The train ride was fun. In Bo's words . . . "This may sound a little contradictory. The train was dirty, six hours late and we did not get a good night's sleep but it is now our favourite form of travel." With Bo's limited time off work, it is priceless not to spend the first two days of vacation strapped to a seat staring at the road. Bo was able to interact with the children from the get-go, making some great memories, taking in the scenery with Jacob on his lap, taking Katherine on a "date" for a snack in the lounge car, helping me with free hands, etc.
LOVE the portable DVD player. Thanks Mom & Dad!
This is William headed into his first tunnel. Just happened to click the picture right on time.
Once in MI we had a great family vacation. And of course a lot of our memories involve the BOAT at 387 Big Bay. Thanks Dad and Joan for keeping the boat for another year. It is a highlight for us.
Jacob learning to drive the boat. Going in circles was a huge hit. Katherine also tried her hand at this.
"Getting dunked" is a tradition Jane was old enough to embark on this year.
The unofficial motto for the children on the boat: "GO FASTER DADDY! GO FASTER!" They ALL loved the speed of the boat.
This is a post triumph picture. Katherine floated (with the help of her floaty-suit) in Lake Michigan all by herself. Mommy was floating nearby just in case.
Bluberry picking was another memorable experience. All three of the older children did great. Well . . . Jane did get caught squishing some blueberries, but I think she comes by the destructive spirit naturally. Bo was reminded of a time when he was a young boy and just out of boredom he destroyed three blueberry plants while his Mom was picking blueberries. Thankfully even at that young age God's Spirit was at work in his life and he tearfully confessed to his Mom on the way home.
Jen must have inherited Mom Zeerip's fingers because she was hands-down the best blueberry picker of the day. She out-picked us two buckets to one. Speaking of Jen, since it is on her blog I am putting it on ours. She and Ryan are expecting baby #2 in January. We are very excited for them and grateful to God for this new blessing in their lives.
All in all we picked about 50 lbs. of blueberries, most of which I froze and brought home (another great feature of the train: each person is permitted 3 checked bags.)
For all the people who do not know much about Michigan, they have the largest freshwater dunes in the world (at least I think that is the claim). So there are serious beaches for play. And we certainly took advantage of them. Joan was able to take some time off work while we were there and hit the beach with us. It was so much fun.
Jane did try the water, but she loved the sand.
Bo was such a good sport getting buried alive.
And it looked like so much fun that all the kids wanted to do it too.
The water was a great 68 degrees.
Brave Katherine got bowled over by more that one wave, but she just kept going.
This was a little walk while we waited for our table at the local best pizza place Friccano's
This was our visit to Grandma Zeerip's. She always so obviously enjoys the children. It is a pleasure to visit.
This is Isaac's 1st birthday.
This is Ba-pa pretending to give William ice cream on Isaac's birthday.
And this is K and J riding in the back of the convertible complaining, "It's too bright!" Poor kids, our hearts really go out to them.
So, this is a huge post, but I still haven't gotten to family pictures and Jacob's birthday party. So expect a follow-up blog soon.
3 comments:
As I told you on the phone, wish I could have been there too! Miss ya, C
It looks like it was so much fun!! what a great summer tradition to have.
This post made me long to go to Michigan and of course to see all the Zeerip's again.
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