Wrapping It Up: Coronavirus Week 10

We had a FULL week last week!  The girls continued their Lego Challenge with the boys, one of their hardest being to build something with one hand.  Tierney was glad to hold hands and Elam was happy to steal the show!

 The weather heated up and after much begging, I gave in and let the kids put their swimming suits on and play in the sprinkler one nice spring day, though the temperatures were less than what I would have called worthy of getting wet.  Nevertheless, the kids had a blast!

Following the splash fest, they retreated to the heat of the driveway to warm up and dry off, and soon set to playing with the sidewalk chalk, creating all sorts of scenes in which they then put themselves.

 Ezri with Queen Mommy...

 Alora dining with a friend...

 Ezri as an illustration in a book..

 Elam on a bike...

 Alora being eaten by a hungry mommy (don't ask, I don't know...)

 Super Hero Ezri in a battle...

 Ezri and Alora driving cars...

 And Elam being cute.  Tierney opted not to participate in any of the photos, though she had her own collection of artwork all over the driveway as well.

Of course, to get these photos from the right angle, it required a bit of photographer creativity (at the risk of leaving the safety of the ground behind)

Thursday brought our traditional "Donut Thursday" at Kritex, an event we all look forward to each week!

Thursday was also our last day of school for the year as the girls put their minds to it and doubled up for the final day to wrap it up a day early!  

Ezri's last day of Fourth Grade...

Alora's last day of Second Grade...

Tierney's last day of Kindergarten...

And Elam just having fun!

 That night, we gathered up our friends on Zoom for the girls' final project presentations.  For the last three weeks, each chose a topic, did research, wrote a paper, designed a 3-D portion for their presentation as well as an experiment related to the topic.  Ezri went first with her presentation on the Soo Locks.

 Then Alora shared her knowledge with us on the topic of Albert Einstein.

 Friday began with some excitement as we let the girls in on a little information we had been keeping from them - we were going away for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.  We didn't tell them where, but just directed them to gather some things.  With the Stay-Home order extended yet again, this time until June 12th, we at least were offered the release of the ability to gather with a group of 10 or less.

After a quick lunch at home, with the truck already loaded mostly the night before, we threw in the last minute things and hit the road to head north.  We passed a strange sight - the missing 100th St bridge that had finally been torn down and is being re-built after being hit so many times in recent years.

Along the way, Alora caught on to the fact that we were following a familiar truck that looked suspiciously like it was carrying the bicycles Kathy had taken with her from our garage earlier that morning with an explanation that she was bringing them somewhere for us.  The girls made the connection that we would be going somewhere with the Sebrights, which meant time together with their friends finally, and the truck erupted in squeals of excitement which increased as we pulled up next to that truck waving furiously!

Given the fact that we are already exposed to the Sebright's germs through Kathy working here daily, and our knowledge that they are just as cautious as we are about avoiding contracting the coronavirus, we felt safe going forward with an outing together.  Our destination: the Sebright's family cabin in Cadillac.

When we finally arrived, the girls were again excited with proclamations that they knew it!  They excitedly poured from the truck and ran to see their friends, and the reunion was precious.  We settled in and the kids immediately ran outside to play together.  Much of Friday afternoon was lazy and happy as we relaxed, ate dinner and awaited the arrival of Jay & Becci to complete our "framily".  That night, the kids happily resumed their "usual" Friday night activity - watching a movie together, only this time they could do it in person instead of with 4 computers in two different locations!

Meanwhile, the adults stayed up too late chatting around a fire, savoring every moment of freedom and friendship.

Saturday morning, the kids were wide awake and full of energy.  First order of business, get their dolls outside to ride bike with them.

 Mid-morning, we loaded up into the vehicles in search of the Little Mac Foot Bridge, a suspension pedestrian foot bridge over the Manistee River, the largest wooden suspension bridge in the Lower Peninsula.

 We trekked across it, doing our best to avoid other parties out enjoying the beautiful day, then found a trail and followed it for a bit to the edge of the river.

 We also checked out the dam nearby, and a few of the kids turned monkey in a pretty fantastic climbing tree along the bank of the river.

 Once we had explored that area, tummies were hungry, so we headed for Harvey Bridge, a familiar spot for us from our past camping history in Manton.  There, along the river, we had a picnic and relaxed together.

 Following lunch, we headed into the forest to do a little two tracking and exploring.  Unfortunately, before we ever got in deep enough, we ended up having to halt that plan in light of a blow transmission line on our truck.   With our truck disabled and being 25 miles from the cabin, a new adventure ensued... a long haul tow.  Thankfully we were in good company, with another truck suited to tow us.  We had to calm and quiet the kids an awful lot on that long drive, but Elam fell asleep for most of the ride.

It got a little nerve racking crossing some major streets and traveling down some seasonal roads in an effort to stay on dirt back roads and avoid other cars. 

In a little over an hour, we finally pulled back into the cabin driveway!

 Then began the process of determining what the real problem was and how it could be remedied on a Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend in a world where many shops are still closed due to the Coronavirus shut down.

The guys determined the cause to be a faulty part.  We had experienced this issue a few weeks prior and had the truck towed home and to the shop where it was repaired.  Apparently the part was manufactured poorly and the same kind put back on, unaware it was faulty.  Once the guys figured it out, they set out to a local auto parts store to piece together a solution to hold us together until we could return home and get the proper part.

While the guys were obtaining parts and repairing the truck, we set up a sprinkler for the kids and set them loose to play!

After some time, their play turned to a plot to soak the moms trying to relax in the sun.

That evening, after dinner, we turned our sights toward a bonfire again, this time with S'mores.  The kids worked hard hauling logs over to the fire pit.

Then we watched as Tierney opened up a long awaited birthday gift from Jay & Becci.

One more surprise awaited the kids...  a fun matchbox car for each of them!

With the kids settled in for another movie together, and then bedtime, the adults settled in for another late night of relaxing, laughter and fun around the fire.

 Even Sadie was loving the cabin life, embracing the nature.

 Sunday morning, we had the kids watch their Minno church episode, then headed out for another adventure.  This time they all strapped their dolls to themselves so they could join in the fun too!

 Our destination was a DNR trail system in Cadillac.  There we hiked and explored for quite a while, enjoying the shade over the open sun as the temperatures climbed into the 80's

 We found a snake...

 And a turtle along the way!

 That night, a little repair work was attempted on the bent fire ring, damaged from fallen trees the year prior.

 Then we settled around it again for our late night of bonfire fun.
Monday morning, we all woke, reluctant to think about having to go back home. So, we didn't!  Instead, we packed up some things and then went back to being on vacation.  The kids set their minds to building fairy houses.

Part way into the day we ventured out into the woods behind the cabin and then chatter began about things that needed to be done to repair or improve the place, like the many fallen trees and branches scattered all over, the trash left to lay, mowers that needed to get running so grass could be cut back and ticks deterred (two of the kids picked them up early in the weekend, thankfully they were noticed quickly).  This began a little messing around that soon turned into a full blown work project in which the guys repaired and used two mowers while the ladies piled a bunch of brush, cleared a patio of overgrown nature and trash, and cleaned up junk left lay around the yard.

Mid-afternoon, hot and sweaty from the work, we found ourselves around the table discussing the possibility of making this our summer plan.  With thoughts of returning soon, with a mission, as well as for the opportunity to be together while away from the rest of the world, we began gathering up our stuff and packing it in the trucks for a long, traffic heavy trip home.  We arrived at home about 8pm Monday night, full of happy vibes and much needed peace amid the chaos of our world.