we came home

Our lovely vacation is over. Upon her first night back in her bed Guthrie said, "I don't like home so much, I want to go back to the cabin." I agree.

We made the "7" hour trip up to Door County, Wisconsin to stay in a cabin on Lake Michigan. I need to take a moment to brag- they did awesome in the car. Guthrie asked age-appropriately "are we there yet? is this Wisconsin? where is Wisconsin? are we home? are we home not at our home in Davenport, but our home in Wisconsin?" about 10,000 times. We were also treated to about 8,000 renditions of "Grand Old Flag" from backseat. Thanks Nana Loree & Dietah. We owe you one.

But they did so well that while, yes, it was a long day in the car, it wasn't entirely unpleasant - or maybe unpleasant at all.

So just to clarify: yes, we went North on Spring Break. Yes there was snow. And yes, we planned it that way. A guy at work told me he thinks our family is 'so refreshing' for taking this trip. I just wanted some quiet. John wanted time to read and rest. And we wanted to be able to be ourselves on our own schedule. And we didn't want to spend a lot of money. Goals accomplished! We stayed in the cabin below in Gills Rock. At the very top of the 'thumb'. We were about 20 minutes from a town of any size - with anything open during the cold season. It took a bit of planning, but what doesn't these days? Staying some place with a full kitchen is so the way to go for our little family. It made everything so much easier.It was almost kind of desolate - it was so empty of people. We could see the harbor from the living room, but we weren't right on the water. There was a nice front porch and yard. Up the road they were tapping the trees for syrup and down the road were cherry orchards. It's pretty beautiful country. Mornings were spent leisurely breakfasting, reading, napping, knitting, watching movies and making popcorn. Popcorn at 9:30 am? sure! we're on vacation! And enjoying the novelty of --- get this --- a sliding glass door. Yeah, they were completely enamored with it.
Afternoons were more adventurous. We went to town for lunch one day then searched for a beach, played on a snowy playground, made it to a State Park and took a hike. Hike is probably too strenuous a word. We walked down a paved road that was still blocked off for the season even though there was no snow on the road. We went in search of a lighthouse. With two kids - neither of whom wanted to walk. So maybe strenuous was the right word. Thank goodness we had grabbed two slings. We both enjoy wearing our kiddos, but don't find much opportunity to these days. It was nice to be able to for the afternoon. And yeah, they definitely got bigger over the winter. With 22 lbs of Laithe on my front for the walk there and 42 lbs of Guthrie on my back for the return trip, I feel like I earned my dinner.The lighthouse wasn't quite what we expected but it was a fun adventure. And the views were spectacular.
Guthrie and I slipped away from the boys for a shopping trip one afternoon. Diapers, yarn, and coffee. Yeah, well, there's my life in a nutshell now isn't it? We had a nice time exploring. I love it when I can pretty much say yes to all her requests in one afternoon. Can I have juice? Can I pick out some yarn? Will you make me something? Can I have a surprise? Yes, yes, and yes. You are delightful my little one! I enjoy you so much on days like these.
And Laithe, well, I think he mostly enjoyed feeling good (more about that later) and getting all kinds of freedom.
We let him play in the snow until his hands were about frozen and wander slowly all over our neighborhood - we literally saw about 10 cars.
He is getting so big so quickly. He enjoys this life tremendously. We were treated to so many of his deep belly laughs. Not that there weren't some squally bouts - molars coming in and all, but overall he enjoyed himself I think. I was worried about having a woodstove in the cabin, but as his signing has really blossomed in the past few weeks we told him and signed that it was hot twice and he spent the rest of the week telling us it was hot every time he passed by. Smart kid that one.

Vacationing with two kids though? Two ambulatory and ahem, mouthy? kids? We should call these educational trips instead of vacations maybe. We were so excited to get crappy road trip food for the adults that we were 30 minutes down the road before we remembered we're not about to give our toddler beef jerky for dinner and had to stop again and buy a $6 box of graham crackers. Cranky kids? Oh well, then obviously we'll force them into a snow suit and snow boots to go for a walk because we want to go explore. Because that'll totally change the vibe. Change it enough that we discuss never wanting to vacation with kids again. Ever. Diapers? Wipes? I was supposed to bring them for the afternoon out? Ehh.

We all survived and even said we would do it again.