Family Summer Evenings

It's been an extra hot summer here in Michigan.  

We live with no a/c and mostly it has not bothered us, but sometimes by the evening the stagnant heat is unbearable.  On such nights it would be crazy to fire up the stove or oven so instead of cooking dinner the family is simply offered chilled watermelon, kale/berry smoothies or a special trip to Gee's for ice cream.  

These outings usually come with very little notice just at the breaking point of over heated parents, we'll call out, "who wants to get ice cream? who wants to go swimming? get your bathing suits on and hop in the van".  Unlike trying to get out the door for church or other events the entire family is ready and in the van within minutes, maybe because these summer evening activities are simply "come as you are".

We are lucky to live just miles from a great lake and I think it is funny that I had no idea it was here until this summer, oh the hot and wasted evenings of last summer! But the kids now know the routine very well, grab a noodle, kick off the crocs, sink right in and let all the melted ice cream wash away.

It is always more fun when Daddy is along because he's in there chest deep throwing the kids, splashing and even serving as the diving board.

 

I usually just remain knee deep with baby Charles wrapped on my side, all the while squinting as I count heads and yell at the kids to not swim out so far.  

There's really nothing fancy about this lake, I've been told by a few other locals they've had the same playground equipment for nearly 30 years.  And there's really nothing fancy about our routine to get there, no road trip, reservation or exclusive membership required.  Probably what makes it so great is the simplicity and lack of planning, we go because it is simply too hot to do anything else.  And in the end I realize there is nothing I'd rather being doing any way.  Oh the joy of family summer evenings and the excuse to enjoy the seasons of life with the ones I love most.   

  

Reunioning

It is a joy to be together with family.  I come from a very large family, together with my parents, my siblings and their children there are over 100 of us, and logistically it is like parting waters to make an event and photo like this happen.  It only happens every other year but it is worth it.

I honestly cannot say we all found joy in the planning of such event though.  My mom continually  responded peaceably, and with the same sense of regret most moms get when their children are not getting along she'd say, "it is really hard to please so many people".  But somewhere along the escalating emails and phone calls leading up to the event someone simply stated:  "Come what may and love it."  So that became the reunion theme.

The night before the official reunion started my mom and dad found themselves with a house full of 50 members of their family who after traveling so far just couldn't wait to visit with them.  So my mom did her magic and in less than 30 minutes had a meal for all them!  From then on it was non-stop activities, feeding and visiting.

In the middle of it my brother Jeff asked, "so Al, are you having fun?".   My response was, "define fun."  I know it was "fun" for my children but honestly with so much action and activity I craved more intimate conversation with those who I have not seen in a couple of years.

We joked about setting up an activity like speed dating where everyone has a set time to catch up with one individual then when the buzzer sounds you move to the next person.  Jeff then said, "well, are you enjoying yourself?", of course the answer was "yes" and I then shared with him one of my favorite moment of the reunion, it is actually pictured below.  It is of my two daughters dancing with his two daughters in Oma and Opa's driveway. These girls who just days previous were as good as strangers to each others found instant connection, Maryanna and Elise, and Clara and Melissa.  While the adults were fumbling with the logistics of where to go, and when and what to wear or bring, these girls embraced each other and sang and danced as if they were a couple of lost souls who have once again found each other, it was like a soul reunion.  That was a joyful moment, enough to make the long trip worth it. 

And then there were the parties.  First at Airborne Sports where both the kids and adults jumped and bounced till we were red in the face and sore in the legs.

There were also a couple of pool parties with yummy catered food and enough children splashing in the pools to required all parents to be on guard in addition to hired life guards.    

There was also a party at the park with music, dancing, arts and crafts, games, ice blocking and giant sub sandwiches.

My brother Doug surprised everyone and arranged for a snow cone truck to show up.  There was a long line....................

and many happy children.

The family photo was taken the next day downtown next to temple square.

After James got to take off with his cousins to explore the new City Creek Center.

While the younger ones trailed around Temple Square with us parents.

Later in the afternoon my parents hosted a fancy reception for everyone at the Lion House, in the very same room I attended a reception for my grandparents when I was a child.  Lion house rolls are famous, so fluffy and delicious, and whipped honey butter makes it almost a dessert, I had three all nicely smothered.
 

By this time George had had his fill of reunioning, he independently removed his socks and shoes and found an empty space of carpet by our table and went right to sleep.  I just let him be, and with the others off in the company of their cousins I enjoyed sitting at an almost empty table with just Paul eating our rolls with plenty of whipped honey butter.

And then there was the down time, we did find bits of it.  My mom was concerned that not everyone got reunion t-shirts so she set up a silk screen station in her basement.

Down there in the basement my mom told me about her college days running for student body secretary of University of Utah.  She built a silk screen to create posters for her campaign, she said it made real crisp posters, she got her name out there and she won.

Meanwhile the kids spent most their down time passing around a handful of ipads and iphones.  They were good at taking turns and it is amazing how many eyes can hover over such a small screen.  I suppose sharing small screens makes for close cousins.

Probably my favorite activity of the reunion was bonding with my teen aged nieces.  My mom asked me to arrange and facilitate a craft for this older crowd to enjoy.  So I went to a local bead shop and got supplies for them all to make leather wrap bracelets.  With their hands kept busy the digital devices were set down and what we enjoyed was a women's circle a kin to what our shared women ancestors may have enjoyed while cooking, quilting, sewing or weaving.

I shared with them some of the wonderful, horrible, embarrassing and magical moments of my teen aged years and they shared with me their visions, goals and aspirations for the future. There was a connection and I left with the realization that we share the same blood and the significance of that.  Oh how I love these young women even more now!
  

As I do everyone who I was able to see and reconnect with.  I am so grateful to my parents for having a large family and the efforts they still make in encouraging us, despite the number of individuals and distances between us, to remain a close and connected family.

We came and we loved it!

Traveling by Train

For the fifth year in a row the boys have enjoyed the tradition of riding a train from Michigan to Colorado with Nanny and Poppy.

This was Peter's first year and he especially loved the dinning car.  William rode on the ride out and James took the return trip.  We are happy for this great tradition and opportunity to build memories with their grandparents and I am always so happy to have them back home.  

Here's Maryanna at the old station in Michigan waiting for their return.  

Maryanna did not wait a minute to spell out all the farm news.  Here she is exaggerating about how tall the baby chicks grew.  And Peter trailing behind, he said while managing his suitcase, "carrying buckets of water everyday sure helped me build the strength to carry my own luggage."

Nanny and Poppy remained on the train until their stop just an hour down the tracks.  We all waved good bye to them and are now looking into the possibility of just for fun visiting them by train.

The Faces of a really long Roadtrip

We just returned home from 32 hours in the van, 1,650 miles, it was a long drive for such a short visit.  Driving in a van filled with young children is something that one usually blocks out.......but I chose to capture a moment of it.  Here are the faces that I saw somewhere in Nebraska somewhere on I-80.

Here's Paul, the primary driver, chewing on headphones while chewing away miles and digesting hours of "Deconstructing Dinner" podcasts".  Kind of ironic that the majority of the miles led us between fields of GMO's, the very antithesis of all the pod casts. He kept at it with only the occasional pause to share an idea about permaculture or a bit of disgust about the industrialized food chain. Paul was the MVP of this road trip, he was alert and focused and got us safely home.   

Here's George, chewing on a peach.  He was a good little passenger, spending most his time eating, sleeping, pointing out motorcycles and kicking the back of the driver's seat.  Each time he spotted a motorcycle he'd say "I see Peggy's motorcycle" (Peggy is the favorite babysitter who also rides motorcycles).  He also decided he wanted to use the potty on this trip because he realized going to the potty meant getting unbuckled.  We'd be driving and he'd call out "I need to go potty so bad!"  But I called his bluff and answered "Good thing you have a diaper on cutie!"  

Charles was a good little passenger as well, when not sleeping he spent most his time chewing on his feet and toys.  Maryanna's seat faces him so it was her job to keep him entertained and during even the worst moments he never tired of blankie peek-a-boo, shifting right from crying to laughing.  Towards the end of the trip though he'd start crying at just the sound of the clip from the car seat knowing that was the sound of miles of confinement.

Maryanna borrowed my old ipod and belted out the songs, here she is singing along to Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood's version of I Fall to Pieces.  We do not have any entertainment system or even a stereo in our van, only an am/fm radio that can be patchy along remote areas.  Maryanna occasionally offered me an earphone but mostly she served as my radio, and I sang along to her.

Meanwhile William was very patient.  With his two closest brothers James and Peter taking their turn on the California Zephyr with Nanny and Poppy, William said he was even too bored to sleep.  He found a cozy spot on the floor of the van and as I begged him to buckle up safely all I could think of was the countless cozy road trip miles I spent on the van floor.  Mostly he wished he had his brothers along but added that an ipad would have helped.

Henry was restless.  In the way back row it was hard to keep him buckled in as well.  He did a great job of being the first one to have his crocs on and ready to hop out when we stopped.  He liked sharing a row with William and playing Legos and finger puppets with him.  Henry let the whole van know when the play did not go his way, his scream on occasion drowned out Maryanna's singing and the younger two's crying combined.  But mostly he was a happy passenger.

Clara was content to look out the window and simply watch what we were passing.  She took good care of "Cowy" and "Baby Abby" and really liked when she got treats like yogurt, Joe-Joe's and crackers.  She too helped keep Charles smiling and was so happy to pick up a free map of Michigan at the welcome center.  She did not like the times when she was thirsty and her water bottle tasted "rotten".

I survived.  I tried to sleep when I could, nursed quickly at the gas pumps, handed out food when it was requested, and sat in the driver's seat when needed.  I tried not to look too closely in the mirror at the rest stops and let my comfortable traveling dress serve as a spit up cloth.

Paul and I were both too tired and focused to talk or laugh much but we did hold hands on occasion and that helped.  He treated me to a quick shopping spree at the Sierra Trading Post Outlet in Cheyenne where the prices were an additional 50% off clearance, I scored a new down coat, a pair of shoes and some comfy linen pants.  That was a good stop, as was the hip wireless sandwich shop in Laramie and the organic pioneer food co-op in Iowa City.  I always say a road trip is only as good as the food and the company so on that account I'd say this was a great one!
   

Still, we were living out of our van and it sure looked and smelled like it, it even sounded like it.   Here is the scene as we waited roadside for our food at the pioneer food-coop.  This specialty grocery store neighbors an intuitive counseling office and airing the van out right in front of the office a kind woman from inside inquired if we were in need of assistance.  I reassured her that all was well, that we were just passing through and we were waiting for Paul who was picking up food. Anyway, it is good to know there are kind intuitive women out there willing to lend a hand to another woman and a stinky van full of screaming children.
  

Lastly, here is the party favor that my mom offered us at the family reunion luncheon.  It is a solar powered dancing flower with a sticker displaying the famous quote from my Dad's cousin Elder Wirthlin, "Come what may and love it."  My mom reminded us that if we stay on the sunny side of all situations we can remain dancing.  I thought the dashboard of the van would be a great place to display this reminder, it was there dancing through the last stretch that seemed unbearable.

So happy for the memories of the trip and happy to be home.

Harvesting

It's been hard to keep up with a record of our busy days here.  We are learning that the work in  summertime is constant.

Two weeks ago Paul got his first cutting of hay in.  Before starting he studied the equipment manuals for three days and greased up a few of his favorite T-shirts getting them all in working order, this kind of mechanical work is very new to him.  Some neighbors, friends and experienced farmers were skeptical but with the help of a few hands from church he go the job done.

Everyone helped where they could, but mostly the little ones were in the way.  

All the while the older boys were building strong muscles.

Meanwhile I've been working on the first harvests in the garden.  It has been very warm so the garlic is already ready.  The night before leaving for our cross country trip I'm quickly digging up rows of it and setting it out on make shift drying racks in the garage.

I did not get it all in, and I don't know what will become of the ready garlic that was left in the soil but we brought it what we could and it was over two huge basketfuls.

The kids are already dressed in the family reunion t-shirts because they are excited and ready for our family gathering in Utah.  I on the other hand am almost in tears wondering what I will return home to in the garden in two weeks.  I've already had a few bad dreams about bolting cabbage and hoping enough good friends come by and harvest what they can.

Sometimes it is hard to give my full attention to garden work but I'm trying not to beat myself up over it.  While I was working on garlic the two younger boys decided to thin the carrots on their own.  Here they show off their pickings with what they gathered from the nesting boxes, Henry found an egg and George collected a golf ball.  Later in the evening when I was tucking Henry in bed I discovered he was saving his carrots under his pillow "in case he got hungry in the night".  Good thing he did not stash the egg there also.

The blueberries are just about ready.  I think we'll miss the full harvest of them so I encouraged our farm sitter to take what he could but requested one freezer bag for our family to enjoy upon our return.

We've also been harvesting piles of kale, swiss chard, bok choy, napa cabbage, lettuce, turnips and beets.  It's been a joy to collect a portion of our meals straight from the garden.  But it has also been a lot of work so although I wish to snap artsy photos for all to share the joy, I just simply forget.

But the reality of the scene below had to be captured and shared.  A fresh picked turnip, still dusted with soil and with a bite taken out of it, was found laying in the play room among random junk and toys.  We all are finding our own way of enjoying it, the harvest, may it continue when we return.