up north

For the kids and I, the holiday weekend continued into Monday. I was working, but it was a very quiet day so I was able to power through a lot and get in some extra time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

Since I had no meetings, when normally my whole day in meetings, I tried working downstairs in the sitting room. It gave me a bird’s eye view (and listen) while Penni read a chapter of their Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Book (The Answer-Backer Cure). But even on a quiet day, I ultimately needed to go somewhere that wasn’t so tempting for the kids. They like talking to their mama.

I took SSA out for a quick lunch at the same restaurant that Jason and went to on Wednesday. They (obviously) loved it. I think this is going to be a favorite fair-weather spot for the Clines.

Steven, helping Amaya with the maze on her menu. 🙂

I mean…

We checked out the dock after lunch. It reminded the kids of a spot on Long Island where we often go after a day at the beach. They were interested in the difference between the wooden dock and this metal one. I think his one felt a bit more sturdy under their legs.

They wanted to sit and put their feet in the water but there was a beach just beside us (you can see people in the water in the top left of the photo) so we walked over there instead.

I’ve never been to this little beach before. It’s right off the road and doesn’t seem like much to look at but there are kayak and stand-up paddle board rentals and a really nice swimming area. It’s large and the water is pretty shallow well into the lake. The kids were able to walk a nice distance with water only up to their knees. Later I learned that it doesn’t even get beyond my own standing level until that far out buoy in the distance. (I wish you could all see how many attempts it took me to spell buoy.)

We only had a few minutes at the lake because I had to get back to work but the kids were so eager to swim. It was a beautiful day and the lake was warm so I decided I’d stop work just a little earlier than usual and the four of us would go back for an afternoon swim.

It was so nice! Such a beautiful afternoon. You can see how much space we had to ourselves to stay appropriately distances from other people. We swam together for an hour and then headed home.

A little shell collecting before heading to the car.

On Tuesday, Steven, Sammy and Amaya had their looooooong overdue 6 year well checks. I don’t like to do them in January because it’s a great time to pick up bugs at the doctor’s office and, by the time we were scheduled in late March, it was the height of COVID. So here we are.

All of the kids are growing well and doing great. No surprises.

Amaya bought a My Little Pony make up kit with her money, understanding that it is for home only. She was absolutely ecstatic when it arrived.

Her first look. She got less subtle as time went on so we’re going to have to work together on the theory of “less is more”.

This little shoulder pop pose reminds me of Alexis Rose.

Sammy and Amaya, discussing the best colors to use for her face.

Amaya spends a good chunk of her free time making loom bracelets with hair tie rubber bands. She got a kit from Uncle Austin for Hanukkah and it’s been a staple ever since. Well, the 11,000 rubber bands that had been neatly organized by color were dumped out on Wednesday and she was so, so sad about it. To help her feel better, Jason, Steven and Sammy worked with Amaya to organize just enough bands that she can keep at her bracelets for the time being. Jason reported that, while they were sorting, Amaya was nearly giddy. She kept saying “thanks guys” and once said, “I’m actually glad it got spilled!” How special is that?

On Thursday, the kids and I hopped in the van for the 4 hour drive to Petoskey. VACATION!!! I can’t believe it. Vacation. It’s so amazing. Just getting in the car to go felt incredible.

The kids hated the car ride but they actually did really well. We drove the 4 hours without having to stop and, despite a constant stream of “how much longer until we get there”, they didn’t complain.

Our Airbnb. When we went inside, the kids remarked that it smells like Grandma Sunshine’s house!

We arrived around 4pm and took about an hour to get settled and explore the house before heading out to dinner. The house is actually pretty large inside with some over the top decor that really captured the kids’ imaginations.

The backyard view is incredible. There’s this little private pond adjacent to wetlands and not a soul in sight.

We drove a few minutes down the road to Downtown Petoskey for dinner and were able to find a great little place with an outdoor patio. After dinner, Steven spotted a railroad track sign and was absolutely thrilled when I said we could check it out. Do you see that genuine smile on is face? (Yes, Amaya’s tossing a peace sign. That’s her new thing, plus duck lips.)

The tracks. Steven was truly in heaven.

After dinner the kids got treats from Kilwins. As expected, it took Steven forever to decide what he wanted. This poor boy is tortured when there are too many choices in front of him. Amaya and Sammy took one look at Superman ice cream and that was it.

Then we headed down to the pier where we found a stone beach to explore. SSA were hoping to find Petoskey Stones but no luck.They had fun, though!

We wrapped up the day by walking to the lighthouse. It was a special day. <3

Friday was over cast and we woke up to some pretty serious rain. The kids liked sitting on the covered porch watching it come down and I was really glad that they just rolled with the weather.

We had a lazy morning and didn’t leave the house until 11am. We head back to downtown Petoskey where we did some shopping and had lunch. Amaya immediately picked out a pretty blue necklace. The boys got some remote control animals.

Lunch! Thankfully we’ve been able to find restaurants with outdoor patios. To be honest, I thought there’d be more of them.

Our Airbnb is across the street from Spring Lake Park – a park with a path through wetlands. It was really cool. Quite & pretty. Steven asked me to read every sign we came across.

Along the way we found a Bike CPR station where cyclists can repair their bikes. The kids were really interested in the various tools. One of the books we read quite often is “Six Dots: The Story of a Young Louis Braille”. Braille was blinded after an accident with an awl in his father’s shop. Amaya saw this and said, “It looks like the tool that made Louis Braille go blind!”

Around 3:30pm we headed over to Petoskey State Park to check out the beach. The rain looked to be behind us and it was warm enough to give it a shot. The kids were so ready to get in the water. There were a decent amount of waves and one of them said, “This beach is like being in NY. I feel like Nana is here.”

So. Much. Sand.

We stayed at the beach until nearly 6, grabbed take out on the way home, and called it a night. (SSA were really happy that the tv here has Roku and they were able to watch Star Wars Rebels like they do at home.)

Saturday was gorgeous. We were out early and at the beach before 10am. After all of our morning prep, we forgot our cooler and the kids’ backpacks at home. The beach is only 5 minute from our house but I really wasn’t excited about the idea of getting everyone back in the car. By the time I realized, all of our other stuff was already unpacked. Fortunately, I had packed a backup set of towels for the kids and there was a concession stand for water, snacks and lunch.

It was an awesome day. We stayed at the beach for 6 hours and the kids alternated between playing in the sand and playing in the waves. The beach got more crowded as the day went on but everyone was still able to socially distance on the beach and in the water.

It’s not really Cline Kids at the beach if they’re not digging.

Amaya absolutely loves the water. When we’re past this pandemic, I think she’d be thrilled with swim lessons.

Post-swim selfie!

Petoskey Brewing is around the corner from our Airbnb so we headed there for dinner after we cleaned up.

We rounded out the night with a walk downtown and some more Kilwins. <3

Last day! Sadness. 🙁 Steven is just like me with end-of-vacation melancholy. He had to say goodbye to everything – his favorite building, favorite bench, the restaurants we ate at – all of it.

Rather than rush home, we headed back downtown in the morning to buy some Petoskey Stones after limited success finding them ourselves. From there, we went to play miniature golf. It was so much fun! The course was really cute and we all had fun counting each other’s strokes.