Notes from the vacation
Ah, home sweet home! There's nothing like it after a week of vacation, even as good a vacation as this one turned out to be.
The vacation turned out to be more of a huge family reunion. The Hubby's two younger brothers were there, with their wives and families, as well as my late SIL's husband, his new wife, and all of their children (8 in all!). Not difficult on one hand as one of the brothers (BIL #2) and the SIL's husband live in the area, but difficult on the other as the remaining brother (BIL #1) and his family live in Hong Kong - and we live down South. We were actually the last to arrive, driving straight through from NW South Carolina to central Michigan. (Great trip actually with clear weather all the way to the OH/MI border, where we caught a little bit of rain.) We stayed with my MIL and FIL, while the Hong Kong contingent had a hotel room in a nearby town. My MIL complained that they were in the entirely opposite direction of everyone else, but then my FIL is a stubborn one with his own ways of doing things.
The first big event was on Sunday, when we all got together for a cook-out at the late SIL's place after church. (I might as well call him BIL #3 as his new wife and the kids they've had together have been thoroughly adopted by the rest of the family). They have a wonderfully big yard with a garden, a tree swing and tree house, and even a horse with pasture! The kids all rode the horse (with assistance from niece Suz, who owns the beast). We made friends with niece Rach's friendly gray kitten, Sultan, and with the fat little puppies their dog had just whelped. We played softball (in church clothes for some of us) and ate our fill, then had a bonfire at the end with hot dogs, marshmallows, and s'mores. A long day after a long day of travel.
Monday was full of making further plans and visiting. My FIL is a big fan of the TV show "Monk" so he set us to watching episode after taped episode. We went out for dinner that night, just us and the FIL. MIL wasn't feeling well all week, and whenever there was a group outing, she and FIL usually left early. My feet were off and on painful all week, too, so I had to be careful of my sugar intake (which was easier said than done!).
Tuesday was a day for the boys to remember. BIL #2 took Hubby and the boys (including the Hong Kong nephew) on a canoe trip down the Chippewa river. Very nice, even if the canoe tipped over once or twice. Later, I went to Mt. Pleasant, where the BIL #2 lives, and hit a café with WiFi, so I could get online and check my email. Nice place with good coffee. Hubby and his brother played backgammon while I surfed and IMed a few people.
On Wednesday, the girls went canoeing. The BIL #2, his wife, and BIL#1's wife took the Girl and the Hong Kong nieces that day and even got their pictures on the front page of the local paper! How cool is that? I also got to meet my online friend, AmandaTracy (her penname), who came up with her hubby from Lansing area to have lunch with the Hubby and me. She gave me a skunk beanie, an inside joke from the days we used to do a one-on-one RP. It was so good to meet her and put a face to the person on the other end of the IM box!
We spent Thursday at BIL #3's place, eating really good pizza with all the cousins playing together. There was an archery tournament of sorts (I did pretty well with that), and the adopted BIL taught a few of the kids how to shoot a .22 rifle. Boy #1 said it was "easy". We started another softball game, but it was called on account of bees. Good thing, too; the score was something like 20-4 in favor of the BIL #3's team.
The Hong Kong contingent showed up most mornings and settled down to watch "Monk" or the Olympics with FIL, though Boy #2 and his Hong Kong counterpart bonded over cartoons in MIL's room. I went with the SIL #2 to the café again to show her the family webpage. We had a restaurant lunch together that day, all the out of town crew and BIL #2 with his wife, plus FIL and MIL. Quite the party. Then back to FIL's house to linger until the evening. The adopted SIL showed up later in time for dinner, bringing mashed potatoes, sliced tomatoes, and sweet corn (veggies grown in their garden), and wonderful blueberry pie. I got to know her a little more; she's a real sweetheart and has taken my late SIL's kids under her wing as her own. Don't mind having her in the family at all! Finally, it got late enough that we realized the need for sleep before departure in the morning (the Hong Kong contingent was flying home, too) so we sadly said our goodbyes and parted ways.
The trip back was longer, as there was a nasty detour in Detroit. It didn't affect I-75 north, but it did affect I-75 south. If we'd done another MapQuest session, we might have avoided it altogether. Lesson learned: get MapQuest directions going to and coming from your destination!
Lots of pictures taken, and some video, too. I need to upload them to the desktop and download them where people can see them.