Thimbleberries for Dad

We were planning on going rock hunting. A man at camp had told the kids where to find Greenstones and copper. He had been looking the other day and found enough to give Mark a sample of each so we knew what to look for. Unfortunately, the road we needed to go on was closed. To detour would easily take an hour or more. So we decided to go see Horseshoe Bay instead.

We drove to the end of US 41 and then down a dirt road. We drove past the road to Horseshoe Bay so we could explore a little. We discovered lots of Thimbleberries! Daddy introduced me to Thimbleberries years ago (the best ones are in cemeteries if you are interested). Mark remembered when we hiked in Glacier that we used them as “energy berries”. Since there were so many, we decided to pick some for Daddy. As we picked we decided to have some fun and pick enough for jam.

Mom and Dad were planning on shopping, so we would ask them to take the kids. We thought we could get canning jars and jelly stuff at the little store in town before they left. So we picked, and picked and picked and picked. A few cars drove by. One stopped and after a little bit of arguing from the people in the front seat, the lady told me that they “just saw a wolf cross the road on the hill just ahead of us”. Adrian was told that he needed to be by a big person if he was out of the car. We picked some more. Soon we had almost filled my 4 cup water bottle.

We bought the sugar and canning jars and hid them in the tent. As soon as everyone left to explore town, Allan and I got to work making jam. We used the RV stove to boil the jam and then used our camp stove to process the finished jelly. We put the jam on the RV table with a poem and a note saying “Do not touch, HOT!”

When Daddy got back, we discovered that he was alone! He accidentally locked the car keys in the van. Since there is no cell phone coverage in Copper Harbor he hitched a ride back and then drove the RV up Brockway Mountain to pick everyone up. I was not thinking and said that we would stay at camp and get dinner. I forgot that mom is very uncomfortable driving down mountains. Daddy said that this was the first time in the many years they visited the UP that Mom had ever drove!

Well, we were able to help make Dad and Mom’s evening. We enjoyed fresh, homemade Thimbleberry jam on saffron bread they had pick up in Calumet earlier. Daddy had a hard time believing that we made the jam. 🙂

Just for fun, here is the poem we wrote Daddy and Momma to explain the jam. Enjoy! (The last stanza was written when Daddy left to pick everyone up, I ran out of creativity after that. 😉 )

The road was closed
So we decided no
To copper, green stone
And playing in the rocks

Instead the path
We wisely chose to take
Yielded red berries
So we took a detour

Pick! Do not eat!
Pick and pick a lot more
What a fun treat
Homemade jam, made with love

The jam was made
The cooking mess repaired
When Dad we spy
No kids, no dogs, no van!

 

 

Calumet Photo Shoot

It all started with a bright yellow new sweatshirt and an old building!

We were walking back to the car after exploring Calumet. Daddy had treated all the kids to either a sweatshirt or a t-shirt of their choice. Adrian saw this yellow one and fell in love with it. As soon as he was outside the store, he put it on. While Daddy was still in the store, Adrian, Allan and I walked ahead taking pictures of the town. As we passed this old building, I asked Adrian to stand against it and I got this great picture.

On the road to leave Calumet, a teenage boy accidentally hit the RV we were in.  His car was really messed up, and the RV corner was messed up. Everyone was okay, but the boy was understandably upset. Allan bought him a candy bar (and candy for everyone) and then we still had some extra time while we waited for the police to come.

I decided to take the kids back to the old building and try to get some good pictures of everyone. I would have loved some more time there to take more pictures, but Dad called saying everything was done and we could leave. 

 

 

 

Keweenaw Vacation

My dad has been wanting us to go on vacation with him for awhile. He spent a lot of time in the Keweenaw in Upper Michigan growing up and he wanted to show it to us. I had been there a few times when I was younger, but this is the first time that Allan and the kids had been there.

It was a great vacation with my parents! I saw a few places that I remembered, a few places that I remember hearing about and many places that I would love to visit again.

I look forward to sharing some of our pictures and memories!

 

Reflection

Audrey raised Monarch Butterflies by herself this year. She had help looking for the eggs and caterpillars, but she fed them and cleaned them by herself, with a little help from Andrea.

It was a rough year for her. She had trouble finding the babies and she lost a higher ratio of them then normal.  Considering one in ten survive in the wild, her losing 5 or 6 out of 25 or 30 is not so bad. She had a hard time losing them. She was glad none of the chrysalises fell this year. She did have one die in the process of forming his chrysalis and another die right after forming his.

When this caterpillar was roaming for a place to form his chrysalis, Audrey needed to clean the cage. While the screen was open, he escaped from his babysitter (me).  I did not notice he was gone.  Audrey came up to me laughing and told me we had an escapee–and he already finished his web.  We let him form his chrysalis on the bottom of the cage and then propped the cage up so he could emerge.

Sweet 16

Today is Allan and my 16th anniversary. It was one of the best ones that we have had yet. The day started with Adrian walking into the room and waking us up by saying, “Happy Anniversary!”

The kids were really into making it extra special. They went shopping for special treats for us. They also made Chicken Quorma, one of our favorite dishes, and salad for dinner. Then they let us take a walk while they cleaned the table, washed most of the dishes and got dessert ready.  For dessert we had a huge heart chocolate chip cookie and cookie dough ice cream. We were give two extra large Tootsie rolls for our gifts (to share of course) and Mark gave us some hard earned money for a coffee shop date.

One of Audrey’s butterflies emerged today and they said it was our “Anniversary Butterfly”. They said that we had to release it. So we enjoyed putting it one the Butterfly Bush while they took pictures, just like I do for them.

I love you Allan. I am so glad that God gave you to me.  You are my wonderful knight, my hero, and my best friend. I look forward to the next sweet 16 🙂

 

Lake Ann

We were able to spend the last week with friends at Lake Ann camp near Traverse City, Michigan.  It was a lot of fun!

Mark and Andrea spent the week as campers and did many new things.  Megan, Audrey and Adrian got to spend time playing in water, riding bikes and being outside most of the day.  We also got to participate with Uncle Dave’s Jump Start camp this week.  Adrian rode the bus for the first time and discovered what sand dunes are.

If you want to see the kids running down sand dunes, or other pictures from our trip, you can find them here.