Shipshewana, The Fourth

Sunday was a big day. After church Steven and Lucy got their patriarchal blessings. The rest of the kids hung out in the nursery room while we did this. The grandparents got to go in with us which was really special. Both of their blessings were a lot more specific than mine was and I am not sure how I feel about that. Lucy went first and some things that stood out to me were that it talked about her choosing a good college, writing curriculum for the church and traveling with her callings. It told her the temple will be a place where she finds answers. It also talked about her being a wife and mom which made me tear up because it is hard to imagine my daughter all grown up. Steven went next and some things that stood out were that it talked about him serving a mission, marrying his second love, being financially well off and it his also spoke about traveling for his callings later in life. At the end of his we found out that he was from the branch of Judah which was surprising because after Lucy's the patriarch had told us how 95% of memebers came from Ephraim. Definitely a monumental day.

Monday I made a spontaneous decision to get some of us out of the house on a day trip while Tyler demolished the bathroom. All the girls, me, poppy and Grams left to Jones Michigan after Ruby's nap. (Steven had a dr's appt so he couldn't come and Ben was not interested in joining us) There is really nothing at all in Jones but it was only 30 minutes out from an Amish town in Indiana that had some fun things. The drive their was full of the girls being obnoxiously loud and asking constantly if we were there- it was literally only a 2.5 hour drive so that was annoying. That night we got some food at DQ where Ruby had little bites of everyone's food and then lots of ice cream. Then we hit up Walmart for some groceries and made it to our bnb. The bnb was right off an interstate but not a busy one. It was pretty decent but Grams did not sleep well that night because there was a light from outside shining in her window. 

Tuesday morning we headed off to the Shipshewana Flea Market. The drive to it was pretty neat because we saw lots of Amish people in their buggies on our way. It was a warm day but in the shade it wasn't too bad, especially when their was a cool breeze blowing. I saw a few things I wanted but ended up not buying them because life has been expensive lately...although I really want a concrete goose to dress up and keep by my front door. Grams and Poppy were nice and got Penny and Lucy something. I was going to buy the things for them but everyone charged a huge fee for credit cards. I should have brought cash. They got Penny a cute Shipshewana shirt and Lucy a crochet turtle. We all admired some porch swings while we were there and enjoyed resting on them. We also got some delicious soft pretzels. 

Our second stop of the day was the Dutch Creek Animal Farm. I made a fool of myself twice while there. The first time we pulled up and it said to pay at the booth before entering and it seemed like the people in the car in front of us were just sitting in their car and not getting out to pay so I got out and went inside to check about paying. The man basically told me to wait my turn because I guess he had already taken their card. Awkward. Then once we parked, we saw a wagon loading up and I assumed we were able to just get on one but my mom needed to use a bathroom so I asked if they would wait or if we needed to load up on the next one. The man told me we had to wait until "the girls came" and told us it was our turn. I felt stupid again. After those embarrassing moments, we had a lot of fun. One of the amish girls did come and tell us it was our turn and the wagon tour was very cool. We all got a bowl of feed and got to feed so many different animals- ponies, deer, bisons, zebras, cows, horses, bulls...Ruby wanted to feed them but could not figure out how to angle her hand quite right so she would take mine and get me to feed them (it was always a slimey experience when they ate from your hand). Penny kept saying how much fun she was having so I know it was a hit. Even the grandparents seemed to have a good time.

When we finished the wagon ride we were able to walk through another area with animals that we could pet- ducklings, bunnies, goats, ponies and my favorite, alpacas!

By the time we finished walking through, it was time to go back to the airbnb so Poppy and Ruby could take a nap. I thought we might be done for the day after naps but the girls were complaining of boredom so we ventured back out to Shipshewana. We ate some more amazing pretzels. When I went to pay for them, I couldn't find my wallet for a moment and had to take out the contents of my backpack on the counter to find it, super cool of me.

When we finished eating the pretzels, we had only a little bit of time before everything close because apparently every thing shuts down at 5pm. We managed to hit a couple of stores- a puzzle store, a toy store and a candy store- and then I decided to let the girls ride the carousel. The man running was very iritated that we wanted to ride it so close to closing time (there were 15 minutes left). He shut down the token machine right after I used it. Then he got upset when I told him my daughter was still coming (Lucy was still buying some things at the candy shop). I almost thought he wasn't going to wait for her. We still finished the ride with 7 minutes to spare before 5. He made sure to let us know that everything was closing at 5pm so we needed to go!

Since everything was closed, we headed to Walmart to pick up some TV dinners and then went back to bnb for the night. Ruby was not happy about sleeping in the bnb and she went to bed screaming. When I finally went in for the night, I saw the pack n play was empty and I almost had a heart attack until I saw her sleeping on my bed- apparently she had climbed out.

Wednesday morning we headed out bright and early since I had a doctor's appointment at 11am. The drive home went fairly smoothly and we were able to make it home with no stops and less complaining from the girls. My doctor's appointment was actually kind of nice because I feel like the nurse and doctor are my friends, lol. Most of the appointment was us just catching up on each other's lives. 

Wednesday evening Steven had his senior pictures. I used someone different than our usual photographer because she was much more affordable and I think it was a good switch. She was really nice (she did well with Steven and her husband helps out and was good to chat with while I watched), she took some great pics of Steven and she got them back to us in less than a week which is majorly impressive. Here are a few of the gems.

Thursday was a day full of errand running and getting things ready for the fourth but we did fit in a fun stop at the playground by the library and a little visit to the library as well. The library just opened up a decent little "friends of the library" book store that might be a temptation to me. That night we also took Grams and Poppy out to the Filling Station to celebrate their anniversary. They were a little slower than usual but the food was still fantastic. It was nice to have a kid free night out with my parents. Hopefully we can do more of that when they move out here for good.

Friday was the fourth and we decided to go the fourth of July parade of Northville. Tyler stayed at home to continue to work on the bathroom remodel and Steven was sleeping (and we didn't have enough room in the traverse for him) so we left him behind. We got there about an hour early and that was good timing. Still plenty of parking and we were able to find a mostly shady spot to sit with our friends the Mays. In the beginning Ruby got missed for candy so a nice guy gave her a lollipop. She immediately set to eating it and then more candy came so she threw down the lollipop to eat the gummy lifesavers. But when someone from the parade handed her even more candy she did not know what to do and just stared at it. She was overloaded. All in all it was good parade and everyone enjoyed it and for me the bonus  was there were no parking issues or traffic going home.

 

I did some more bbq preparations after the parade and then it was time for the bbq to begin. Steven had to work at Taco Bell that night so he missed out on all the festivities which was a huge bummer. We had the May's and Towne's join us and it was a really nice time. The food was good, the water balloons were a massive hit with all the kids (even Penny joined in with a garbage bag on her arm) and after that they went through tons of sparklers. Ruby was a little scary with the sparklers but had some fun too.

When everyone had left we brought out the ice cream cake that I had made so we could wish my dad a happy early birthday.

Then after celebrating my dad, we went and saw some fireworks at Long Lake. My parents stayed home with sleeping Ruby and Steven was still working. We got there about 45 minutes early but I think we would have been ok getting there just 30 minutes early. The kids brought the Switch to play while we waited because they are screen addicted. The show was nice but I kind of wish we had had Ruby there...maybe next year...

Saturday was not the most exciting day. I had to take my parents back to the airport which was sad, and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning and catching up on things. 

Adventures

Sunday during church, Renee and Mia (Steven's friends, my former yw) were nice and had Ruby sit with them for most of sacrament. It was good to have a little break from Ruby. She had been super fussy that morning. Primary left me still feeling like more of a teacher than a member of the presidency but that could be partially my fault. I probably could exert more effort. That evening Tyler broke out the treats that he bought the kids from Cedar Point and Ruby had a lollipop the size of her head. After that Lucy and Penny had fun playing with the hose. Boy can Ruby shriek but they were all mostly happy shrieks. She really loves water.

Monday morning I ran to Krogers to get a few things and when I pulled in to the driveway, a couple stopped to talk to me about my parents moving in across the street. They were the ones who wanted their son to buy the house. I felt super awkward. Like am I supposed to apologize that my parents got the house and their son did not? Shortly after I came back, Steven had his friends over. Mia was in town and she is very much the one that gets them all together in real life (and not just virtually on computers). My house was very full of junk food eating, video game playing teens. Also that morning, Julie invited me to meet her and her boys at the beach last minute. I took her up on the offer and me, Ruby and Lucy met her there. Ruby is such a fish, she loves the water and makes me super nervous. She loves being on her belly and lifting her head up- I call it her mermaid pose.We had been there about an hour when I got a phone call from the orthodontist asking where Penny was. I had Penny's appointment time wrong- I thought the appointment was at 11:40 but it was 10:40. We all rushed home and I quickly took Penny there. They are ready to do braces on Penny and want $5500 to do them. I wanted to cry. I gave them a flakey answer and went home and talked to Tyler about it. I think we will do them in January so we don't totally kill our finances this year.

That afternoon the teens were still at our home (even though Steven had left to work) and I had to go pick up my parents at the airport. I let them know that they needed to be gone before I came back. I'm so rude, lol. They did end up leaving shortly before I came back and they went to visit Steven at Taco Bell.

Traffic was awful on the way to the airport- it took me an hour to get the airport. It only took 35 minutes to get back home. When we got home, Ruby was not scared of Poppy and Grams Brady at all. It seems that video chatting weekly with them really did help her feel more comfortable.

Tuesday I chauffeured kids around and Grams and Poppy closed on the house across the street. They now own it- that happened so fast! But unfortunately the owner needs the home until mid July so they don't get to stay there yet. Such a bummer because they could be working on cleaning it out while they were here and we could really use that bathroom while Tyler remodels ours.

Tuesday evening we went to watch Ben's soccer game. He is currently in the high school summer league. The weather was questionable and we ended up getting rained on for the first bit but it wasn't a heavy rain. His team tied so not the most fabulous game but it is fun to watch. Ruby enjoyed shouting "Go Ben!" and walking on the slippery bleachers- of course she slipped once and gave us all a heart attack.

On Wednesday the grandparents took the boys- Ben and Steven- on a special outing to Dave and Busters and to Subway for lunch. I am glad they had some special bonding time. Steven is so busy working for Taco Bell so since he was off, we had to utilize that time. Then later for dinner Tyler, Poppy, Ben and Steven went to Texas Roadhouse. It was a boys day for sure. The rest of us had a very quiet day at home.

Thursday afternoon Grams and I went to Ikea so she could get some inspiration for her new place. We didn't buy anything, although there was a table mirror on display that she wanted to buy but no one seem to know where the ones for purchase were. We walked a lot of steps trying to find them to no but no luck. The traffic back home was awful. I hope my parents don't regret buying a house here with all the crazy traffic. 

Thursday evening was another soccer game for Ben. We went with my parents and Ruby again and the weather was actually decent. Ben's team did not win again which was a bummer.

On Friday the grandparents took the girls- Lucy,Penny and Ruby plus me- on a special shopping trip. We went to a toy store in Ferndale. I am not sure it was worth the drive but it did have a ton of stuffies so the girls were happy. It was an interesting toy store because it also had a lot of adult books, socks and things with bad words. It even had a p*nis finger puppet book that Penny put her finer in because she thought it said Penny and was not paying attention. Super awkward, she turned very red when I told her why she needed to put that back. The grandparents spoiled them and let them all pick out some things. Now we have even more stuffies consuming our home. After that we walked to a used book store where Poppy found some books. Then we drove to Detroit Cookie Co and got a dozen delicious cookies to save for after lunch. 

On Saturday we went to Frankenmuth. Everyone but Tyler (who was fixing the Surburban) and Steven (who had work) went. Our main goal was to get my mom her belated mother's day gift-cherry chocolate covered pretzels from Cherry Republic. We stopped at Bronner's first though and strolled the aisles. Ruby really loved the Christmas tree section and did not want to leave that area. Grams wanted to buy a purple Christmas tree to put in her new purple living room ;). The other 3 kids enjoyed looking at the ornaments and trying to figure out which one they are going to want for Christmas.

After Bronner's we went to the shopping center that had Cherry Republic. The kids all go crazy over there free candly samples. Poppy even gave Ruby a cherry chocolate covered pretzel and she managed to smear that all over her lips, looked rather creepy. We went to the t-shirt shop next but I was not impressed and neither was Ruby- she was getting super fussy. Grams was feeling cold though, and bought herself a sweater. Everyone went to look at a few more things while I sat by a creek and watched Ruby throw rocks in to it. She was really being a toddler at that point. On our way home we hit up Culvers which is always a good one.

We had a quiet night back at home- orange chicken for dinner and we watched "Arthur the King". I think Poppy liked it, it is a feel good movie.