Weekend in Michigan

A few weeks ago we took a 4-day weekend to go see our friends in Michigan. Last July when we went to visit we stayed at Joe and Jen's house, but they just had their first baby and we brought the kids, so this time we spent three nights in a king room at a brand new Hampton. There was a golf center a few blocks from our hotel so one day we took the kids to play their first game of mini-golf. Jordis got a hole-in-one on the second hole. It was really hot and humid that day, but we had a fun time.

We also did a lot of eating. Joe and Jen have some friends who own a little cafe, and we had a great lunch there. I had a turkey sandwich that was made on cranberry bread with a homemade cranberry orange mayonnaise. It came with some wonderful homemade coleslaw. I went in there not very hungry and ended up eating my whole sandwich, coleslaw, Jason's coleslaw and a dill pickle or two. They also make homemade desserts and sent the kids home with some brownies. We also ate at Strawberry Fields which is a place Joe and Jen took us to for breakfast last year. I had some really good hasbrowns with bacon, peppers, onions and cheese, along with some strawberry soup. Great combination, huh?

One day, Joe took Jason and Xander out in their boat on Lake St. Clair, while Jen and I took Jordis shopping for a little girl time. She was so excited to sit next to the baby in the car. She gave him his pacifier if it fell out of his mouth, and she entertained him with his toys. We went to an outdoor mall and I bought Jordis an ice cream cone at the Nestle store.

I also let her pick out a special treat from the gourmet dog bakery to bring back home for Bubba. She thought he'd like a s'more.

Back at Joe and Jen's house the rest of us became chopped liver as Jordis spent the evening tending to the baby. She was all up in his business at diaper change, helped give him a bath, held him, fed him, and gave him a thumbs up when he seemed happy in his swing. She thought we should bring home one of these baby things for our house, until I told her the play room would turn into the office if that happened. She wasn't so sure after that.

On our last day we went swimming in the amazing heated hotel pool and then took the kids back to the outdoor mall for dinner at Max & Erma's. It was the nicest Max & Erma's we've ever been to, which is surprising since their corporate offices are here in Columbus. The kids were excited about their take-home cups and I gave them some coins for the fountain. It was a nice end to a great weekend.

July 4th

To celebrate Independence Day this year we went back to Tennessee for a long weekend. Jason's brother had four days off but the Army would only let him travel so far, so we decided to go to them instead. We took turns having girls day and guys day. My sister-in-law and I spent a really fun day together....clothes shopping, lunch, winery tour/tasting, more shopping and coffee.

The guys spent a day fishing. I have no idea why or how they had matching shirts.

The kids went fishing, too.

We all went out for a very hot and muggy evening of beautiful fireworks over the Cumberland River.

See the little faces in those windows? That's the jail. I guess if there's such a thing as having a prime cell, these people have it.

We dressed up the kids

There were lots of afternoons in the water with popsicles.

And in Tennessee it's legal to buy and set off your own fireworks, so we had our own fireworks show two nights in a row. Jason and Jeremy tried to pretend they bought the fireworks for the kids, but in the end we all knew that when they said kids they were referring to themselves. The pink smoke was for the little girls, though.

Of course on the way home we had to stop in Newport, Kentucky to eat dinner at Pompilio's. Yum, Italian!

The journey home

Since Jason had taken off the week after Easter, we decided to break up our trip home from Tennessee into two days and do a few things on the side. Our first stop was at Louisville Slugger. (Assuming I don't have to tell you it's in Louisville, KY).

There was a museum, a tour, a movie and some adult/kids batting cages. It was definitely hard for our kids to enjoy since they were probably a little young for it, but they did get excited at the end of the tour when we were all given individual mini baseball bats. I was excited because the factory smelled like the woodshop my grandpa used to have in his basement when I was little. They were making bats while we were there so it was neat to see the process, although I was a little bummed that we weren't allowed to take pictures in the factory. We got these cute shots though.

After leaving Louisville we continued north, stopping in Newport to eat at Pompilio's, one of our favorite places. The kids shared a spaghetti, I tried the lasagna and Jason got his favorite dish a cheese tortellini with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes in an artichoke cream sauce. It's so good but I never get it myself because it's just too much cheese and dairy for me, so Jason always gives me a bite. We took a risk eating on the patio since it was about to storm, but we made it out of there just in the knick of time.

Back across the river we stopped for the night at a Hampton in Fairfield. We love Hampton Inn because they are so consistent wherever you go. On this particular visit the kids' sofa bed was broken and they couldn't sleep on it, so we were upgraded to a jacuzzi suite. The next day we took a trip to the Bass Pro Shop. Jason has been wanting to go and it's the closest one to where we live, so that's why we chose to spend the night in Fairfield. The kids didn't really make it a very enjoyable experience, but they were impressed with the giant fish tank and this Kodiak Bear.

I was impressed with what appeared to be a two-story Kohl's next door, but I didn't go to check it out because it could have been a little dangerous. My desire had been to stop at Jungle Jim's, so we went there after leaving Bass Pro Shop. Jungle Jim's is a large international grocery store. The kids really didn't want to be there so we didn't get to spend a lot of time, but they had some things I haven't been able to find in Columbus so it was a succesful venture. Before heading home we stopped for lunch at this yummy restaurant. The kids were very well behaved and Jordis even politely called the waitress over to ask for a refill. We were quite impressed. And now that we're back home, we just wait to see who gets the first injury from the baseball bats.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Wow, Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras two days apart. It's like April when Easter and the kids' bithdays tend to be at the same time. In fact, this year all three fall within a nine-day period. But back to Mardi Gras.....

The house was sufficiently decorated (for a Yankee girl, anyway).

I cooked Cajun food for dinner Monday and Tuesday.

Let's throw in an obligatory snow day photo. Becoming commonplace anymore. This was day four in a row of both kids home together ALL.DAY.LONG.

On said snow day the kids made the filling for our King Cakes.

Time now to rest.

Homesick

Is it possible to be homesick for a place you've never lived? I say yes, because when I'm there I feel like I'm at home. As you all know, I.LOVE.THIS.PLACE.......

We weren't going to take any trips this year, but Jason's grandpa passed away last month so we took an impromptu jaunt to Louisiana. Round and round we went about whether Jason should go alone or we should go as a family, and it was decided we'd go together. The gas and the mileage was going to be the same either way. We hated to take Xander out of school but had we not done it last year we wouldn't have seen PawPaw before he died, so I'm still glad that we did it. I take every opportunity I can get to go to Louisiana so that we can embrace this part of our family we rarely get to see and so the kids can learn about the other half of where they come from.
Since we had the time we decided to spend a day in Jason's hometown because we'd hate to go all that way and not see half the family only two hours away. The kids liked playing with their cousins and great-grand-mawmaw.


We also went to dinner with friends and took the kids to the park. It was in the 70's every day we were there! I was clearly standing out, wearing tank tops every morning while the locals had on long sleeves.


Jason's aunt and uncle also built their broom factory in the months since our last visit. It was neat to watch them make brooms and mops and chat with customers.

In Lafayette we stayed with Jason's cousin, Monica, and her family. We also stayed with them last May when we were down. They're fabulous hosts and always make us feel right at home and our kids love playing with their kids (when they're not all fighting or tattling).

How can you not love this sweet little girl?

On the nights we weren't at PawPaw's service we had homemade Cajun food....

....spent some time outside, did some shopping and watched the Saints beat the Vikings so they could go on to the Super Bowl.



It was so nice to be "home."