Getaway

Trevor and I left yesterday morning (was it only yesterday?) as early as we dared for Mackinac Island. My sister and brother-in-law came to be with the girls, as we had a mini vacation with lots of kid-free plans.

We swapped lives for the night, which was agreeable to all, for the most part (I'll get to that later). Trevor and I arrived on the island and, after checking into our hotel (quaint and lovely with a four-poster canopied bed and a view of the bridge), took off for an afternoon of biking. He being a trail rider and my being a road rider, we compromised and first flew around the island, dodging tourists and horse poop. We then rode up into the middle of the island, up, up, up to the very top and around to the various sights. Since the island had recently seen rain, we rode on streets and trails that were horse poop soup, and, I regret to write, were covered in the sludge from the tops of our heads ("Your hair looks like leopard print!") to our toes. We had a small lunch, drinks, coffee, showers and went to a fantastic 5:30 church service that was fun, fast and whole. Every parish should follow suit. It was one of our favorite parts of our trip.

We had a great dinner and drinks, a SANDERS CREAM PUFF (Sanders is new on the island this year, and truly, as we were walking down the street I was saying to Trevor, "I was talking to my second-cousin yesterday on Facebook about Sanders and how it's sad that I'll probably never have another cream puff," and he said, "Hey look, there's a Sanders.") and then sat in our rocking chairs outside our hotel and had a beer. Then, we went to bed. Kind of lame, but hey, we got 10 hours of sleep and when was the last time that happened? Four years ago?

In the morning we had a great breakfast, tons of coffee and decided to go for a walk before we hit the bikes again. We started talking and took a few trails that were more "interesting" than "practical," and ended up on a nearly 3-hour walk, after which the ice cream and fudge we then ate were completely justified. We parked ourselves in a booth in Horns Bar, drank beer and played cards for an hour before ordering lunch. We left the island a little wistfully, relatively buzzed from both sugar and beer, and completely tired. We were also looking forward to getting our arms around our girls, because in truth we really did miss them.

They were elated and naughty when they saw us, and pleased with the Elmo tees we brought not because they needed a Mackinac souvenir (we live close enough that going there doesn't require gifts every time), but because we thought they'd really dig the fashion and we were right.

Andrea and Nick were... ready for us to be home, I think. While they love our children nearly as much as we do, they were surprised at how long the days pass while entertaining two under four. I admit that in hearing that I was a tiny bit pleased to know it's not just me who watches the clock each day, and also a tiny bit nervous that they'd assume caring for our kids might be a reflection on wanting kids of their own. "It's different when they're you're own!" we told them. They agreed, but I remember when Trevor and I watched a neighbor's children overnight before we had our own, and we may have put having kids off a bit longer than we had originally planned afterward.

We're already planning our anniversary trip. It was great to get away for the night, bike and walk and eat and drink without sharing, stopping, waiting, bargaining or consoling, and we feel refreshed to get on with it all tomorrow. The girls had a wonderful time painting, swinging, dancing, dressing up, making Jell-o and climbing up Uncle Nick's body like a tower. A vacation for all (maybe not Nick) and a fun week to look forward to. We are a lucky lot.

A Fantastic Not-Such-A-Surprise Party

On Friday Trevor's mom came over to stay with the girls while he and I went to Grand Rapids for the night. It was our first time leaving Marta overnight, but we weren't perplexed by it. (Trevor is never perplexed by this. I guess I should note that I wasn't worried, and he was his usual never-worried-about-anything self.) She's 18 months old in a week-and-a-half and is fully weaned and sleeping through the night. She was fine, Berit was fine, everyone was fine.

We went downstate to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday with a surprise party at The Crush nightclub in The B.O.B. Sixty of her friends came and we had an amazing time, even though she knew about the party more than a little bit. We can never, ever surprise her. 

During the party the guests got together in groups and performed skits for her and including her, as we've all spent the past 20 year performing in skits, shows and festivals that she's hosted. Who knew that her current position at Spectrum Health would have the majority of Greenville's finest doing the can-can, dressing up as politicians or pretending to be on game shows? Well, we dished it back and she loved it. 

Afterward, most of the guests stayed on when The Crush was opened to the public, then a smaller group kept the party going upstairs on the dance floor. At the end of the night/morning, when it had been Time To Go for hours already, I looked at the remaining people and was pleased to note that it was just our family -- Mom, Den, Andrea, Nick, Trevor and me. (Dave had to leave once the bar was open to the public since he's not yet 21.) Without meaning to, we had outlasted everyone else. I thought it was appropriate.

Trev and I were staying at the J.W. Marriott and walked there afterwards with my parents, for whom we had gotten a room as part of the birthday fun (four floors away, thank you very much). But we decided we were starving (a great surprise for me, as Trevor is never hungry and I always am) and went across the street to grab a bite at a diner that was obviously closing but welcoming nonetheless. When all was said and done, we had slept in until 10:30 a.m. -- the latest I've slept in FOUR YEARS (though we still only got a handful of hours' sleep, after all the revelry of the night before) -- and walked to breakfast where we ate a cinnamon roll the size of the plate it was on (which was big) and made plans to open a bakery/brewery once the kids go to school. Why not?

It was a great overnight getaway and much-needed by both of us. Pictures of my shoes to come.

P.S.: Regarding my previous post about the drive down, Trevor again surprised me by pulling out a book of his own and wanting to read it while I drove, giving me the chance to listen to my audiobook. I know some of you told me to bond with him the whole time, but the drive was three hours long and we did end up in a gratifying discussion about some of the stuff he was reading. So it was great.