I'm Back!

Well, technically we got back early Sunday morning but with Sundays being crazy and Monday being a day for recovery from Sunday, I'm really back today.

What? You mean you didn't even notice I was gone?

Wait a sec while I pull the dagger out of my back.

Ok. Steve's brother Chris got married on Valentine's Day, which gave us a great excuse for a trip up north! Woot!

The most wonderful thing about going home (well, besides the time spent with family and eating all the food you've missed and catching up with everybody) is when your mom sends you home with homemade enchiladas. For free. I don't have the recipe. Or a picture, since as soon as I baked them they were devoured without a pause for blogging posterity. I'll see if she'll part with the recipe...

Anyway, this trip, and the resulting playtime with the nephews reminded me of Christmas, when there was even more playing.

Nick, Alex, Kaeden and I discovered a box. Not just any box. A Box of Wonders to Behold. I'm sure at one point it had contained some cherished item, but once that pesky thing was removed, the box reached it's true potential as a Box of Wonders.


So here's the part where I put them in the box.








And here's the part where they put me in the box. And wouldn't let me out. Come on, Sarah, get in, it'll be fun, we promise.


Then they attack. Giggling all the while, tickling through the handles so conveniently placed in the sides, jumping on the box and squishing their poor, defenseless, Aunt Sarah.





Cruelty, isn't it?

In case you can't see the detail here, that is Steven, holding up a Cheeto to a ravenous seagull.

My family has a thing about camping. For as long as I can remember, we have been campers. My old grandma, my youngest sister in diapers, we have just always loved to camp.

We especially flock to Northern Michigan, where you are always just a short drive to the beach and lighthouses and MACKINAC. That's pronounced "Mackinaw." Yes, I know the second "c" makes no sense. Just go with it, ok? Mackinac is an island and fudge and a bridge (also called "The Mighty Mac") and a bit of a tourist trap but if I had to pick a place to spend my retirement (a mere 37 years away), that would be it.

This is Nick's first trip over the Mackinac Bridge. See the joy Mackinac can bring?

I started this post to just write about that first picture, which is a time when we were enjoying pasties in a park just off Lake Michigan and Steven decided to feed the seagulls (even though it was clearly posted NOT to feed the seagulls) and Nick announced to the family, "You know that's technically illegal" and sent my family into hysterics.

Though my intentions were pure, this post is once again edging towards that happy place where the majority of my writing has gone lately, the place where I say I MISS MICHIGAN! The south is ok but it's just not home. I apologize. Once the new year begins, I should have my fix in for a while.

Come on, Christmas!

My nephew (Alex, age 2) started Head Start a few weeks ago. His classroom has a camera where parents and other family members can watch the class while they play, eat snacks, and even take naps. I've been following it religiously since I discovered it. Today my sister told me to watch at around 3:00 while my dad came to pick him up. Imagine my surprise when not only my dad, but my mom, my sister, and two other nephews paraded in front of the camera, waving. I couldn't resist calling my dad so I could "see" him while talking to him. It was very sad to watch them walk away.

Hurry up, Christmas! Only 105 days left!

Flat Stanley's Visit

My nephew, Nick, recently sent Flat Stanley to us as part of a geography project his second grade class is doing. Each kid makes a Flat Stanley and mails it to a friend or family member, asking them to take FS on a tour of the city, take pictures of him, and keep a journal of his activities. Here are a few things Flat Stanley did while visiting Memphis...

Played on Beale Street...

ate at the "Blues City Cafe" on Beale Street...he made a pig of himself eating ribs.

Wii bowling! It's a beautiful thing.

Took a short trip to Nashville to watch the Nashville Predators play the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup. Stanley Cup, get it?! HAHAHA!

All in all it was a good time...got to visit a few places that we normally wouldn't go.