3rd Installment

Monday, August 4, 1997 - MJ writing: "Sunday morning everyone slept in, exhausted from the long drive. We arrived in Woodbury, Vermont at 3:30 pm. Saturday and met the Knights at their farmhouse, greeted by Lily, a not-so-lily-white dog."

"The cottege (pictured above) was just up the road; small, clean, decorated inside in Spanish red and black, but very comfortable and functional. We have a lovely view across the lake to the mountains. A thunderstorm rumbled through Saturday night after we'd gone to bed. Intermittent rain Sunday morning helped us decide to put off outdoor exploration in favor of a trip to Lake Champlain. We explored Montpelier and Burlington, Vermont, enjoying beautiful scenery to and from."

"We arrived back at the cottage at dusk. Emily and I went for a swim, practiced dives off the dock and chased Jillayne, who was paddling around in the canoe. Later, took a short tandem trip up the shoreline; Jill and Em in the rowboat, Gregg and I in the canoe."

"Ready for bed later and a final moment or two on the dock to enjoy the night sky. No moon from our view, but countless, close, constellations had us wishing we'd brought Em's telescope."

(Monday morning..)..."After traveling so many curving rural roads, it seems to take some adjustment to get used to the four lane interstate as we enter Boston proper. We're in a metropolis area again!"

I'll add my own memory here - aged by 12 years- ...sleeping on very narrow beds, musty, wet smells of the cottage...enjoying the Burlington sight-seeing and the lovely county buildings in Montpelier. We kept our eyes peeled for moose as there were numerous moose-crossing signs...or was that in Maine? I just remember that we REALLY wanted to see one but had heard horror stories of collisions between moose and car, so was anxious about encountering one around a blind curve. I also remember seeing bumper stickers and signs and asking, "What is PHISH?" only to learn that my musical tastes had not kept up with the current enthusiasm for this Vermont band. Give me a minute to Google them and I'd be able to tell you the name of one of their songs....I'd be curious to know what our listening preferences were during this road trip...does "Barenaked Ladies" sound right to you, guys?

Spring with a chance of snow-showers......

Hey, it's Michigan, right? Weather and temps can go from 60 to 0 in 10 seconds flat! What a gorgeous day, though. So nice to be coatless for the afternoon and spend some sunny time outside with the kids. They're predicting more snow soon.

Just to backtrack with a bit of explanation on this next installment of the '97 Vacation; We had rented a cottage in the White Mountains of Vermont that summer and used it as a base to do some exploring along the east coast. Acadia National Park and Boston were high on the girl's list. It just so happened that Gregg was working for Service America that year, assigned to the newly opened VanAndel Arena. The company also had the food contract for Saratoga racetrack, Saratoga Springs, NY and they needed some help that summer as well. Since Gregg would be spending a few weeks there after our trip, we made a pitstop to check out his soon-to-be workplace.

Here are a few photos and Jill's travel note. "We made a stop in Saratoga Springs to visit the race track. It was a pretty place. Neat seeing where Dad will be working."

Diary of a family vacation - Day One

Here's the first excerpt from journal dated August, 1997, Our Family Vacation:

" MJ writing -- Left GR Friday, at 8pm. It's 7am Saturday.....just hit the rumble strip about an hour ago. Time to stop and switch drivers again. After a short nap I woke up to dense mist lifting off the valleys below as we skirt the southwestern edge of the Adirondacks. This is our first sight-seeing along the way. Riding through the night leaves everything to the imagination! Canada was a face at the border saying, "Enjoy your trip." and then a few lights around the Niagra area - a sense of flat, sightless driving and then waking out of a daze again to wait at the U.S. customs, "Open the sliding door, please. Who are these young ladies?" "My daughters." "All three of them?"

"We've taken the toll road all across New York. Good road with minimum traffic. Let's stop for breakfast. Em wants donuts NOW!

Em writing -- I smell them already - yum! I just want to get out the car - peel myself from this greasy chair and wash my hair-wash it in a mountain waterfall - ya-cool! Donuts....hmmmmmmm......."

Sunday Shots

The Garden Goddess wasn't shown in many pictures
this winter. She is looking good, totally uncovered.

The backyard is looking good too.

Peek-a-boo!

M riding his trike at Riverside.

Ready for the February Thaw!

Ok, remember the January thunder and lightning-rain-induced thaw last month? I'm so ready for another thawing out - minus the crazy rain and flooding. They say 40's by Saturday here!! Anyone parking at the curb on our street has had to manage balancing up on two wheels on the frozen snow-ice pack which totally hides the true curb somewhere under there. The plows never did make it back down our street after the last few snow falls, melts, re-freezing so that it looks like a wicked two track for much of the lumpy way. DO NOT attempt to sip coffee while driving this stretch!

The Wii fund raiser was Tuesday in Lansing and it went well. I was surprised at how many people still just like the other offering, which was to toss a little rubber pig into the toilet from 12 feet away. We charged a buck for three trys to put a "pig in the pot"! One lady spent $10 and failed to get the necessary two out of three for a chance at the grand prize, so she hired some guy to do it for her! Gotta love the determination. The grand prize was the Wii itself, plus an extra remote and game set. Long day, but fun.

You gotta wonder........

Eight little ones! I just can't imagine coming home with eight newborns, let alone carrying them for even 5 months, let alone birthing them, let along trying to physically recover from the birth. I hope that there's a "village" ready to step up and help with the family of the octuplets born earlier this week.

We are so blessed to have M & L with us, and admire greatly their parents! Adaptation to the routine a baby demands takes stamina, strength, patience, good humour, and lots of love...traits found in abundance with M & L's caregivers all. The reward is multiplied a hundred-fold every time we receive those loving looks, excited greetings, hugs and kisses, and the pure joy of watching them learn and explore and delight in every new thing.

A first for the toddlers in our family and for our nation

Celebrated with L & M & J on a long lunch hour to commemorate the
swearing in of our new president - their first election year, first "new president", first African-American President of the USA. I imagine them looking back in later years, remembering this historic day.

I took Friday off as well and Gregg and I watched the kids while Em and Sergio conducted interviews for their Hope Professor's spanish language book, and Jill did some job hunting. Here are just a few more photos from the week.

Making cookies with Grandpa on Saturday night - sleepover.

Bath, PJ's and snack while watching "Horton Hears a Who"; a very grown up looking M;

oh yeah.....and those cookies? Chocolaty goodness. Below are some "parts and pieces"

Above are all the parts to a Nintendo Wii game system that I have to learn to use this week (oh yikes! AND repack it all just as you see here.) I'll be giving it away at a fund raiser, but we'll be playing it to determine a winner. I was a little intimidated by the realistic games. Here's a little stack of new quilt pieces. It's a fun pattern to use up some scraps, but I have about 80 more of these blocks to make.Golf is NOT my game! But I admit that Wii was a fun way to warm up after an hour or so of sewing in the cold basement!