Ok, well it's official, we have all had the crud now. Neva and Truckie are at the tail end of it all so hopefully we can move back to a healty house.
We took the kids on Sunday to see Bolt. That was the first time we ALL went to the movie together as a family. The kids loved it and I did everything in my power to stay awake. :)
Cade was ready to go back to school on Monday and they had their winter break. Ugh. Poor guy. He went back today and was sent home w/ a bag of Valentines from the class. He went absolutely crazy over them. It made me cringe a bit since I am not a supporter of the Hallmark marketed holiday. Of course I would never tell him that. He was so sweet and gave Neva the princess ones and you would have thought she won the lottery.
Neva had ballet today and she is just so into it. It is fun to watch her and try to keep Greta on track. :)
I am getting ready to go out w/ a group of 20 women to the Melting Pot for Ladies night for dinner. I haven't been out in a while so I am looking forward to seeing these women and getting a night out to dinner.
I have dinner on the stove now for the rest of them so this has to be short. Just wanted to drop a quick update of what we have been up to.
Quote of the day....
Cade and Neva were playing the w/ the Mr Potato Heads and Cade wanted to the mustache and Neva was having nothing to do w/ it. I really try hard to let them work things out on their own so I listened intently. Cade offered her the penny he had found earlier in exchange for the mustache. "SURE" Neva says. Amazing what a penny can buy you these days!! :) Not much but a Mr Potato head mustache I guess and oh yeah a Pony ride at Meijer.
We are hoping to head north this weekend to go skiing again and to a Griffins hockey game on Sunday. Stay tuned....
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
I'm Back!!
Ok, this is going to be short but wanted to update a few things.
Today Cade lost his 2nd tooth. He looks so cute w/ this huge gap in the bottom of his mouth. I will find him w/ his tongue sticking out of it. I have been calling him my toothless wonder or lizard boy. He will almost be 5 soon and that just completely blows my mind. He is starting to spell words on his own or recognize words and tell us what it says. What are we going to do when we can't spell things out in front of him anymore? I guess Truckie and I will have to learn a new language. :)
Neva, she has just been exploding w/ her letters and numbers too. She can write her name independently and can write many other letters w/ some guidance. She continues to amaze me daily-sometimes in great ways and not so great in others. Man, does that girl have an attitude!! I will truely appreciate it some day. Right Mom and Dad? She is in ballet right now w/ Greta and once the session is done both kids will take swim lessons to get us summer ready.
Truckie and I have been doing great. We are a little bummed right now because our snow is pretty much gone and who knows what that will do for skiing, snowmobiling, snow shoeing and sledding season. Only time will tell....
Ok, one quote of the day...
The other day I said "Shoot" fairly loud. Neva said, "Mom, what did Dad do?" Is that usually what I say when Daddy does something bad I thought. Hmmm. Note to self, kids are ALWAYS listening. :)
Cheers and until next time which I hope won't be in 4 months.
Today Cade lost his 2nd tooth. He looks so cute w/ this huge gap in the bottom of his mouth. I will find him w/ his tongue sticking out of it. I have been calling him my toothless wonder or lizard boy. He will almost be 5 soon and that just completely blows my mind. He is starting to spell words on his own or recognize words and tell us what it says. What are we going to do when we can't spell things out in front of him anymore? I guess Truckie and I will have to learn a new language. :)
Neva, she has just been exploding w/ her letters and numbers too. She can write her name independently and can write many other letters w/ some guidance. She continues to amaze me daily-sometimes in great ways and not so great in others. Man, does that girl have an attitude!! I will truely appreciate it some day. Right Mom and Dad? She is in ballet right now w/ Greta and once the session is done both kids will take swim lessons to get us summer ready.
Truckie and I have been doing great. We are a little bummed right now because our snow is pretty much gone and who knows what that will do for skiing, snowmobiling, snow shoeing and sledding season. Only time will tell....
Ok, one quote of the day...
The other day I said "Shoot" fairly loud. Neva said, "Mom, what did Dad do?" Is that usually what I say when Daddy does something bad I thought. Hmmm. Note to self, kids are ALWAYS listening. :)
Cheers and until next time which I hope won't be in 4 months.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Time flies
It has been a very long time since I have been able to write in my blog. It seems like it gets put lower and lower on the priority list when I am super busy. I just need to take a few minutes a week to give updates so I don't feel so overwhelmed when I don't write in it. With that being said.....
The kids have been good for the most part. Cold season has officially started a couple weeks ago so the kids have been passing them back and forth to each other. Right now it seems that Cade is starting it again and Neva is getting over hers. Just a fact of life and might as well get used to it for the next few months. Gotta love germs. :)
Let's start w/ Cade and his update. Not sure if he is going through some emotional changes but we have been having some trying times w/ him and throwing a fit if he doesn't get his way. It is very unlike him so hopefully this is just a phase and that it will pass soon. This past week was better but boy the week before that was awful. He is loving soccer so much and is somewhat of a natural. OK, that is my bragging bit said. We have our last game this Wednesday and I am a bit sad. I LOVED coaching the team and seeing the rewards it has to offer especially for your own child. I have so much fun and it was so nostalgic to be back in the soccer world again. I look forward to many, many more seasons between the 2 kids. Cade is loving school and seems to be coming good friends w/ a girl Brooke who actually is our neighbor too. Very convienent. She carpools w/ us and the kids just absolutely love it.
Neva, she has been doing so great. Not sure what it was but within the last month she is really coming more and more into her personality and just a sweet, sweet girl. The fits and touchiness seem to be less even though she is still very sensitive but I adore that in a person. It is crazy to think that she will be 3 in 8 days. It seems like just yesterday I was getting sleepless nights and dealing w/ a tough baby. Yipppeeeee, those days are long gone and I couldn't be happier. I look forward to what big girl Neva has to bring and it only seems to get better and better everyday. She is still doing tumbling w/ me on Mondays and she still really enjoys it. I hope to get her into ballet next session either through the Y or through the city of GR. We shall see....
Truckie and I have been doing really well. Oh wait, w/ one exception that he is covered in poison ivy on his arm. I have had a lot of p.i. in my day and never have seen anything like this. Hopefully this too will be behind us soon because it is pretty gross and Truckie doesn't seem to comfortable.
We went to Detroit this past weekend and had such a fabulous time. We stayed in a hotel right downtown and went to Greek town 2 blocks away for a greek meal. It was delicious and was accompanied by great wine. Just like our honeymoon in Greece.....or not. :) Then we went into this pastry shop afterwards and it was like nothing we have ever seen. Crazy chocolates and pastries. Then we went to see The Old 97's and this small venue. It was so much fun and they sounded so great. After the show a couple guys from the band were outside and we chatted for a short bit and I got Murray's picture and autograph. I felt like a little school girl all gitty. Maybe it was the beer. :)
Busy week ahead of us. The standards and then we are headed to the apple orchard on Friday because Cade doesn't have school. We will also be getting ready for Neva's 3rd birthday party on the 25th!! We are doing a princess castle cake so I am very excited for that project.
Ok, quotes of the month.:)
Neva's:
We were walking out of the library and I hear her mumble something under her breath and I swore she said something about a bitch. I asked her what she said and she said "Crazy bitch!!" I have no idea where she would have heard that because Truckie nor I would EVER say anything like that. How do you keep a straight face....you don't. Hopefully that won't come out of her mouth again.
Cade's:
I need to think about this one and post it later....
Have a great week everyone!!
The kids have been good for the most part. Cold season has officially started a couple weeks ago so the kids have been passing them back and forth to each other. Right now it seems that Cade is starting it again and Neva is getting over hers. Just a fact of life and might as well get used to it for the next few months. Gotta love germs. :)
Let's start w/ Cade and his update. Not sure if he is going through some emotional changes but we have been having some trying times w/ him and throwing a fit if he doesn't get his way. It is very unlike him so hopefully this is just a phase and that it will pass soon. This past week was better but boy the week before that was awful. He is loving soccer so much and is somewhat of a natural. OK, that is my bragging bit said. We have our last game this Wednesday and I am a bit sad. I LOVED coaching the team and seeing the rewards it has to offer especially for your own child. I have so much fun and it was so nostalgic to be back in the soccer world again. I look forward to many, many more seasons between the 2 kids. Cade is loving school and seems to be coming good friends w/ a girl Brooke who actually is our neighbor too. Very convienent. She carpools w/ us and the kids just absolutely love it.
Neva, she has been doing so great. Not sure what it was but within the last month she is really coming more and more into her personality and just a sweet, sweet girl. The fits and touchiness seem to be less even though she is still very sensitive but I adore that in a person. It is crazy to think that she will be 3 in 8 days. It seems like just yesterday I was getting sleepless nights and dealing w/ a tough baby. Yipppeeeee, those days are long gone and I couldn't be happier. I look forward to what big girl Neva has to bring and it only seems to get better and better everyday. She is still doing tumbling w/ me on Mondays and she still really enjoys it. I hope to get her into ballet next session either through the Y or through the city of GR. We shall see....
Truckie and I have been doing really well. Oh wait, w/ one exception that he is covered in poison ivy on his arm. I have had a lot of p.i. in my day and never have seen anything like this. Hopefully this too will be behind us soon because it is pretty gross and Truckie doesn't seem to comfortable.
We went to Detroit this past weekend and had such a fabulous time. We stayed in a hotel right downtown and went to Greek town 2 blocks away for a greek meal. It was delicious and was accompanied by great wine. Just like our honeymoon in Greece.....or not. :) Then we went into this pastry shop afterwards and it was like nothing we have ever seen. Crazy chocolates and pastries. Then we went to see The Old 97's and this small venue. It was so much fun and they sounded so great. After the show a couple guys from the band were outside and we chatted for a short bit and I got Murray's picture and autograph. I felt like a little school girl all gitty. Maybe it was the beer. :)
Busy week ahead of us. The standards and then we are headed to the apple orchard on Friday because Cade doesn't have school. We will also be getting ready for Neva's 3rd birthday party on the 25th!! We are doing a princess castle cake so I am very excited for that project.
Ok, quotes of the month.:)
Neva's:
We were walking out of the library and I hear her mumble something under her breath and I swore she said something about a bitch. I asked her what she said and she said "Crazy bitch!!" I have no idea where she would have heard that because Truckie nor I would EVER say anything like that. How do you keep a straight face....you don't. Hopefully that won't come out of her mouth again.
Cade's:
I need to think about this one and post it later....
Have a great week everyone!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
This week in a nutshell
Cade started back to school on Monday. He was excited and everything was cool and calm for the morning. We got out of the car to take our yearly pics of course and then he went in and Neva and I left. It was pretty much that simple. I could tell he wasn't nervous at all and he even told me so. That made me feel so much better so dropping him off was a breeze. I didn't shed a tear but then I get these feelings of guilt from taking bonding time away from Neva. She did ask a few times if it was time to pick him up. However, she was loving the fact that when we were at the grocery store she could hold anything she wanted without having to fight over it w/ Cade.
Wednesday, we dropped off Cade and Neva and I headed out to buy her a bedroom set that I found on craigslist. It is perfect for her. It is a twin bed, 2 dressers, a desk and chair. I got a killer deal and the condition is perfect. We just need to get her a mattress now and she will be all set for the "bigger girl" bed as we call it. I think that we may throw a coat of paint on it, even though it doesn't need it. Right now it is cream and I think I prefer it to be white to match the trim in the house. Ok, just my neuroticness, if that is a word. She seems pretty excited but hasn't said much about it. She never said that she didn't want in her crib it is just Truckie and I's guilt for putting a 3 year old potty trained girl in there. :)
Wednesday evening was a blast!! Cade and I had our first soccer game and we started the season off great. The kids just had so much fun as did I. I think that Cade played w/ a smile on his face the whole time. He had a hat trick for the game even though he is trying to tell me he scored 4 goals. Man, that kids is good. He has crazy coordination for a kid his age. I know that every parent says that about their child but he just excels at every sport. Sometimes it just blows my mind. As a teacher for sports classes to 4-5 year olds I have seen the "best" and worst of them and Cade is no comparison. Ok, enough of my bragging.
This is a funny story about our soccer team color. We were supposed to be scarlet, which I thought was pink. I told Cade that the color of our team is pink and he was in tears. Truckie told me that scarlet was NOT pink so Cade and I checked on the computer and that put a smile on his face again. So, we are at the game yesterday and my boss is handing out the soccer jerseys. He hands me a stack of PEACH jerseys. I gave him the look "Really?" and he said that he would send them back. I told him not to bother. The kids really didn't mind at all, they were just so happy to have an official soccer jersey. Cade told Truckie that he didn't mind if they were peach. I told him that we could be named the Salmon fish team or something like that since the jerseys are the color of salmon. Hey, open to suggestions for a team name relating to Salmon.
Now, we are getting ready to up to Stacy's family cottage for the weekend. We were supposed to camp but Stacy is just not ready having Emmett now and it is fine w/ me. The cottage is about 1 hour away on a small lake. The kids can fish and we can all sleep in a real bed and have a roof over our heads. No complaints here. It is supposed to rain too so it will be great. We are all looking forward to spending some time w/ the Vances as the last time was for the canoe trip!! Way too long in other words.
Ok, gonna go but before I do I will share the quote of the day....
On Monday afternoon the kids were playing a game together and they were laughing so hard. I am not sure if I've ever heard either one laugh this hard for this long. So, on Tuesday morning Neva asked Cade if he wanted to play the game again. Cade said "No, I don't have a very good laugh in my mouth right now." Gotta love it!!
Wednesday, we dropped off Cade and Neva and I headed out to buy her a bedroom set that I found on craigslist. It is perfect for her. It is a twin bed, 2 dressers, a desk and chair. I got a killer deal and the condition is perfect. We just need to get her a mattress now and she will be all set for the "bigger girl" bed as we call it. I think that we may throw a coat of paint on it, even though it doesn't need it. Right now it is cream and I think I prefer it to be white to match the trim in the house. Ok, just my neuroticness, if that is a word. She seems pretty excited but hasn't said much about it. She never said that she didn't want in her crib it is just Truckie and I's guilt for putting a 3 year old potty trained girl in there. :)
Wednesday evening was a blast!! Cade and I had our first soccer game and we started the season off great. The kids just had so much fun as did I. I think that Cade played w/ a smile on his face the whole time. He had a hat trick for the game even though he is trying to tell me he scored 4 goals. Man, that kids is good. He has crazy coordination for a kid his age. I know that every parent says that about their child but he just excels at every sport. Sometimes it just blows my mind. As a teacher for sports classes to 4-5 year olds I have seen the "best" and worst of them and Cade is no comparison. Ok, enough of my bragging.
This is a funny story about our soccer team color. We were supposed to be scarlet, which I thought was pink. I told Cade that the color of our team is pink and he was in tears. Truckie told me that scarlet was NOT pink so Cade and I checked on the computer and that put a smile on his face again. So, we are at the game yesterday and my boss is handing out the soccer jerseys. He hands me a stack of PEACH jerseys. I gave him the look "Really?" and he said that he would send them back. I told him not to bother. The kids really didn't mind at all, they were just so happy to have an official soccer jersey. Cade told Truckie that he didn't mind if they were peach. I told him that we could be named the Salmon fish team or something like that since the jerseys are the color of salmon. Hey, open to suggestions for a team name relating to Salmon.
Now, we are getting ready to up to Stacy's family cottage for the weekend. We were supposed to camp but Stacy is just not ready having Emmett now and it is fine w/ me. The cottage is about 1 hour away on a small lake. The kids can fish and we can all sleep in a real bed and have a roof over our heads. No complaints here. It is supposed to rain too so it will be great. We are all looking forward to spending some time w/ the Vances as the last time was for the canoe trip!! Way too long in other words.
Ok, gonna go but before I do I will share the quote of the day....
On Monday afternoon the kids were playing a game together and they were laughing so hard. I am not sure if I've ever heard either one laugh this hard for this long. So, on Tuesday morning Neva asked Cade if he wanted to play the game again. Cade said "No, I don't have a very good laugh in my mouth right now." Gotta love it!!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Life has been way too busy
I feel like I barely have time to sit down and just relax these days. Between getting ready for Holley to visit, orientation for Cade's school, soccer starting soon and all the things in between we are just plain busy. Hopefully once we get into our school routine again things will seem a bit more under control. At least that is what my thinking is and I try to think positively.
Holley and Chris are coming to visit for the night. The kids are very excited to see them. Cade has all sorts of questions for Chris about his race car driving. They have no idea that he is even a Dr. Not as important to him as a race car driver though. We are going to have my new signature meal which is fish tacos. Yum!!
Tomorrow morning Cade and I are going up to the YMCA for team orientation and a short soccer clinic. I am really excited and looking forward to being a part of his soccer team. The rules are a bit different than the standard games but they will start to learn more about the game and fine tune their tactics and skills of the game. Cade said he would be calling me Coach Mom and he thinks that is so cool. I am glad that I am still "cool" in his eyes and not embarrased of me yet. I cherish these moments!!
Tomorrow evening we are planning on going down to the city for the Celebration on the Grand. There are also a few other events going on. We plan on meeting Stacy and Simon and the gang for dinner and who knows what else. Should be fun.
On Sunday, hopefully NOTHING!! We just purchased a couple 55 gallon barrels for composting and rain water collection. So, I am anticipating that we will get this up and running. I am very excited about composting. We are really trying to do everything that we can whether it be big or small to help the environment. Not just for us but for our kids and future generations. You don't realize how big of an impact one person can make. Just trying to give our contribution as a family and it feels great.
On Monday, Cade will start school and the following week I will start teaching my classes at the Y. It will be nice to have the first week for Neva and I to have some time together.
Ok, here is one quote that sticks in my head. Enjoy!! As my life seems to stay busier you will notice that my blogging has gone way down. I will try to update as much as I possibly can to keep everyone in the know of what we are up to.
The other day I was making piles of stuff to sell on Craigslist and Neva came in the room. She looked at me and said "Mom, your not going to sell me." She said it in a way that she was letting me know and convincing herself at the same time.
I was talking about how my body was sore from backpacking and I told the kids that I was getting older, not old, but older. Neva said "your not getting old your getting new." Just so sweet. Wish it were true. :)
Holley and Chris are coming to visit for the night. The kids are very excited to see them. Cade has all sorts of questions for Chris about his race car driving. They have no idea that he is even a Dr. Not as important to him as a race car driver though. We are going to have my new signature meal which is fish tacos. Yum!!
Tomorrow morning Cade and I are going up to the YMCA for team orientation and a short soccer clinic. I am really excited and looking forward to being a part of his soccer team. The rules are a bit different than the standard games but they will start to learn more about the game and fine tune their tactics and skills of the game. Cade said he would be calling me Coach Mom and he thinks that is so cool. I am glad that I am still "cool" in his eyes and not embarrased of me yet. I cherish these moments!!
Tomorrow evening we are planning on going down to the city for the Celebration on the Grand. There are also a few other events going on. We plan on meeting Stacy and Simon and the gang for dinner and who knows what else. Should be fun.
On Sunday, hopefully NOTHING!! We just purchased a couple 55 gallon barrels for composting and rain water collection. So, I am anticipating that we will get this up and running. I am very excited about composting. We are really trying to do everything that we can whether it be big or small to help the environment. Not just for us but for our kids and future generations. You don't realize how big of an impact one person can make. Just trying to give our contribution as a family and it feels great.
On Monday, Cade will start school and the following week I will start teaching my classes at the Y. It will be nice to have the first week for Neva and I to have some time together.
Ok, here is one quote that sticks in my head. Enjoy!! As my life seems to stay busier you will notice that my blogging has gone way down. I will try to update as much as I possibly can to keep everyone in the know of what we are up to.
The other day I was making piles of stuff to sell on Craigslist and Neva came in the room. She looked at me and said "Mom, your not going to sell me." She said it in a way that she was letting me know and convincing herself at the same time.
I was talking about how my body was sore from backpacking and I told the kids that I was getting older, not old, but older. Neva said "your not getting old your getting new." Just so sweet. Wish it were true. :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A few quotes
I haven't been posting any quotes of the day so I have a few that are fresh in my mind I have to share.
The kids and I were talking about me being sore from backpacking and they said that I was getting old. I corrected them and said that I was not old and before I could say I was getting older, Neva said "Mom, you are new." Too cute.
We promised the kids if they didn't have any accidents this weekend w/ g ma and g pa we would get them a special treat. So, I took them to Toys R Us and they each picked out their toy. On the way home Cade said to me, "Mom, can you open my toy first?" I asked him why and he said, "because I am FREAKING out." That was a laugh out loud moment.
One more that involves both. Neva was fake coughing and Cade leaned over asked her "Where in the world did you learn that Neva because I didn't teach it to you!?"
Hopefully this will put a smile on your face like it did mine.
The kids and I were talking about me being sore from backpacking and they said that I was getting old. I corrected them and said that I was not old and before I could say I was getting older, Neva said "Mom, you are new." Too cute.
We promised the kids if they didn't have any accidents this weekend w/ g ma and g pa we would get them a special treat. So, I took them to Toys R Us and they each picked out their toy. On the way home Cade said to me, "Mom, can you open my toy first?" I asked him why and he said, "because I am FREAKING out." That was a laugh out loud moment.
One more that involves both. Neva was fake coughing and Cade leaned over asked her "Where in the world did you learn that Neva because I didn't teach it to you!?"
Hopefully this will put a smile on your face like it did mine.
North Manitou Island
Well, life has been extremely hectic and I feel my blog has gone by the way side. So, I wanted everyone to be able to read about our amazing experience this weekend.
We had such a great time w/ great weather. We left my parents cottage Saturday morning to a cool foggy morning w/ deer spread about in random fields. It was somewhat surreal and a great way to start out our weekend. We left the mainland at 10:00 AM sharp to head out to the island. The waters were calm which I was very happy about as the last time I was on this ferry it didn't treat me so well. Truckie and I had been studying the map to decide which part of the island that we were going to focus on. It is 11 miles long and 7 miles wide so trying to explore for a weekend made it hard to decide which area to go. We decided we would stay in the Northern part and stay close to the inland lake which was Lake Manitou.
We got to the island, the ranger gave his talk and then everyone went their own way. I would say there was close to 100 people or more on this island but you would NEVER have guessed because we barely saw anyone just hiking around. It was awesome. We set off for North and it would wrap us around to the West eventually. I was so proud of Truckie and his map guiding skills this weekend. He really stepped up and took charge of where we were going and the distance to that point. It was impressive.
We set up camp about 3.5 miles from the dock. That was more than enough walking w/ our packs on. I have realized my knees are just not what they used to be and they took a pretty good beating. My new motto is, "I am getting older, NOT OLD, but older." We set up camp in the deep dark woods. It was a really remote spot and set us up to hike down to the lake and further west on the island if we wanted and we did.
We were getting low on water so decided to hike down to the lake which was about 2 miles one way. It such a beautiful place. It is so crazy that you are at a lake on the middle of an island. WE filled up our water and splashed some water on our face and just relaxed for a bit. Then we headed back for bed and to hang out in the tent because the bugs were so bad.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and then headed for another day hike to the north west part of the island. That was a 3.5 mile hike round trip and it got us some views of the water but we were still in the thick of the woods. Then we headed back to camp for lunch and to pack up to head closer to the dock so we would be as close as possible for Monday morning when the ferry came.
We packed up camp and headed back down to the lake for a swim and a fill up on water. Truckie was going to fish but I think we were just exhausted and we still had almost 4 miles to go until we were where we needed to go. Neither one of us complained (believe that one about me) about our packs being so heavy so that made it for a peaceful trip. My feet were getting so torn up from just walking w/ 50 lbs+ on my back and not have worn my boots for ages.
We finally made it to our camp by 5:00 or so and set up quickly because we were getting hungry. We made dinner and then went for one of the most refreshing swims of our life in Lake MIchigan. It was fantastic!! We went back to camp and were able to hang outside because the bugs weren't as bad and drank some wine. Oh yeah, we brought a bag of wine w/ us to help us sleep better at night and to be able to unwind from a long day. Really glad that we did.
The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and broke down camp and headed for the docks to head back to the mainland. Overall, it was a challenging weekend but so rewarding and am so glad that we did it.
The only wildlife that we did see was chipmunks and a couple snakes. The island is littered with deer but we weren't so fortunate to see any. Oh yeah, we also heard a coyote yipping on Saturday night for about 2 seconds and that was it.
We clocked a total of 17 miles of hiking for the weekend and I thought that was pretty good. I don't think I have hiked that much in the past 2 years total. :) I am physically tired in my legs, knees and feet but mentally I am stronger. It is such a great feeling to be out there and carrying everything you could possibly need on your back. Then, we come back to reality and have this house just full of stuff. It really makes you think about life and just how simple it can be and how much happiness it can bring you!!
So, I have decided to permanently retire my backpack for long trips like this in the future. My knees just can't handle it and I have to really listen to my body. Truckie kept saying that when we bring the kids out here and I kept having to correct him and say YOU. It makes me a bit sad to think that I am only 34 and my knees just can't handle some of the things I just love to do. I guess it is what they call reality!! We can always just take the kids over to the island and camp not far from the dock and just do day hikes.
Anyways, we took lots of fantastic fun pictures and I hope to get those out this week.
We had such a great time w/ great weather. We left my parents cottage Saturday morning to a cool foggy morning w/ deer spread about in random fields. It was somewhat surreal and a great way to start out our weekend. We left the mainland at 10:00 AM sharp to head out to the island. The waters were calm which I was very happy about as the last time I was on this ferry it didn't treat me so well. Truckie and I had been studying the map to decide which part of the island that we were going to focus on. It is 11 miles long and 7 miles wide so trying to explore for a weekend made it hard to decide which area to go. We decided we would stay in the Northern part and stay close to the inland lake which was Lake Manitou.
We got to the island, the ranger gave his talk and then everyone went their own way. I would say there was close to 100 people or more on this island but you would NEVER have guessed because we barely saw anyone just hiking around. It was awesome. We set off for North and it would wrap us around to the West eventually. I was so proud of Truckie and his map guiding skills this weekend. He really stepped up and took charge of where we were going and the distance to that point. It was impressive.
We set up camp about 3.5 miles from the dock. That was more than enough walking w/ our packs on. I have realized my knees are just not what they used to be and they took a pretty good beating. My new motto is, "I am getting older, NOT OLD, but older." We set up camp in the deep dark woods. It was a really remote spot and set us up to hike down to the lake and further west on the island if we wanted and we did.
We were getting low on water so decided to hike down to the lake which was about 2 miles one way. It such a beautiful place. It is so crazy that you are at a lake on the middle of an island. WE filled up our water and splashed some water on our face and just relaxed for a bit. Then we headed back for bed and to hang out in the tent because the bugs were so bad.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and then headed for another day hike to the north west part of the island. That was a 3.5 mile hike round trip and it got us some views of the water but we were still in the thick of the woods. Then we headed back to camp for lunch and to pack up to head closer to the dock so we would be as close as possible for Monday morning when the ferry came.
We packed up camp and headed back down to the lake for a swim and a fill up on water. Truckie was going to fish but I think we were just exhausted and we still had almost 4 miles to go until we were where we needed to go. Neither one of us complained (believe that one about me) about our packs being so heavy so that made it for a peaceful trip. My feet were getting so torn up from just walking w/ 50 lbs+ on my back and not have worn my boots for ages.
We finally made it to our camp by 5:00 or so and set up quickly because we were getting hungry. We made dinner and then went for one of the most refreshing swims of our life in Lake MIchigan. It was fantastic!! We went back to camp and were able to hang outside because the bugs weren't as bad and drank some wine. Oh yeah, we brought a bag of wine w/ us to help us sleep better at night and to be able to unwind from a long day. Really glad that we did.
The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and broke down camp and headed for the docks to head back to the mainland. Overall, it was a challenging weekend but so rewarding and am so glad that we did it.
The only wildlife that we did see was chipmunks and a couple snakes. The island is littered with deer but we weren't so fortunate to see any. Oh yeah, we also heard a coyote yipping on Saturday night for about 2 seconds and that was it.
We clocked a total of 17 miles of hiking for the weekend and I thought that was pretty good. I don't think I have hiked that much in the past 2 years total. :) I am physically tired in my legs, knees and feet but mentally I am stronger. It is such a great feeling to be out there and carrying everything you could possibly need on your back. Then, we come back to reality and have this house just full of stuff. It really makes you think about life and just how simple it can be and how much happiness it can bring you!!
So, I have decided to permanently retire my backpack for long trips like this in the future. My knees just can't handle it and I have to really listen to my body. Truckie kept saying that when we bring the kids out here and I kept having to correct him and say YOU. It makes me a bit sad to think that I am only 34 and my knees just can't handle some of the things I just love to do. I guess it is what they call reality!! We can always just take the kids over to the island and camp not far from the dock and just do day hikes.
Anyways, we took lots of fantastic fun pictures and I hope to get those out this week.
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