Sunday, July 18, 2010

Saturday: To Da U.P.!

Mr. GT are so excited to go on vacation, that we are awake at 4:30. Mr. GT gets the animals all set and I pack the coolers and the car. Mr. GT forgets to take out the trash. Mmm. Week-old chicken packaging…

We’re on the road by 6:30 in the sunshine. At 9:50 we pull in to Grandma’s where Rose Bud comes racing to see us. Daisy is in the house and comes racing to see us when we get in. The other 3 are nowhere to be found—out in the back 40, likely.

Finally they appear from the back of the property, sauntering toward the house, heads together, Pepper in the middle. They are deep in discussion about something. They are almost to the house before Banana Boy sees the van and shouts, “Mom’s here!” (because it’s always about the mom). They race to the house and into….. Dad’s arms. They haven’t seen him in a week, remember.

They all share the news of the week and the adventures they have had and the treasures they have found. Pepper, especially, has news!
Brand new pierced ears!


Grandma graciously feeds us leftovers so we don’t have to stop for lunch and we’re on the road by 11:30.

After a long hour’s drive, we check out the map and discover we still have a long, long way to go. Well, Mr. GT is discouraged. The kids are busy making bracelets in the backseat and Sunshine is playing with his vacation presents from Nonny. He also ate a snack, watched movies on the computer and took a nap. Other than asking every mile “We almost there?” he was really good.

When we got within 10 miles of the cottage, and we told him we really were almost there, he started shouting, “Me so ‘CITED! We almost on ‘CATION!! Me SO ‘cited!! We almost there?”

I would like to mention that the roads around the lakes up north do not go straight, nor do they really match the map.

We are just 2.5 miles outside a teensy little town called Curtis. Teensy. One street, 3 grocery stores, a few restaurant/bars, 4 churches and some gift shops. And lots and lots of cottages.

Ours is right on South Manistique Lake, which is a good lake for growing reeds. I think we’ll be swimming in the Great Lakes. It does have a beautiful, huge lawn and the cabin is very nice. There are 3 bedrooms—two downstairs, each with a queen bed (one for us and one for the boys) and a large bedroom upstairs with two doubles (for the girls). From the beginning, however, BB has been insulted that he is considered among “the boys” and will be sleeping downstairs. So when we arrived and discovered that there is a catwalk, he acquired a new “room” upstairs, much to his delight.
Banana Boy sleeping in his bridge

The kids ran around and explored the cabin, then raced to unpack the van. Once everything was in we went down to check out the lake. They can’t wait to go out in the paddleboat.

The chicken was still frozen (it wasn’t THAT long of a drive), so we had hobo dinners instead. Mr. GT started the grill and I made up the foil packets and the kids played croquet.

Once I had the packets done, I ran into town to pick up the few groceries we needed (in addition to cabin stuff that there isn’t enough of: toilet paper, paper towel, laundry soap, dish soap)

I stopped at the Chamber of Commerce on the way back to the cabin to see what was going on. Hot Dog! The 3rd Sunday of the month (that’s tomorrow!) the Lions Club has a Sunday brunch in town. All you can eat. Pancakes, Potatoes, Sausage, Eggs & Beverage.. FIVE BUCKS! Under 10…… FREE!!! We are going to brunch tomorrow!

We are also going to be Baptists. 11 am.

After supper, we played badminton on the lawn (Rose Bud, Daisy, BB & me) and Mr. GT, Pepper and Sunshine played shipwreck on the overturned motorboat down by the lake.

When the mosquitoes got too bad, everyone got jammies on and the girls worked on bracelets while the boys snuggled with parents in rocking chairs. After the littles went to bed we and Rose Bud watched Fried Green Tomatoes on the VCR.

Everybody slept like little rocks and that was our first day on vacation!

2 comments:

gram68 said...

Looks like a nice cabin, more like a house with lots of room. Sounds like there will be lots of things to do. Wish I was thee, I want a pontoon ride!

gram68 said...

It suppose to read Wish I was there!!!