Fall Birthday Weekend Up North

 We decided to take advantage of Sean's birthday being on a Saturday and mine on a Sunday with minimal sports and we went up to Gladwin for the weekend!  Scott took a half day off work and picked up Evan early from school so that when Sean got home from school we could get on the road.  We grabbed food on the road and dealt with some construction, but made it up just in time to see the sunset and to take a fishing boat ride as it got dark.  Sadly, no one caught any fish, but we enjoyed the time out on the boat in the water.

We came back to the house and made spiked hot cider in the crockpot and a Halloween trail mix to have while we watched the new Hocus Pocus 2 movie that came out that day on Disney+.  It was good!  By then, we were all really tired and ready for bed.  After the kids were asleep, I decorated the entrance to the room the boys sleep in for Sean's birthday and played one hand of euchre.  Pops and I won!  

Saturday morning we all had breakfast and let Sean open his gifts.  He got a Harry Potter Lego set he had his eye on, tickets to see Hamilton when it comes to Detroit in November, a wallet, a watch, a sweatshirt for his new middle school and some pajamas.  I think he was happy with what he got!  

We got ourselves put together and ventured out into Gladwin for the day.  We stopped at a few roadside stands with fall stuff.  I bought the weirdest looking warty pumpkin, but I loved it and it was so cheap!  The kids had to stop at the Dollar General and pick out a few small things, as tradition.  And then we were off to the cider mill and hard cider place.  It was packed, but the weather was beautiful!  Their pumpkin spice glazed donuts are so good and the flights were delicious, as always.  We had to kill off some bees to enjoy ourselves, but luckily no one got stung.

We dropped the dogs back off at the house and got ready to head to the indoor pool.  We had the pool to ourselves!  I ran next door to the restaurant to order pizza, salad, and breadsticks to have at the pool and enjoyed watching the golf course as I waited for the order to be ready.  It was such a beautiful fall day!  The kids had a blast with the pizza pool party!  We came back to the house and played outside, went for another fishing trip (no fish were caught again...), and then sang "happy birthday" to Sean with cupcakes and ice cream.  The kids went to bed and the adults enjoyed more euchre and mini beers!  Pops and I were the weekend champions, completely shutting out Nana and Pops.  

Sunday was my birthday!  We had breakfast and then I enjoyed a really long walk around part of the lake by myself.  It was so peaceful.  When I got back it was time to shower and pack up.  The plan was to head into West Branch to do a hike and then grab a late lunch at The Highway.  The hike was just shy of 2 miles.  We didn't see any wildlife, but we saw some scat that we were trying to figure out the source.  The Highway had a bit of a wait, but it went by quick and then we were seated.  Lunch was delicious and we were all starving by then.  

We left right from West Branch and got home around 6pm.  We hit the ground running with unpacking, laundry, and helping Sean with math homework.  The boys watched an episode of Lego Masters while I worked on my Harry Potter puzzle.  Then, they all sang "happy birthday" to me before bed.  It was a great weekend!  Just what I needed...