Up North in July

We went up north for a week in July with good friends of ours.  We rented a house that could hold all of us - four adults and seven kids.  Yes, we are crazy.  On the way up, we stopped at a gas station to eat lunch and use the bathroom.  Will stepped in dog poop.  After laughing our heads off, and realizing he wasn't laughing with us, we gave him some space to clean himself up, and we were on the road again.  In the below pictures, from top left in clockwise order: a truck we passed filled with bee hives which naturally caught our eye and then we realized that the driver of the truck was a guy we had sold some bee boxes to that very week, Will, before stepping in aforementioned dog poop, Will and Opal stretching out at the cottage, and finally, celebrating the littlest guy on our trip's birthday.

The cottage looked out onto Lake Michigan, and had spectacular sunsets.  We enjoyed relaxing in the backyard, watching shows the kids put on for us, and reading stories on the swing.

Will held Opal for many naps on our week-long trip, as we decided it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to get her to sleep in a strange location when we really could hardly get her to sleep at home. 

Lots of great food was eaten, and the kids played like they were all siblings.  Below, Emma is proudly showing off the first whole apple that she has been able to eat since losing all of her teeth. 

My friend and I decided that bribery would be in order to help ensure our brood went to bed and woke up at semi-decent times.  Lucy was the only child that took this bribe seriously, as pictured in the tiny notepad she jotted down her rising and sleep times.  We put the middle children to work one afternoon vacuuming the cottage only to have it hours later be filled with crumbs from a Costco-sized chip bag someone dumped out.  Fortunately, the kids knew now where the vacuums were kept. 

We enjoyed s'mores, campfires, donuts from the General Store that was but a few minute walk from the cottage, and the mascot from our trip - Chippy - an extroverted chipmunk that may have been several chipmunks as he was everywhere.

In true Liz fashion, I brought more books than clothes and so enjoyed reading stories to the kids.  We also had lots of beach time, which may have attributed to Will and I discovering all three of our older girls snuggled to sleep together in one bed.  This was a sweet thing to see, considering the complaining and fighting that went on about sharing beds with sisters.

Opal and I spent most of our time under the beach umbrella as I was afraid of her getting a sunburn.  If anyone remembers the Baby Toes rock that Violet found me on our last trip up north in May, Will was not to be outdone and found a Man Toe on this trip.  See below.

 The kids never tired of going to the beach, although there was one time where the parents got all of our STUFF down a long trail to a beach that we deemed unsafe and had to muster up all of our energy to load it back up, carry it back up a hill, repack the car, and drive a bit down the road to a safer beach.  We did it, but it definitely was a feat.  That's not even mentioning all of the sand EVERYWHERE in our cars.

We enjoyed a return favorite from last year's July Up North trip to a little cookie shop that sells fresh-baked cookies that are the best we have ever eaten.  We toured the local Farmer's Market, and Emma was even caught sticking her hands into the pocket of a bronze statue.  We asked what she was hoping to find, but she just giggled.

Opal did so well on this trip, and truly, being held constantly even while asleep, agreed with her.

 We went for almost a hike a day, and some of our favorite hikes included a wild blueberry patch we discovered on the edge of a bog... of which we have renamed the trail "Blueberry Bog".

 There was also another hike where the woods were covered in tiny, blue forget-me-nots and we have since renamed that trail, "Forget-Me-Not Forest".  After that hike, I started up a conversation with the man who is in charge of this particular land conservancy.  It was great fun to swap fun facts about pollinators, wildflowers and native versus non-native plants.  My kids and Will almost died from boredom.  Imagine my disappointment though when the gentleman informed me that the forget-me-nots were in fact, quite invasive.

 There was one hike which had spectacular views, and another that took us right out to Lake Michigan.

 Up North is more than a destination to me.  It is a place that my soul craves.  That may sound overly dramatic, but it is true.  I can count on one hand the number of summers where I did not get a chance to go Up North, and the feeling of homesickness that I felt made me promise myself to do everything in my power to make it Up North the following year.

I don't want to give the wrong impression about our trip though, as truly this is the highlight reel.  There were hikes filled with swarming mosquitoes, whining children, public fit-throwing (by myself and my four year old at separate times), sunburns and blisters on our heels.

Sleep deprivation was a very real thing, despite our bribery for going to bed at a decent time and sleeping in.  However, all of that is worth it for me to be Up North.  In the below picture, I found four trees in a row with the fourth one bathed in sunlight.  For some reason, it remained me of Luke, and I had the girls line up, with Luke's tree to the right.  After the picture was taken, Will brought me back to earth by informing me that the reason that fourth tree was bathed in light, was because it was dead and had no leaves.  Ah, well, it still made Luke's presence very real to me, and I will take it for the gift that it was.

Someday it may not take weeks to pack the car, but there will also be no need for me to bring storybooks, sun hats in every size, beach toys, and someone to help me eat the s'mores (s'mores are not Will's thing).  I hope that when my kids are grown, that they too will feel the pull to go Up North, and I hope sometimes that I will get to go with them too.

Four Little Ladies in July

July came and went before we knew what had happened!  Will gets the month of July off, but due to changes at his work, needed to go into work several times this past month.  Unfortunately, it was hard to feel like we were completely on vacation mode because of this, but on the other hand, I think it helped me transition back to him being at work again in August much easier than if I had completely gotten used to having two adults at home to manage and care for our four girls.  Here we are below, celebrating the Fourth of July at Will's aunt and uncle's house.  Lots of relatives got to meet Opal for the first time, and the girls had fun making rice crispy treat hedge hogs with Will to bring to the party.

We enjoyed several breakfasts outside this past month, and the most favorite item on the menu was homemade blueberry muffins.  Lucy also was inspired to make "s'more" based desserts for us as well.  Charlie loved all of the outside meals, as he is always happy to eat the crumbs that are inevitably dropped, and of course, his own wet cat food to keep him from getting too annoying.

The girls helped us in the kitchen from desserts to meals and Emma was even forced against her will to pick green beans for us.  I made several berry pies with our berries from the garden and even got some inspiration from reading a book about Butter and a biography about Milton Hershey this past month.  Yummy!

When the weather wasn't too crazy hot, we enjoyed painting, toad catching, butterfly watching and flower picking in the backyard.

Will puttered around with his summer to do list (see roof picture below), and we enjoyed watching the girls play in the sprinkler, slip and slide and kiddie pool.  There are designated Green Space areas across the street from our house that the city has been converting into a Monarch Way Station these past two years and we finally got to see the blooms of their efforts this year.  I can't believe that we are lucky enough to have a wildflower meadow just across the street from us in the middle of suburbia.  And of course, we have seen a lot more Monarchs this year too, which I attribute to the meadow across the street from us.

We had fun with neighbors and friends going for walks, playing in the sprinkler, having picnics and playing in a creek by our house.

 We enjoyed s'mores with neighbors, backyard games and indoor play with friends.

Will and I celebrated our 14th anniversary this past month.  We did a morning date where we hiked 6 miles before it got too hot out (it was still pretty darn hot by the time we were finished) and had a lunch picnic where baby deer came right up to our blanket and then we spent the afternoon and evening with our four little ladies at the park with a pizza picnic.

Will and the three older girls took his mom to the zoo for her birthday, and while they were gone, Opal and I realized just how much the three older sisters help us out at home.  I was reminded of the long days when it was just Lucy and I, and I ended up scarfing down my lunch standing at the counter while holding Opal and missing the conversation and distraction of kids that can talk and walk and play.  Don't get me wrong, Opal and I enjoyed our interruption-free snuggles, but I did miss my older girls too!

We had family eye doctor appointments, more park play, bike rides through the cemetery by our house, blueberry picking in my parents' backyard and - the photo on the right below - recreating with my girls a photo that I have of me and my middle sister in the same location probably almost 30 years prior.  I need to find that original photo and do a side by side comparison.

 My yard signs that I sell on Etsy went viral this past month and it was all we could do to keep up with the shipping demands.  This is a good problem to have, but did take us by surprise as spring is usually the busy season for our signs.  Will took over melting beeswax for me in our new solar wax melter, and the entire family helped me sell my products at a Homeschool Fair we went to.  It was Opal's first show, and she did great.

 On the days it was too hot, we enjoyed daytime movies complete with bags of popcorn (sponsored by Harding Honey) and juice boxes, as well as magnetic letter play and Lucy made some adorable felt donuts and cupcakes.

 Violet and I enjoyed "special time" in the play tent reading stories, the girls played together in their room, Play Doh was enjoyed and the girls put on several shows for us.

We have a very full and busy life right now with four little ladies and keeping gratitude and humor as close as possible is the only way to survive.  The photos in clockwise order from top left below: Violet showing me her nose ring, the pot of rice that I burned only after we made a special trip to the store just for rice, and Lucy helped me prepare it and dumped half of the bag all over the floor (yes, rice IS a four letter word), a feeling of gratitude that washed over me when I saw the four piles of little girl clothes I had just finished folding on my bed, what my ironing and mending looks like these days - fixing favorite dresses, shorts, stuffed animals and even Barbie dresses, a funny comment Will text me that Violet said, and finally, Lucy asking me to check yes or no for take-out while I am on the phone with my friend.  She sure knows how to take advantage of my distraction!  I checked no, but in the end, take-out (and my little ladies) won.

And finally, a selfie of us hiking the trail by our house in preparation of all of the up north hiking we were hoping to do on our vacation this past month!  A vacation post while be next!

Opal's 5th Month

Probably the biggest change this past month happened two days before Opal turned 5 months old - she got her first tooth!  I was not expecting this so early, and when her tooth popped out, all of her recent crankiness made so much sense!  She has been going to town on her teething toys, like a puppy on a chew toy!

One day this past month it seemed like Opal woke up and was a completely different baby - more mature, more grown up.  That same day she discovered her feet and now plays with them whenever she is on her back.  She also has perfected rolling - front to back and back to front but still sometimes gets an arm stuck under her belly when rolling to her stomach.

 She still loves her sisters, and being with them whenever possible.  She gets the most proud look on her face if we find ways to include her in sister shenanigans.  She was finally old enough this past month to use the jumper activity center passed down from her sisters, and you better believe all of the sisters were there ready to cheer her on.

 Opal enjoyed her second vacation of her life this past month too...

 ...with lots of sitting in the shade with momma at beaches, hikes strapped to momma...

 ...and some great naps snuggled on her daddy.

Opal has gained the nickname Hunca Munca, which the girls took from a Beatrix Potter character, but seems quite fitting for our little Hunca Munca.

 Opal, you are a real life doll baby, and we love you!