Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 |
Monday, which is usually the most dreaded day of all, has come to be a day I love. Our weekend was packed and left me little time to breathe. A shopping trip in Fort Wayne, then a 3.5 hour drive to take Jeff to Indianapolis and now? I am finishing up the last bits of my homework to run off to class.
Yesterday’s seven hour trip gave us time to talk, to discuss the future and to decide on where we go from here. Jeff desperately wants the help he needs, which makes me hopeful for a future for our family. We are taking baby steps and will continue to do so until I feel comfortable again. For now, he will obviously be staying in Indianapolis or at least that is game plan.
As of yesterday, Jeff is starting to look into counseling near Indianapolis, as well as a gym for him to work out at. His current goals are: counseling, eating healthier and working out. When we had our own fitness equipment at home, I did notice an improvement in his overall attitude and moods. So here’s to hoping these lifestyle choices help out!
Posted in Jeff & Jessica, Travel | No Comments »
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 |
Growing up, I never wanted to have children. Insane, isn’t it? How quickly your mind can change. After my first miscarriage, I can remember telling the husband that I did want children after all. We don’t know how we would have managed financially with the first baby, as the beginning of our marriage brought chaos as far as the eye could see. I had no idea I was pregnant, until the miscarriage took place. In an instant, I feel sadness and bitterness towards the situation. I now look back and realize that God was watching over us, knowing all too well that our situation in the beginning would not have been a great time to bring a baby into the world.
And now that I have my two beautiful babes, I want nothing more than to give them the world. I want to go away on the weekends to campgrounds, parks or even zoos. I want to purchase an rv when we can afford one, just so that we can travel with our children. Right now, we are starting out small with camping in the pop-up in local area campgrounds, but this winter we have big plans. We will be flying to Florida to visit my grandparents, take in a little bit of Disney and some of the other attractions Florida has to offer.
I have decided that this crappy economy is not going to keep me from taking my children on vacations. We will make it a yearly thing to take our children on at least one “real” vacation every year, whether it be to Florida to visit family or someplace totally different. I want them to do things I never did as a child and give them the experience I never had.
Posted in Jeff & Jessica, Travel | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 20th, 2009 |
Our weekend away was nothing short of amazing. We arrived at my grandmother’s house on Friday evening around 5:30p.m. After a fabulous meal, we sat around the table talking until around 1:30a.m., in which time I headed up to bed. We did not get a great nights sleep, as our anxiety levels were at an all-time high. It seems as though is a regular thing for us when we are on our way to the sand dunes.
Mears, Michigan is a long drive from home and a longer drive when you are anxious to get there. We arrived at the pedestrian part of the sand dunes around 10:30, picked up my in-laws and left to set up camp. We were back in the dunes no later than 11:30 and riding by noon. For the record, driving the dune buggies up and down the hills of sand are not my favorite part of these mini-vacations. My favorite is riding around the dunes and looking out over Lake Michigan, watching the sail boats and taking in the scenery.
Ethan also enjoyed watching sailboats with his mom, grandpa Tom and Grammy as we putted around the sand dunes Sunday morning. After a long discussion, we all agreed that Ethan could ride in the sand dunes (1st time!) due to the traffic in the dunes being a little slow in the morning. He loved every bit of riding as well as the sites. He watched quads and bikes launch over test hill, sail boats in Lake Michigan and trucks driving in and out of water holes on the beach.
On the way home, I shared with Jeff my desire to move north and be closer to the dunes. We enjoy everything about northern Michigan, so why not take that plunge and just move? I am not talking immediate future, more like 2 years down the road… but wouldn’t it be be amazing to wake up every morning to the view of Lake Michigan?
Posted in Family & Friends, Family Fun, Travel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 |
Sometime last week, something snapped inside of me and had me feeling a little less than excited about going camping. It was until Wednesday, mid-afternoon, that I started getting a little bit more excited about it. Maybe it was the jitters of taking the munchkins camping, but whatever it was diminished by the time we arrived.
We left for the campground on Wednesday evening. We meaning my grandparents, Tyler (our neighbor), Ethan, Addison and me. My parents pulled the camper over to the campground and help set up before they headed home. After some minor complications (wrong power cord, camper rolling off the block, etc), we finally made it to bed around 11:30pm. Not really excited about how late my munchkins got to bed, but they did sleep fairly well.
Thursday is when the real fun started. My brother and his family arrived, as well as my parents and some family friends. After everyone was set up, we sat around the campsite watching the munchkins play. After a while the boys (my brother, Jason, Tyler and Zachary) went out on to the fishing boat to stroll around the lake. Ethan was a bit devastated about this and demanded that “you don’t like me no more!” to everyone he came in contact with. He was unhappy, at least until he found the dirt pits. And then it was all over from there… we couldn’t keep him away from them even if we tried.
Friday and Saturday were lazy days, with the occasional temper tantrums, trips to the beach and playing in the dirt holes. Ethan, Tyler and myself went to the beach on Friday afternoon and had a blast! It was the first time Ethan had ever stepped foot into the lake, so it was special. Ethan and I floated around on a raft together, while my back turned into a thousand shades of red. I do not know who invented sunscreen, but seriously people… it did not work! My back is friend something fierce!
Friday evening I picked Jeff up from work around 9:30pm so that he could come back to the campgrounds with us. When we got back, everyone was sitting around the campfire eating s’mores, talking and singing songs. Saturday was basically a repeat of Friday. Sunday though, that was a whole different story. Woke up around 7am to rain, winds and rushing outdoors to put things away before the wind carried them away. We started tearing down shortly afterward and bummed around until around noon, when we kicked into high gear. After Jaclyn’s nap, we sang “Happy Birthday” to her, ate cupcakes and opened presents. Kind of a rushed 1st birthday party at the end, but a nice one. Everyone left the campground to head home, drop their campers and meet up at my parents house for one last cookout before some of them had to leave to head back home to Detroit.
All in all, it was a good weekend. I met new people, spent time with family (ours and in-laws), heard more about constipation (they might want to try Colonix, eh?) than I cared to and saw more alcohol consumed than should be legal. It was such a good time that we are already planning another big ‘ol family camp out again in the near future!
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 29th, 2009 |
We’re back from camping. After a five day camping extravaganza, I am glad to be home. The beds in the camper were comfortable, but most definitely not a sleep number bed. Aside from a killer sunburn, a filthy toddler and lots of cleaning to do- it was a fabulous weekend. Ethan was able to play with several little ones at the campground, he had his 1st smore and his first swim in a lake.
It was a little odd for me to be away from home for so long, as we have not really had a vacation since Ethan and I flew down to Florida. After we get more settled, I will be sure to write up more of a post with some pictures thrown into the mix. For now, I have mounds of laundry to tend.
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 |
Ethan was in a miserable mood, so I tried to cheer him up by talking about our upcoming camping trip this week. That photograph explains the amount of enthusiasm he had listening to his mother. He fell asleep about 5 minutes into my telling him about all of the exciting things we will be doing and all of the people who will be joining us on the said camping adventure. Apparently, the thought of camping is not nearly as exciting as it once was.
Our bags are officially packed, aside from a couple of things in the washer/dryer at the moment. I wrote three lists last night to help me with packing. As an item gets loaded into either the back of the truck or camper, I simply cross it off and move on to the next.
Currently, the back of my truck is filled with two strollers (our double and single), Ethan’s tractor, sand toys and (4) camping chairs. I still need to make room in their for Addison’s exersaucer, as well as her pack-n-play. The saddest part of this packing extravaganza? Addison has almost an entire suitcase of clothing to herself. She is a baby with her goo-gobs of drooling, spitting up and feeding habits.
Speaking of feeding habits, I really need to grab a quick bite to eat. Both kids are at daycare until 11:30am so that I had time to finish up the last minute packing and cleaning the house before we go. Am I the only person who insists on cleaning house before leaving for vacation? Or is there a group of people out there as completely OCD as myself?
Every bed has clean sheets. I hung fresh towels on the hooks in the bathroom this morning, vacuumed the carpeting and will be mopping the kitchen floor any minute. All of this hardwork, only to come home on Sunday afternoon and trash the place again. But hey… at least I can say it was clean for more than a day this way!
Posted in Cleaning, Family Fun, Travel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 |
Thursday afternoon, Jeff and I made a last minute decision to go up North and visit my grandmother (and Uncle). It was a very nice, relaxing visit with the family and a much needed one at that. My grandmother was around quite a bit during Ethan’s infancy, but had not met Addison until about a week ago at my nephew’s birthday party. We have had to reschedule this trip a total of five times because of the ever so lovely Michigan weather is unpredictable and there was illness.
I cannot say we did anything spectacular, other than eat and enjoy one each others company. Addison loved her Minka and spent several hours in her arms or laying across her chest. Ethan on the other hand, entertained us with his stories, singing, dancing and carrying the cats toy mice around the house with his mouth. You can always count on Ethan for a good laugh..
We are hoping to go North again to their house within the next month, but will have to see. I think that this time around, we might see if my Uncle can get us a free hotel stay at the hotel he works for or at least a discounted stay. As much as I love waking up and seeing my grandmother and uncle first thing in the morning and eating their delicious breakfast, Addison cannot take the stale cigarette smoke lingering throughout their house. It did a number on her- sneezing like crazy, watery eyes and not sleeping very well.
Will try to post some pictures from the weekend after I con my uncle into emailing them to me. I completely forgot that I had my camera there, which is such a bummer. Friday evening was filled with several picture perfect moments.
Posted in Ethan & Addison, Family & Friends, Travel | No Comments »
