Summer Days

Quick post before we head off for more adventures. Hubbub is heading to scout camp and the rest of the D-Crew is heading off to Drummond Island for the 2008 Drummond Island Hummer Adventure (no, we're not geeks, you're just jealous? ;p). We're excited but I'm feeling a little sick at the thought of being away from Hubbub for 9, yes n.i.n.e. days. I've been trying to come up with ideas on how to gate crash scout camp. Let me know if you have any great ideas.

The week after knitting camp, we didn't slow down at all.

We went swimming with friends at Rothschild pool. (sorry, no pics. Duh! not when I'm in a bathing suit).

The boys went flying with the EAA.

Hubbub fell in love with a plane and hunted down the owner/pilot so that he could find out more about the plane and climb into the cockpit.

Hubbub camped out at Camp Phillips as the scout pack was manning the first aid station at the Cub Scout Chuckwagon Derby the next day. Only the D-man and one other VERY newbie scout showed up (pathetic! way to support the pack!) so they were put with three other boys from two other packs. The boys amazed us all with how well they adapted and learned to communicate. They overcame some pretty big challenges, such as the tongue on the wagon snapping in two! They did such a great job, and didn't get any deductions. They ended up getting 6th place, which "shocked the snot" out of us. We're very proud of them for the great job and example they showed. A big shout out to all of the Young Men and Boy Scouts who showed up and supported the cub scouts and the council.

Poor EB hurt his finger and got a little tuckered out from all the heat and humidity and running around.

On Sunday, Stevieb had a speaking assignment in Stevens Point and Hubbub was asked to go with Bro. Thompson to Antigo to speak, but when he got there he was only asked to bear his testimony and help pass the sacrament. He's such a great kid and always willing to help (well, except help his mum... well, some of the time).

(Little Princess and I, found that for the third time in a row, we were wearing coordinating outfits to church. Week 1 was a brownish long skirt outfit, Week 2 was white and black print dresses, and week 3 was pinky/reddish outfits. We thought it deserved a snapshot, thanks to our ever handy photographer - the feisty soccer dude!)

On the next post, we'll fill you in on EB's losing battle with the coffee table. Although mum was more than willing to finish off the table for hurting her "best friend".. The coffee table is no more.

Vacay continuted

(Dec took this pic from the top of the observation tower at Historic Mill Creek)

Once reaching Mackinaw City we were really hungry so we stopped and ate some pasties. One of the many reasons I loved this trip, was the food. It reminded me so much of England, and the lakes are so wide and the ruddy seagulls so plentiful that you feel like you're down at Torbay seafront, just without the seaweed and topless bathers (thank goodness). Surprisingly, Hubbub and Little Princess fell in love with the pasties, so we'll have to make some for them sometime (or just wait until Nana visits and then have her cook us up a bunch -much better idea).

We checked in our hotel and let the kids relax and have a swim. Then we were getting a little munchie so we drove to the open shopping mall and debated all the usual cruddy places to eat, like KFC and Subway, then we spotted Scalliwags Fish and Chip Shop and I about leapt out of the car. The others were a little sceptical until we tasted them. They were delicious and all of the kids were going crazy over the food. They informed us that they needed to eat there for every meal for the rest of our vacation. They make fish and chips in the UP with Whitefish that's caught in the lakes, it was pretty tasty. Of course, nothing is as good as Cod and Plaice with a side of mushy peas, but you take what you can get.

While in Mackinaw City, we discovered three other great museums. One was Historic Mill Creek, where I almost stepped on a snake, fortunately just a water snake, but they still hurt when they bite. Hubbub, Dec, LP and I took an adventure tour where we climbed a 40 foot rock wall, walked across a 165 foot Forest Canopy rope bridge, and flew through the trees on a 425 foot Eagle Flight Zip Line. It was a blast. Dec was a little nervous and became even more so when he saw me signing Injury Waiver forms. He decided the risk was too much, until his little sister was bouncing up and down with excitement to do it. Not to be outdone, he went for it and had a wonderful time. LP shocked us and had no fear at all - even when we walked along the rope bridge and had to do it ballet toe style because the safety harness kept her suspended above the bridge.

Then off to Mackinaw Fort, which StevieB loved, seeing as he is such a huge history buff. While Hubbub and SB took the tour, the other kids and I explored everywhere. The latrines were a huge hit (I swear our family is obsessed with poop).

After the Fort, Hubbub was really excited to have us tour one of the Icebreaker Mackinaw. The kids were yet again fascinated, (even though this was museum #3 tour of the day) and asked intelligent questions (phew - no poop questions!)

The next morning we left for home (okay, after mum had stopped at the local yarn store). On our way home we drove up to some falls, but the mosquitoes were out of control so we didn't hang around too long.

It was such a wonderful trip and one of our favorite vacations. We laughed, learned and loved a lot.

Summer Vacay Updates

This July we took a family vacation up north to the "UP" (upper peninsula of Michigan) and had a wonderful time. We forgot about the time difference and missed the last ferry over to Mackinac Island, so we chartered a plane over to the island. A storm started on the way over, which made for quite the bumpy ride. In a little six-seater plane it was pretty bouncy. EB showed no fear though and had his face pressed to the glass the whole time.

For those of you who don't know (where in the world have you been??!!!), Mackinac Island is where the movie Somewhere In Time was filmed. It's like stepping back in time on the island. No vehicles are allowed, the only transportation around the island is to ride a bike (which just about everybody does), ride in a horse drawn carriage or rent a horse and buggy to drive around. So, when we got to the airport we waited for our carriage to arrive. It was a beautiful ride across the island. Stevieb may have gotten tired of my telling him how much I loved the place.

We arrived at our resort - Mission Point - which was okay. I don't want to go into some of the problems we occurred there, but it certainly wasn't the four star resort it was ranked to be.

The next morning after breakfast, we grabbed some bikes to take a bike ride around the island. It was an 8 mile ride around the island, but we added an extra two so that Caleb could meet a scout requirement. The kids would have stayed on the bikes all day, but Stevieb and I were starting to walk like cowboys, so we decided to take a break after lunch and explore the town.

We also visited Fort Mackinac, where Steve and the kids marched some drills, watched some canons get fired and tried not to lose their hearing when the rifles were shot.



The kids found the jail, and of course, I was tempted to keep them locked up.

We explored the island over the next couple of days, we rode our bikes over to the Grand Hotel where Somewhere in Time was set and rode all over the island.

We returned by ferry to St. Ignace and then headed over the Mackinac Bridge (very famous bridge - very long bridge) to Mackinaw City.

More to follow..... (this post is getting a little too picture heavy.)

The perfect welcome home!

I went away for a few days with some girls friends to Knitting Camp and after five days of hanging out with Jessica and Denise, and a lot of knitting, channeling our inner thirteen-year-olds, and way to much laughing, I returned home to this...

They had baked me a cake, cleaned the house, and made me a sign and were stood waiting for me to enter upon my pulling up to the house. It was a great surprise. I had a funny response though to the surprise. I screamed in delight and told them not to move, while I ran to the car to retrieve my camera and quickly snap a picture of them. Once the picture was taken, I burst into tears and then hugged them. Everybody loved each other. Well, at least for the next hour, it was peace on earth and then we settled into being the nice familiar and REAL DeMille family...The Fiesty Bunch.