This time we had a special project to complete. Along with one of Jon's sisters, we offered to paint their mom's living room. She has wanted this done for a long time and we were very happy to be able to help out in this way. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful and the boys had a blast playing outside for most of the day. The painting went quickly and smoothly and now Jon's mom is enjoying a fresh, clean living room. Yay! What a feeling of accomplishment. (I should have taken before and after pictures, but I was too busy!)
Usually when we go to Michigan the whole family gathers and there is no room for all of us to stay in their family home. (Jon has five sisters!) So we've always stayed in a nearby hotel. This time we stayed at the house. We had such a nice time. It was great for the boys (and us) to have more one-on-one time with Grandma and to hang out more at the house. Grandma had been preparing for our arrival and had beds made up and new books and toys for the boys and all of our favorite things to eat.
(I apologize for not taking more pictures on this trip! Somehow I have no pictures of the boys with Grandma and no pictures of our paint job!)
For a while now the boys have been asking us to take them camping. I've been camping only a few times.... way back in Girl Scouts and in college. I am definitely a city girl (and Jon's family likes to tease me about that). So, I had the crazy idea to camp in Grandma's back yard. She lives in the city limits, but it seems like country to me. She has a lot of land and it borders a golf course. We borrowed a tent from some friends. (Thanks a million Fouts family!) On Thursday we set it up in the yard. We borrowed a fire pit thing (?) from one of Jon's sisters. (Thanks so much Nancy!) The boys were thrilled to have their first bonfire and campout!
Of course we had to start the fire WAY before dark since Ray rarely stays awake past 8:30. The boys were fascinated by the whole process. Ray loved roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. He kept making them, taking one bite, and setting them down or giving them away. Adam, on the other hand, was gorging himself on marshmallows and s'mores. We had to cut him off. I can't believe he didn't end up getting sick!
Ray really enjoyed sitting around the fire and making up "scary" (mostly silly) stories. Around 9:00 he kept asking when we were going to "turn the fire off." He decided to go inside and go to sleep. He told me, "That tent thing just seems a little scary." Adam stayed up until around 10:00. He was waiting for it to get dark so he could use the flashlights. Since the tent was small (and since I'm a scaredy-cat), Jon ended up roughing it in the tent with Adam for the night. I went inside, but hardly slept because I was imagining all the things that could happen to them out there "in the wild!" In the morning, Adam was well-rested and proud. Jon was sore from sleeping on a gradually-deflating air mattress, and I was just exhausted.
On Friday Jon and I went to Lansing for a homeschooling conference. Jon's mom and his sister Susan were so generous to watch the boys so we could enjoy this special opportunity. We were able to learn a lot at the conference and spend some time together away from the children! It was awesome! We attended the conference Friday evening, spent the night in a hotel, went to the rest of the conference on Saturday, and returned home to Midland on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, the boys had so much fun going to a farmer's market, garage sales, and a park. They made Father's Day cards for Daddy. They had a lot of fun and were (thankfully) very good boys.
Other highlights from the trip included visiting with some of the boys' older cousins, checking out a Lego exhibit at the Midland Center for the Arts, and eating trout freshly caught and prepared by Aunt Susan. Adam REALLY enjoyed drawing elaborate pictures with chalk on Grandma's long driveway.
We celebrated Father's Day with some special gifts for Jon. (The picture below shows Jon and the boys testing out Daddy's new toy - a remote-control helicopter!) We took him out to his favorite breakfast place and to Mass before packing up the car and heading back to Ohio.
It's always difficult to leave Jon's family and return home. We don't like living so far away from them, but we definitely love the fun times we have on our visits!
Looks like you had a wonderful time. We went camping with the kids for the first time last year. They loved it too and have been asking to go again this summer. Fun stuff!
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