Gangi came to visit & help with school-less camp-less time. After a fun week in San Francisco, Brennan & Lucie were ready to take the next step - going to Michigan WITHOUT PARENTS (emphasis Lucie).
It seems silly to admit now that I was worried she wasn't ready. We talked to them once by phone, once via facetime, and it was clear neither missed us remotely.
But we went to collect them anyway.
Lucie enjoyed running her Frozen themed nail salon, including pedicures for Daddy & Gangi. It's hard to paint your own fingernails, though, so Daddy had to help execute her multicolored vision for her hands.
Surprisingly, we ate at Formerly Known as The French Laundry only once this visit. Fenton now has - gasp - another new restaurant, the Fenton Fire Hall, built inside the former - wait for it - Fenton fire hall. What happens when you offer a 3 year old and a 5 year old the chance to eat a giant plate of french fries in a fire station? Yeah, you're pretty much required to go.
After eating their weight in fries, Brennan and Lucie climbed all over the old fire truck and ran around Millpond Park. Lucie only narrowly missed going into the duckweed studded drink just once, which has to be a new low for our aspiring stuntwoman.
Daddy & I brought a little San Francisco chill along with us - since it was a little too cold for the lake one day, we decided to go the Crossroads Village and ride the Huckleberry Express.
A train ride is still a pretty universal hit - even if the whistle is too loud for some ears - and it's impressive that the 100-some year old engine is still puffing.
After a train ride and considering a run for office, we popped into Ye Olde Ice Cream Parlor for a very period-appropriate scoop of lurid-colored Superman ice cream in a styrofoam cup.
Since Crossroads Village is full of buildings from the late 1800s and historical reenactors, it seems silly to say it hasn't changed much since I was a kid. Gangi even remarked on the musty, stuck inside an old suitcase smell the interiors all gave off. The kids preferred outside games, like the schoolhouse swings, and feeding grass through fence to the barn animals.
Enough history, back to Present Day for a pool party at my Aunt Bridget's house in Flint! The sun came out just in time. Thanks to the life jackets - and my intrepid young cousin Maddie - I was able lounge poolside with a glass of wine, having small heart attacks while a 3 year old zoomed down the water slide and cannonballed off the diving board.
Remember how hungry you got after swimming when you were a kid?
It was nice to see my kids experiencing Summer the way I remember it -
tiger lilies
warm pavement and sleepy streets
green, green grass and birch trees
wearing my dad's old shirts backward to paint and glue and make a mess
eating soft-serve sundaes at Uncle Ray's Dairyland
Actually I'm not sure this particular sunday existed when I was a kid. It's called a "Dirt Sunday" and it features Oreo crumbs and Gummi Worms.
Now that the kids are old enough not to fall off the dock, it's fun being right on Silver Lake.
I even dredged up an old wetsuit and took Brennan & Lucie tubing.
I believe I earned this:
We have fun inside, too. Gangi turned an entertainment center cabinet into a mouse house for Lucie to play with, and unearthed Uncle Gavin's extensive Lego collection for Brennan.
We had a make your pizza party with Gangi's new pizza tools -
And of course, lots of movie time with Grandpa Marshall -
It was a great time in Michigan, and everyone agreed 2 weeks was not enough. The kids are excited for next summer and even more time to swim, play, explore, and sleep late-
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