Me Inside

Mackinac Slideshow - No Music

Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head

Mom: "Hey, Heathy-Feathy, let's go for a ride."
Me: "Ok."
Mom: "Grab your helmet. I'm leaving. Catch up with me."
Me: "Ok."

And so we set off on a 4-wheeler/scooter ride and are promptly dumped on by a torrential downpour. It was raining so hard we couldn't see through our glasses and it felt like tiny slivers of glass against our skin as we frantically drove back home. Fun times.

Journey Walking

I was able to spend time with momMA's mom and sister and also visit some of MA's old haunts. It was fun putting places to stories I've heard through the years. I saw the houses she lived in before leaving for Taiwan, the hospitals she worked at, where she went to school, where she used to play softball with the neighbor kids and her dad, her old church and her childhood home, where her mom still lives...60+ years later. It was fun sleeping in the little bedroom upstairs with the slanted ceilings and neat storage areas/hiding places her dad made. I met another one of her sisters, was given a tour of Donna's condo, took a beautiful ride along Lakeshore Drive looking at the mansions lining the street, and enjoyed lots of time visiting with Ruth and Gma2. I took fish I caught and we had a fry. MomMA and I fried them side by side. We had to open all the windows downstairs because we smoked the place out but the fish were delicious and there weren't very many left. Yummy. The visit ended too soon but I am so glad I was able to be with her mom and sister...and of course, my momMA. We had a wonderful time together.

 

Crossing Mackinac Bridge - entering Trollville, I mean, Lower Michigan

 

momMA's childhood home

 

 

D&MA's House #2 (House #1 was a trailer and no longer there)

 

House #3

 

Harrison - momMA worked as a nurse here in her 20s and30s before leaving

for Taiwan

(Before it was a hospital it was someone's home...it is empty now)

 

Fish Fry

(Ruth, Gma2, momMA)

UPV7 - Best Friend and Stuff

Wildlife From Our Front Yard

Fish Fry

 Yes, that's my mom and yes, she's unique and yes, we love her anyway!

 

My Other Family

 Cheryl, my oldest sister friend

 Caryn, my firstborn almost-daughter (She's 21 now. Can't believe it!)

Christopher, my firstborn almost-son

(I was in the delivery room for his birth - he will be a senior in H.S. this year)

Ambriah, second almost-daughter

(She enters middle school this fall -- 6th grade!)

UPV6 - Molly and Axel

Today we prepped Mom's room for painting, went fishing, had Mongolian Beef for dinner and went to Aunt Joanne's to see the babies and to play Dutch Blitz. The kiddos LOVE Dad. They fought over who got to sit on his lap, be carried by him, be read to...most of the pictures show him juggling them both at the same time.

Proud Uncle Tom

Axel, Uncle, and Andrea

Molly and Jess

 

Great-Niece, Niece, Great-Nephew and Uncle

The boys -- Axel and JP

Can anyone say Jessy and Joey? Wow! Deja vu...

Haye and Ax

Don't smile

You either

Snacks and a bedtime story with Uncle



UPV5 - Lake Superior/Grand Marais

UPV4

Today was Dad's birthday. JP and I pitched in with Mom to get him a scooter. He was so surprised! I didn't do a whole lot today. Took the boat out and sunbathed, gave Dad his present, had a fish fry and baked him a cake. His favorite is Butter Brickle but they quit making it in the 90s so I got online and found the recipe here:

Dad's Bday Cake

It was a little bit challenging to make because Mom let Aunt Sally use her mixer so I had to beat/mix everything by hand...including the frosting. It was a big hit, though, and Dad loved it so that made the extra work worth it, I guess!

UPV3

**Updated 11:30 p.m.  JP made us hobo dinners on the grill. We ate outside and watched the sunset, then roasted s'mores and sat around the campfire. Perfect day!

**Updated 8:55 p.m. Went trout fishing with Dad. See the bridge we had to cross to get to the stream? You don't see these in Seattle!

 Went to Fayette with Michele. She has more pictures, which I'll post later, but here are a few I took.