Author: Joyce

First Steps

Megan has been practicing her walking. Her favorite time to get her practice in is when the kids are in bed asleep.  She usually takes just a few steps to Daddy.  Megan thinks that she needs to hold on to a finger to practice her skill the rest of the time.

Today she surprised us by walking from the counter to the table without help! The kids have only seen her take a step or two and I have not seen her walk that far either. We went outside to see if I could get a few first step pictures, and when we came in she was tired and refused to show off for Daddy!

She took a few more steps this evening, but she prefers to crawl.  I am glad, because I think Megan may skip walking and go straight to running so she can keep up with her siblings!

First Ice Cream Cone

With the weather being so warm –80 degrees today!–the kids wanted ice cream. Megan got to enjoy her first cone!

In case you are wondering, there is a tiny dab of ice cream in the cone. But, until she is bigger, she will have to eat ice cream cones without the ice cream 🙂

Megan’s Birthday

Today is Megan’s birthday. It is hard to believe that she is one already!

She does not walk yet, but is very close. Megan loves to climb, so we need to be careful to put the step stool away. She also likes to sit in small spaces. She cut another tooth yesterday so she now has her four front bottom teeth, two molars and four top teeth.

She signs please when she wants something. It is usually when I go into the freezer for something because she knows her “cookies” are there. She also signs thank you, but usually needs help to remember. She is learning to sign Daddy now too.

She is still our night owl, but we have been working on earlier bedtimes. The first time we put her to bed early, she screamed for an hour. When she quieted down and I went to check on her, she was waiting for me. She giggled and crawled to the other side of her bed like it was a game. For the next two and a half hours she quietly waited in her bed for me and giggled every time I came in to check her. I finally went to bed! The last time I checked on her, she fell asleep while I rubbed her tummy.  It was around 1:30! She is doing better, but still goes to sleep around 10:00, which is much better than midnight.

Right now she is enjoying chasing a balloon around.  Maybe that will tire her out and she will go to bed early 🙂

Today’s Smile–Throwing Rocks

During our vacation, Adrian really enjoyed all the rocks that he could throw into the lake. He collected a few rocks, but most of the time he preferred throwing them. One day Grandpa said that “God put the rocks where they were.” Adrian wondered a minute before Allan said, “God put the rocks where they are so little boys could throw them.”

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!