Long drive home.
As expected, we didn’t get on the road until fairly late, almost ten to be exact. The morning was spent eating breakfast, packing, and saying goodbye. The drive was pretty simple other than a couple rounds of heavy rain. We had lunch at Panera in South Bend, made a gas stop, and stopped to use the bathroom a couple of times. Luke enjoyed himself and did really well considering the length of the drive. Sunset was quite pretty. We had stopped for “dinner” at a rest area in Kentucky when I took the picture below. Once home I unloaded the car and Liz bathed Luke and put him to bed. I will go to bed soon myself, as I am exhausted.
Last day in Michigan.
This morning after breakfast John and I worked on repairing some wood fencing. That pretty much lasted until lunch. Luke napped after lunch and John and I did more work outside. For dinner John and I picked us up some pizza in town, which we ate in the back yard. We stayed out until dark and I saw the most amazing meteor I have ever seen. Tomorrow morning we leave but there are a lot of things to do before we go.
Zoo day.
This morning was a bit slow. I kind of tried to sleep for most of it but wasn’t really successful. After lunch we all went down to the zoo in Grand Rapids for a couple of hours. Luke enjoyed that and the weather was great. This evening we just hung around the house.
Rainy but still fun.
After breakfast this morning we went outside and picked plums. It was very foggy and pretty. We came inside when it started raining and stayed in through lunch. Luke napped afterwards while John and I split and stacked firewood. After Luke’s nap we all went for a walk out back until it started raining. I showered and watched football with John until dinner, which came early this evening. Luke just had his bath and Liz is putting him to bed now. His activities today included peeing on a wall in the hallway and pooping in Lily’s litter box.
3.5.
Luke turned three and a half years old today. Pretty wild. After breakfast we went for a little walk around the farm and rode on a hay wagon. Luke picked an ear of corn and thought that was pretty cool. We went to see his cousin Hannah play soccer and then returned for lunch. This afternoon we just hung around the farm and picked some more pumpkins. Luke enjoyed that. Tonight after he goes to bed Liz and I will go to the grocery store.
Busy day with beautiful weather.
This morning after breakfast John and I took some pears to the Amish auction about an hour away. We stopped first at a little bakery though, and got some amazing pecan rolls. The auction was pretty cool – mostly pumpkins but lots of other produce as well. We returned to the house for lunch and then did a couple of little projects. They involved replacing rotten wood under the eaves and there is more remaining. Late afternoon everybody loaded up and we drove to Spring Lake to watch my nieces in the homecoming parade. That was nice and then we picked up some Chinese food. It was pretty late by the time we returned home. Liz is putting Luke to bed now.
Michigan.
We all slept in a bit this morning. The downside to it staying light late in the evenings is that it stays dark late in the mornings. After breakfast Luke and I went outside with John, and he rode the tricycle around a bit. We also picked pears to take to the Amish auction tomorrow. After lunch Luke and I napped, then Liz got off work and everybody went to pick some small squash in the back field. We had dinner pretty late this evening. Now Liz is putting Luke to bed. The weather was incredible today.
Long day on the road.
We left the house about 6:45 this morning. The drive was uneventful, with a couple of gas stops and lunch in Carmel, Indiana. We arrived at Liz’s parents’ house a little after seven. Everybody was glad to get there and we had dinner before the bed time routine.
Shifting gears.
Last night Liz and her brothers got an email from her dad with an update on his health. It was not great. He has some sort of cancer and starts treatment next week, and won’t really be able to receive visitors for six months or so. So tomorrow morning we will drive up to Michigan and visit for a week. This morning I went to the lumberyard first thing, then drove home. I wanted to surprise Liz and Luke, but apparently I missed them by just a couple of minutes as they headed up to Nashville. So I mowed the back field and went to Kroger for some trip food. They returned home and we had lunch, then Luke took a short nap. We went to the Dotted Lime to get Liz some coffee, then dropped of her guitar at the shop to get restrung, and walked at Riverside while we waited. Back home we had dinner and did the normal bed time routine. It didn’t take Luke too long to fall asleep.
Still grinding.
Worked from eight until six today, then went to Piggly Wiggly. I thought about trying to go see sunset somewhere, but was too tired. Instead I watched a movie on my phone, Sniper: Ultimate Kill. It was a decent way to kill an hour and a half.