Our Five Ring Circus: Vacation 2010

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Vacation 2010

We spent last week in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, at Grant's Uncle Scott's house. Grosse Pointe Farms is a beautiful area on Lake St. Claire, just outside of Detroit. There are some truly spectacular homes in his neighborhood.

We made the 4 hour drive on Saturday, with Grant's Nannie. Shortly after arriving, we took the kids on a short walk, so they could see the lake.

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On our walk, they spotted this frog. They loved it! Lexie even gave it a smooch as we were walking away!

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When we returned to the house, Uncle Scott was already washing our SUV (which I had just washed 2 days earlier!). That man never rests! Uncle Scott lives in a beautiful house, filled with beautiful, expensive, breakable things, so we decided to make our home for the week in the "camaro room" in the basement. This is only a glimpse of one wall. The whole room is filled with shelves and tables of camaro collectibles. I was very worried about the kids breaking something, but they kept their hands off!

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The following day, Grant's parents and brother arrived. After they settled in, my mother-in-law and I took the kids to Pier Park, which Uncle Scott is a member of.

We were greeted by this:

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The kids were so bummed that they couldn't swim in the lake, but they still got to play on the beach. I had a difficult time explaining to them why they couldn't swim when the boaters were jumping off their boats into the lake a short distance away.

Unfortunately, the lake was closed all week, but we still managed to have fun at Pier Park! We swam, played on the splash pad, took walks in the park and on the pier, played in the sand, and played on the playgrounds. Every single day. The kids had a blast!

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The kids spent most of their time in the big pool. They were too cool for the baby pool. Dylan jumped into the water over and over and over again.

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I attempted to get a pictures in the same locations as the ones I took in 2007. Some were good, some weren't.

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We played on the playground next to Uncle Scott's house almost every morning and night. Dylan and Lexie began to call it "their" park.

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We took walks on several nights to tire the kids out. We enjoyed sitting in front of the lake, watching the boats float in the dark water, and feeling the breeze.

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The walks served their purpose.

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Unfortunately, Uncle Scott's friend passed away while we were there. He had to go away for 2 days to attend the viewing and funeral. Because the week got messed up a bit, we didn't do as much as expected.

Grant and his brother, Eric, drove into Detroit several days and attended a Tigers game. The Tigers are Grant's favorite team, so he was thrilled! At night, Grant, Eric, my mother-in-law, and I played games before heading to bed, or we all sat outside and talked.

It was so nice to get away. I didn't have to worry about (much) housework, cooking every day, and taking care of pets. I took a break from running, and just stuck with leisurely strolls. I didn't get online all week. It was refreshing! After the kids went to bed, I would lay on the couch, reading. I went to bed earlier than usual, and took several naps. Although we spent several hours at Pier Park everyday, it was a nice change from our busy weeks at home.

We did some shopping while we were there. Uncle Scott had given me a gift card to Bath and Body Works, so I stocked up on my favorite lotions! We took a trip to the book store, and let each kid pick out a book. They got stuffed animals from a local shop. We went to get ice cream, and stopped at Starbucks.

Our trip for ice cream was a disaster! Nannie, the kids, and I decided to go after dinner one night. When we got there, the line went out the door and down the sidewalk. We decided to wait. Fifteen minutes later, we got our cones, and the kids were thrilled with their treat. We walked out the back door, and Lexie tripped. I turned around to see my baby girl on the ground, in tears, staring at her broken ice cream cone. When she looked up at me, my heart broke. I promptly handed over my cone.

On Friday, Grant's parents and brother headed home. The house was so quiet without them! They were definitely missed. Grant, the kids, and I ended up taking a really long walk that night, and spent some time sitting by the lake.

On Saturday, our last full vacation day, we took the kids into Detroit. I think Dylan and Lexie had a bit of culture shock as we drove into the city. They couldn't understand why there were so many buildings that were burned, houses that were boarded up, and factories that were abandoned. It was difficult explaining it to them, but it was definitely something that they needed to see.

We ended our afternoon with a trip to a local toy store, so they could pick something small as a souvenir. Lexie decided on a kitten set and Dylan picked a Lego set.

That night, Grant and Nannie watched the Steelers pre-season game while the kids and I played in Uncle Scott's beautiful backyard. Lexie was in love with all the flowers, while Dylan preferred the fountain!

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As we took a last walk through the neighborhood, Dylan tried his best to convince me to move there. He loved this house that's for sale...because it was just a minute's walk from Uncle Scott's house! He asked if we could buy it. HA!


On Sunday, we packed up our stuff, loaded up the car, spent a few minutes at the playground, and then said goodbye to Uncle Scott.

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It was difficult to leave, and the kids were sad as we pulled out of the driveway. As we were waving to Uncle Scott, Dylan said, "I miss Uncle Scott!" Luckily, they'll see him over Labor Day weekend! Lexie chimed in with, "I miss Uncle Scott's flowers!" Then Dylan added, "I miss Uncle Scott's house. And splash park."

I was able to distract them with their new toys, a DVD, and Vanilla Bean Cremes from Starbucks!

It was obvious that they had a great time! I promised them that we would return next summer. We'll all be looking forward to it!

15 comments:

  1. Love the sand on the bum of Lexie's tutu suit!! And the Camaro room ... my son would DIE!!! Looks like a great vacation!

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  2. that tutu swimsuit is PRECIOUS. Especially covered in sand :) Glad y'all had a good time and you took some GREAT pictures...I think both of your kiddos look just like YOU!

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  3. Great pictures! That's too bad about the lake. What a bummer.

    So Lexie continues her klutzy streak by falling at the ice cream shop? Oh no!! I saw she still had her bruise on her forehead from the fall. :-(

    And yes, driving downtown can be quite the culture shock. It's so sad to see all those burned, boarded up homes.

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  4. I love the picturea at the Splash Park and at the park on the tire swing. They are too cute! I am glad you all had a nice time away.

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  5. love her suit!

    so many adorable pics.

    that camaro room? when we were house hunting in california someone had a little room just like that with collectable cars like that.

    those houses in grosse point are similar to the some of houses in johnstown. of course they are all very cheap now since there are no jobs there now and everyone moved away. but seriously the houses there are all mansions.

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  6. Looks like you had a wonderful vacation. Im so glad. Great pics too!

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  7. what a nice break for you - to get some R&R surrounded by some supersweet family members. Uncle Scott is incredible - did I read that he was washing your SUV??? what a guy!

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  8. It is obvious from the smiles on their faces that they had a great time!

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  9. Looks like a perfectly perfect trip. And yes, on that house, I will take two, please :)

    So glad you all had fun.

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  10. That is some house! Holy cow...what on earth does he do for a living! It looks like a hotel and that room, my goodness! Glad y'all had such a great time! That frog was definitely an attention grabber! Yours is the second post I've read today with kids in a sprayer fountain of some sort. I wish our town had something like that!

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  11. I loved all of the pictures! {I bet even a few of them would make the perfect Christmas card picture!}

    It sounds like it was a wonderful trip. Oh and I can remember a few times I've had to hand over my ice cream cone to one of the kids because of an accident. ;-)

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  12. Bummer that you could not go in the lake...but looks like you found plenty of other things to do!!
    Great pictures too :)

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  13. that tutu bathing suit is TOO MUCH!!!!! I love it!! and the one close up of Grant wow...beautiful eyes!!

    looks like a fab trip

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  14. I am glad you enjoyed your stay in MI. I love it here. In fact, we are in the middle of a "staycation" enjoying all the local attractions. :)

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  15. i did enjoy seeing all those lovely photos! twas really such a great vacation :) cant help not to agree, that tutu looks really cute with Lexie :)

    oh glad to see that her bump is fading!

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