A BH Thanksgiving 2008

In what has become a tradition now, we headed up the the BH to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our plan was to celebrate with the Sneathens on the real day and then

to celebrate again on Friday with Grandpa Lu, Grandma Dorena, Aunt Lisa and Aunt Bernice at Grandpa's house. It sounded like a good plan...

So, the Sneathens showed up on Wednesday with enough snow and time to sled the drive way a little. The boys played a lot of Star Wars Monopoly at Gret's push. That boy loves that game! Todd wasn't feeling well, so he stayed drink free but the rest of us, had some drinks (I'm not saying who had the most...that lush will remain nameless.)

On Thanksgiving Day Reece made the table decorations while Dan got the turkey going and Shel and I did the rest. We made our famous sweet Italian sausage and mozzarella stuffing along with the traditional mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (or were they yams? It's debatable!), rolls, cranberry sauce, and of course pumpkin and apple pie! It was a feast. Everyone yummed it up. Even Todd whose health had taken a turn for the worst. After dinner, Zachary, Gret and Reece entertained us all with a Webkinz comedy show, while Daniel kept up a Candyland marathon and did his own magnifique rendition of a Thanksgiving song. Oh yeah, and Todd started hanging out farther and farther away from us...quarantining himself. Before the night was over there was charade playing and a Shrek Dance Party, too. Good times.

On Friday morning, Todd awoke with according to Daniel "red menace in his eyes!" Pink eye alert! Lucky for him I had an extra bottle of pink eye medication in my toiletry case. So the Sneathens took off for GR and a walk in clinic. Poor Todd.

We hung out for a while, then went into town to rent a video, and pick up a few things before heading to Grandpa Lu's for round 2 of turkey.

Let me just start this section off by saying before we left to go up north, I went to Belle Tire to get our snow tires put back on the van. Last year we bought 2 snow tires from Belle Tire and never had any problems in all our driving up and back. But this year, when I went in, the guy gave me a hard time about just putting on 2 tires. I told him I didn't know why it would be a problem, since they were the ones who sold them to be last year! In any case, he said they could only put them on the back...not the front. I told him I didn't know where they put them on last year, I just wanted them on. So, they put them on...the back. When I got home Dan told me they were definitely on the front last year. To which I replied, "Why would a tire store...a store that sells tires put snow tires in the wrong place?"

Anyway, when we turned off the main road to Grandpa Lu's we did so with snow tires in the back. The drive once you turn off is normally 12 minutes or so of windy dirt road driving. There were some slick spots at first, but nothing that would make you think...we better turn back! Well, about 10 minutes in...there was no turning back! The van was slipping and sliding all over the place. So I attempted to turn around and get back to paved roads, but we couldn't get back up the last hill we slid down!! We were stuck sideways, but not off in a ditch! Luckily our cell phones worked and Dan got a hold of Lu who was coming to rescue us with his pick up truck. On their way to reach us, they passed a friend of theirs who also had a big truck and who said he would come back to help. It was a good thing he did. Over the course of the next hour or so, we were just one of many cars who got stuck at that particular spot. In the end, it took us being tied to the truck and towed all the way out to dry roads! The kids were troopers, but at one point Reece looked at me with fear in his eyes and asked, "Mom, are we going to die?" Poor baby!

Needless to say, celebration #2 was canceled. There was no way we were going back down that road and Grandpa Lu and Grandma Dorena were mentally and physically exhausted from rescuing us anyway. So, we promptly drove to Reed City Tire where they moved my snow tires from the back to the front. I asked the guy there, why would a tire store tell me they couldn't put snow tires just on the front and he said, "Cuz their lazy." Nice. Thanks Belle Tire!

So, there is Thanksgiving 2008 in a nutshell! It was a reminder for us to be thankful at all times for our health and good fortune. Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Before we left to come home, I took advantage of the snow and did a photo shoot with the boys for our Christmas card. So cute!


And we had the chance to meet with Ken Wirth about getting a quote on finishing our walk out basement. The quote isn't in yet, so we're not exactly sure if we can swing it this year, but it's out there and we shall see!

Fall At the BH/Anniversary Trip

We snuck back up to the BH in route to our anniversary weekend in TC. Got to spend one night before dropping the boys off with Grandma and Grandpa and heading up to do some wine tasting. Per usual, the colors did not dissappoint.
We were lucky enough to get to stay at the home of a co-worker of Dan's. Chuck's house is gorgeous and huge. Dan and I got there first and went to The Red Mesa Grill for lunch. If you ever go...the tortilla soup is a must. It's the perfect combo of salt and lime. Yummy. On our way back to the house, we finally found the elusive wind turbine of Traverse City! It made Dan's day!

Shel and Todd arrived shortly after and we mapped out our own wine tour for Friday afternoon. We hit Shady Lane Cellars, Ciccone, Willow and Mawby. It was really cool. At some of the winerys you pay a fee and get to try 5 or so different wines. At others, they pick them for you and still others all the tastings are free. Each one is different enough from the last that it was a fun experience. The view from Willow was the most gorgeous. But I think I liked the sparkling wines at Mawby the best. I can't be sure though since we all agreed that the last winery you visit usually ends up being the one you had the most fun at!

We went out to dinner that night at Boon's Long Lake steak house. The food was really good and there was tons of it! Even the mojitos came in tumblers! You could easily split a meal and still end up with leftovers.

The next morning we stopped at the Omlette Shop for breakfast before heading into Suttons Bay. We scheduled a wine tour that started out to the Vineyard Inn there. We boarded the limo bus with 2 other couples and hit 6 winerys. Only one of them (Willow) overlapped our tour from the day before. The new ones were Lelanau Cellars, Black Star Farms, Silver Leaf, Boskydel, and 45th Parallel. We bought a ton of wine and only got yelled at 2 times! I'm sorry, but you just can't leave a John Deer tractor out when drunk Dan is around! :)

After shopping around Sutton's Bay and Traverse City we crashed out for a while and then hit a late movie. Burn Before Reading was enjoyed by all.

Headed back Sunday to pick up the kids and swung back by our place so I could plant some perinneals that Amy gave me. I just hope the deer don't eat them before they can take root!

It was a great trip! I would go back again in a minute. Between the beautiful fall scenery, the food, the wine and the fun...I think this could become a yearly ritual.

Labor Day At The BH...Our Last Hurrah of Summer '08!

With school just about to start, we headed back to the BH for our last hurrah of summer. This time we did not invite anyone to join us. We wanted it to just be us for the last few days of relaxing and fishing and frogging and fun. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time doing just what we planned.

One thing we knew we needed to do was pick up some fresh corn at the corner of 10 and 66. It's hard to even describe this corn, but if you like corn on the cob, it's worth whatever it takes to get you there. It's the type of corn that you will never forget eating. Needless to say, we picked up a bunch and ate it all visit long and still had some to take home with us.

We also hit the flea market in that area. After wandering around for a while, we went to the snack bar at the golf course that sits right next to the market area. Gret and Dan wandered into the pro shop and we wandered out with a new set of clubs for Gretty boy. As I mentioned earlier, he played his first round of golf this summer and got bit by the golf lovers bug. He was floating on cloud 9 when we left and made his father run back to the BH, pick up his own clubs and take him back to the course to play a round immediatley! So, that's what they did.

We stopped by the Rustic Furniture store that we love and picked up our newest order... hickory door and cabinet handles for the kitchen and display shelves the for dining area. This meant that a little bit of work would have to be done on this trip to get them up and running. The installation went smoothly (no F bomb were dropped)and the end result was exactly what we had hoped for. I love it!



The boys finished up the summer catching frogs like madmen! They caught and released them over and over and never got tired of it, while the same could be said for Dan and I with fishing.
This was one awesome, amazing summer!

Mama's Big Catch x2!

How could I not dedicate a quick post in honor of my best fishing day ever? Sometimes a girl's just got to brag!

Last Stop...Traverse City!

The last leg of our vacation was to visit Traverse City. This was a combo of business and pleasure since first Dan had a conference to attend, followed by a hockey tournament to play in. Our first night we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge. After being at Boyne Mt. a few weeks earlier, I wasn't prepared to be overly impressed, but WOW! They really took the cabin theme to another level. Not only was the lobby was so full of cool things to see and experience, but each restaurant was themed to go along with the outdoors/camping/wilderness idea. Very cool. Our hotel room had an area just for the kids called the "Wolf Den" where they had their own cave like place to sleep and their own TV! The indoor water park was slightly smaller than Avalanche Bay, but a little quieter, which I liked. The arcade was just as big and they had a putt-putt golf course, too. The kids had non-stop fun! There was also a cool game that you could play through out the hotel called Magi Quest. The boys each got wands and a book of riddles they had to solve by seeking out objects and waving their wands at them to collect them all. In the end, they both became Maste Magi.

After hanging out for one night and most of the second day, we headed over to The Beach Haus, where we were staying 2 more nights. We discovered "The Haus" a few years ago when Dan played in his first hockey tourney in TC. It's a swiss chalet looking motel that sits right on the bay and has a gorgeous beach area to play in. Plus, on Saturday nights they have a big bbq for the guests complete with water balloon toss and pinata for the kids. What's not to love?

Dan and Gret took part in the water balloon toss and tied for 1st place! Both boys got into the pinata and walked away with lots of prizes and candy.

At the last minute Dan's team backed out of the hockey tournament, which was a little disappointing. But as a man who won't sit back and take no hockey for an answer, Dan went up to the rink anyway and skated twice. With our schedule freed up a little, we got to go into downtown TC for a few hours and check out the sites and shops. The shopping there was really great! Tons of boutiques and restaurants. Plus we walked right into a one day art fair!

Back at the hotel, Gret couldn't get enough of playing volleyball and Reece became a little sand castle architect. After the craziness and stimulation of The Great Wolf Lodge, it was awesome to see them play for hours in the sunshine and sand!

Aunt Suzy and Thom Visit!

No sooner did we return from Boyne, than Aunt Suzy and Thom drove up. This was their 2nd visit to the Brown House. After visiting for a few days last year, Thom declared that if he could spend his entire vacation at the BH he would be a happy man! So, this time, they planned on staying 6 nights!

Aunt Suzy played a lot of Rummikub with Gret. He was up for the challenge and even won some of the time.

As a special treat, we took them out to Food. Food is one of our favorite places to eat breakfast. It's only a 10 minute drive and the place sits right on Chippewa Lake. The sign says it all!

Aunt Suzy is not much of a fisherwoman, but she gave it a go and caught her first fish! Way to go, Suzy! She also got to see the boys go frog cratching crazy!

Before the visit was over we asked Aunt Lisa to babysit and went on our 1st ever Evart pub crawl! We started off at Connor O'Malley's the one and only Irish Pub in town. The menu had a lot of Irish dishes that were really good. From there we went to a bar that used to be a bowling alley at some point in its past, but isn't anymore. Interesting. We ended the night at Club Shadows for the elephant ears. 2 for a $1.00. Quite the deal.

We left Sue and Thom to a night of their own, when we had to take off to get to Traverse City before they had to head back to Florida. They followed our closing up directions to a tee and will definitely be invited back next year! :)