Happy Monday!

This weekend we enjoyed…

Petoskey Hunts
Michigan’s state stone, these rocks look like ordinary stones when dry but reveal hexagonal fossil patterns when wet. They’re hard to find and we’ve gone some years without any, but this year we found four on our first day.

The shallow point in the lake where we drive the boat and plant chairs and sit like little old ladies and talk.

 

The Crooked Swing

When Poppa surprises the kids on the dock with Popsicles when no one is expecting it.

 

Ring Around the Rosie

 

Lying long enough in the hammock to leave criss-cross patterns on your back.

 

Swim caps.

 

The little ones bringing us piles of ordinary rocks, calling them “batoskeys.”

 

Building up to a dock jump, without testing the water first.

 

 

George Bailey, one of the lake resident’s golden retriever. He’s a saint, and I want him to be mine.

 

Nailing the heart sparkler photo.

 

Naming the chickens.
There are 8 of them, and the kids all have their own names for them and argue over who’s who. This is Red/Dude Man/Bill.

 

Being with my family in this state in July.

Hope y’all had a happy 4th!

I just returned from a long drive alone, the first quiet moments to myself in almost two weeks. Most of the drive was country roads–pot-holed pavement winding between forests and fields, a few red barns breaking up the greenery from time to time, but mostly just trees–acres and acres of them. I turned off the music not long into the drive and chose silence instead, and for the first time in a long time didn’t get bored with sameness and quiet.

Per summer bucket list, we took the kids strawberry picking the other day–a 45 minute drive to AJ’s Berry Farm in Lachine, Michigan and the most perfect weather you could ask for–blue-gray skies and a mild breeze, just enough to make stray hairs from ponytails flutter and a little girl ask for her sweater.

Nella picked and ate until the moment we left.

Lainey’s been so happy to have my cousin’s little girl here with her. They’ve choreographed dances, decorated their “dorm room” and perfected their kayak paddles.

Oh, how I miss the wheat fields!

Got a juicy one!

The farmer brought out the baby bunnies after our picking adventures, and the girls were in heaven. They begged Gary to take one home, but chickens are enough to take care of.

We picked enough berries for several rounds of strawberry shortcake and made a Strawberry Saskatoon pie as soon we we got home.

And now, it rains. Hard and steadily while we huddle inside for quiet fun.

Some fun summer crafts and more adventures to come. I feel like a kid again.

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While I started this post before catching up on the news, I have to add a little love from what I shared on Instagram this morning:

While we assume that of course deep personal beliefs, politics and activism occur privately behind the pretty squares of Instagram for all those we follow, sometimes it feels good to step out and acknowledge it. To simply say we share the sadness for so many hurts today–even if we don’t know what to say. I often refrain from jumping on here too hastily to proclaim my feelings on big social issues because I’m taking in so much myself–trying to listen. I feel far more like a learner than a leader these days, but the hungriest, most open learners are the best leaders, right? And we are all both–learners and leaders, equal forces, dependent on each other. I do know that I don’t ever want not speaking up on these things to fall into apathy. As a white woman living in a suburb of a privileged county, I know I can’t fully understand the racial struggles that are happening in our country today. But I want to learn more, and I want to listen, and I always want to find ways to use my voice, both on and offline, in support of those who need more volume. I texted two friends this morning–my friend who is raising black youth in Detroit and my friend whose brother is a police officer in Houston’s inner city. Both hurting and scared. Enjoying the Summer Magic posts will continue, but know that not even a sunset kayak on a faraway lake can remove us from our responsibility to love and learn and listen…and do something about it.

It’s been a week since we hit the road. In 7 days we’ve traveled over 1,600 miles and made stops in Atlanta, Helen, Nashville, Noblesville and Lansing before finally landing in Northern Michigan yesterday afternoon. The sliding door of our van opened after our 2-honk “We’re here!”, and spring-loaded children shot out to hug their Poppa, claim their beds and reinstate the footprints they left last summer in this place we love so much.

Me? I took the drink my dad handed me, scanned the mess in the backseat, and took a long deep inhale of Michigan air. I smell it all–the maples, the pines, the lake, the firewood pile, the dirt, the promise of adventure and rest and memories.

As any good destination goes, you cannot just arrive…you have to get there. Through time and messes and miles and crying and figuring things out. Like how to get a little boy to stop unbuckling his car seat while we’re driving. I’ll tell you how. Thanks to my brilliant niece who thought of it, it takes a call from “Officer Roberts”–a.k.a. Uncle Bubby–who piped in on speaker phone and gave a come-to-Jesus talk about safety that only a stern cop could give. Let’s just say Officer Roberts has become a familiar reference since.

Needless to say, the trip wasn’t always easy, but I’d do it again and again for the memories.

Some snippets of adventures along the way…

One of our Spark Retreat attendees sent this Open Road candle to me for our trip. I’ve taken it into every stop along the way to add a homey touch. 

Our cabin in Cleveland, Georgia–just outside of Helen where we river-tubed the Chattahoochee again but, other than that, didn’t leave our cabin because we loved it so much.

Nella and I woke up early at the mountain cabin and watched the sun rise together from a rocking chair on the back porch–one of my favorite moments from the trip. I sipped my coffee, stretching my arm around her to meet my cup to my mouth and tried to melt into the spiritual moment, but all I could think about was how I much I wished I wouldn’t have passed on our rocking chair so early because I’ve missed so much magic that comes from a kid on your lap and the hypnotizing rhythm of slowly rocking, rocking, rocking… Finished nursing and thinking of getting rid of that rocking chair in your nursery? Don’t do it. Rock ’em until their legs are dangling awkwardly over yours, and there’s no place for their head to rest, and there’s not a single corner in the house for the bulky old chair to go. Keep rocking.

Pancake breakfast…because Syrup is the foundation of vacation meals.

The first photo of our summer project…writing Dash’s picture book, a Nella & Maude adventure for him and his long-neck friend, Isaac.

Our #2 road trip rule: Stop at scenic overlooks. (#1 of course being “Buckle up because Officer Roberts said so.”)

Pappy’s Trading Post, just outside of Helen, GA. Quite possibly the weirdest road trip adventure yet and definitely not a place I’d want to be alone at night (the hearse, the hundreds of old mannequins…). There was hardly anyone there outside of the mannequins and when I finally found a real person behind the ice cream stand, I had to ask her if she was alive or if it was all, as I suspected, a ghost town. Super cool though–interesting, colorful, out-of-the box art everywhere. 

Cabin Coffee Co. sandwich and coffee shop, downtown Blairsville, GA–so kid friendly. The kids loved the little tables and saddles to sit on–and cowboy hats to borrow.

Ocoee River, Cherokee National Forest–somewhere between Helen, GA and Nashville, TN

A quick stop at Dinosaur World outside of Louisville, KY. We saw a huge Tyrannosaurus and a sign for it on the side of the expressway and pulled off to visit. Nella didn’t want anything to do with going inside though, so my niece stayed with her in the car while Dash and I walked around outside to explore. Pretty cool for a right-off-the-expressway adventure.

More from Michigan soon.