Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Abigail D. turns 10!


Will, EC and I extended our stay for one extra day so that we could be a part of Abigail Dillon's 10th birthday dinner. Abie is on her knees with Emily on the right in the picture above. We have been so fortunate to have them part of our Michigan life! They now have their very own beautiful cabin and plan on spending their summers in MI for a very long time. They win the prize for longest trip as they hail from England. Will and Bryan called the girls Hermione for the first summer we met--that must have been about 4 years or so ago!






Michigan pretty much forces you to get back to the basics. When Will and Bryan spend time with the girls, they spend hours digging holes and playing hide and go seek. This night, they spent quite a while trying to get all 4 of them and Jake on the kayak at the same time. My favorite picture is the one take right after this, with 10 feet in the air!



Weather-wise, we've had better Michigan trips. We went a week earlier than usual, and it showed! This last day, a day that Jack, Meg and Sarah missed as they went home on time, was absolutely perfect. Next year, expect us back to our routine! Allison, Reese, Tony and Mike enjoy the early evening beach time above.

What does FRESH AIR do to a kid?

Fresh air and a ban on the Wii! Now THIS means we had a good visit!


The Haunted House





Legend has it that the old light keeper's house down the beach from us is haunted! It really would make sense once you saw it. It's everything that the campfire story should be--old, twisted story behind it, boards falling down, warning/trespassing signs all around...pretty cool. Mike and Amy were able to purchase a beautiful piece of property right next to the haunted house property last summer. So we headed off down the beach to explore and pick some blueberries!

Ellen Claire has found her future job!

PAPARAZZI!!!!!!
And like most photographers in the scandalous buisness of catching people at their not so greatest moment, Ellen Claire has a real knack for being in your face when you least expect it!


GRAMMA REESE


CHACHA (AUNT) DEB



UNCLE TONY


COUSIN BRYAN

GRAND POP MIKE


TONY AND COUSIN JAKE

DAD JACK


DEB AND COUSIN ALLISON

MAMA ROSE











Clyde's Drive-In Hamburgers


Ok, so I thought that I was finished updating the Michigan blog, but I found more pictures! I only got one picture at Clydes as my batteries went dead on my camera, but you'll get the idea! Clyde's is our place for burgers in the UP. It's right next to a golf course, which is why I think we know where it is! There is a friendly family rivalry between our side and the Rogozinski side. They like another drive in called West Pier. We tried it last year and are holding strong to our position that for a good greasy burger, Clyde's is the one!
That's Reese in the picture above. What I didn't get a picture of was how close you really are to the water and to the channel for frieghters coming in to the locks. There is also the Sugar Island ferry that runs right in front of Clyde's so there is much to watch while chowing down on a "Big C" or "Cluggets"!

Monday, August 25, 2008

A Fitting Way to End our Visit

It was not easy to leave! We have lately been spending at least 2 weeks at the cabin, but this visit had to cut it short due to sports schedules. Not worth it! Will, Ellen Claire and I stayed an extra day to celebrate Abigail Dillion's 10th birthday with her. She and her sister Emily are our British friends who we see each summer. So in contrast to the very full car we had on the way up (all my 3 plus Bryan and Sarah...and a very SICK Bryan at that--had to STEAM CLEAN the car our first day there, if you get the picture :-)! ), it was just the 3 of us on our way back to Chicago.

And the rainbow followed us all the way down the interstate--going all the way over us at one point. It was such a beautiful sight!








Overnight to Mackinac Island!


Jack and I had the rare chance to get away for an overnight visit to Mackinac (pronounced like Mack-a-naw) Island. It was an early anniversary trip and one that we would have never been able to take if Reese hadn't offered to man the fort back at the cabin with the 5 kids I had in my keeping! If you ever get the chance to go to the Island, you just have to take it. It is by far one of my favorite places. Check out http://www.mackinacisland.org/ to see all about it! There are no cars, only bikes and horses...lots of walking and amazing scenery. The Grand Hotel and Arch Rock are two places that we've never seen before this visit!

We rented our bikes and, for this visit, did more than just the 8 mile perimeter ride that we've done every time before. I say 'every time' but Jack took me the first summer I ever visited back in 1992 and then never wanted to go back! We talked him into going again when Mike wanted to show it to Amy 2 years ago. Emily and I went last year with the kids, but I've never spent the night. Anyway, we didn't visit the fort this time, opting instead to explore the interior of the island on our bikes. There are great trails, all marked, and the "heart" of the island all around. We even found the cemetary where the Piedmont ancestors, the Biddles, are buried.
The Biddles were the first settlers of Mackinac Island and the house still stands (and is a tour-stop). The name "Agatha" still is used in the family!

Our staywas so much fun!!! The place EMPTIES at night, except for the locals and the people well, staying overnight. It was such a nice pace---so much slower and calmer. Jack and I got to see the bridge all lit up at night, shared a drink with one of the local shop owners and wake up with the island! Thank you, Reese and Jack, for the great trip.

What a family!


All the grands, except for our precious new baby girl, Elizabeth (Ellie) McLoughlin Piedmont! But at the time this was taken, she was still "baking" with her parents Mike and Amy! Little did we know that she would make her entrance on 08-08-08, about a week after this picture!


And after 16 years, our precious little family!

Walking to the Range Light


Walking to the range light is something that we never miss on our cabin visits. The freighters use the range light to line up their ship into the channel, turning right in front of us. The sunset is amazing, and with a little luck (like in the picture above) we get a ship going by at JUST the right moment. Timing is everything, even with the sunset. The sun sets around 9:15pm in August and the weather can change in a moment. So you have to keep the kids up and hope the clouds don't roll in!

We love our walk to the range light! Meg and Sarah even carried on a tradition that Meg instituted last year with Mackenzie to take a picnic on the last day--making sure to take all the junk food they could find! Evidently, that is what makes the picnic!







Fun with Grand Pop

Ellen Claire took great pride in helping Grand Pop brush and "scrape" Nelly. It was their daily job together. Will and Bryan were the Birch Point Open caddies again. Next year, at 11 years old (OH MY GOODNESS!) they may be ready to actually be competitors in it! I think that it's a big year, 25th or something like that for the BPO. And finally, when I had enough of them, Bryan, Will and EC got put in the dog cage!

Point Iroquois Lighthouse

This lighthouse is only about 15-20 minutes away from the cabin and I had not visited it until this last trip! I guess that it's so commonplace to Jack that he just didn't think about showing it to me. We had to use up an hour of so or time before mass so we decided to show Sarah (and me!) the view from the top of the lighthouse. Meg, Bryan and Will have all been there before, too! The grounds are just beautiful and we completely enjoyed exploring them. The walkway in front of the lighthouse, down by the lake and into the woods is just perfect and a great summation of what the landscape is like at the cabin.

Fun in the EUP


So what's an antsy group of kids supposed to do on an iffy-weather Saturday afternoon in the Eastern Upper Peninsula? I'll tell you! They go to the Superior Whitefish Festival! We stuck out like something of a sore thumb, but got into it by the time the kids found the mechanical bull. Yes, you read that correctly. They rode, got thrown off and all in all loved the bull. It was a definite first, for sure!




After the bull, we had to kill some time before mass started, so we bounced on the fun bounces, Will and Bryan got kicked off the big blow up slide for well, just being boys, and the girls checked out the local scene :-) Then we headed to Point Iriquois, which is another blog post!



Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bryan Stays in Chicago


While Emily had to go back to work in Florida, Bryan got to stay and play with us! We only had 3 full days to try to cram some stuff in and the weather didn't help much for the first 2. So we headed to the park/zoo/sunken gardens for one afternoon and to the pool for the next! We stayed for 3.5 hours at the pool...we thought we wore Bryan out as he fell asleep in the grass by the pool. But turns out, he was fighting off a 24 hour bug that wouldn't take effect until the middle of our 8 hour car drive to Michigan the next day...see the Michigan posts for more about that!!! :-) Let's just say that he's lucky his Cha-Cha Rose loves him so very, very much!!!
We so loved having B with us. He and Will are right about 5.5 months apart--far enough to be in different grades, but essentially the same age. Emily and I treasure the relationship those 2 have and are so glad that it's only grown stronger through the years.