Kissimmee, Florida Joint Annual Meeting for Dairy

I love our national dairy annual meetings. There are so many fun people to see, and always more to meet!

We flew to Orlando and checked in to the Gaylord. Five minutes later we got on a bus to tour Sutton Ruck's farm in Okeechobee.

It was a two-hour bus ride, and we really went into an area that was rural with lots of open spaces. I've seen a lot of Florida, but it's usually places that are packed with people.  This was not! It was interesting seeing my first dairy farm in Florida - a rotary, no walls, no curtains, no waterers that need warming. Flush aisles instead of pushing manure.

Sutton makes his own ice cream, and we all got it - delicious. He also told me that they had 42 alligators in their retaining pond, and people pay him (a lot) to hunt them.

We rode back and on the way to our room I saw what a nice hotel the Gaylord is. It had a huge atrium and - in a surprising touch I have never seen before - there were live alligators in the lobby water! This fascinated me. There was also a giant ship, a castle, water with koi in it, water slides, a Halloween-themed section with creepy displays like dolls. It's like the creative directors were given free reign!

We went out to eat with everyone in Celebration, Florida, which was originally a city made by Disney. Patrick, who lives there, showed me that there are boxes on the streetlights, and on the weekends every hour leaves float out of them. There was water, and twinkly lights, and we had a nice time talking to everyone. Back at the hotel, we saw some friends we haven't seen in six years! 

Day two

I ran and it was so warm. Oddly, in this really busy part of Florida, there is a pasture of beef cattle across the street. I worked all day while Kris had meetings, and then at night we rode a bus to EPCOT.

Two Disney people greeted us, and they were as all Disney people are - friendly, warm, enthusiastic, and love their jobs! They talked about the partnership and how much they loved working on this project and elevating cheese.

Then it was time for the big event - Cheers to Cheese!

EPCOT has a giant event every year called the International Food & Wine Festival - and it brings in two million people. This year, Dairy Does More partnered with Disney to offer The Wedge: Cheers to Cheese. 

Not only do they offer three different kinds of macaroni and cheese (crab, 3-cheese, and cheesesteak), and a cheeseboard, but it's a whole interactive  experience!  

They walk through the history, let you choose your favorite cheese, show where cheese is used in all the countries in the park, and explain how it goes from farm to table. 

It was so inviting and fun, and people there and online are giving it great reviews. I'm so glad I got to see it.

We ran over with some friends to ride Soarin', which is a big screen that makes you feel like you're flying past beautiful scenes. They also pipe in scents, so that when you see a field of bison, you can smell them!

We walked through the park (so interesting to see all the people and different countries) and went to dinner in Germany. They had a three-person musical group on stage, and everyone sang along and lots of people danced. The buffet had German food but also macaroni and cheese and applesauce, which I figured every buffet in Disney had! We sat with fun people. I tried to ride another ride, but it took too long so I abandoned the line to watch the fireworks and water fountain show. 

As people all walked out, I was going in the other direction toward Kris, and you could really see how many people were there. Amazing! I hope they all love cheese.

We stayed up late seeing our old and new friends in the hotel lobby. 

Day three

They held general session, which is always really meaningful to me. Sutton Rucks (the farm we toured) welcomed everyone to Florida. John Larson (a friend) had all the Michigan dairy farmers stand since we are partnering with Florida on dairy promotion. Brian Rexing (we got to know him in Indianapolis) talked about how we all do this for our families. Barb O'Brien (outgoing CEO and a friend) talked about the past and the future of dairy. I also visited the dairy bar, where they provide you with every delicious dairy option and give you a sample of new dairy foods.

I worked during the day, and then afterward, I went to the pool with three other dairy farmer friends - Carrie, Karen, and Suzanne. It was so fun! The sun was warm, we went on the water slides, and we saw the most interesting pool worker. She had a trained hawk that she used to keep the birds away from the hotel pool. She told us all about being a zoologist, how she trained the hawk, what hotels they went to do to bird patrol, and her role. She brought the hawk over to see us and he perched right above my head. So interesting to see so close!

She had tattoos on her legs - a milk gallon and a cup of coffee. I asked about them, and she said her dad drinks a gallon of milk a day, and her mom drinks four cups of coffee, so she got them for her parents. I told her we were dairy farmers and we loved them.

I was walking to my hotel room and suddenly realized I was in the middle of something. On either side of me, lining the hallways, the employees of the hotel had all gathered and there were video cameras. I realized that this was NOT for me, and I quickly stepped to the side. Then, a dancing gingerbread man, followed by 50 people in Santa hats started coming down the hallway to thunderous applause. I was glad I got out of the way! I ducked into a hallway only to run into a team of acrobats dressed in full costume. 

"Can I go this way?" I said, gesturing to our elevators.

"If you hurry!" a woman whispered.

I don't actually know what any of it was for, but this hotel was lively. 

Then, a real highlight - the CHEESE RECEPTION! For this event, they fill the hall with cheeses that have been entered into the cheese competition, and we go around and eat all the sharpest cheddars we can find. I have been going to this event for years, and it is very special to my friend Carol Singerman and me. We love going together! Carol couldn't come the last couple of years, and it was great to be reunited. They also feature award-winning cottage cheese, butter, and provide fruit, meat, vegetables, and more. It is a sight to behold. I can only ever eat a little, because...we go out to eat afterward with the MMPA team! We had a great meal at Charley's, and I met the young farmers from our co-op (delightful) and talked with the other nice people that are a part of the organization.  

Also at the cheese reception I said hello to Kyndra Brown and Lolly Lesher, two dairy farmers who were just in a big video and photo feature. Both lovely people. Kyndra has a Got Milk? tattoo on her arm, rounding out the dairy tattoos for the meeting! 

Once again, we stayed up late seeing everyone in the hotel lobby. When that shut down, we went to a restaurant that was open even later. The hotel had a light show above the atrium, and it was a beautiful sight.

Day four

We went to the morning session and dairy bar. I met other women who are running the Every Women's Marathon sponsored by Team Milk in New Orleans, which is the next time I'll see a lot of these people.

We were able to get on an earlier flight so I could make it in time to celebrate Moriah's 50th birthday at Lake Ovid, which was alligator-free.

My absolute favorite part about the meeting is the people, since we know so many of them by now, and the people who go to these types of meetings are outgoing, friendly, and interesting. My second part is being inspired by the dairy industry and people's love of farming. 

My third is eating cheese, cottage cheese, and ice cream all day long. Just kidding, that's my norm.

Italy Sibling Trip

"I'm going to hike Cinque Terre in Italy by myself," my sister Tracy told me.

"I'll go with you!" I said.

"You will?! Great! Let's ask Gage too!" she replied.

We did, set a date, booked some Airbnbs, and we were set for our second ever sibling trip.

Our first trip we went to Delaware, where Tracy ran a marathon and Gage and I ran a 9k. On this trip we realized how easy it is to travel together. We eat the same things, sleep the same, like to do the same things, and like being together.

Day one

For this trip, we could fly standby because Gage is a pilot. In the morning, there were 17 seats from Chicago to Milan. Later, there were none. Gage did some figuring and tried to get us on flights to Brussels or Frankfurt. 

I parked my car at the Chicago airport and met them there. We flew Brussels > Milan and took the train to Riomaggiore. Figuring out the trains is what I think was the most difficult part, because you can't really do it ahead of time, because we didn't know when we would get there.

(One interesting thing on the planes - I had a window seat and there was a button you could use to make the window dark or light. Even Gage hadn't seen that before.)

We figured out the trains, mostly thanks to Gage, and got to our town in about four hours with a few transfers.

It took us about 30 minutes to find our Airbnb, even with detailed instructions. We dropped our stuff and headed to the water. Just gorgeous, sunset, water and mountains. We ate dinner - pizza and lasagna, looking at the view. Finished with gelato. We were really here!

Day two

We each packed just a backpack, since we were taking everything with us from village to village. Mine was about 16 lbs. I wore everything I brought, but in retrospect I would have liked a lighter bag.

The place we stayed had a bell that rang through the night - every hour and half hour. So funny and loud!

We drank lattes, had breakfast sandwiches, and bought our tickets online to the Cinque Terre path. (It is the off season so there were plenty - like 200 a day and 187 available.)

We were off! The first path from Riomaggiore to Manarola was so fast and so pretty. Paved path, great views. Village 2!

We then started going straight up to Volastra. There were a lot of stairs and it was steep. We walked under olive trees and tasted ones that had fallen off! (Bitter. Whew.) The water was so, so blue and the views were stunning. Just gorgeous. We got to the town at the top and had some latte and gelato. Of course. This was a quiet little town. 

In all the towns people talked from open windows and had laundry out to dry. There were houseflies lots of places but the non aggressive and small kind.

The descent from this town was one of my favorite parts. Cliff paths, open view of the sea, steep. I loved it! And the water - SO BLUE!!!

We got down to Manarola and continued the path only to find...it was closed. Where we had been up on the top of the mountain is where it continued! So, we took a bus up the same way we had just climbed. Great option.

More olives, lizards, cacti, and places you could stop, like little juice places.

We hiked it to our third village, Corniglia. We met up with our Airbnb host and got into our little studio apartment. We did a wine tasting and had a focaccia sandwich. We showered, got dressed in different clothes, saw the church, watched the sunset, and ate more - pizza and tiramisu!

In this town, there were two churches, and one bell rang on the hour, and one two minutes after the hour. We were all awake in the night from about 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m....all in one little room, laughing. A rooster started crowing at some point. I ate my leftover pizza in bed. Eventually we all fell asleep again and got up at 9:00 am.

Day three

We could feel the steps in our calves that morning. We got breakfast in a café, saw the famous stairs to the beach, beautiful church, and started off for Vernazza.

There was an accordion player on the path! Again, we were really high. The water was bright blue. There were caves and mountains and water and rock walls and it was all gorgeous. We got to Vernazza, and it is built up all on a peninsula and very attractive!

We entered the town. It was way busier than the other towns, and lots of people were on the (tiny) beach and swimming. We got gelato, people watched, and I waded in the water. We also checked out their super old church. Then we tried to find the path and couldn't, so we backtracked and found it again.

Seeing the town from the next vantage point was also pretty, again - I never get tired of this - THE BLUE WATER.

We got to a precipice where you could see the entire coast all the way to Riomaggiore. So fun to see where we had come from!

We walked to Monterosso...our fifth and final village. We did it! We checked into our Airbnb, got our swimsuits on, and immediately swam in the Ligurian Sea. It was just as blue as when we were way above it. It was so clear and felt so great.

We showered, got dressed up, saw the church, ate dinner, and saw the village at night.

Day four

What a quiet place! No bells and no roosters. We headed out for a hike...but this time, no backpacks!

We chose to walk to Sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Soviore, which is about a 3 hour round trip hike.

We saw lemon trees along the way, chestnut trees, and then strawberry trees - a first for us! We ate a lot of them.

This hike was shady and there weren't many people. When we got to the top, we went into the church and the organist started practicing and church people sang along. Then he got and took a phone call. It was probably God.

We ate some tiramisu and pastries there, and then we walked down and went to the beach to swim!

It was perfect. The water was warm, clear, blue, salty, felt great. Sheer joy. Instead of sand it's all tiny colorful stones - interesting to see.

We stayed for a long time, bought some presents at the stores, and ate really fantastic pasta. And of course...gelato. ARE YOU SEEING A THEME.

Day five

We spent this day getting to an airport. We tried to buy tickets to the 9:00 am train, but it was full, so we bought 10:00 am. It was delayed, so we missed our connection and just got on the next one - which was also full. They made us pay more, but there were not seats, so we stood for 2 hours. (Fine, but not as great.) We got to a GIANT train station and had to figure out what to do. The internet directed us to subway, walk across what looked like a college campus, another subway...to the airport! (I definitely would have taken an Uber, but they don't have it here.) We caught a flight to Frankfurt on Gage's pass. We immediately bought and ate a pretzel, which true to German form were every direction you looked. We were actually able to walk to our hotel Gage found.

I found a rooftop restaurant only a few blocks away, so we went there and enjoyed the city lights - and chose the destination for our next trip!

Mountains plus water is one of my most favorite sights, and huge bonus points for the water color. Being here with my siblings - laughing, happy, great travel partners - made it even better. It was all so incredibly fun. We will talk about this for years and years to come, and I'm so glad it happened.

~

4,964 total elevation
3 hiking days 17.5 miles.
Total on my watch - 11 miles, 11 miles, 7 miles.

Notre Dame

We try to go to one away game a year, and this year we picked Notre Dame! Once again, Kris informed me he wouldn't be able to go due to the corn...but once again, it all worked out and we finished the corn just hours before we left.

At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, we picked up Andrew and drove to Notre Dame. The first hour, it was absolutely pouring, but then it tapered off. We had booked a pretty sketchy hotel using Expedia, but it was also somehow connected to VRBO. We went there first to check in and make sure it wasn't a scam. The sign on it said Studio 6 Extended Stay, and it was in Mishawaka. Please file away this information in your mind to never, ever stay there.

Andrew and Kris went in, and the clerk assured them that we did indeed have rooms. She set aside physical keys for us, Andrew, and the Rozens' rooms. She said we couldn't get them then, but we could pick them up later. We said we'd be back after the game, and she said there would be a phone number posted that we could call and she would come and give us the keys at the desk.

I found a place to eat called the Evil Czech, which delighted me because I knew Lisa's daughter had been the Czech-Slovak Queen. We all met up there - Gage, Elizabeth, Liza, Brad, Andrew, Kris, me - and Lisa informed us SHE ALSO had been the Czech-Slovak Queen! 

This place was amazing, and unlike other places I've been. It was a giant all you can eat buffet, but this is what was different - everything was on a little plate. There was no serving out of a bigger container - you would just walk and take a plate. There were no trays, so you could only take two or three plates at a time. It. Was. Fantastic. I loved it so much. I had an omelet, fruit, broccoli mac and cheese, beef on mashed potatoes ... and everything was about two bites. Five stars. Basically the opposite of our hotel.

We parked near campus and met our friends who were tailgating. We then walked all around campus - my first time there. We went into the cathedral and they were just starting a service! We saw the Notre Dame team there, and we stayed for the first hymn. The pipe organ, the lyrics, the music! It was incredibly moving and I was so, so glad we went.

We got all our raingear on to get prepared for the game. The forecast was that it would rain all day, and we really lucked out in that it hadn't rained at all. Then - it didn't rain for the game either! It was such great weather.

At the game, I was surprised they only had one screen, which I had to turn around and look at because it was behind my head. They made up for it with great music, so there were a lot of dance breaks. Kris and I got pizza at one point, which he thought was good and I thought tasted just like the cardboard it came in. It was an exciting game, the people around us were nice Spartan fans, and we walked back to our car. I was so happy Kris knew where it was, because I didn't check when we parked. We also didn't lock it. Great news, no one stole anything!  

Comparing to the last away game I went to - the Nebraska fans were SO nice and talked to us and thanked us for coming. The Notre Dame fans looked through us - they were not nice or mean, they just didn't notice or see us at all. I guess if we would have won or been a threat to winning it may have been different. 

Then, we went to our hotel. It was midnight. There were people milling around the front door, and we saw a handwritten sign taped to it. 

It read: "We are fully booked for the night. All reservation must be cancelled and refunded. We have no rooms available. - Studio 6."

The other people trying to stay at the hotel who had also already paid and had nowhere to stay in a city with zero rooms available voiced their frustration with us. I didn't want to stay and talk. I was like - let's get out of here, time's awastin'. We have a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us!

If it had been a complete surprise, it would have been a real bummer, but this had always been an option in the back of my mind. 

So! I drove us - Kris, Andrew, and me - home. We played games like Guess the 80s TV Theme Song, watched some more college football highlights, and had a good time. Great travel partners. They didn't even fall asleep! 

In bed by 3:00 a.m. A great, 21-hour day! Thanks Notre Dame! 

Guthrie, Oklahoma for Will and Charlotte's wedding!

Due to corn chopping, Kris told me he was not going to be able to go to the wedding. But, then amazingly the corn was too wet and he DID get to go! This made me really happy, because it was the first time my whole family was getting together in a long time - and for such a happy occasion!

The five of us flew from Grand Rapids to Oklahoma City, and we met Gage at Skydance Brewing Co. We sat outside in the shade, and the boys played cornhole in the sun. It was a nice place. We all piled into Gage's car and went to his house to hang out. Will and Charlotte were there, and the rest of his kids! We saw the property and the kids played Wii golf together.

 Gage drove us to our Airbnb in Guthrie, which was only two blocks from the Dominion House - the hotel where my parents were staying and the events were all taking place. We met up with my sister and family, parents, and we all went to the rehearsal and dinner. All pretty, lovely, and fun.

Everyone came back to our Airbnb and we played the games Headbands and Family. The kids wanted to watch a movie, so Gage, Tracy, Kris, and I went to downtown Guthrie for some karaoke! It was September 11, and the first song a man sang was Toby Keith's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We sang karaoke and sang along karaoke - so fun. We took a great picture in the empty street. It was late!

The next morning, Tracy and I went running. We saw a river and a huge bridge, bales in a field, and lots of nice nature. We met up with Kris who had walked to get donuts at Missy's. He joined us on our walk downtown. Tracy got coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the Boxcar Bakery, and Kris got some at Hoboken Coffee Roasters. There were a lot of options for a little town!

We watched some football and got ready for the wedding. John made it into town, so now we were all officially there. Even though the venue was only two blocks away, we RODE IN THE CAR because it was so hot. I'm not used to being so hot. It was so hot! But inside was great.

The wedding was perfect. Beautiful, moving, special. The reception was AMAZING. So much fun, SO MUCH DANCING. It was one of those moments where you look around and you're surrounded by people you love and it's just joyful. I am so happy for Charlotte and Will! 

We didn't want it to end. Kris arranged that everyone would go to the Guthrie Brewing Company. We ate pizza and talked about how great the wedding was, and we had a wonderful time. I just love being with my family!

We woke up in the dark and my mom drove us to the airport. We had an incredibly smooth trip back, the boys returned to school, and we look forward to the next time we're all together.

Ludington, Michigan

I hadn't been to Ludington for awhile, and it was lovely. Kimmy spontaneously invited us to go stay with her inlaws overnight on Labor Day weekend. 

We parked at her inlaws' house and walked to the beach. They are less than a mile from Stearns Park! The water was warm enough to swim and the sand was white and beautiful. Kimmy's five kids and my one kid had a great time. The older boys walked to the pier, we made sand castles, we played football, we jumped the waves, we sat our chairs in the water - all the fun beach things to do. We stayed for the whole afternoon - no sunscreen and no sunburns because it's September!

We got all ready and drove downtown to eat at Andy's, which was such a cool place. It has a rooftop area with a glass floor, so when you're up there you can see the people below, and when you're on the bottom floor, you can see the people standing on the glass! Very fun. 

They had a level with a golf simulator, and we spent time in there, playing and watching the kids play. We tried to pay, but there was nowhere to pay and everything worked. I'm sure it wasn't free, but it sure felt like it!

We ate dinner there and then had dessert at a shining star spot in Ludington - House of Flavors. This is a famous and wonderful ice cream shop with fantastic ice cream. The line was out the door! We knew they closed soon, but they told us they just stay UNTIL EVERYONE IN LINE IS SERVED. That was nice.

We went home and Charli and Chandler put on a skit, which made me laugh so hard. 

Then we watched Western Michigan University get absolutely robbed in a football game. The sports world united against unfairness and cheating and U of M, and everyone loves WMU even more, which is the only good that I can glean from the incident.

Kimmy and I got up and walked to a bookstore coffee shop called Book Mark. We sat outside in the sun and drank our great coffees, and then we walked back. On the way we stopped to watch the S.S. Badger, which is a giant car ferry that goes between Michigan and Wisconsin. It was so huge and impressive, cutting through the water.

Max and I ate the delicious breakfast buffet Kimmy's mother in law made, and we went back home to cover the pool - signaling the end of summer. What a great way to finish it!

Morgantown, West Virginia

Alicia suggested that we meet up in Morgantown, West Virginia, because it was a spot in the middle of the three of us. I’d been to West Virginia but couldn’t really remember anything I did there in particular, so I was excited to go – and of course to see Aimee and Alicia.

It was an easy six and a half hour drive of mostly highway. As I drove into town, I thought, I could live here. I saw a river, rolling hills, and a college town. As I drove into town to find a parking garage, I thought – never mind. The town seemed kind of run down. I didn’t want to drag all my stuff from the parking garage to the apartment since I would look very out of a place, and I didn’t want to attract the attention of the homeless people, since I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I also had difficulty figuring out the parking garage, because we were told to stay there by our Airbnb host, but the sign explicitly said that you couldn’t park there over 24 hours or you’d get booted. I parked there anyway and just took a bag into the apartment. It was easy to get in, after I got the key fob out of the locked box, entered a locked door, used the key fob to enter another locked door, and used a code to get into the apartment. They sure were into security!

Aimee got there shortly after I did, and she said, “Oh no. Alicia is NOT going to like this.” Alicia had booked the place, and although it was totally fine, it was not up to what I would call regular Airbnb standards. Like parts of the ceiling were stained and falling down, spots where things had been ripped off the wall and not repainted, places where the wall was coming away from the trim, and the like. But no matter! It was safe and dry. Aimee and I went out to explore while we waited for Alicia to get there. We walked around, went to Apothecary, ate dinner at the River View Rooftop along the river, and figured out where things were in town. Alicia arrived at the Airbnb before we got back, and immediately suggested going to a hotel. I assured her it was fine AND SAFE, and we went out to eat at Gibbie’s in downtown Morgantown. There were a lot of people out and it was lively.

The next morning, we went to the parking deck to see if our cars had been ticketed. There was a parking office, and we went in to ask if we could stay there overnight. The guy at the desk said, “What do you drive?” We told him, and he halfheartedly scribbled the name of our cars on a sticky note. “You just have to tell us you’re staying,” he said. It was completely obvious that no one was checking this parking garage, so we went on our merry way.

We ate breakfast and had coffee at the Blue Moose Coffee House, and it was perfect. Sunlight streaming in, lots of people to look at, and great food and coffee.

Alicia had a meeting, so Aimee and I went running along the river to the campus arboretum. We then ran around campus, which was really pretty. Lots of elevation and nice buildings. Everyone was wearing West Virginia-logoed clothing. I like the way the W and V fit together, and I was surprised to see their mascot is a mountaineer, which is a man standing with a rifle.  I stopped in the bookstore to buy a shirt, but it was the colors of our rival college, so I didn’t. Odd thing – there was no one in the bookstore and almost no one on campus. There was a public campus train that wasn’t running because school wasn’t in. The whole town was sort of empty. They were doing work on the main building of campus and adding LED lights to the outside – like the kind you see in a teenager's bedroom.

The three of us drove to Coopers Rock State Park, and it was wonderful. Right away you get a huge payoff of a gorgeous overlook. We then went on a six mile hike through the woods and saw really cool rock formations. It looked like ruins of buildings had been dropped into the middle of the trees. We went to solar slabs and saw where people rock climbed. We went on many paths, including rhododendron and rattlesnake and ridge and rock city. Aimee and Alicia are much better at maps than I am, and if they weren’t, I may still be out there. There were markings and signs and it didn’t seem to matter – I still didn’t know which way to go. Great park and great hiking! Highly recommend.

We stopped for ice cream at Mountaineer County Ice Cream and ate out on the porch, which was filled with rocking chairs and hanging baskets.

We headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at Tropics, which was great. They had tons of outdoor seating, beautiful tropical foliage, and a band! We danced and had a good time. People were really nice, too.

On the way home, our Uber driver had an LED light shaped like an assault rifle. Hadn’t seen that before!

We got up and got our bikes out of our cars. I saw they had both brought helmets, and I hadn’t even thought of that. We had to ride through the city for a few blocks to get to the river trail, and boy did I wish I had one then! We rode along the river trail for 14 miles. I rarely ride a bike, and I never go that far. It was so fun! We saw so much, it was overcast and perfect weather, and it was a great ride.

We stopped at a statue of Colonel Zackquill Morgan, the founder of Morgantown. A city employee was landscaping around it, and we chatted with her. She said she’d seen a painting of him, and this statue made him look way better than he did there. Alicia sent at picture later and sure enough – no chin.

Mostly what I will remember about this trip is laughing with Alicia and Aimee. It doesn’t matter where we are, how nice our place is, whether we know where we’re going on a hike, or what we’re doing – we’re always going to have a great time together. And maybe the Uber driver.

Summer in Michigan

I love living in Michigan, and I love all there is to do especially in the summer. Here are some places we've gone so far!

Brighton

My college roommate Joy lives in Brighton on Crooked Lake, so my WMU friends decided to get together there! I'd been to Brighton once or twice, but never really experienced it. It is such an incredibly nice town. We ate out at a Mexican restaurant, enjoyed the pretty lake, and on Saturday morning we went to the farmer's market. There was also a different market in the downtown, and both were nice. We also went into an adorable bookstore that had basically everything you'd want in a bookstore, and nice surprises like a really old turtle there(?) Joy just moved there with her family less than a year ago, and I can see why she chose it! 

Chihuly at Meijer Gardens

Julie and I went to Meijer Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit, and we both loved it. We learned more about him (do you know he wears an eye patch?), we walked all over the gardens to see his exhibits which were worked into the nature landscape there, and we are really bad at directions so we walked a little more than other people would. We've been there before, but the addition of the Chihuly made it even more special. There were also many more sculptures we hadn't seen before. Highly recommend! 

Elberta, MI

Shhh. This place was exactly what I want in a lake Michigan beach - close and free parking, white sand as far as you can see, a pier to walk out on, giant sand dunes, and best of all...no people. It was like we had it all to ourselves!

Each year Kris' parents get a house for us to all go on vacation together, including Kris' sister Meghan, husband Jon, and their three kids. We loved Elberta Beach - that was my favorite. I liked the cliffs at Frankfort Beach, but there were more people there. (My friend Emmie said that Frankfort was like Elberta 20 years ago. Eventually I think it'll also be touristy there. Quick, buy a house!)

On Monday night, they had a free music in the park at an outdoor amphitheater, which was well attended. We kayaked on the Platte River, and the company we used was so chill and made it so easy. They even had tubes so we could pull the kids on the kayaks, and they just scrambled in between our boats or floated along. At the end the river goes into the lake, and it was warm and shallow and fun to hang out there and skip stones.

We went to Sleeping Bear Dunes, where I have been so many times, but this time had a very different experience! There is the 'Big Dune' that's 450 high at a 45 degree angle to Lake Michigan. They have a sign there warning you that it's really hard to get back up, and it someone has to rescue you it's like $3000 or something crazy like that. 

Meghan, Jon, their kids William and Anna, Max and Cole wanted to run down it to the lake and come back. It was foggy and you couldn't see anything, and I didn't really want to do it. I didn't see the payoff. 

Cole and Max got back up through the fog and said their hearts were beating fast. It didn't take them long...like 18 minutes. 

Then suddenly a wind came up. And with it, the wind blew the sand. It was the kind of wind that makes people run for cover, plus the wind was whipping the sand on your skin. I grabbed Benjamin, my four year old nephew, and he, Max and I headed for the car. I remembered I left my sandals and went back to grab them and got a facefull of sand in my teeth and eyes. We got to the car before it started raining.

Cole and Mike waited for Meghan, Jon, William, and Anna - who were about halfway up the hill! Cole said it felt like the skin was being ripped off his body by the sand. Cole took a video and it really shows how miserable it was - like 60 mph of sandstorm. But they made it just fine!

Later I felt like I really missed out on going on the Big Dune. I asked my mom about it and she said I'd gone on it at least three times that she remembered. But I didn't remember, so I made plans to go back. She and I talked and she said, "No, not that one! The one that goes up from the parking lot. I have never gone on that big one." So I hadn't ever done it!

On the way out of town, Max and I went there. It was a clear, beautiful day - the exact opposite of the foggy one! Max said he'd watch me from the top. As I ran down I thought - wow, this is really far. This might actually be hard. The view from the bottom was gorgeous. I started climbing back up, and you have to bear crawl due to the angle. I enjoyed myself, took my time, took some pictures, and made my way steadily up. 

Once I got near the top - probably 60 steps from the start - Max greeted me and said, "If you hurry, you can beat Cole's time." So I quickly walked to the end and finished in 16 minutes. Very fun if you don't mind a bear crawl! I'm glad I went back.

We also golfed 18 at a really pretty, hilly course. I rarely if ever play 18 or different courses, and it was really enjoyable to do both! 

There's also a lot of hiking around. We did a little hike with the kids, but mostly a lot of walking and running around where our house was, just a mile away from Elberta Beach.

I love that there are so many new and different things to do just in one little state in one little summer.