Vacation email! Last Saturday, the 27th, we flew to Boston! Marshall went to cross country practice at 6:30 that morning, so he and Richard actually drove separately to the airport and left later. The girls and I left the house right about 7:45 and had a smooth sailing drive to the Parking Spot. July 27th is actually Ziggy’s birthday, our sweet little dog. He turned four that day, and we were all sad he was already at doggy daycare. We sang to him as we drove to the airport! That dog has all our hearts! Anyway, we all reunited at our gate just about an hour before our flight left. We grabbed snacks, filled up water bottles, used the bathroom, and before we knew it we were on our direct flight to Boston. We flew Delta and were SO relieved that just a day before we left, Delta finally figured out their technology mess! Richard and I had already decided that if our flight was cancelled, we would just rent a car and drive to Michigan-the kids were praying the flight would be fine, and it was! Prayers are answered! We had a smooth and uneventful flight to Boston. The kids are expert travelers and, of course, it helps that Delta has a screen in front of everyone! We were all in heaven to watch movies, sleep off and on, and have food and drink delivered to us! Ha! We landed in Boston shortly after 5:00 pm. We finally made it to our hotel and into our rooms about three hours later, so nuts! It was just a long walk through the airport, a very long wait for our luggage, then a long shuttle ride, getting our rental car, and then navigating the insane streets of Boston! We grabbed dinner at a pizza place right next to the hotel sometime after 8:00 pm. The girls were bouncing off the walls, so after dinner, they played in the hotel pool, but Richard and Marshall stayed in their room and crashed. We got two hotel rooms in London, and I don’t think we can ever go back to just one room! I dragged the girls out of the pool at 10:00, took quick showers, and our lights were out by 11:00 pm. A good, but tiring, travel day.
Sunday morning we were up just before 8:00 am and had breakfast at the hotel. We were out the door at 9:00 and started off our two-day tour of Boston by driving to Harvard. Our first stop was a Harvard bookstore, just right off of campus, and then we walked around campus just a bit. Just scratched the surface on that one. We then drove a little bit further out of the city and found ourselves at the Boston Temple. Even though it was a Sunday, the gates were open, so we were able to get out and walk around and take in the beauty of that space. When we got back in the car, we pulled up our ward’s sacrament meeting on YouTube. Our ward was having two missionary “farewells” that day, and we did not want to miss them. I will be honest and tell you, our kids were pretty moody and emotionally volatile that whole morning, but they were SO good as we listened to sacrament meeting. They were quiet and listened and were so good as we drove back into the city and listened to church. Both of these future missionaries gave exceptional talks and I am so glad our kids listened and hopefully gained something! The timing was perfect because the meeting ended just as we pulled into the parking lot for lunch. After a quick lunch at Qdoba we made our way to the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young. We were able to walk around both ships and learn so much about their history. They also have a great museum right there that the kids loved. The whole second floor was very interactive and we all enjoyed it. After that, we got back in the car for a short drive to a parking garage that got us a bit closer to the Freedom Trail. Bridget had started in with a headache while we were at the ships, and by the time we parked, was not feeling great. We decided to have her stay in the car and take a nap, and I stayed with her and so did Gretchen. Bridget and I slept and Grizz had the time of her life playing on my phone. Richard took Marshall and Rachel and started their walk on the Freedom Trail. They walked to Paul Revere’s home, the Old North Church, and spent a little bit of time in Little Italy. Meanwhile, Bridget slept for about 45 minutes and woke up feeling way better! Hooray! I called Richard and we all met up at Feneuil Hall. It was madness navigating that place about 5:00 pm on a Sunday, but we all ended up having great dinners from a variety of restaurants and ended our time there with delicious gelato. When we got back to the hotel, all the kids went swimming, showered, watched some Olympics and then we all fell into bed. A great day!
Monday morning, Marshall got up and ran. Go Marshall! Our Boston hotel was right on the beach, and he just ran along the path that followed the beach. We were again out the door at 9:00 am and got on the first tour of the day at the Boston Tea Party Museum. This was so fun. It was a complete and interactive recreation of the Boston Tea Party. We learned a ton and we all got to throw “tea” into the harbor. We completely lucked out with the weather in Boston both days there, in fact, it was even a little chilly Monday morning! After our tour, we visited the tea room and bought hot chocolate and shared some delicious cinnamon scones. After warming up, we walked a few blocks to the Freedom Trail. We started at the spot of the Boston Massacre and the old statehouse. We followed the trail to two very old cemeteries. The second cemetery is the burial spot of Benjamin Franklin’s parents, John Hancock, and Paul Revere! Pretty neat! I must mention it was on our walk that thanks to my sister-in-law, Audrey, we found out that BYU is opening a medical school! Richard has hoped for this for years, but never thought it would happen. He was elated! He spent the next two days composing an email to the president of BYU, Shane Reese, and actually sent him an email Wednesday morning! We will see if anything comes of it! He definitely doesn’t want to leave his current job, and we also don’t want to move, but he would love to be involved in some way! Okay, back to Boston, while visiting the second cemetery, Bridget again said she had another terrible headache! Ugh. No good! We decided to try and get some food in her and found a delicious brunch spot very close by. This was, hands down, the best meal we ate our entire trip. We ate outside and we all loved our meal. If you find yourself in Boston, I would definitely recommend Café Bonjour! Unfortunately, Bridget did not rally until the very end of our meal, so Richard, Marshall, and Gretchen made the long walk back to our car and came to pick us up. By the time they got to us, she was feeling a bit better, once again slept in the car for about 40 minutes, and woke up totally recovered. So weird. As Bridget slept, we drove to Concord, and let me tell you, I am so glad we did. Bridget, Rachel and I toured the Louisa May Alcott home and for me, it made the entire trip to Boston worth it. We learned SO much, and were in awe at Louisa’s life, the impact her family had on the community of Concord, and all the many original pieces in the home. Our tour guide was so great and the girls and I loved it. They each bought their own copy of Little Women in the gift shop. Richard, Marshall and Gretchen were great sports to let us do this, especially Marshall who would have much rather spent more time in Boston. There was so much more in Concord we could have done, but we grabbed dinner at a little café around the corner, and then drove back to the hotel. We all spent some time at the beach, because I couldn’t be that close to the Atlantic Ocean and not have my kids actually experience it! Gretchen didn’t put her feet in, and she didn’t last long there, but long enough to placate me with a family picture before she made a beeline for the hotel swimming pool with Richard. I stayed at the beach with the other three kids who had a ball. The girls were soaked by the time we left the beach, they raced each other, Marshall plane-watched and it was honestly the perfect way to end the evening. The kids all swam in the hotel pool for a short time before showers and bed.
Tuesday morning we said our good-byes to Boston. I think we were on the road by 9:00. We did make a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts on our way out of town and Richard, who fell in love with Dunkin Donuts on his mission, was so happy to be making a morning stop at this great donut shop-nice and fresh! The drive was just about 2 ½ hours and took us through Massachusetts and New Hampshire before crossing into Vermont. On this drive, we continued to be baffled by the roads in Massachusetts. It was actually so fun to drive through lots of Boston suburbs though as we were making our way from highway to highway and freeway to freeway. But seriously, the second we crossed over into New Hampshire on the freeway, it was like “normal” freeways we were accustomed to again. Wider roads, wider lanes, way better maintained, shoulders, etc. Haha! Just a funny observation. We quickly learned that Sharon, Vermont is in the middle of nowhere. Richard’s phone didn’t even have service in Sharon! Mine had a tiny bit. Anyway, we made our way to Joseph Smith’s birthplace and took a tour with an older couple from Florida hosted by a senior missionary couple. We spent time in the Visitor Center learning more about what led Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack to settle in Sharon for a time. In the visitor center they have the hearthstone that was in the Smith home. We learned about the things the Church has done over the years to preserve this site. After we left the visitor center we were able to walk a short distance to see the foundation of the Smith home where Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805. Such a small space! Then, with just a short walk up the hill, we were able to see the monument the Church erected there, I think in 1905…to commemorate Joseph Smith’s birth. The grounds all around were stunning and gorgeous and because it is so secluded, it is just peaceful and green and you just feel encompassed in the surrounding forest. We could have walked around more to see the home foundation of two other Smith family relatives and we could have “hiked” a hill, but it was our first muggy day, and people were hungry, and because we were in the middle of nowhere, we decided we better head out! I am very glad we made this stop though. I hope the kids always remember it.
The rest of our day was spent driving. We drove maybe about an hour or so away from Sharon before finding a McDonald’s to stop at for lunch! So we had a late lunch and just kept driving. It was a gorgeous drive though. So much green, some water, rolling hills. So beautiful. We pulled into our hotel in Palmyra early in the evening. A Best Western. The kids were not impressed-ha! We were there for just a few minutes before piling back in the car to grab dinner real quick at KFC before it closed! Not many options in little Palmyra. The rest of our evening was spent chilling in our rooms and watching the Olympics.
Wednesday was our full day in Palmyra, and it was a really, really wonderful day. We started at the Smith Family Farm and Sacred Grove. The senior missionaries took us to both homes on the property and taught us so much about family life and other events surrounding the First Vision and after Joseph got the plates. After that, they directed us to the Sacred Grove and let us walk through there. The kids did such a wonderful job. It had been raining off and on all morning and the missionaries had provided us with umbrellas to use when needed. We just walked on path after path and the kids were so quiet and reverent. There is a sweet and peaceful feeling in that massive grove of trees for sure. We were in there for quite a while and I hope the kids always remember their time in the Sacred Grove. After that, we quickly swung by the hotel for some people to swap out shoes and then we drove to Main St. in Palmyra. We started with lunch at a great pizza place with massive pizza slices and then walked across the street to the Grandin Building. We took a fantastic tour with the sister missionaries. It was very neat to learn that the floors in most of the Grandin Building are original to the store! That is very cool to think about. And also very neat to learn about the laborious process of printing anything back then, especially a 500 plus page book of scripture. We had a great experience there. After that, we popped into the distribution center next door and waited out an insane, but brief, rainstorm.
After leaving there, we got back in the car and made the 30ish minute drive to the Whitmer Farm. Our first stop was a church building and a visitors center all in one. It was actually so cool. The inside of the church is red with white walls. Red carpet, red benches in the chapel, white walls, beautiful gold lights. We had to use the bathrooms, so we were able to see a good bit of the church before starting our tour with a senior missionary couple. Anyway, just kind of fun to see! The sweet older sister missionary who took us around did a great job. We started and ended in the visitor center. We watched a couple of films and the missionary also had much to say. All the films were so powerful. Especially the last one. It just showed the amazing growth of the church from 1830 until now-it made me cry, which I think majorly embarrassed my kids, but I loved it! In between stops in the visitor center, we did go to the home and it was very special to be in there. It was just our family for this whole tour and I am grateful that it was so personal. Once we were all done with the missionary, we let the kids play some in the visitor center. They had a whole section for kids that was very hands on and all of the kids loved it, even Marshall. They had a computer game where you could herd sheep, that was a hit for our kids! Haha!
After leaving the Whitmer Farm we drove to the Hill Cumorah. Again, we lucked out and had the sweetest sister missionary all to ourselves. Our second stop in that visitor center was to watch a film in a theater room. She told us the room gets chilly, and it was, so she gathered blankets for us, isn’t that so kind?! Our girls were so appreciative and cozy. It was perfect. After that film, she told us how to get to the top of the hill. She made the mistake of mentioning that she could give us a ride in a golf cart. Well, Gretchen heard that, and despite her love and of running and walking, she declared she could not walk and was too exhausted! Haha! We tried to coax her, but many of you know the extreme extent of Gretchen’s stubbornness! I finally gave up with her and she and I went back inside and found that sweet sister. Gretchen’s day was made. We picked Richard up when we were close to the top, but the three other kids had already made it up to the top. There is a beautiful monument there and it was wooded and secluded and so peaceful. We were the only ones up there. We took some time with our kids up there before walking back to the golf cart where the missionary was waiting for us. Rachel joined us this time on the ride.
That concluded our Palmyra activities. I am so glad we spent a full day there. Every place we visited had a reverent and peaceful spirit. Things have been so well preserved. Our kids were troopers and I really think they took everything in as much as they were able to at their ages. It is such a special place.
For dinner, we opted to get on the freeway, which is a tollway, and drive to an oasis that had a handful of restaurants. It was perfect for us. There was a Shake Shack and a Chick-Fil-A! We were half and half and it worked out great. On our way back from dinner, we swung by the Palmyra Temple. I was hopeful we could get in for baptisms for Marshall and Bridget, but their baptistry times (which are few and far between!) did not line up with our availability. So, while we did not get inside, we did get to visit the outside. Once again, so peaceful, so beautiful, and just a special, special place. A great conclusion to our day.
Thursday we were up and at ‘em early. I think we left the hotel at 8:00, grabbed breakfast from the local McDonalds and were on the road, bound for Canada to see Niagara Falls! It was just barely under a two hour drive. We did have some traffic at the border to check passports, and then once we got into Canada it was chaos! I had done little research on this part of our trip, I just knew we were going into Canada to see the falls! This city is like tourist central. Casinos, hotels, souvenir shops are everywhere! No street parking. It was stressful! Richard navigated it great though. We ended up finding a parking garage, but holy smokes it was tight and there is no way I could have done that. Richard found a spot and got us parked though and soon enough we were on our way to the falls. We did not have to wait in much of a line, and before we knew it, we were boarding the boat and we had our ponchos in hand. They say it is a 20 minute boat ride, but I think it was less. We did get to see the American side of the falls and the Canadian side. It was a pretty surreal experience! The falls are SO loud, and you really do get soaked! It is windy and crazy and so amazing the power of water. Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and me all LOVED it. So thrilling. Richard was terrified, and so was Gretchen. Wind and water, Richard’s least favorite things on this earth. Poor guy. And Grizz was just downright scared.
It was a short and fun thrill. Before we knew it, we were off the boat and back to the heat and humidity. Holy smokes, it was SO hot and SO humid, and away from the water we had zero relief. We trekked up a hill to get lunch at a very popular fast food restaurant. They had zero seating inside and so we went back out to the extreme heat and downed our lunch before racing back to the car. I honestly don’t know if I have ever experienced more oppressive heat. It was harder getting out of Canada than getting in. Just more cars, and the guy we showed our passports to was gruff! Getting in, the guy didn’t ask to see any of the kids in back, even though he checked all our passports. To get out, the guy had us roll down the back windows so he could see the kids and then Richard and I were wearing sunglasses and he roughly said, “Lose the shades!” I mean, I appreciated how thorough he was, but maybe he could have been just a bit more polite. :)
So, here are my takeaways from Niagara Falls. I wish I would have researched it more! While it was definitely cool to cross into Canada, just for the sake of saying we have been to Canada, given our time constraints, I would have stayed in America! It wasn’t until we were on the boat that I realized we were just across the river from the American boat and that boat was taking people to both falls! Haha! So we had the exact same view as everyone who stayed over there. But, since we crossed into Canada, I wish we would have taken more time to take in the falls from street level and just observe their majesty. But, we were so focused on doing this quick and trying not to die from heat exhaustion, that our heads were down and we were just trying to survive. So, the falls were super cool. I have no regrets about our time on the boat, but I just wish we would have done those things differently. You live and you learn!
The rest of the afternoon was spent driving to Kirtland. About a 3 hour drive. This drive was beautiful! We closely followed Lake Erie for much of it and gosh I loved it. Water has my heart. The kids did great. We made our way through New York, Pennsylvania, and then into Ohio.
We pulled into the visitors center for the Kirtland Temple just before 5:00 pm! They were open until 6:30. We joined a tour that had just started in the visitors center and within a few minutes we had made our way inside the Kirtland Temple. I am really grateful we were able to do this tour after our Church had acquired the temple. The sister missionaries did a fantastic job and really focused on the amazing events that took place there. They spoke with conviction and power and reverence. At one point, as we were seated in that assembly hall room that we have seen so many pictures of, we sang “The Spirit of God” and there was just a sweet, peaceful feeling there. I hope the kids remember it. When we were done inside, we had some time outside to enjoy the grounds and take some pictures.
After that, we drove a short distance to “Historic Kirtland”. We pulled in there right around 6:00 pm and joined a tour that had just started with the video presentation. A wonderful senior missionary couple took charge of our tour after the video. Bless their hearts, you could tell they were tired and hot and worn out after a long day! But, they did a great job! We were able to visit the Whitney home and the Newel K. Whitney Store-both such remarkable places! Again, such incredible events took place there. Richard, Marshall and Bridget visited the ashery and sawmill, while the other three of us opted to stay at the store and sit down and learn about the ashery and sawmill! Haha! The kids did a great job. It was quite the whirlwind, but I am so glad we made the stop. We didn’t finish with all of that until after 7:00. We picked up a quick dinner, checked into the hotel, and relaxed the rest of the evening.
On Friday we were back on the road by about 9:00 am. We had a five hour drive to South Haven, Michigan to meet up with almost 100 people for the Toney Family Reunion! The kids were awesome. We never stopped for lunch, just at a gas station to fill up with gas, use the bathroom, and grab some snacks. Richard was also awesome. We drove through some bursts of insane Midwest rainstorms. There were a handful of tenuous situations and Richard pulled us through each one flawlessly. I am very glad I was not the driver! As we got closer to my grandparents’ former home, I got more and more excited. I was flooded with childhood memories of flying into O’Hare, getting a rental car, and making the 3ish hour drive (depending on traffic) to my grandparents’ house. I knew we were getting close because of this stretch of highway that is so wooded. And then as we turned onto Fire Lane M I could hardly contain my excitement because that meant cousins and swimming and it was just the best. Well, I tried to get my kids off of their screens as we finished the last few minutes of this drive and described all of this to them…they were somewhat interested. Ha! But, we pulled up and of course the long driveway and road were lined with cars and cars and cars. This is what happens when almost all 23 adult grandkids bring their families to come back and visit! Ah, it just made me so happy. We piled out of the car and made our way over to the house. It was a sight to behold. Just like old times, just with more people! People were everywhere. Kids were in and out of the pool. Adults were gathered around the pool and also under the carport. Towels were draped all over the pool fence. When we went inside the house, it smelled just as I remembered. A huge pile of shoes was by the front door. People were at the table, in the living room, the TV was on, people were talking, it was just so, so great.
Within minutes, the girls were in their swimsuits and in the pool. They spent the entire afternoon swimming and playing. Jax and Cal were in and out of the pool, so they played with them, but they also played with some of my cousins’ kids, namely Grant, Todd’s youngest. It was so fun to watch them just join in together and start playing. My cousin, Shannon, has a little girl named Salem who is apparently super, super shy. Like she hardly talks to anyone. But, she and Gretchen hit it off and had a great time playing together and talking together! It was so fun to see. Salem’s mom and grandparents were shocked! Dinner was provided by Mark and Lori’s family. They fired up the grill and did hot dogs and hamburgers and it was just the best to sit around, eat and catch up and remember all the great memories. Once things started to wind down there, we loaded back up and drove to our hotel in Benton Harbor, about 25 minutes away. A great day!
Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. This hotel is where everyone in my immediate Toney family was also staying: so my parents, Ben and his twins, Danny’s family and Kevin’s family. It was fun to have us all together in the breakfast area. About 10:30, we all met up and drove just a few minutes to the church that my Grandpa Toney and my great uncle Al helped to build when my Dad was a child. It is the church where he grew up going for most of his growing up years. He has memories of playing basketball and baseball on the land surrounding it (there is still a basketball hoop there!) It is also where he gave his missionary farewell talk. And this was the building my grandparents were going to when my Grandpa was called to be a bishop. It has since been sold and belongs to a different church now, but it sure was fun to stop by and see the outside of it and listen to some of my Dad’s stories. My Grandpa drove his tractor over there to help build it. This was when they were living on the farm, and that would have been a long, slow drive!
After that, we were off to the beach! We spent the next few hours playing in the water, playing in the sand, and having lunch. The kids had a ball. It was so much fun to watch them. The water felt great and it was shallow for quite a ways. Before long, kids were headed out to the buoy and they loved it, back and forth, back and forth. Gretchen and I finally made it out there, with life jackets on both of us! Haha! It was a little too deep for me to feel comfortable being responsible for my swimming and someone else’s! All my kids had a blast this afternoon, and so did all their cousins. My parents were providing lunch for everyone at a park just across the street from the beach, so Stacie, Audrey and I took an empty stroller and made the trek up there. We filled the stroller with lunch items, and then headed back down. Super fun afternoon. I excused Richard from this beach excursion and instead he hung out with the Toneys up at the park and ended up having a great time! Win for all of us!
After the beach, we went back to the hotel for everyone to shower and then we drove back to South Haven for tractor rides at the church. When I was in South Haven two summers ago visiting, it was my cousin Brice who talked my Grandma into letting my kids drive the tractor. It took some persuasion, but he eventually won over my Grandma and my Uncle Dale and Uncle Mark. They all said this would never happen if Grandpa was alive, but they gave us their blessing. It went so great two years ago, that it has now become a tradition! I love when I see on Facebook pictures of family visiting and they are on the tractor with Brice and Uncle Dale. So, you better believe tractor driving was on the agenda. Gretchen was the only one of our kids who wanted to drive it, so she and I went together. Our path was through the church parking lot, take a right on the road, head down the road, and then make a U turn at my Grandma’s street, and then head back to the church. Gretchen loved it and I was glad I could do it with her.
That evening we gathered at the home next to my grandparents’ old home. My Uncle Steve and his family had to check out of “Hidden Haven” that morning, so he had rented the house next door! Haha! It was great. Same long driveway, loads of open space. As a kid, this house made me nervous-I have no idea why though! So it was actually fun to go inside it and check it out-haha! Anyway, we had a fantastic dinner, with people roaming everywhere and kids playing everywhere. After dinner, my Grandma paid a short tribute to her older sister Earlane, who just passed away a couple of months ago. And then we celebrated my Granmda! She turns 90 in October, so that night was an early birthday celebration for her. We all took a quiz about her life and as she went through the questions with us she told funny stories. My Dad sat up front with her and read the questions for her and it was just great to watch their banter back and forth. After the quiz, she and my Dad took us through Betty’s ten life lessons, and they were great. They had copies printed for everyone. All of this was followed up with my Grandma’s famous chocolate cake. It was a perfect evening.
Sunday morning Richard and Marshall checked out of the hotel nice and early and drove to O’Hare. They both had Monday commitments they needed to be back for. Because of how we timed things with their individual rental car, they got to the airport hours early. But, of course Marshall with his love of planes, had zero complaints! They had access to Delta’s sky lounge and Marshall literally just lounged in there, ate great food, and watched planes. He is still bragging about this experience! They made it home safely later that evening, after picking Ziggy up from doggy daycare. Happy to be reunited!
The girls and I had a great Sunday. We went to the tiny little South Haven Branch. Having all of us Toneys there probably tripled their numbers. It was Fast Sunday, but my Grandma’s only birthday request was to have her family sing “Families Can Be Together Forever”, so the branch president obliged and the Toney family gathered on the stand and sang the opening hymn. It was very special, and I am so glad my girls and I could be part of it. After sacrament meeting, we stopped by the hotel to change clothes and then drove to the 101st Toney Reunion! All of us Toneys were in matching shirts, numbered 1-100 based on when each individual became part of the Toney family. And then each of the five Toney kids had their own color of shirt for each of their families. I have no idea if I explained that well; needless to say, the Duane Toney family was in gray shirts! The reunion was full of good food, a great time to talk and visit with people, loads of space for the kids to play, and some great family history. The formal reunion concluded with pictures. We took one picture with every single person who was there. And then, the few people who are not direct descendants of Marion and Betty Toney stepped out and we did loads of pictures of all of us in our shirts. It was so fun, and honestly such a treat to have this huge extended family together. Oh, one thing I will say as I am writing about the Toneys, the day before I met Bob Toney, my Grandpa’s brother! I don’t know that I have ever met him before. He is currently 88, but looks fantastic. Some resemblance to my Grandpa. He was obviously at the reunion, and was in a lot of the Toney pictures with us. He and my Grandma have a great relationship, and it was fun to see them bantering back and forth. Anyway, a great reunion! Fun to be there.
After that, we drove just a few minutes to the cemetery where my Grandpa is buried, along with many other Toney relatives. Brice took us through a quick walk of the cemetery and pointed out some key people in our family history. After the cemetery, my Dad really wanted to take his little Toney family to the farm, so we all followed behind for probably a good 20-30 minutes on these country roads in the middle of nowhere! We finally arrived at the farm house! I had been there once before, years ago, when Marshall was just little, and we didn’t get out, just drove by. So, this was fun to get out and walk around. My Dad told story after story about breaking a window with a baseball, turning the antenna to get the TV channels to work, and my Grandma painting the top of the silo. The barn is gone, but the milking barn is still there! We were able to go inside and my Dad talked us through how it all worked and where the milk would go. It really was so neat! And to tell you how rural we were, it is STILL a dirt road in front of that farm! The kids were tired, but I am sure glad we made this stop and spent some time there.
When it was time to go, Danny and Stacie realized they had not one, but two flat tires on their rental car! No good! We took Chase and Miles in our van and drove back to the vacation rental in South Haven. Kevin and Audrey took Cal and Jax and met us there. My parents helped Danny and Stacie, and with even more help from Uncle Steve, Uncle Al, and Brice, they got their car back and the tires repaired enough to make it through the rest of the driving they needed to do that night. So wild! Thank goodness for good people who are willing to step in and help in any way at any moment. My Uncle Dale’s family provided a fantastic breakfast for dinner: a delicious breakfast hash, regular pancakes, blueberry pancakes-divine! Also, super kid friendly, which was especially great because I had Chase and Miles in tow! Many thanks to Sarah and Emily who were especially helpful with a very distraught Miles. It really was a good night though. There were multiple lawn games for the kids to play, and they were all having a blast. I got more good time to visit with my Grandma and it was a great way to end the weekend. Before we left, we gave hugs to everyone, snapped a picture with my Grandma, and hugged her good-bye. When we got back to the hotel, even though it was late, the girls begged to go swimming, so we did, for the last hour the pool was open. Jax and Cal came and joined in too. Always fun cousin time with them.
The next morning we were up nice and early. The girls and I left for O’Hare that morning, as well as Kevin and Audrey. I was super nervous about making this drive and not getting lost in the madness that is Chicago. I did great though, and so did the girls! I had a skeptical moment when it came to some construction, but we managed to stay on the right road and I also got the exit for the airport just in the time too! Haha! We returned our rental car, used the bathroom, hopped on the train and got our bags checked in. We had to wait a bit for Kevin’s family, but the girls were good sports to wait, anything to spend a moment with cute and squishy baby Alice! Before long, all of us were on the plane together. My girls had their own row behind me and did amazing. I sat on the row with Audrey, Clark, and sometimes Alice. I did not do great! There was a substantial amount of turbulence and gosh I felt miserable for the majority of the flight. I will now always take dramamine before I fly-there is just too much you cannot control! I was so relieved to finally be on the ground. We made it through the Salt Lake Airport, helping Kevin’s family along. We grabbed our bags and then went our separate ways! The girls and I got home about 7:00 and were SO happy to be back at home with Richard, Marshall, and Ziggy. A fantastic trip, but always great to be home, even if it is an active construction zone.
