Back to school - 6th grade

Michael starts back to school in a couple of days. I think he's getting excited about it…as far as we can tell anyway. A few days ago, I saw one of the buses pass by our house timing the new routes. Michael saw it too and scooted so fast to the front door just as the bus turned down another street. He was so upset that the bus left without him. He started banging on the window and throwing a fit…like, "hey, you forgot me!" Poor kiddo. I hope he's that happy to see the bus when it's here to really pick him up (he wasn't).

I am so fortunate that Grandma Carole does the school clothes shopping for Michael, because you all know that I am NOT a shopper (thank you, thank you Carole). She usually buys a few outfits for each grandkid starting back to school, but this year we told her Michael only needed 1-2 pairs of jeans and a pair of athletic pants…he was good with everything else.

And this is what ended up in her shopping bag (because she's magic and finds the most amazing deals):

Michael is so lucky she doesn't listen to me (hahaha)!!!  :) Because of her, Michael is going to be sporting some serious style this school year. Gma has great skills in putting together adorable outfits. 

Would the outfits still be called "adorable" if they're for a 12 year old boy? Wait…would I even use the word "outfit"? Gary said girls have "outfits"…I guess boys have "a set of clothes that happen to match". Either way, Michael's definitely gonna be one hip little dude.

father's day 2011

We went to Gary's parent's house to celebrate Father's Day.  Gary and his dad spent the morning golfing...which isn't really a special Father's Day treat, because that's what he does every weekend (as well as Monday and Wednesday evenings and sometimes Friday afternoons).

But the real treat was instead of grabbing a cold turkey sandwich or leftovers from the night before, we (meaning Carole did all the work, while I kept her company and we chatted away) prepared a feast of the boys' most favorite foods:  grilled chicken (for his dad) and ribs (G's favorite), homemade mac & cheese, grilled asparagus, baked potatoes, salad, homemade cherry pie (G's dad) and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  BTW, we totally have to wear pants with elastic waistbands whenever Carole puts together one of her amazing feasts.  Just keepin' it real.

G's sister started to put the meat on the grill, but Gary took over from there because he IS the grillmaster.  He has a knack for knowing exactly when to take food off the grill precisely when it's done and not a second longer.  Juicy and moist.  Did I just use juicy and my husband in the same sentence? Is it getting warm in here?

Anyway, after filling our bellies and sitting around chatting, the games came out.  We are a game family. At every family get-together we play games... real sit-down-around-the-table games.  In fact, we host a family game night every Friday all summer long.  This time, a few games of Canasta were played (Carole, Tina and Gary), along with Sequence (Richard, Carole, Dillon, Ashley, Tina and myself) and Rocks (Michael).  We also watched Rory McElroy win the US Open too.  Michael loves to watch golf, so the big boys suffered through watching it with him.  Huge sacrifice on their part.  NOT.   :)

 Happy Father's Day to Gary, Richard and my dad....big hugs to you all!

weekend getaway

A couple of weekends ago, Gary had a bowling tournament in Grand Rapids, MI.  It might sound like a boring trip to look forward to, but we went alone...without the boy....for 2 whole nights and 3 whole days.  We don't get much alone time, as it is tres difficult to find a sitter for a special needs kiddo.  Grandma stayed at our house with Michael and he had a blast!  :)  Total win-win all around.  Well, except for Grandma, who was so worn out...M was a handful.  Let's just say we'll be lucky if we ever get out again! 


On the way to GR, we stopped by FireKeepers Casino to donate money to the slot machines for an hour (the tables were too expensive to play).  When we checked into our hotel room, someone else's stuff was in the room they gave us, so they upgraded us to a suite, which was....sweet!  


We had dinner and drinks at Old Chicago Pizza and Bar, that is attached to the hotel.  It was very yummy food and they have over 110 kinds of beer - we tried 5 different kinds that night.  I had Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (a brewery out of WI) and taste tested a Raspberry Honey, while G tried, Magic Hat #9, Dell's Oberon, and a 312.

The next morning was bowling, bowling, bowling (G's scores were:  629 and a 679!)...then we took off to explore.  We found a nearby diner that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives that we had to check out.  Rosie's Diner, which was named after the Rosie in the Bounty paper towel commercials.  
At first, it kind of looked old and sad, matching the gray day.  But it was very happy and lively inside.  

 We had burgers (chipotle and western burgers) with homemade potato chips.  






On the way out, the clouds had darkened a little and we could see the neon lights better.  I could totally picture old chevys and muscle cars hanging out here all summer.

Next, I begged sweet talked G into going to Holland, MI famous for fields of tulips and Dutch schotchkies.  The tulip festival was just 2 weeks earlier, so I thought we'd still get to see the tulips without all the crowds.  I was just imagining the cool pictures I was going to take.  Half an hour drive later, we arrived to find the fields....EMPTY.  Turns out, they had an early warm spell and the tulips bloomed early.  Gary laughed his ass off at this and gave me grief the rest of the trip about taking him to see nothing but a field of weeds.  The only tulips we got to see were the bulb packets hanging on the wall, along with a lot of wooden shoes.

Let's just say Gary was a little apprehensive about the next adventure I suggested:  Saugatuck Dune Rides.  I have to admit, it did look a little lame on the website....having someone else drive a 5-row jeep around some sand with a bunch of old people in the back smiling and waving.  B O R I N G.  I am so glad that we went, because we were SO WRONG!!  OMG, what a blast!!  G couldn't wipe the smile off of his face and I let out a couple of screams throughout the 1/2 hour trip - especially when we went airborne.  Such fun!!  

We found out the driver is a local professional motorcycle driver (we saw his Monster Energy drink sponsored bike & gear behind the check-in building), hence the speed, the drifting in the sand (think Tokyo Drift) and the air-catching jumps.  At the top of the tallest dune, we got out and walked around.  On a clear day, you can see Lake Michigan, but the fog was rolling in off the lake, so we couldn't see much.  

That night, we met some good friends for dinner (they were also bowling in the tournament).  

We ate at the same restaurant and enjoyed some more beer sampling (Smithwick, Flying Dog, and another Oberon, while I stuck with the Summer Shandy)...definitely a good thing we only had to walk upstairs to our room!


Sunday morning was more bowling, bowling, bowling (G had a 620) and then we were back on the road.  We found another Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives place to stop at called Joe's Gizzard City.  It was out in the middle of nowhere (south of Lansing) next to a large factory and a few corn silos.  

There were more bikes than cars and the bar area was bigger than the restaurant area.  
They are famous for their deep-fried gizzards which we took a pass on...but also for deep frying everything.  When Guy Fieri was doing the show, he said why not deep fry an entire cheeseburger, bun and all.  So they did and the owner added it to the menu, the Triple D Cheeseburger.  And we can tell you that it was good, a little dry, but good.  

Better than the deep-fried hotdog with coney sauce.  :)  The deep-fried oreos satisfied my sweet tooth for sure...it was like eating warm chocolate cake (I think it would taste better with vanilla cream cookies though, but only because I'm not a chocolate cake kinda girl), but they were still good.  

After all that deep-fried goodness, we should probably ask our doctor about needing zocor or something!

Our weekend was wonderfully relaxing, which was the complete opposite of Carole's weekend with Michael.  He kept her hopping and was into EVERYTHING (welcome to our world)!  On Saturday night, she put M to bed and like normal, a little while later she could hear him out of bed and playing around.  She had a huge shock when she opened the door to check on him....he was covered in blood (from a bloody nose), along with his bed, the carpet, all of the books he took off the shelf...it was everywhere.  She said that it looked like a crime scene from some gruesome movie and will haunt her forever.  She got him cleaned up and he fell asleep in her bed, while she washed his bedding and cleaned the carpet - at 11pm.  Too exhausted to move him back to his bed, she climbed in with him to sleep, only to be woken up a couple hours later by M peeing through his diaper wetting the bed.  


We jokingly asked her if she wanted to do it again for next year's bowling tournament (in Buffalo, yes we travel to all kinds of exotic locations! Don't be hatin').  She didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either...she only laughed a little manically, said she was going home to shower and to sleep for an entire day.  I think we'll wait a few months before we ask her to watch Michael again.  I think this might've been our last private getaway for quite awhile.

family vacation

Let's take a trip in the Way Back Time Machine. All the way back to April 2009. That's really not that long ago, but because we're talking about vacation and sunshine and being carefree and not working, it just SEEMS like it was forever ago. I've had this post ready to go for a few months, but I wanted to edit some of the pics....and then life gets in the way and editing pictures got pushed to the back burner. You know how that goes sometime. I thought about not even blogging this vacation, since we leave for pretty much the SAME vacation NEXT WEEK! The photos are still unedited, but I really wanted to share Michael's first trip to Disney. He did amazingly well, considering all the NOISE and CROWDS.

For Michael's spring break, we went to Florida to visit with G's parents who were "wintering" in the Sunshine State. Michael and I flew (thanks Grandpa!) and Gary drove so we'd have a car available. Needless to say, G took one for the team because that's a long, long drive. I know because we all drove back together!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few (okay, maybe a TON) of highlights from the trip. Fasten your seatbelts, cuz here we go!

Hangin' at the beach (Crooked Lake):

Not much to say to describe these pics, except that Michael would play and play and play here for hours at a time. Except for this day (it's a video, so go down to the bottom and turn the music off):

It was too cold (68F) and dangerous to play in a lake that looked like an ocean. The sand was blowing so hard that it felt like needles on your skin and at times it looked like it had snowed. Luckily, that only lasted for one day. Back to our regularly scheduled play time.

Michael's turtle tracks to the water.


Splashing and goofing off.

His usual "head dip" (he does this in the bathtub too). He also tries to drink the water, but we try to catch him before that happens (not always successful).

I watched Michael drop sand a few times and watched him get excited over it...but I was curious because he didn't seem to be watching the actual sand dropping. It took me awhile, but I realized that he was watching his SHADOW drop the sand. That was also a first.

First time he really seemed interested in sand/water toys, so that was neat to watch.

Michael was really vocal while playing this time.

Playing with the Gray's (the owner's of the place we rent) grandkids. They played well together and the girls were wonderful. :)


He even conned grandpa into taking him to the beach.

Michael's 1st visit to Walt Disney World

Disney was having a special that we couldn't resist: a free ticket ON your birthday and Michael was going to have his birthday while we were in Florida...so we thought it was as good a time as any to try it out (we bought our tickets with a military discount because of G's dad). The problem is: Disney is a crowded place, so we weren't sure how Michael would do. Spring Break and Easter weekend being at the same time makes Disney way more crowded. Strike one for Michael. One of the first rides we took Michael on was "it's a small world"...an all around favorite for lots of people. But for Michael, he really could've cared less. Towards the end of the ride, floating around and listening to the "It's a Small World" song over and over and over, we notice that Michael is covering his ears. It's okay buddy, we think some of the adults probably want to cover their ears too.

Peter Pan's flight wasn't too bad...there was no ear covering, but no real excitement either. So we're not off to a good start. That would be strikes two and three for the boy. Oh dear, maybe bringing him to Disney wasn't such a good idea after all.

Hmmm, let's see what other rides did we try? Stitch's Great Escape...too much screaming. The carousel was just okay.

But G did get a head squeeze and a smile from him.

The Speedway was fine, but had a tremendously long wait to get OFF the ride, which was not fine. Dumbo, the Astro Orbiter and the teacups were better.

Oh, and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was a success, but only to see the characters...the ride itself was just okay.

Then we took him on Space Mountain.

I started to doubt our decision when I realized that we couldn't sit right next to him. Carole wouldn't even ride it - no way Jose.

Me: Gary do you think he'll know to keep holding on? Make sure they push down the seat bar tight onto his lap so he doesn't fall out. Oh dear, oh dear.

Gary: I think he'll be fine. I'm able to reach around and hold onto his shoulders if I have to. We really can't change our minds now, we're locked in. He'll be fine.

Okay, here we go (see Michael waving goodbye??). The ride starts through the dark tunnel....it's pitch black and I can't see my baby. Is he holding on?? Our spaceshuttle car is eerily quiet throughout the entire 2-3 minute ride. He didn't fall out (whew - a very, very good thing), but did he like it?? The ride comes to a stop and as the lap bars rise up, we hear clapping and a WOOOO-HOOOO, YEEAAA!!

Oh. My. God. It's Michael doing the cheering!!! Turns out he didn't care for the other rides, not because of the crowds or noise or kids, it's because they weren't FAST ENOUGH. People waiting to get on the ride were smiling and sharing in his enjoyment. He even begged us by signing "more, please; more, please" as we left Space Mountain. The boy is a speed freak!! Well doesn't that change everything?!

The next rides were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. We talked Carole into riding both of those. I thought Carole was going to pass out from screaming so much on Big Thunder Mountain....but when we got off; she said "Oh, I guess that wasn't so bad. I might even be able to ride it again...but not right now."

Splash Mountain was a fun ride too, especially for Michael, because it combined the steep downhill plunge with getting splashed with a ton of water. As your log starts to go down the drop, they take your picture which you can purchase after the ride is over (we didn't buy ours though...didn't want to pay $20 for a 4x6 picture). Our picture was H I L A R I O U S! The picture shows Gary and Michael sitting in the front seats, with Carole and I sitting directly behind them. Carole and I are holding on to the bar with the tightest of grips, arms extended, hair flying, eyes squeezed shut, our teeth clenched in terror. Gary wasn't as bad as us, but he was at least holding on with both hands. Which is more than I can say for Michael. The boy was only holding on with one hand, looking around at the view with the most serene, happy smile on his face...all while dropping - no, more like plunging - down 5 stories into a gigantic splash. Needless to say, he really liked Splash Mountain.

I'm sorry I have no pictures of the crazy rides to share with you. I was too busy holding on for dear life.

We rode every ride we thought he'd like and we stayed until the lights came on.

As we took the little train back to the park exit...8 hours after we got there, we agreed that this was a pretty successful adventure.

Yeah, I think we'll take him back. Especially after we found him asleep that night with a smile on his face.

Visiting Great Grandma

We always visit my grandma (M's great-grandma "ggma") when we are in Florida. We did our usual: out to lunch to the restaurant of her choice and then some errand-running and house cleaning for her. Little did we know that it would be the last time doing that...over the summer, my mom and uncle moved her to NC...to be closer to family. She was starting to struggle too much on her own and worried us all, so it's a relief to know she has help. It's also sad that we won't get to see her as often. We fly to FL every year (and have for almost 10-11 years straight), but hardly ever get to NC.

Michael was a hot and tired little boy, so he relaxed with ggma after lunch.

Michael signing "I love you" to great-grandma. Aawwww.

Michael's birthday party

As I said, we took Michael to Disney on his actual birthday, but we still wanted to have a tiny celebration. So, we invited all of the other "winter folks" to join us for cake and ice cream one evening. Carole ordered a Wall-E cake which was a BIG hit for Michael!

(wonky flourescent lighting)

And I'll end this novel of a post with some of the sunsets and scenery from our little lake.

So long until next time!