Living the "Up North" life!

After a week in Troy with my parents and a week spent doing the floors at home, we were all ready to see each other and be together as a family again.  The problem was the floors weren't ready for us to be on them at home.  So, we decided to head up north to Scott's parents' lake house in Gladwin for the week.  We had already planned on being there the following weekend for the Ogemaw County Fair, so it just made sense to head up there five days early.  I drove the boys and dog in my van after grabbing lunch at McDonald's and it was a pretty uneventful drive, thankfully.  Scott met us up there a few hours later just in time for dinner and ice cream!

Monday morning the kids were ready to hit up the beach and ride jet-skis.  Scott and his parents went golfing in the morning so the boys and I just played on the beach.  When they returned, Scott and I went into West Branch to do some grocery shopping for the week and grabbed lunch at Big Boy while his parents stayed with the kids.  They were heading home later that afternoon so we were lucky to have a few hours to ourselves to go down every aisle of Walmart peacefully.  The boys enjoyed a boat ride to the park while we were gone.

The storms rolled in as his parents left and it was incredible.  I am a huge fan of summer thunderstorms, especially in the evening.  Being on a very quiet lake during one was a whole new experience and now it's my favorite!  We played games, made dinner, and then watched Moana while listening to the storm.

Tuesday was gorgeous!  We took a boat ride around the lake while eating lunch and made a stop at one of the parks to play.  The boys played with a few other kids in the play structure for a while until it was time to go.  The lake was being treated that day so we couldn't be in the water.

Evan had been complaining about his left ear, which was treated the week before for an ear infection.  We made the decision to take him to an urgent care in Gladwin that afternoon since the kids couldn't swim.  Turns out he had "swimmers ear" and couldn't go above his belly in the water for the next 7 days.  Made for an interesting week up north.  While we waited for the prescription to be filled in town, we went to a really cool park that was also a campsite and had a river running through it that was shallow enough to swim in.

Wednesday was another beautiful day on the water!  The kids and Bailey were excited to be able to go back in the water and play.  So, we spent the entire day at the house swimming, building sand castles and moats, riding bikes down the street, and going for jet-ski rides.

Thursday the weather was iffy again.  It rained on and off throughout the day, so we decided to go into West Branch to do some shopping at the outlets in the morning.  Scott needed new shoes for work and I was on the hunt for some bargains.  Of course we spent more than we planned on, but it was fun!  We came home and Nana and Pops were on their way back up for the long weekend so we were excited to see them!  More moats and castles, more jet-skiing, and more euchre games.

We took a boat ride that evening so that Pops could do some fishing with the boys and they caught a big bass!  Evan was so excited and even held it.  Sean was just happy to help reel it in and use the big net to help.

Friday, some of Scott's family came to the house for the weekend and for the Ogemaw County Fair.  By the evening, there were 14 of us at the house!  We had a nice BBQ dinner followed by a bonfire and s'mores.  Scott's sister and her girls were there for the night so it was nice to catch up with everyone.

Saturday morning we went to the fly-in breakfast at the little airport near the lake.  It was so cool!  A big breakfast, raffle prizes, games for the kids, and of course, small planes taking off and landing right by us.  The boys had a great time, although they were bummed they didn't win the camping basket from the raffle.

We went back to the house quickly to pack bag lunches for the kids.  Scott's sister and her girls left to go up to their cottage on Torch Lake and the rest of were off to the county fair!  The kids all got wrist bands and rode rides to their heart's content.  Funnel cakes, sno-cones, corn dogs, and lemonade were must haves while we were there and I was excited to see Evan go on Gravitron and Sean go on the huge swings.  They're growing up so fast and it's crazy to see them do all these big kid rides!

The kids all crashed Saturday night and the adults enjoyed euchre.  Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast at the house with everyone and then got packed up to head home finally.  I was more than ready to see the house after being gone for two weeks.  Although I was dreading having to put all the furniture and decor back.  We had a great week up north and we are very thankful that Scott's parents gave us their cottage for the week!  The boys made some great memories with their cousins!