The Great North Country

Every time we drive away from what we think is the ideal place to live and raise a family we want to turn around and begin job and house hunting. If only it were that easy we would be packing up right now and moving up to Traverse City. We love the atmosphere of the town, woods galore, the convenience of every store one could desire set in a gorgeous Up North setting. Of course for me the topping on the sundae, my parents being there. Oh, how wonderful it would be to drop the kiddos off for a few hours once a week! Those who live close to family have no idea how lucky they are when it comes to help with children and breaks from children that family allow.

Leaving is hard for me and I know Tom feels the same, for we both have a great Love for Traverse City. Needless to write, we had a absolutely wonderful time this past weekend. The weather was horrific, cold and rainy, but you can't control the weather so we rolled with it.

Tom and I finally were able to spend a few hours of much needed alone time on Saturday. We went to lunch then to the store to purchase some warmer clothes for the kids. On the recommendation of Alex we had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. It was just the break we both needed. During our time away Max slept all but 10 mins and so did Violette. In reality they had it very easy! Noelle spent a majority of our time away drawing tattoos on Uncle Alex!

Saturday afternoon Granma and Noelle headed out to the woods and built a small fort and play. Tom, Max, and I joined them a bit later. The kids loved searching for acorns and playing with sticks, and balancing on the felled trees, something we don't have around here. We took a quick trip to Burger King play place for a change of scenery. Parks were out of the question with the continuous rain, so we figured a play place was the next best thing. Granma, Daddy, and Uncle Alex all had sore knees from crawling through the unforgiving small tubes. The kids had a good time though!

Sunday the sun decided to make an appearance and we were outside most of the time until we left around 2pm. The girls were sporting matching outfits and I even attempted to get a picture with the kids and Grandma and Granpa. Everyone was a bit crabby due to lack of sleep, but it was worth a try. Before the long drive home we headed out for a long tiring walk in the woods. Uncle was able to find a small gardener snake and the kids kind of liked it! Noelle shrieked and hid but wanted to see it. She would try and touch it then jump back and scream. Max copied Noelle and screamed as well, but he was more interested in it.

Our next voyage up will be without Uncle Alex who is moving out this weekend. He is heading up to Soo for a few months to play hockey. I know my parent will miss him greatly, but whenever we visit we also will miss him. Noelle and Uncle Alex have a special bond and she will have a hard time not seeing him for a long while.


It was another fantastic journey to the North! We hope to do it again soon.