July 5, 2009

It is amazing that 2 weeks have past since I've written. We just finished a very busy two weeks. I am home from work today due to my FMLA. I am hoping that I feel better by tomorrow. Let's see if I can recap the last couple of weeks. It's going to be a little hard but here goes....

Saturday, June 27th was Mikayla's 9th birthday! It is so hard to believe that my baby is NINE!!! We celebrated her birthday at Richmond Park. We had hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill plus potato chips, potato salad, baked beans and cake and ice cream. Most of the family turned out but there were a few family members missing. We had tons of left-over food. After we ate, Mikayla opened her presents and then we had cake and ice-cream. Then, we went swimming at the pool. It was a lot of fun. Attendees included: Grandpa and Grandma Smith, Sam, Dan, Mikey, Gabe, Danny, Jessie, Trenten, Zackary, Amy, Becca, Megan, Sara, Christopher, Alaina, Aunt Wendy, Allie and Nathan, Allie Jeffers, Me, Joe, Mikayla and Joshua. Mikayla had a SpongeBob cake. I took lots of pictures from her birthday. Unfortunately, Mary couldn't come because she thought Mikayla's party was at CEC. My mom, Kathy and boys and Jessica and Danielle said they'd come but never showed up. I was a bit upset that they didn't come. My dad didn't come either because he does his business on the weekends now.

I worked from Sunday, June 28th through June 30th. I went to Kuzzins on June 30th to celebrate Leslie's 30th birthday. That was a lot of fun.

Then, I had from Wed, July 1st off through yesterday.

We left for our family vacation on Friday, July 3rd. This was the first time that we had a whole family vacation. The purpose of our trip was to meet Joe's sister Cindy and nieces Tonya Sue and Becky Jo for the first time. We left GR around 8-8:30 am. We made a few stops along the way. The trip there was uneventful. Joe's dad rear-ended a motorcycle while getting off 131 and 55. We had to wait there about 30 mins to 45 mins for the police to arrive. There was no major damage so that was a little delay in getting up there. Then, we stopped at a rest stop somewhere along the way after that so we could have a potty break. Then, we stopped at Sea Shell City which was about 10 miles outside of Mackinaw City. The kids really loves it there. They were able to play on the pirate ship while some shopped in the store. It was really a neat place that we will have to visit again. Grandpa bought all the kids a pirate hat from there. Then, we were on our way. I think we got to the motel, Sundown Motel, around 1-1:30 pm. I'd have to check my camera to be sure. The motel was pretty cute. They had little cabins that we stayed in. They also had a little picnic area with grills and a playground for the kids to play on. The kids really liked that.

Then, we decided that we wanted to get some lunch and cross the Mackinaw Bridge. So, we all left to cross the bridge. That was a neat experience. The kids loved it! We got into St. Ignace and ate at the McDonald's there. The kids played for a bit and then we headed into historic downdown St. Ignace so we could check out the museums there. First, we went to a store called Indian Village. They had all kinds of neat stuff there. The kids picked out some gifts for themselves. Mikayla wanted rocks and Joshua got a spear. I took some pictures of them next to a teepee that was there.

Then, we headed over to Father Marquette Park and the Ojibwa Museum. That was a pretty neat place. It was a lot of fun. They had a Huron Longhouse there along with a teepee. It was really a neat place.

Afterwards, Joe wanted to head back to the motel. I know I didn't want to. Of course, that's how I am. When I go on a vacation, I like to be on the go and see everything I can while there. This didn't happen this time around. Oh well, there's always next time.

So, we headed back over the bridge to our motel. The kids played for a bit. I took a nap. I was tired. Joe's mom, Sam and Jessie went to the store to get some stuff for dinner. They had hotdogs, macaroni salad, potato salad and chips for dinner. I slept right through dinner so I got to eat just as the food was being put away.

Then, I wanted to head to the strip to look around. Nobody really wanted to go. Joe, Jessie, Me and Trenten went. It was a lot of fun to window shop. It was a great way to see what was there so I could plan to get some stuff the following day. We got back to the motel around 9:30-10. I had to get some pictures of the sunset over Lake Michigan first. That evening after the kids were in bed, Joe and I went outside and had a couple of drinks with Sam, Dan and Jessie. I had Watermelon Pucker with Sierra Mist. That was actually really good. Joe had a few beers. We were having a great time. Then, we all went back to our cabins to go to bed.

We woke up around 7:30 am on Saturday, July 4th. We got showers and then headed to the fort around 9ish. Once we got to the Fort, the kids had to go down to the lake first. They liked that. The kids really had fun. Joshua didn't want to listen to me though so that was a bit frustrating. We took a few pictures at the lake. Then, we all headed into the fort. I think we got into the fort around 9:45 am. It was a lot of fun. We didn't stay at the fort too long though because Joe's sister Cindy and niece Tonya called to say that they had arrived. So, we headed out of the fort and met with them.

It was so exciting to meet them. We had hoped that Becky Jo would have come but she didn't, which was disappointing. She's at the age where friends are her life. Hopefully, we will be able to see her in the future.

We sat around the fort for a few moments to take some pictures. We certainly didn't take all the pictures that we had intended on taking but at least we got a few. I think we were going to go back into the fort but then a few of us stated that we were hungry so we headed to Burger King to get a bite to eat. After that we went to a local park so that the kids could play and we could sit and visit. That worked out really well. Then, we decided to go shopping to the Mackinaw Crossings Mall. I got Mikayla a tee-shirt and a shell necklace. Joshua didn't want anything so he didn't get anything. Joe and I didn't get anything either.

After shopping for a while, we went to our cars and basically just hung out there until about 5 pm. I was hoping that we would have done more together but I guess for a first meeting, this was good enough. Sam and Dan left first, then Joe's parents and Jessie and the boys. We said our goodbyes to Cindy and Tonya and headed to the beach so the kids could play in the lake.

The kids really enjoyed the lake. They collected some cool rocks and enjoyed wading in the water. It was such a beautiful day. Afterwards, we decided to get something to eat. We ended up going to B.C. pizza and had the pizza buffet. It was very good pizza. We were planning on having some ice-cream but opted to just head home instead. We made a few stops along the way so we could fill up on gas. We missed the fireworks because we weren't home in time but we did manage to see some from the highway. We got home around 10:30 pm.

We had a great time meeting with the family. I only wish it could have been longer.

Sunday, we basically stayed home for most of the day. We did manage to visit Joe's parents for most of the afternoon. Then, we headed home around 9:30 pm. Mikayla spent the night with them.

I guess that's about it for now. I'm trying to upload pictures but FB is being difficult so I will just try later.