family – Adventure. Create. Relate

August Adventure Date 4: Trout Lake, Fiborn Quarry, and Castle Rock

December 2, 2023Posted in 52 Hike Challenge, accountability, adventure, family, fun, Goals, Hiking, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, black bear, Castle Rock, family, family fun, Fiborn Quarry, food, fun, ghost town, Goals, Howard City Club, Karst Nature Preserve, Karst Preserve, photography, relate, travel, Trout Lake, UP MichiganLeave a comment

The plan for our last full day of our trip was to let the kids sleep in, head to Seney National Wildlife Refuge for the afternoon, and then have dinner at the fire ring with my brothers and some of our nieces. A pretty low key day to end our trip, just what everyone needed.

I had been doing research and had discovered that there is place called Fiborn Quarry and Karst Preserve very near Trout Lake. The town that existed while the quarry was in operation is still partially standing, so I really wanted to go check out the “Ghost Town” and see if I could get some cool photos. I planned to get up and check it out in the morning while the kids slept in, and Keith decided to go with me. It was really nice to have an adventure on our own during our trip. The walk back to the town is along what used to be the train tracks that took all the stone out of the quarry. It was a beautiful walk with so many birch trees – the wind in their branches sounded like trickling water at times.

The path was relatively straight back, so it was surprising to me when we suddenly came upon buildings.

We enjoyed poking around and exploring the different buildings. It was so weird to think what they would have been like 100 years ago when the town was actually inhabited and the quarry was active. We came upon an area that had lots of these interesting rocks, so I picked up a few to share with the girls since we did not invite them.

Probably the most exciting part of the whole adventure happened when we were in the car on the road back out of the preserve. We came around a small curve and there was a black bear in the road! We spooked him, so he bounced off into the woods quicker than I could get out my phone to take a photo, but we both saw him. I have never seen a black bear in the wild in the UP, so that was a first for both of us. We were very excited to share the whole adventure, but especially that part, with my family that evening. 🙂

We got back to the house and got the kids up and around to go to Seney. We did not pack our lunch because we were running low on supplies and would still need lunch on the way home the next day. We also knew we would pass a Subway on the way, so we decided to get lunch there and have a picnic at the Seney Visitor Center. This is where things took a bit of a turn. It seems that they are building a new visitor center, so they have a temporary one set up about 20 minutes further away. It does not have the store or the displays or the lovely lake with a hiking trail around it. It is on a dirt road and very small. They did have picnic tables, though, so we at least had a place to eat. We went in to talk and found out that they still had some of the drive open, so we decided to take a slow loop and see if we could see anything. We did end up seeing a lot of waterfowl and what was probably a muskrat or mink. The refuge is beautiful anyway, whether you see any wildlife or not, but it was nice to at least see a couple things.

At that point, it was time to find a restroom and then head back to the cabin to make curry. We did stop at the cabin to make sure they did not need us to cook anything else in our house since we had electricity and an oven, but they were set. Keith took the girls back while I visited with my family for a little while, and then I went home to make rice and curry to share. The dinner at the fire ring was wonderful – it was great to spend time with so much of our family in one of my favorite places. I got the traditional photo of everyone before it got dark, and then it was time to eat. 🙂

I love that my parents had a special fire ring made that says Howard City Club. It is so pretty when the fire is going and it gets dark.

And just like that, it was time for one last sleep at the rental house and then the long trip home. We said a quick goodbye that night because we were all planning to meet for breakfast before heading our separate ways in the morning. We got up, packed up, straightened up the house, and made it in to town just in time to meet everyone else. Breakfast was wonderful – it was so good to be with both of my brothers and my parents. The kids even got to know each other a little better at the younger adults table. I was sad to leave, but we had to get going as we had a few stops we planned to make. The first stop was Castle Rock just north of St. Ignace. Somehow I didn’t take a photo of Castle Rock, but I found this old one. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of steps to get to the top.

Once we got back down, we made our way into St. Ignace the back way as the express way was pretty backed up. We kept seeing Mini Coopers and found out it was because there was a gathering of Mini Coopers called Mini on the Mac – that was a surprise! We got across the bridge pretty quickly all things considered and then made a couple stops in Mackinaw City. Charlotte and her friend Steph had been shopping in Mackinaw about a week prior (while on vacation with Steph’s family) and a ring Charlotte bought had chipped, so we stopped in to see if it could be repaired. They did a little work on it and we shopped and explored. Then it was time to stop at Alice’s Kandy and Korn – one of my favorite traditions. Their caramel corn is addictive and their chocolates are amazing. I’m a huge fan of the chocolate covered sea foam especially.

We got on the road headed for a scenic rest stop for a picnic. Of course the one I was hoping for was closed, but we made it to another that was very nice. Then was the long slog home. We stopped for dinner at Chipotle in Toledo, and then Maddie and I were on our own to drive home – no more caravan required. It was so nice to get home and unloaded. I can be on my dream vacation and have the time of my life, but there will always be a feeling of peace and contentment that washes over me when I get home. It’s seriously the best.

And that’s all she wrote on the great Emigh vacation of 2023. Thanks for coming along on the ride. Did one of our adventures stand out to you? Is there something you are planning to do after reading about it? Is there something you will now avoid? Let me know in the comments!

August Adventure Date 3 – Point Iroquois and Sault Ste. Marie

December 2, 2023Posted in 52 Hike Challenge, adventure, family, fun, Goals, Hiking, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, family, family fun, fun, Goals, point iroquois, point iroquois lighthouse, relate, sault ste. marie, soo locksLeave a comment

The last time we went to Sault Ste. Marie with the kids was quite a long time ago, and we went to the Canadian side at that time because we all had passports. Incidentally, the Canadian locks are really cool because they let you walk across the gates when they are closed. I highly recommend seeing them if you are able to cross the international bridge. We do not have current passports now, so we were stuck on the American side for this trip. But that is not even where our story begins, because our first stop of the day was actual Point Iroquois Lighthouse. We have been coming to Point Iroquois as long as I can remember – I think it might be my favorite lighthouse. I love the stone fence around the front.

What I love the most about Point Iroquois, though, is that they let you climb up into the tower. The last time we were there was during COVID, so they were not open to people climbing up to the light, but this time it was back open. We were able to go up all together and I just love this stairs photo. I have one in the same spot of Keith and our girls from the last time we were able to climb up and it is one of my top photos of all time.

The big reason we visited Point Iroquois, though, was not the lighthouse or the museum. It was because the girls had only been able to spend about 10 minutes at the beach on Grand Island. So, they had asked for more beach time and more time with rocks. I am happy to say that Point Iroquois did not disappoint. Amazingly, while we were enjoying the beach, we saw a familiar ship heading towards Sault Ste. Marie – the same one we had seen heading towards Wisconsin when we were at Whitefish Point! We know it was the same because there is a painting of abstract people running on the white part of the ship that we were able to see through Keith’s camera’s viewfinder both times. This has never happened to me before – I guess we are boat chasers now! Lol.

After spending quite a while on the beach and in the museum, we were ready to head to Sault Ste. Marie. We had our picnic lunches while we drove, so we arrived ready to explore the sights. We started our adventure by paying a visit to the Torii Gate that is in the Soo Lock park. It is from the sister city in Japan, and we have always taken a photo there when we are in town, starting when my Japanese sister Yasuyo visited us for the first time in summer 1990. During that trip we took a sightseeing bus tour, and they showed us the Torii Gate, and a tradition was born.

The next thing we did was walk the length of the locks just to see how long these boats that pass through are. It took us a very long time to make that walk – the ships are super long! We found this enormous anchor as further proof of the size of the ships.

When we got up into the Soo Locks viewing platform, we were absolutely amazed to see the same ship headed towards the outer lock. I will take my ship chaser shirt in XL, thank you very much! Here is a photo where you can see the design of the ship as it heads into the lock – it really is quite distinct.

After the ship was at the lower level and on it’s way out of the lock, we decided it was time to head out. We did a little bit of shopping (I know, surprising, right?), met Big Foot, and then headed out to Walmart to pick up a few items needed for dinner.

I have to say, the Soo Locks could have been a bust if the ship we had been steadily stalking thoughout the week had not come through. I am not sure my kids will be up for another trip here, but I know Keith and I will likely venture up again. I’d like to go to the Canadian locks again as well. I like slowing down and waiting as a ship goes through – it is a nice breather in the sometimes phrenetic pace of vacation.

Have you ever visited Sault Ste. Marie? Did you do any tours? Do you have a favorite place to visit? Let me know in the comments!

August Adventure Date 2 – Grand Island in Munising Bay

December 1, 2023Posted in 52 Hike Challenge, adventure, family, fun, Goals, Hiking, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, family, family fun, fun, Goals, grand island, grand island ferry, munising, relate1 Comment

When I was researching tours we could do in the Pictured Rocks and Munising area, I came across Grand Island Ferry Company and the Grand Island Tour they offer. We done 2 Munising Bay tours in the past – the Shipwreck Tour and the Pictured Rocks Sunset Tour, so we had been close to Grand Island. But it seemed like a really cool place to get to explore for a day. So, after asking my family if they thought it would be a fun thing to do, we purchased our passes.

Unfortunately, Maddie was not feeling well the morning we were to leave to go to Munising. So, we made a quick stop in at the cabin to let my parents know that she was going to be at the house and to see if they could check on her at some point. Then we were off. It is 2 hour or so drive to get to Munising from Trout Lake, so we knew we had to manage our time well in order to make the ferry and not miss our tour. I had done a lot of research and discovered that one of the biggest complaints about Grand Island is the bugs. So, I had bug spray, bug lotion, and bug jackets with hoods in an effort to keep my people protected. Before we got on the ferry, we got all decked out and ready for the swarms that were sure to be following us on the island. I’m sure the people around us thought we were crazy.

Once we were across the bay, we were directed to a small bus to drop off our things (we had to bring drinks and lunch with us) and then to a small museum about the island. We met our tour guide there and, after a little bit of history about how the island went from an indigenous island, to an island with indigenous people and fur trading settlers, to an island owned by an iron company and harvested for lumber extensively, to an island that was owned by the U.S. Forest Service and considered part of the Hiawatha National Forest, we were off on our tour bus to take in the sites.

Our first stop was at one of the historical cabins on the island – Farrell Cabin. We were not there for the building, though, we were there for the waterfall in back. If you know me, you know that this was the thing I was most excited to see. I love waterfalls! Farrell Falls was low flow but it was actually quite a group of cascades. I could have stayed there for quite a while, but there were more sights to see.

Our next stop was a Stone Quarry Cabin – this one used to be owned by a cooper – someone who made wooden barrels. We got to see some lovely views of Lake Superior and other parts of Grand Island – I can see why you would want a cabin in that spot!

The next stop on our tour was the cemetery. This is where we got to see the biggest trees on the island because they had been excluded from the lumber harvest. It was pretty impressive and made me sad that they had taken all of the other big trees from the island. Of course, big trees are hard to photograph, so instead, have some shots of headstones. They are broken because snowmobilers came to the island on the ice bridge a few years ago and did a fair bit of damage to the cemetery. People such sometimes.

The next few stops were beaches and vistas where we got to see parts of the island’s shore and also parts of the Pictured Rocks in the distance. I kind of wish we had time to stop for a picnic by the water, but we had to keep moving.

Our next stop, and the one with the most bugs I think, was the biggest lake on the island. There is apparently sometimes an eagle that likes to hang out there, but no luck for us. Only mosquitos.

After the lake, we headed to the opposite side of the island to a hunting lodge that was pretty spacious and divided into two sides so that the women who worked in the kitchen did not have to mix with the hunters. We enjoyed some original cane chairs on the porch to just take in the view.

The very last stop on our tour was Waterfall Beach. I was really excited that we might see another waterfall, but it was just a drainage culvert. It was still a beautiful beach and I think Charlotte would have stayed collecting rocks for at least 3x as long as we had. I would definitely be up for renting kayaks someday and heading back there.

The weather was looking a bit stormy when we headed back to the ferry, so we were anxious to get back to our car. I did get photographic evidence that Keith and I were there and not fighting – check out those clouds!

Overall, this was much more my kind of island. I enjoyed the views the most – I didn’t realize the tour would be mostly the houses and not just the natural views and maybe the cemetery. I also didn’t realize that we would not circle the whole island – we did just a fraction of the shores and inland. I think kayaks would be the way to see it for me – or jet skis if that was an option. It would also be really cool to see the ice caves in the winter, but I don’t foresee a winter UP trip in our future anytime soon. I can report that the mosquito jackets were a big hit and will be used again and again for our UP trips. There were a couple bites from bugs getting in at the neck when we were on the bus and unzipped, but otherwise they did their jobs well and get 5 stars from us.

Have you ever been on or around Grand Island? Was it a boat tour or did you explore the island? Did you find ways to combat the bugs? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

August Adventure Date 1 – Mackinac Island

December 1, 2023Posted in 52 Hike Challenge, adventure, family, fun, Goals, Hiking, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, arch rock, family, family fun, fun, Goals, grand hotel, mackinac bridge, mackinac island, mackinac island carriage tours, mary's bistro draught house, relate, skull cave, star line mackinac island ferryLeave a comment

The first time I went to Mackinac Island, I was young enough to ride in a carrier on the back of my Dad’s bike. I have absolutely no memory of that trip. So, this summer, we decided it was time for the Emighs to finally take on Mackinac Island. I was excited to discover that we could take a ferry from St. Ignace and not have to pay to cross the bridge. We could also take a slightly longer ferry ride to get there and actually go under the Mackinac Bridge if we arrived at the right time, so that is what we did. We got combo tickets to take the ferry both ways, take a carriage ride on the island, and tour the Grand Hotel.

Things were not completely smooth with the ferry company. We had to wait to get all of our various tickets and the lady working had a young helper that ripped one of our passes – it ended up being completely fine, though. I can’t help but think that we were supposed to receive some instructions with the various tickets, though, which would turn out to be an issue later. We also weren’t aware that the parking lot was small so we would have to park half a mile away and walk. This meant that we missed the earlier bridge tour ferry and had to wait for a slightly later one. All in all, just first world problems, but it was early in the day and I was hungry and grumpy.

Once we were on the ferry and headed towards the bridge I felt much better. It was very cool to go under and see the shadows of cars going over the grates of the bridge. Definitely a unique experience to have had.

Once we arrived on the island, our first order of business was lunch. We got off the ferry and immediately found seats at Mary’s Bistro and Draught House. The food was great – everyone ate all of their food. Keith tried a new beer from their extensive selection, and Maddie tried and loved a mead called Zombie Killer. That’s an exciting drink to order as your first alcoholic beverage with your parents! I had a lovely chicken salad plate – exactly what I wanted on a hot day. Feeling refreshed, we set out in search of the carriage rides. We jumped in line since we already had tickets, but it turns out you have to turn in those tickets for a timed ticket – something that, again, probably should have been explained to us by the very distracted lady at the ferry shop. It was not great to be in line and then be told to jump in another line with all the people that hadn’t already paid for tickets. I feel like there should have been a line for those with tickets already and a line for those that still needed to buy them – there did not seem to be any advantage to having them prepaid. But I digress. Eventually we were on the carriage with our lovely tour guide and got to enjoy all of the sites of the island. My very favorite, and the one that I was most excited to see, was Arch Rock. We also saw Skull Cave and some gorgeous views of Lake Huron. Here are a few photos of scenery from our carraige tour.

In the middle of the carraige tour, they drop you off at a complex with a blacksmith shop, a butterfly house, bathrooms, and a donut shop!! We, of course, bought some donuts to share. Maddie decided she wanted to make a knife at the blacksmith shop, so she got signed up for that. While waiting, the other girls went through the butterfly house and Keith and I waited to take photos of Maddie blacksmithing! Here she is making her knife and with the finished product. She was very proud of it. 🙂

Our final stop on our tour was The Grand Hotel. We wandered around for quite a while trying to figure out where we were supposed to check in for the self-guided tour. Seriously, it was a little crazy that it was so hard to find. But we got checked in and discovered that the kids were not really interested in most of the places on the tour. We did try the coffee shop, though, where I got a lovely iced chai to enjoy. We did most of our exploring outside and really enjoyed taking photos of the hotel itself as evidenced below.

After we finished exploring the gardens at The Grand Hotel, we headed back into town to do some shopping. We got some clothing, some stickers, and, of course, a Christmas ornament. We also stopped at a fudge shop where everyone but me got ice cream and I got chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels to snack on. We made the choice to take the ferry back to St. Ignace before eating because food was so expensive on the island. We ended up have very limited options, so we had late night Taco Bell. It was very satisfying and gave us the energy to make the half hour drive back to the house.

All in all, it was a good day, but I am not sure I need to go again for a while. Nothing there was intuitive – it all seemed like too much work for very little return on investment. It was a little too loud and a little too crowded for me – too touristy. I think it is something to enjoy at least once, but if I could, I would go at a less crowded time of year.

Have you ever been to Mackinac Island? What was your experience? Tell me all about it in the comments!

July Adventure Date – Taquamenon Falls and Whitefish Point

November 29, 2023Posted in 52 Hike Challenge, adventure, family, fun, Goals, Hiking, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, family, family fun, fun, Goals, paradise michigan, relate, taquamenon falls, UP, whitefish pointLeave a comment

The first thing you need to know about the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan is that I made my first trip there when I was about 4 months old. The UP has been my happy place since before I knew the word “happy,” so I try to convince my family to take a trip there every couple of years. I say try because the place I grew up staying is very rustic. Pump your own water and use an outhouse rustic. So, we have to rent a house or stay in a hotel/motel, which makes it a lot less cost effective. I was thrilled to be able to find a new property to try this year only about 10 minutes from my family’s cabin in the Hiawatha National Forest. Both girls got their own rooms and there was even one to spare. There were also 2 full baths. My family agreed to give it a go, so I started making plans.

In the planning stages, there were requests for waterfalls, lighthouses, and beaches. So, I knew that we had to spend a day around Paradise, a town about 45 minutes north of my family’s cabin. It has some nice little restaurants, a pretty good gift shop/convenience store, and several attractions close by. We started the day with breakfast at the cabin with my parents, and then we headed north to Taquamenon Falls. Taquamenon Falls has two areas – the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls. There is a 5 mile trail that connects the 2 – Maddie and I hiked that 6 years ago during a trip we made to visit colleges. The key to hiking it was that my mom met us at the Upper Falls and drove us back to our car. 😉 For this trip, we hit the Lower Falls first. There are several small waterfalls in this area, on both sides of an island in the Taquamenon River. I was super excited to learn that they have now built a suspension bridge so we did not have to rent a row boat to explore the island. I was less thrilled by the throngs of people that thought the waterfalls were their own personal swimming hole. But we still enjoyed exploring. Here are a few photos from the Lower Taquamenon Falls.

We headed to the Upper Falls next and had lunch at one of the picnic tables near the parking lot. It was a beautiful day for a picnic! After our bellies were full, it was time for a walk around the Upper Falls area. There is only one upper falls, but it is pretty impressive. We started with a distant view and then worked our way to a view from the top and right beside it. It is always impressive – I think it might be my favorite waterfall just because I have so many memories of it. Here are a few waterfall pics.

Our next stop was Whitefish Point. I definitely recommend getting an earlier start if you haven’t visited Whitefish Point before – we ended up late enough that the bathrooms were closed – as well as the gift shops and museum. The Shipwreck Museum is really cool – lots of artifacts from lots of shipwrecks in Lake Superior including the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Gordon Lightfoot song plays in repeat, so you will know that story one way or another after a museum visit. The lighthouse tours are also pretty cool – it is the only place I have been able to see the lightkeeper’s quarters and really understand how they lived. The little shops on the grounds are nice, too. The fudge there is just as good as any you can get in Mackinac, and it is much better priced. There is also an ice cream shop, a gift shop, and a nature shop that is connected to Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The big draw for our family, though, is the beach and all the rocks. It is a beautiful place to sit and think and skip stones and stack stones and watch boats and relax. We enjoyed a little bit of all of that. Side note – you might want to remember the enormous ship in the photo below. There is more to that story. 🙂

After time at the beach, I am always anxious to find a restroom that is open. So, we bid the point goodbye and headed back into Paradise to stop at the convenience store. We used the facilities, purchased a few snacks and drinks for the trip back to the cabin, and headed back for our dinner date with my parents.

All in all, this was a really lovely day. It was peaceful and relaxing and had some of our favorite things with all of our favorite people. Have you ever been to Paradise, Michigan? What was your favorite thing to do there? Let me know in the comments.

May 2023 Adventure Date(s) – Senior Year Milestones and Graduation

November 27, 2023Posted in adventure, family, fun, relate, UncategorizedTagged adventure, adventure date, chorale concert, family fun, fun, graduation, newsies, prom, relate, senior musical, senior showcase, senior year, theatre banquet1 Comment

We have two daughters and our youngest graduated this year. Normally, you would hear that and think that we probably had it all figured out and under control since we did it all before. However, all I have to say is that our oldest graduated in 2020 and people instantly know that is not the case. It should have been our second time, but it was our first. Madeline graduated without the senior farewells and closure and ceremonies and parties that most seniors look forward to and get. She graduated by watching a recording on YouTube and then walking across a small stage on our football field to get a diploma from a member of our school board while only Keith and I watched. Maddie graduated without getting to build the set for her high school musical or compete in her underwater robotics competition or make her senior banner in the Fab Lab or hug her favorite teachers goodbye. People sent her cards and gifts from afar. She wouldn’t even get to see her grandparents (my parents) for almost a year until we were all vaccinated. It was not ideal, but it was what we could do. To say that all of us were working through that trauma while enjoying and working through the joy of Charlotte’s completely opposite experience is an understatement. We all struggled. I had a rather large amount of mom guilt. I joked that we had PTSD, but it wasn’t really a joke. This May was all the emotions amplified, all the happiness and pride mixed with the feelings of what should have been and what was taken away. It was a lot to work through for all of us, but also a wonderful and amazing gift.

So, May 2023 ended up being the month that we all worked on letting go of high school. It really started with Charlotte’s senior art show in April. We had no idea that Charlotte had this kind of artistic talent when she started high school – and now she is a Theatre Education major in college. We were so blown away with all of the art displayed – there is some crazy talent in Gahanna! Here is our girl with her senior display.

The first senior milestone in May was prom. It ended up being a bit of a fiasco because the group Charlotte went with were dancers and had a competition that day, but it all worked out. Photos were also not what we expected because the site they chose was under construction. We made the best of it, though, and I think the girls looked amazing and had a wonderful time.

Next came Newsies, where we had to work through the loss of 2 years of musicals we thought Charlotte would have. Not that we weren’t incredibly grateful that she got to participate in 2 musicals in great roles, but she had worked so hard for so long to be a part of the high school musicals, so 2 really didn’t seem like enough. However, we could not have asked for a more incredible senior show for Charlotte – she got to play the role of Finch and she danced her heart out and tap danced on a table. Everything that middle school Charlotte told us she would do someday when we saw her first production of Newsies. To say we were proud is an understatement. The cast and crew did an amazing job and we were left wishing it didn’t have to end. But, of course, it did. Here are a few actions shots of our girl and her theatre family in action.

After Newsies, everything seemed to move in fast forward. Suddenly, we were at the final day of high school for either of our girls. All those years of volunteering and boosters organizations and school drop offs and concerts and shows were coming to an end. It was a very bittersweet day for sure. Here are photos from Charlotte’s first day of kindergarten and last day of high school just because.

Charlotte’s Performance Studio had their Showcase next, and our girl acted on the high school stage with her friends for the last time. She also sang “For Good” from Wicked with a forever friend and then sang “Slipping Through My Fingers” from Mamma Mia because the girl loves making people cry with her songs I guess. They ended the night singing “From Now On” from The Greatest Showman for their director and theatre teacher because she retired at the end of the school year. They invited alumni to come back and sing, too, and it was an amazing surprise ending to a very beautiful night. I should mention here that I just traveled with a box of tissues through the entire month of May. Here are some Showcase photos.

The next day, I had the pleasure of knowing it was my very last time to do Chorale hair as Charlotte got ready for her final choir concert. They sang some beautiful songs, but I think my favorite was “Thank You for Being a Friend” from the Golden Girls. I have to admit, I really, really miss seeing our girl perform. I miss her singing in the shower and going to voice lessons and hearing her friends singing together when they are here. I was not prepared for our house to be so quiet and for our schedule to be quite so open. But this was a great concert and we were happy/sad to see her take her final bow for high school.

The final farewell we had before graduation was also probably the hardest for Keith and I. We had Charlotte’s theatre banquet where we would no longer be Performing Arts Boosters officers. That was something we had been involved in for 6 years – I was an officer for 5 of those years. But I know it is in great hands and will continue to serve the program for a long, long time. The surprise of the evening is that Charlotte came away with 2 awards. I am always proud of our girl and know that she gives her all, but having her directors and her peers both choose her for awards was an overwhelming feeling. The theatre program at GLHS had become her home, and she was so well loved there. We are so thankful. Here are a few photos of that evening.

And, suddenly, after 13 years of effort on the part of our beautiful baby girl, it was time for graduation. She and her best friend were chosen to sing the National Anthem (you can kind of see them in the first photo below) and there were speeches and dedications and send offs and then she became a high school graduate. I don’t think I was fully prepared for the chaos that would ensue outside as people tried to find each other and get photos, but it was wonderful to see all of the kids – whether we had known them since kindergarten or just gotten to know them this spring – celebrate together. It was so wonderful! I only wish that both of my girls had been able to enjoy that culmination of their efforts with their friends.

We did get to go out for lunch with our families after – Cheesecake Factory as far from Gahanna as we could get. And then we had an afternoon of open houses to attend and then prep for our party. But that is another post!

Have you ever had a child graduate from high school? What was their experience like? Let me know in the comments!

Let’s Try This Again

November 22, 2023Posted in adventure, create, family, fun, Goals, relateTagged adventure, catching up, create, family fun, fun, Goals, relateLeave a comment

Oh hi! Remember me? I know it’s been a minute. We got caught up in senior year craziness, next Beauty and the Beast took over our world for a while, and then the downhill slide to both girls starting at new colleges… It has been quite a year. We did not do Adventure and Create Dates every month. We did do a lot of adventuring and creating and relating, though. I wanted to take a minute to address the decision I made to step away from the blog for a few months. I wanted to be present for my family, and I knew that we were going to be too busy to plan specific dates each month. I knew that we were going to be using our resources on other things – it is time consuming and sometimes expensive to book all of our dates. Especially because I often need to do several months planning at a time. I knew I just didn’t have the bandwidth to keep up with it. So, I let it go for a time. But now I am feeling the tug to get back to it. We did do an official Create Date and a couple Adventure Dates in October. I have ideas for November – we will see how it goes.

So, anyway, I hope you will forgive my disappearance. And I hope you will enjoy the deluge of posts about to drop – there are 9 Adventures and 4 Create Dates to share in the next week or so. I hope to be caught up by December. And then we will continue. It’s going to be a great Holiday Season. Happy Thanksgiving friends! I hope you enjoy good food, loving families, and great friends!

January 2023 Create Date – Creating a Budget

January 30, 2023Posted in accountability, create, family, Goals, relateTagged budget, create, create date, Goals, relateLeave a comment

This month was a little rough as far as going on dates goes. I’m not going to lie, I thought we were going to have to skip it. Then I realized that we have some big goals coming up this year (travel, paying down debt, both girls in college in the fall) and we will probably need to be better about budgeting. So, we had a Create a Budget date at home.

I wish I could say that we didn’t find any surprises when we dove into our finances, but I would be lying. It is amazing how much we have been spending on restaurants – and I have actually been cooking a lot, so I would hate to see what it was just a couple months ago. Rising prices have not helped, but we have definitely gotten used to the convenience of grabbing food on the go or treating ourselves to a nice dinner more than we should.

We’ve also been spending more on coffee shops (Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Starbucks) than I would have ever suspected. I will take full ownership that this is mostly me, and I have been taking steps to eat breakfast at home more, so I know this will improve dramatically.

After analyzing several categories over the past few months, we have made a budget that should allow us to pay down some debt and also save some money towards other goals. We did not include my income in the budget, so that is where our Adventure and Create dates will likely come from and also where things like hair cuts, mani/pedis, and gifts will come from. It isn’t perfect and will likely need adjusted, but it should make a real impact on our spending habits.

For your viewing pleasure, here is our workspace and our faces when we finished.

Do you have a budgeting system? Any tips on things we should always include? Let us know in the comments! 🙂

December Adventure Date 1: The Christmas Tree Home

January 3, 2023Posted in adventure, family, fun, Goals, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, Christmas tree home, family, family fun, fun, relateLeave a comment

The last two years at Christmas, I have been aware of several friends and acquaintances touring a place called the Christmas Tree Home. After one friend in particular posted a link to a Facebook group, I joined in the hopes that we would be able to visit in the future. This year, I was alerted when they posted the sign up page, so I was able to snag us a time slot to visit. The home is only open 3 Saturdays and 3 Sundays each year, and the hours are quite limited. Probably because it is an actual house on a cul-de-sac and they are trying to be good neighbors.

When we arrived, we found a place to park and walked up to the house – as you can see, the weather cooperated to make the scene look quite wintery. The house was impressive even from the outside! The front porch reminded me of the department store window displays we used to go see when I was really young.

When we got inside, we were greeted with so. many. Christmas. trees. At last count, the owner, Barb, had 649 trees. They are all sizes and made from all materials. Barb also had a fun juke box where you could pick favorite Christmas songs to play. Oh, and also, there is a cat. My girls were very happy about that. 🙂 Here is just a small selection of her displays.

In addition, Barb offers everyone that visits a homemade cookie and what I hear is really amazing hot chocolate. You also have the opportunity to donate money to causes that help food insecure and homeless people in the Columbus area. Last I heard, they had raised over $2000, so that is fantastic.

While I don’t know that we will go every year, I do think this is worth at least one visit. It is impressive and Barb is a wonderful hostess. I definitely left with more Christmas spirit, and that’s never a bad thing.

Have you visited the Christmas Tree Home? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!

September 2022 Adventure Date – Hocking Hills Old Man’s Cave Lower Falls and Chapel Cave

September 15, 2022Posted in adventure, family, fun, Goals, relateTagged adventure, adventure date, Chapel Cave, family, family fun, fun, Hiking, Hocking Hills, Old Man's Cave, WaterfallsLeave a comment

This past weekend, three of us were able to get away to Hocking Hills for the day. Living only about an hour away from Hocking Hills has been so wonderful – we try to make it to the park at least a couple times each year. My favorite time to be in the woods is Fall with all the beautiful colors, followed closely by Winter when everything in white and frozen. It is still very much Summer, but we have to go when we have the time. I’m hoping for another trip this Fall, but we will have to wait and see.

We started out at Old Man’s Cave. The new Welcome Center has been standing for a few years now, but with COVID restrictions, it was never open when we were there. So, we were excited to check it out before hiking. We did not wander the whole place, but we did enjoy the upstairs space, and I am sure we will be back to check out the gift shop soon. It is a really beautiful building and I love the enormous map on the wall by the help desk.

We have been to Old Man’s Cave recently, but we’ve stuck to the upper falls area for the past several years. So, we decided the time had come to return to the lower part of the area. It was super crowded and there were so many people on the trail until it split – most people went to the actual cave part of the trail, so we decided very quickly to take the other way. We continued on down to the lower falls where it was actually not too hard to get photos without people for a change. It might be because it was a bit cooler (although still really humid), so no one was swimming under the falls. I know that I sound like an old “keep those kids off my lawn” stick in the mud, but I believe in following trail signs. If it says no wading or swimming, I stay out of the water. If it says stop, no hiking beyond this point, I stop. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun, but I also want these parks to be open to the public for everyone’s enjoyment for a long time to come.

Waterfall by steps that go down near the Welcome Center

After we had that hike under our belts, we headed to a completely new-to-us area of the park – the Rock Climbing and Rappelling Area. It is very near to Conkle’s Hollow – one of my favorite parts of the Hocking Hills Area. The area is not well marked, especially if you are coming from inside – the signs all point the other direction, so we ended up having to turn around and back track. Once we parked in the gravel lot, we did not cross the street to get to the actual Rock Climbing and Rappelling area, we instead followed the bridle trail located at the far end the parking lot. Being that it was a bridle trail, we had to constantly be watching where we stepped – the horses in Hocking Hills are apparently very well fed. Keith and Charlotte wished they had put on bug spray, but I did not have any problems. We did encounter A LOT of mud, and we had to do some creek crossings, so waterproof hiking boots are a must if you choose to do this hike. I did not take photos of the worst parts of the trail, but here are a few photos of the not so bad parts.

We followed the orange blazes and then the white blazes. Pretty soon, we saw a sign that said “No horses beyond this point.” I took that as a sign that we were supposed to take the trail up, but it turned out that it was a more difficult and roundabout way that would have led to a double waterfall if there was more water in the creeks. Keith has pretty much told me he will not hike this again (he hates mud and mess), so we will not be seeing the Twin Falls near Chapel Cave. We did eventually come to the cave, though. When we arrived there was a group of people on horseback in the cave, so we communicated with them about where we should be to make their horses feel safe. This cave is also called 21 Horse Cave because you could supposedly fit 21 horses in it, so it was kind of cool to get to see horses here.

Ignore how shiny we all are – it was so humid!!

After we explored the inside of the cave, it was time to head back. On the way back, we accidentally took a different path through one of the really, really muddy parts and Charlotte ended up stuck in pretty deep mud – not quite over her boots. I found a path around to help pull her out, and thankfully her boots stayed on her feet. She waded in the water a bit to clean off the mud, but then her socks and boots were pretty wet. So, we headed for the car as quick as we could to get her cleaned off a bit. Thankful for wet wipes and napkins and a stash of plastic bags in the back of the car! Obviously this put an end to our hiking for the day, but we were all pretty ready to go home and shower anyway.

Our reviews of this one were a little mixed. I loved the hike because it was challenging. Keith hated the mud and bugs. Charlotte loved the adventure and was happy until the wet boots at the end. I am going to give it an 8/10 just because I can see how it is not the perfect hike for everyone.

Have you ever been to Hocking Hills? What is your favorite area of the park? Have you been to Chapel Falls? Let us know in the comments! 🙂