Things have been busy at home and work. A few weeks ago when things were less busy we went on a vacation to the UP. We split our time between a canoe trip and visiting family.

Phase 1: Big Island Lake Wilderness Area
I had come upon this area while looking for places not too far to go on a canoe trip. We were looking for somewhere that we didn't need to reserve sites months in advance and we could canoe at/to. We were looking at a 3 day 2 night trip. Portages are a good and bad thing; they keep people out but too many makes hauling the kids a pain. Since Eli has never pooped in the woods I was hesitant to take a 2 3/4 year old someplace without thunderboxes, so places without designated sites were out. BILW fit the bill perfectly. It lies between Manistique and Munising and is designated a wilderness area inside of the Hiawatha National Forest. A plus: it was free. No permits or parking passes, just fill out a card with your name, car info, and emergency contact and put it in the dropbox. We drove up Tuesday night after work to steal a day in and stayed in St. Ignace. That put us just a few hours from BILW. After almost 10 miles of National Forest dirt roads we came to the parking area that was much easier to find then expected. There were only a few cars there which was a good sign. Some of those were day use people (locals?) who drag a kayak down or stash a cheap canoe at the end of the first portage. After a snack we carried the packs, canoe, and Amelia up and headed to the lake. It was only about 1200 feet and we were on the water. We talked to someone who had been there once before and got a tip for a good campsite on Townline lake where the kids could swim. We headed that way, three lakes and two more portages away. We got to swim (it was in the upper 80's, hot for the UP) and explore, pick blueberries and have a few (Eli-sized) adventures. It is a great place for shorter trips.

Phase 2: Marquette, MI
BILW was only about 1.5 hours from Marquette. We got there and met two of Bridgit's brothers for a late lunch and some grocery shopping. We went to the hotel to shower and change and headed back Dan & Betsy's. That night we went up the coast and for a fire, smores, stargazing,wine, and swimming on the beach (yes, Eli is still talking about that campfire). The next morning we had breakfast and then went to the farmers market. There we were surprised with Bridgit's cousin Sara. She came down from Houghton to join us for the day. We had a picnic lunch at the park and then went to Black Rocks(That isn't us, just some random youtube video) for some cliff jumping. The 67 degree water made the 90 degree heat feel way better. Then we went to another beach, and then back to Dan and Betsy's for some ice cream before taking Eric to the Airport and going out for Thai food. Dan and Betsy followed us to the hotel and the kids fell asleep on the way (as planned). We put them down in the room and us adults went to the hot tub and then hung out for a bit. It was a great day. The next day we had breakfast and then headed back south. We stopped and checked out the Fr. Marquette memorial in St. Ignace, the past couple times it has been closed. Eli loves to see “Rich's (Betsy's Father) windmills ” and the bridge. Then we headed the rest of the way home. All in all it was a great vacation. It turns out 5 days is the perfect amount of time for an almost 3 year old to be away from home.

There have been a few movies shot in our area recently. The first is Whip It. They did some filming down the street. The trailer has hit the tubes, and the movie comes in October.

Check out 1:22 on the trailer. That is about a block away from us.

Once again we have expanded our garden this year. More room for veggies was the goal. We also plant some foods and herbs intermixed with our flowers and bushes though. Last summer we were expecting a baby mid-summer so we didn't do too much. We stuck with tomatoes, cauliflower, peppers, greens/kale, and various herbs. This year we are adding eggplant, peas, bush beans, cucumber, cabbage, and more greens/kale. We also have added a huge garden at my parents house. We have a huge plot to add pole beans, carrots, beets, melons, squashes to the overflow herbs, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, bush beans, and greens.

I am thinking about doing a rainwater collection system combined with a soaker hose setup to water the veggies. I have been looking online and some of DIY systems look pretty cool. I really should get on this before the summer drought gets going.

Each year we have lived in out house we have expanded the garden. Today is a wonderful day and we have been working outside since church: mowing the grass and planting seedlings into egg-cartons. Mowing the grass is like driving to work. You are left to your thoughts, the whir of the blades drowns out everything else and I was thinking about yard work and gardening when I was growing up.

Having a yard in the city is really different. Weed whacking only happened a couple times a year when there was going to be a party, now I feel bad when there is some tall grass around a tree. In the country nobody cared about dandelions. They were a fact of life, and nobody cared about how they looked, or how to get rid of them. Who is crazy enough to try to get rid of 3 acres of them? I just spend 4 hours mowing them along with the “grass.” Now I have a city yard and I spend time digging the “evil” dandelions out. In the country “grass” was any green thing that wasn't in the flower beds and smaller then a tree. If it was in a flower bed then it was classified as a “weed”.

On the subject of weeding, it is one of the things I remember spending most of my summers doing. We had all sorts of good home grown food: corn, carrots, peas, tomatoes, and more. At the time I didn't care. Us kids hated working in the garden. It was a chore that we avoided and when we did something bad we were punished by pulling weeds in the garden. A garden that is roughly the same size as the yard I now own. Maybe that is why they had five kids? Now I stare at that garden as I get ready to plant more vegetables in it. We don't have room for everything we want to plant so we are going to have an annex garden at my parents.

For a long time that garden wasn't used. It went along with other things that we did when I was young that dropped by the wayside. The garden laborers got busier and started to leave the house and there wasn't time for the garden. It's hard to remember that we used to be members of a food co-op and had closets full of canned food. They were replaced with Meijer and then Costco, but in recent years my folks have started to get back into gardening. I can't help but wonder if we will stop doing those things when the kids get older.

For now Eli loves the garden. He plays with the rakes, hoes, and shovels. Whenever we drive in or out of the driveway he screams “I can see the peas!” I am sure that will change when he becomes a teenager, but who knows.

We are so excited today. It is time for a new direction and this country will be so much better off. We lit a candle at church for our new president recently and our thoughts and prayers are with President Obama (it feels so good to say, type, and even think that), his family, and his staff.

Tonight we had an Inauguration party. People came over and we watched the days events. As we made the cake I talked with Eli about what was going on. I explained that the president is in charge of the county like Mama and Papa are in charge of our family. I told him that the current President didn't make good choices and that we are going to have a party to tell the new President “good job!” Eli told me that Obama was going to drive over in a car (toddlers are so precise some times) and have cake. He was bummed when I told him that Obama wasn't going to come over. We did make a cool Obama cake though

BTW, the cake is a chocolate cake from the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, with cream cheese frosting.

Seeing President Obama speak and the millions of people who came to see and support him really help make me think that there is hope for our country. The benediction was amazing. It was reverent, but also humorous.
“we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.”

Amen indeed. God Bless America.

Hey Christmas chaos was last month and we have only recently looked at photos. Those of you on Facebook have seen them already. Also some photos from Amelia's baptism.

Christmas 2008

Amelia Baptism

The snow is falling hunkering down. We've got plans for a wild game of Go Fish and some hot cocoa. Who could ask for anything more?

Today is our last day of break. Bridgit and I are both blessed to have two weeks off, and we even got a snow day tagged onto the start. I have been sick since before the break started and have been hoarse for almost two weeks. I was actually out sick the day before the snow day so I have had 18 days off. Now the kids are sick and I am almost better. We have been popping hippie-o-pathic remedies, vitamin C, teas, and all sorts of things to keep us all healthier.

Break has been great, I really like Christmas more at the beginning though. Christmas time is so chaotic it is nice to get it out of the way so the rest of the break can be relaxing. We had a 5 day chunk where we were going non-stop between Christmas, visiting family and friends, and Amelia's baptism.

Its going to be hard to get up and go to work tomorrow. Can I retire yet?

Since the Holiday Chaos has wound down we have been keeping busy.

This week we went to the U of M Natural History Museum and had a ball. I haven't been there in a few years. It is nice and small so a two year old can actually make it though most of the museum. There were a number of other families there on a Tuesday afternoon. Eli loved the Dinosaurs most of all (of course). They have a few nice examples. They have a full Allosaurus and Hadrosaurid, a partial stegosaurus, t-rex skull, and a pair of Mastodons (I know they aren't dinos, but I wasn't going to argue with Eli too much.

He also had a good time checking out some of the Michigan animals we see while canoeing. He made howling noises when we saw the wolf and coyote. And he loved climbing in the dugout canoe and playing with the interactive parts of the museum. They have a cast of an Ankylosaurus tail club to touch and he kept talking about it. Overall, a good way to spend a few hours. I always find something new and always enjoy the Anthropology section on the top floor.

Actually Christmas could still happen, but the wise men couldn't come see Christ.

Christmas 2008: Why It Did Not Happen Now