The Nutcracker in Edmond, Oklahoma

My niece Charlotte was performing in Edmond’s Nutcracker, and my mom and I decided to fly from Michigan to Oklahoma to watch her. My sister Tracy and her fiancé John drove from Kansas. (Did I mention I'm co-officiating their wedding? Then let me mention it to you ten more times.) 

On our plane from Grand Rapids to Oklahoma City, the celling kept dropping little pieces of snow on me. I kept telling my mom, sitting next to me, and she never looked quickly enough. She starting making jokes about me seeing a gremlin on the wing like that old Twilight Zone. (I just looked it up and the main guy was William Shatner! Who knew?) I made it to our destination sane and well-cooled.

When we landed in OKC, they had an advertisement for a robot that painted your nails. Then I saw an automatic giant robot floor cleaner that was the size of a dishwasher. Way to be progressive, OK! 

Gage picked us up, we ate a Qdoba – instead of a Christmas tree, they had a big, fake, decorated Christmas cactus, and I liked it.

We went straight to Rose State Performing Arts Center in Midwest City, OK to see Charlotte perform. It was put on by the Oklahoma Youth Arts Foundation | Oklahoma Dance Center | Oklahoma Youth Ballet. 

Gage had gotten us front row seats, and we were so close! I loved it and could see everything. Charlotte performed as the Dew Drop Fairy, and it was so great – the whole performance. Charlotte was wonderful, beautiful, graceful, amazing!

We had gotten an Airbnb on 5th Street in Edmond, and it was such a great spot, because we could walk to lots of places. Tracy and I went for a walk in a nice neighborhood, and then we (my mom, John, and Tracy) met up with Gage and his kids (Evelyn, Jude, Ian) at Hideaway Pizza. It was about two blocks from our house.

(A funny thing about the Airbnb. It stated that you couldn't eat or drink on the white couch, but also that there could be no liquids or POWDERS on it. We joked about this the entire weekend - like John opened the cupboard and said, "There's baking powder right here. They are providing the powders! It's like they're tempting fate!") 

At Hideaway, the food, the servers, and the company were great. 

Then - we went to Edmond Electric's Luminance in Mitch Park. It was so pretty! We walked all around to see everything. The displays were dazzling, and we sang Christmas songs much to the delight of Ian, who ran away from us into the woods. I haven't been to a light display like that in real life, and I loved it.

Later, at about 10:30 p.m., Gage asked me – did I want to go to a smaller, smokier, crowded karaoke place, or a bigger, less smoky, more crowded karaoke place? I didn’t even know they allowed smoking in bars anymore! Surprise – I chose the bigger place. Gage and I sang separately and a duet, plus listened to some great and not-so-great singers. One thing I love about karaoke is everyone is so supportive of each other. The best people and the worst people are all enthusiastically applauded. 

Day two

Tracy and I went running around downtown Edmond, where they have lots of very realistic bronze statues of people. We liked them but agreed they would be scary at night, when they were moving around and clacking their little bronze teeth.

We could walk from our house to 501 Boulevard, which was even closer than Hideaway Pizza. We could see it from our white-couched house. 

The meal was really great, and the servers were so nice. We had a really nice time here.

We went to Gage’s house and walked around the property and house, since John hadn’t been there before. 

Then – we went for our second performance! In this one, Charlotte was the Sugar Plum Fairy. So fun to see her in multiple roles! Both times she also was a Snowflake. So enjoyable, so talented! I cried, of course.

We all went to Braum's, which is an ice cream parlor we always frequent when we're in Oklahoma. They had all kinds of holiday flavors, like gingersnap and eggnog. 

We hung out at Gage's house. Charlotte told us all the behind-the-scenes things about the show, which was super interesting. When Gage took us back to the Airbnb, he drove us to his neighbor's house, whose light show was equally as impressive as the Edmond one.

We went to bed fairy early, and left the house at 3:45 a.m. to get home by 3:00 p.m. 

Long day, and totally and completely worth it to see Charlotte perform, and see my family! 

Plus, we made it out of the Airbnb powder-accident free.

Elbow Cay, Bahamas

We went to Elbow Cay in the Bahamas to celebrate our anniversaries! Kate and Matt just hit 20, and Kris and I are about to hit 23.

We flew Detroit > Fort Lauderdale > Marsh Harbor. There was no one in the customs line, and instead of there being a crush of people outside the airport, a taxi driver casually asked if we needed a ride. She suggested we eat lunch at Colors, because her daughter worked there. The three of them had snapper with lots of bones, but Kate said the flavor was the best of the trip. My chicken quesadilla had no bones. Kris and Kate left to get groceries there, and Matt and I hung out until they got back. The same taxi driver took us to the ferry, and we boarded for Elbow Cay (pronounced key!) 

We had rented a golf cart, and the rental guy Kevin met us at the dock. You need a golf cart around the island because while there are main paved roads, a lot of them are dirt trails, just wide enough for one golf cart. We went to our Airbnb, which was even better than the pictures. (Does that ever happen?) It was called Las Olas, and it was right on the ocean, with a little pool. We walked on the beach for a little bit, and it was warm and windy, with lots of waves. The sand isn't firm, like to walk on - it sinks down! It didn't matter how close you were to the water. Very different.

We explored, realized many things were closed, and walked into town. Town was very small also - like there isn't a grocery store or anything close to it. We were glad we bought our groceries on Marsh Harbor! We were trying to walk into a store, and I opened a pink and white door to a man sitting on a recliner, watching TV. He said, "Can I help you?" I told him we meant to go to the store. He said, "It's right next door." Yes, I'd walked right into his house. (The man working at the store said the man in the recliner was the store owner, so he was sure he didn't mind.)

After dark, we hopped on our golf cart and found an open restaurant - Firefly. The food was good, and there were a lot of friendly people outside. They told us each night was a different place to go to - one night was Bingo at Firefly (it had been the night before), another trivia at On Da Beach, and Friday karaoke at Captain Jack's - the same Captain Jack whose home I'd walked into on accident.

Day two

We went running and swimming. Then we went to one of the prettiest places I've ever been - Tahiti Beach. For a long time we were the only people there, the water was so incredibly clear and blue, it was shallow forever, and there was a swing! We walked to the sandbar, saw turtles, saw a starfish, listened to music, and played in the water. It was wonderful. There were conch shells with live conch in them as far as you could see. The water was warm, the view was incredible, and we stayed all day until the sunset! 

We went back and got ready for dinner at On Da Beach for trivia, but we missed it by an hour - it had started at 6. It had cleared out so we went to Abaco Inn, which had the most people and the best food overall. 

Day three

We ran to Tahiti Beach - it was that close, not even a mile from our place. We walked over from there to an adjoining beach and it was also amazing, since it had water crashing and running over huge rocks. Again, we were the only people there. I saw different birds and we saw huge turtles swimming each day. 

We all went to Mackey's Convenience Store and ate burrito bowls, then went into town with the idea we'd see the lighthouse. It turns out you have to take the ferry to see it, so we nixed that idea and looked at it from afar. Then we walked around to see what we hadn't seen. Lots of chickens! We walked out to Town Beach, which was different again. You could walk on this sand, and it was huge and far and empty. We went back and got our suits on and went to the beach near Tahiti Beach (I can't find a name for it, but they're adjoining) and then again to Tahiti Beach. This time, there were two boats of people there, and we talked to them. 

We went to Sea Spray on the water, and we met a fun group of people there. We stopped again at the Abaco Inn (motto: Tan your toes in the Abacos) and met more people. Our new friend named Josh told us there were caves near the inn, which was the first I'd heard of them. 

Day four

After running to the beach and buying another container of water from the water place that's open 8-10am, we packed a picnic and headed to find the caves. We parked near St Somewhere and found a sign that said 'Beach.' We made our way down the stairs and found beautiful caves with the water rushing through them. We climbed over the rocks and into the caves. It was gorgeous and wild. When I was climbing out, I stepped on the sand, but it was like a booby trap. It was just covering a hole and I fell in to my knee, which scraped my knee on the rock like I'm a little kid! Ha! We sat in a cave in the shade and had a picnic. 

This spot was truly beautiful. So blue, waves crashing, cave...so nice. I loved it here.

We went into town and saw a man cleaning a fish. He was throwing the scraps into the water and giant lemon sharks and nurse sharks were fighting over them. It was so interesting to see, and since I never think about sharks when I'm swimming, also made me think about that!

We went to Town Beach to swim, play bocce with a coconut, and again enjoy being the only people out there. To give you an example of how quiet it is, as we walked through town, Matt's crocs were squeaking so loudly that the sole local man walking ahead of us teased him about it. 

We went to see the sunset at Tahiti Beach, and since it was Friday, there were a lot more people there. We saw a wedding proposal! Romantic spot for sure. 

Everyone we met had told us they were going to karaoke, and Captain Jack's had really good food for dinner. 

Then...it was like we were in the finale of a show, because all the cast of characters of everyone we met over the week there - both locals and vacationers - showed up. Everyone sang, and everyone was there to have a good time. Super fun.  

Day five

We took the ferry to Marsh Harbor, and our taxi driver again took us to a restaurant (Island Boyz) because her daughter worked there. All good! She asked what time our flight left, and we said 1:40 p.m. She asked what airline, and we said Silver. She said, "Well, we'll see if it goes at all!" and then laughed loud and long. I was immediately nervous. It'd gotten us there fine, why not on the way home? It did leave on time, but it definitely has a different vibe than other airlines.  No stress, no hurry, no one herding you like cattle or yelling at you. Both times Kris and I had row 2, and both times we had to move to the back of the plane for weight - but who cares, because it loads from the back! I also love walking out on a tarmac to get on a plane. It feels exotic.

Interesting things about the island - it was hit by Dorian five years ago, and it was huge deal, and they are still rebuilding.  Kevin our cart rental guy said that since Elbow Cay has a lot of second homes, it's getting rebuilt faster that some of the other islands. He and two other people we met there said they were ninth generation Bahamians or said their family has been there since the 1700s. Another local said he loved it, but he has to leave every once in awhile because it gets very small. We got it - we saw all the same people all the time, as the whole island is only 7 miles around. The swing and the walls of places had lots of stickers of boats. So many - it's a thing. Locals and tourists both were friendly and talkative. Also - we love going places with Kate and Matt, since they're such great vacation partners. This is our third country with them. 

I love going to places that is all about nature and doesn't have a lot of people, so this really hit the spot. As we flew away, you could see the amazing color of the water. It filled the entire plane window. My ancestors chose Michigan, and theirs chose the Bahamas. If mine had come here first, would they have made the same choice? Possibly...there's not one dairy farm on Elbow Cay!

Phoenix Milk Meeting 2024

Kris and I went to the NBD/NMPF/UDIA Joint Annual meeting in Phoenix. Isn't that a catchy name? It stands for the National Dairy and Promotion and Research Board / National Milk Producers Federation /  United Dairy Industry Association.

We go every year, as it's a meeting for about 500 people - dairy farmers and the people who work with us from across the country. Plus, Kris is on our milk co-op's board of directors, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan board, and he's also the treasurer of UDIA.

We flew direct from Detroit to Phoenix on Delta, and we stayed at the downtown Sheraton. We walked to Snooze, a great and cheery breakfast place. We ubered to the trailhead of Piestewa Peak, and we chose the most difficult and steepest path to the top - the Summit Trail, which was a double black diamond. It had great views, it was fun, and we paused near the top to watch the Detroit Lions win. Great hike all around! There are a variety of hikes available from there.

We took an uber to Huss Brewing Co, but it was in a strip mall and lacked personality. Our friend suggested Don Woods Say When, which is a rooftop place, and we liked that place a lot.

We went back to the hotel and met up with our friends - all dairy farmers.

"Are we having supper?" Doug asked.

"Who says supper anymore?" Aaron said.

Dairy farmers, that's who!

We walked to The Kettle Black, which happily accommodated our group of 10, and I had a great steak salad.

Day two

I asked the front desk person where I should run, and she gave me a map of murals. I ran around and saw lots of murals! Very fun and nice to have destinations. One of my favorites was of a very cheerful Roosevelt on a shiny building. I also ran around the ASU campus, which was decorated with colorful banners crisscrossing like we were in Mexico.

I ate a burrito at Matt's Big Breakfast, and the waitresses were so nice I thought we could be friends.

After working, Kris, Aaron, and I walked to Willy's Taco Joint, which was fair. I went to the pool on the 4th floor (it was hot!), and to a story garden across from our hotel. I wanted to walk to a gas station to buy a pop, and even a block away from ASU, there is a very large homeless population in Phoenix. I don't remember that from last time I was here. Lots of people passed out.

We took a bus with UDIM to Richardson's Restaurant, where I had a delicious burger and salad. We talked to our friends and agreed to be in a pickleball video soon! Chocolate milk is a sponsor, and I just started playing pickleball. Match made in heaven.

Day three

I ran to a rose garden that showed up on my map. Most of the roses were dead due to the time of year, but they did have a pomegranate shrub right there! I've never seen one, so that made me happy.

Kris was reelected as treasurer, and we headed to the meeting. We heard from a lot of interesting people, including the CEO of Domino's, the unfortunately-named Russell Weiner.

We went to the cheese reception, which has mountains of award-winning cheese.

Afterward, we went with a different group to Mancuso's, where I had the filet and tiramisu. My caloric intake at this meeting is insane.

Day four

I wanted to run to a new place, but my GPS was having a hard time, and I eventually was just happy to make it back to the hotel.

We went to two really interesting sessions.  'How we grow: Nutrition & Product Innovation Drive Demand' - Kris is on this committee and it's all about how marketing people and scientists come up with new dairy products. Loved it. We also had Yobark (yogurt snack food), Churro chillers (a Mexican shake), and cottage cheese ice cream!

We then went to 'What happened to TV ads? Promoting dairy in the digital age,' which was very interactive and we won cool items, like a backpack and gamer headset. Also, marketing people put it on, so that's always fun.

Then....a real trip highlight. We rode our first driverless car! 

These cars were everywhere in Phoenix, all the time. I downloaded the Waymo app, and it was like any rideshare app.

It pulled up and I unlocked it and opened the trunk by the app.

We loaded our stuff in, shut the doors, put on our seatbelts, and ... we were off!

It wasn't scary. The car behaved the way it was supposed to, and we traveled merrily from our hotel to the airport. It took about 20 minutes, and the car didn't speed at all. It cost a little less than an uber. It was super cool. Is this the first time of many? 

I marveled at how smart people are to invent new things. New food, driverless cars, it's all exciting and so impressive. 

Then, back home - to cars with drivers and normal eating habits.

Canada 2024

A group of 16 of us planned a trip to Canada to go on a long hike. Amy, Andrea, Chris, Gage, Moriah, Kate, Kris, Betsy, Riley, Suzie, Jared, James, Venus, Szanadue, Chip, and I went.  

Friday

This was the fifth time Kris and I had been to Niagara Falls, and you know what? It never gets old. It is impressive each and every time. We drove, and the line over the border was only four cars long. Each car took some time, and when we got up there, we found out why. We had the chattiest, friendliest border guard who really wanted us to enjoy Canada and spend time in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Canadians, living up to their friendly reputation.

We met our friends near the Hornblower, which is the Canadian version of Maid of the Mist, which is a boat ride that takes you right up to the falls. Right as we arrived, we all watched my brother Gage on zoom be promoted to captain. I unmuted and the cheers were deafening. He later said he couldn't hear us, but the people surrounding us sure did!

They have ticket kiosks right outside the boat, and they leave every 15 minutes, so you don't have to worry about booking ahead of time. 

Before we got on the boat they handed us red ponchos. We didn't realize the importance until later.

We hurried on the boat and went to the top front. The ride was so pretty - rainbows, the sky. Niagara Falls is made up of three falls - American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and the most famous Horseshoe Falls. As we approached Horseshoe Falls, it got pretty windy and wet.

How windy and wet? It was like we were going into a hurricane. It was like someone was just spraying you full on in the face with a hose. It was like being in the washing machine.

I hid behind Kris as we laughed and laughed. It was hard to take pictures and videos because then your phone would be soaked. Andrea assured us it was just because of the wind, because she had been on it before and it was NOT like that.

We loved it, it was fun, and as we got off, people were literally wringing out their clothes. I dried my jeans under the dryer in the bathroom. Definitely a must do, if only for the laughs. Venus purchased the photo they took of us, and it was really nice.

Szanadue suggested we walk toward the top of the falls. She saw at a shop that they sold flags, so she told James he should get one, like a guide. He immediately bought it and we used it as a beacon the rest of the trip! (I mean, 16 people? You need a flag.)

We walked to the top of the falls, which was super impressive. Then we went to eat at the Secret Garden, which really does have beautiful grounds - fountains, flowers, views.

We walked downtown Niagara Falls which really caters to tourists - haunted houses, upside down buildings, go-karts, wax museum, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Rainforest Café - everything to attract and entertain people. 

We walked around and checked things out, and then Szanadue said she'd always wanted to ride the roller coaster on top of the Frankenstein building. She and Chip were going, and since Kris and I love roller coasters, we joined in. It was such a treat - like being in a safe car crash! We were jerked, slammed, and pushed around, sliding all over the cars and laughing. The guy asked if we wanted to do it again, and we did! I was done after two times, happy I still had my phone in my pocket. Ha!

We stayed in an Airbnb within walking distance of the falls, but the Butlers and Davises stayed at the Days Inn. This was also within walking distance of our house, so we met them at the hotel, swam in the pool, and watched the fireworks over the falls they have every day at 10:00 p.m. from summer to Oct 15!

Gage took an uber from Buffalo to the Rainbow Bridge, so he walked into Canada and we met him. (You can't uber or rent a car over the border.) We walked back to our house on Kitchener Street and went to sleep. 

Saturday

The plan was for four cars to park at our end point, and one car to bring the drivers back. The drivers did not have an easy time finding a place to park. Kris told me, "It's a really nice town, so there's nowhere." They would have paid, but the paid parking didn't start even until 10, and it was really expensive. Eventually they found public parking at Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club.

We took a picture at the falls and headed off on our 16 mile hike from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The walk was easy and the leaves were beautiful. It was along the water most of the way, and the color of the water was great, too. We went through urban areas and rural ones. We saw a whirlpool, a barrel that went over the falls, a ride that went across the water - the Whirlpool Aero Car. We took our time, we took pictures, we naturally moved between people and talked to everyone. It was incredibly enjoyable. The weather was perfect - you could wear a tank top or a sweatshirt and be comfortable. Actually, we had sweatshirts made for the trip. The front said Butler Brews, which is our friends' garage, and the back said Internationally Known with a little maple leaf, which is for Canada and Pitbull lyrics. Also, Venus and Szanadue are from Canada!

Amy was checking All Trails the whole way to make sure we stayed on course, and about four miles before the end there was a winery called Riverview Cellars. We stopped to eat and drink, thinking this would be a nice break, but they told us to go down the road to a bigger place, because they said they had a big group coming and there would be nowhere for us to sit. We said we could sit in the grass, but it was obvious they didn't want us there. No biggie! We went down the road to Iniskillin, and it was FANTASTIC! Beautiful vineyard, outdoor seating, big menu, nice people working there - it was perfect. You should go here. My favorite part of being here was that Suzie's charcuterie board turned into a catchall, and I watched her use a knife and fork to eat a Sour Patch kid. We laughed a lot here.

We tried to leave and return to the trail, but Moriah wasn't with us. Amy said she would go back for her, but then Moriah appeared and Amy was gone. Chip said he would go back for her, and we all laughed and made jokes about how we would never actually find everyone and finish the trail!

The last three miles flew by, and suddenly we were in a park with a view of the Lake Ontario beach! We could also see Toronto in the distance! 

We made a little human arch and cheered everyone as we all took turns going through it. Then we took our shoes and socks off, and we marveled at how many of us had never been in Lake Ontario before. (Many of us, including Gage, Kris, and me!!) The water felt great, and some of us walked out to a sandbar and got kind of wet. It was totally worth it.

We got into our cars and headed to Niagara Oast House Brewers for dinner. This was another nice place, with a food truck and outdoor seating. Right next to the seating, there was a vineyard, and they were about to have a wedding! The photographer of the wedding obviously wanted to be part of our group, which made us laugh a lot. After they were done with the wedding I forced everyone into the vineyard to stage our own weddings, and he came down and got a group picture with us. There were also firefighters there, jokes about the conversion rate of eating tacos, and basically we had a fantastic time.

Gage loves karaoke, so I found Maple Leaf Tavern online to go sing. Many of us went, and some left to watch the fireworks. The rest of us - Betsy, Riley, Chip, Szanadue, Gage, Andrea, Kris, and I - sang and danced for hours! We sang solos, duets, quartets! Karaoke places are always so supportive and encouraging, and we had a great time listening to the other people there and each other. 

Andrea, Kris, Betsy, and Kate performed our swan song of (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles as the rest of us marched around the dance floor in celebration of our long walk. 

As I went to leave, a woman at a table stopped me. 

"What do your sweatshirts mean?" she asked.

I'd heard Andrea answer this question earlier today and repeated her.

"We're a kickball team," I said.

Clearly, we're more than just a kickball team, but I didn't know if she wanted to hear about how I have this group of friends, and one family has a cool garage, and sometimes we get matching shirts and go places. But that's just as true.