Weed bed, but he broke the line before they could get him into the dollar store butterfly net they'd brought on board to help them land their catch...)

My Dad had the kids create their own colored crawler harnesses for walleye fishing (they caught 4 walleye)!  An avid hunter and fisherman, it is important that he pass down his love for outdoor sports.  "Puppa" as the kids call him, is a special person.  He's just got a way with kids that is endearing, unique, and genuine. 

Mark came up with a very realistic map and buried Pirate's Treasure that they "stumbled" upon while scouring the beach with metal detectors.  The kids were all jumping up and down on the beach shouting "we're going to be famous!"

While my sister was not able to join us this year, my brother, his wife and their two children did come.  The kids all enjoyed spending time with their cousins.  Brady in particular, enjoyed having his cousin Graden, as a full time playmate.  He is generally surrounded by girls (AJ apparently doesn't count as a boy yet), so that was a great break for him. 

That beach is one of the few I know of these days, where you can have a beach fire.  While it doesn't get dark in the summer until after 10:30pm, at night, the stars are absolutely magnificent in both number and brightness.  We saw two comets (or perhaps it was trash from the Russian Space Station?) that were the brightest, boldest streaks across a night shy that I've ever seen.  It's was like Bill Cosby's Magic Pen on Picture Pages... 

At night, you can see the camp fires dot the shore as far as you can see.  It's magical.

We are fortunate that my Grandma, or "G.G." (for Great-Grandmother to the kids), is still alive and well.  So much so, that she drives herself to and from East Lansing (her home) and Au Gres (her lake house and about 1/2 walk along the beach from my parents house) throughout the summer.  Did I mention that she'll be 94 this Halloween?  Incredible.  The kids all enjoy her, and Brennan in particular always requests to stop in and visit G.G. when we go for a walk on the beach.  Sharp as a tack, with an Irish wit, she has an endless knowledge of family history and colorful stories of the cast of characters that comprise our family tree.

Hopefully, you all will have the opportunity to take some time this summer and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. 

Slow down, get rid of some of the clutter, minimize the chatter, and make some memories. 

I, for one, recommend Northern Michigan (anywhere), but if you can't get there, any place where you can look up and see the milky way will do.