Summertime, Socially Distanced of Course

Our summer is quickly coming to an end with schools starting soon.  Our oldest goes back to college in two weeks!  The youngest goes in three weeks and our middle goes in 4.  Three kids at 3 different schools is fun, really.  I am thankful they are all in-state.  We are 1 hour and 15 minutes from two of the schools and 1 hour 30 minutes from the other.  They are just far enough away that coming home is possible but not likely to happen too often.  For the first month, they will stay put and we will come to them if they need anything.  The semester will go quickly as they will all be home for 8 weeks the end of  November.  Already looking forward to it! 

Monday our state becomes a masked state.  I know it is a controversy, especially if you have clinical reasons not to wear a mask.  I just wear mine and go about my life.  Hopefully, this trial will ease some soon. 

We did manage to get up to Lake Michigan for a day trip on Jeff's staycation week.  We were able to avoid the crowded beach.  We had a yummy lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.  We walked up a dune trail.  We sat on the beach and read books while Grace produced a lovely watercolor.  I never want to take for granted again these times with my kids at the beach.  I was tempted to despair a little.  I wanted a week at the beach, not 3 hours!  But I realized that 3 hours was more than some get so I needed to be thankful for them.  

We have been riding our bikes, playing disc golf, walking to the little park when the weather is not unbearable. We were going to go camping but the weather turned super hot and humid so we have put that on hold for September and October.  I am looking forward to camping this fall, something Jeff and I can do together without children.  

Speaking of the empty nest, since the kids have been home since March, I am ready to send them off!  It is time for them to be working towards something productive. Yes, I will miss the daily interactions.  I will probably not hear from the oldest very often.  I will eagerly await any and all text messages.  Thankfully, I have been down this road a couple times now and I am prepared for the emotional toll.  I am actually looking forward to a few of the perks of the empty nest, especially, less food to buy and fewer dishes to wash.  It has been 22 years since Jeff and I lived alone.  

Summertime freedom is almost over but there is still a lot of summer left to enjoy! 

My Birthday Trip

I was blessed to go to my favorite lake for my birthday!  Here are some pictures.

These are from the first day, taken at IN Dunes State Park.  We played on the beach in the 80 degrees, then took a 4-mile hike back in the woods.  My Fitbit registered 24 flights of stairs from all the dunes we climbed.

Day two was a trip to New Buffalo, MI's city beach park, another pretty place to climb dunes.  Along the way, we stopped at a favorite orchard to pick over 21 pounds of Pink Lady apples.

That evening, we went to see the sunset at Michigan City, IN's city park.

And today, my actual birthday, we hiked a favorite trail at the IN Dunes National Lake Shore West Beach.

I always enjoy our trips to see Lake Michigan.  I will not be going back for some time, so this was an especially sweet trip.  I am very grateful!!

Vacation Week Recap

Happy Monday, friends!  Well, vacation is over.  This year, vacation was part stay-cation and part camping cabin at Lake Michigan. The following pictures are from New Buffalo City Beach.

As usual, vacation takes on a life of itself, never going quite as planned, but always a blessing to be away from the ordinary.  The beach towns along south-west Michigan have always had a spot in my heart.  I find them quaint and filled with nostalgia.  And fudge, lots of fudge!

We actually did not swim in the lake this trip.  Trevor had a fresh knee wound and I do not like the thought of lake water and a bad cut. So, we enjoyed the campground's pool quite a bit this trip.  It was hot, so the pool was a relief.  We spent a day with Grandma, too.  All in all, we had a lovely break.

The hardest part of vacation is having Jeff back to work and our oldest essentially back to school, as band camp starts today.  He will have two weeks of band camp and then school officially starts July 27th.  It is amazing how fast time flies!  Trevor is spending this week with his nana, so it is just us girls this week.  We have some painting projects calling our names!  I leave you with a few more pictures of the cabin.

A Surprise Get Away for Two

When sweet grandparents take your kids away on a vacation to Washington, DC, and your beloved takes a day off to make it a three day weekend, what else is there to do but escape to our favorite park? And on top of it all, the weather at the lake was in the 60's with no rain in sight, while it was 90 degrees at home.  Unbelievable!

I cannot remember the last time we slept in a tent, but we knew we needed to make it work if we wanted to stay budget friendly.  One night was probably all the tent camping that I can take.  But it was such an amazing feeling to be waking up at my favorite park, knowing we had another full day ahead of us.  It was totally worth the effort and the walk to the bathroom!

We had a wonderful whirlwind trip, as the pictures show.  And, we get to go back for a longer trip in three short weeks!