Michigan visit

Although the circumstances weren't ideal, our recent trip to MI ended up being a really fantastic time spent with family. Family I haven't seen in years. And by years, I mean YEARS. Like 15. We visited, got reacquainted, reminisced, ate, drank and were generally all around merry.

Wade and his cousins practically lived outdoors. And by outdoors, I really mean in the apple trees. He and Gavin (and occasionally Lily) spent countless hours by, under, and in the apple trees. They collected apples, threw apples, knocked apples down, made piles of apples, etc., etc., etc. It was so nice to have such a large space for them to run around in and not worry about neighbors or cars nearby.

 

After a few busy days with family coming and going, things slowed down as everyone headed back to their respective homes. We were the last ones to leave, and spent a day back on the MSU campus visiting a few of Mark's favorite places and another day at Uncle John's Cider Mill. The cider mill is a place I have wanted to visit for years, but have never had the opportunity as we've not been back to MI in the fall. It ended up being a freezing cold day, but the kids had a blast and it was just like I remembered it.

Both the flights there and home went exceptionally well, better than expected. The kids were great (Wade was sooo excited to fly and Lily dutifully napped), everything was on time and everyone was so helpful- one flight was nearly empty and they gave us two rows to spread out, on another they had our seats mixed up, we were one per row instead of in a row together, and the other passengers moved around to let us all sit together.

There are actually a few more pictures that I'm hoping will arrive on a disk in a package from MI soon. Along with one shoe and a pacifier. Yup, just one shoe...