4th of July

After spending 10 days abroad (yes, the thumb of Michigan is considered abroad) and criss-crossing the country, things are finally getting back to normal around the Hockenberry household. As I said in my last post, our annual pilgrimage to Michigan almost didn't happen. To start from the very beginning, one of the things that Kevin and I spent a few weeks pre-trip arguing about was towing the Jeep up there with us. Kevin claimed to want to bring it "just in case we break down" and not because he wanted to play with it in my parent's gravel pit (riiiight). I, on the other hand, was firmly against dragging it along. Mainly because there would be other cars for us to drive while we were there if we needed to get anywhere. And I was more than happy to point out that he didn't seem too worried about breaking down when he originally bought the RV and piled us in there the very next morning for a 20+ hour trip to Michigan in the dead of winter. I figured it was a pretty safe bet that he wasn't too worried about it this time either. But I also couldn't change his mind so it off we went, Jeep in tow.

 We started off our trip just fine. We planned it so that we were leaving the house around Junior's morning nap so that he'd sleep for the first leg of it. (I also figured I'd need a break after spending the morning packing everything that Junior owns.) We were about 1 mile outside of Texas (which meant we had been on the road about 5 hours - stupid ginormous state) when Kevin told me to hang on and started pulling over to the side of the highway. One of my biggest fears is breaking down beside the highway so I immediately start panicking and asking what's wrong. He says that the engine stalled. So I ask if we can un-stall it. (Yes, looking back I realize that this isn't the most helpful reaction during this kind of situation but like I said, I was already panicking.) Now had we been like any normal couple taking a road trip, breaking down would have sucked but not been that big of deal. You call a tow truck, have them tow it to the nearest auto repair shop, and get on your way. It's not so easy with an RV. For one thing, the repair shops are few and far between. For another, have you ever seen an RV being towed down the road? No? That's because there are very few tow trucks that are capable of towing an RV. After about an hour of calling repair shops and tow services, we finally found one who could handle an RV and was nice enough (insert sarcasm here) to tow us the 10 miles to the nearest repair shop for the low, low price of $300. Oh, and the repair shop said that they could probably "fit us in" on Tuesday (yes, the Tuesday that was 7 days away). But at that point, it was 100 degrees outside and we were broken down 5 hours from home. What else could we do?

 After getting the tow truck scheduled and en route, Kevin decided to call Freightliner (our engine manufacturer) to see if they could help him trouble shoot the problem. While he was on the phone with the technician and crawling around under the RV, I was inside bawling my eyes out holding it together for the wee one, who by now knew something was going on and was flat out refusing to even entertain closing his eyes for a nap. Hypothetically we could have either a) rented a car and finished the drive to Michigan (but not even half of what we were bringing along would have fit - there's a reason we had to drive an RV) or b) went to a hotel (but trying to pack two dogs, a child, and two adults along with our basic necessities into the Jeep was also not going to happen. And that is only if we could find a hotel that would take the 2 dogs.) I was still sitting inside bawling feeding Greyden when Kevin came bounding through the door exstatic that he had found the problem. A wire that connected the battery-thingamajig to the, um, flux capacitor had corroded and broken off. All Kevin had to do was hop in the Jeep and drive to the exit we had just passed where there were about 3 auto parts stores that carried the wire. Total fix - under $2. Thank goodness Kevin is good at this kind of stuff. And, as much as I hate to say it, thank goodness Kevin had wanted to drag the stupid Jeep along. Yes, Kevin. As much as I hate to say it, you were right.  Although I still say you could have walked it if need be.

After we got that little hiccup out of the way the rest of the trip was a breeze. Well, the rest of Kevin's trip was a breeze. My version of the trip involved approximately 22 hours of entertaining an 8 month old who had zero interest in sitting still and playing with his toys (or sitting at all for that matter). Even the 1-2 hour breaks I got while he was napping felt only like 30 minutes. By the end of day 1, I was the kind of exhausted that borders on hysteria. I can honestly say the absolute best part of the trip up was on day 2 when we stopped in Terre Haute and picked up Kerry. Poor Greyden just about got tossed at her the second she stepped out of her car. And, judging from the look of exhaustion on her face after only 7 hours, I'm sure she will 100% concur with my assessment that the kid is half monkey. 

 One of the reasons we went up there was for Kerry's baby shower. Naturally we had it outdoors at the back of the farm. Now one of the best parts of going to Michigan in July is the weather. The 80 degree days and 60 degree nights (with no humidity) feel absolutely amazing. So imagine our surprise when the first two days we spent there were about 95 degrees and 99% humidity. And of course the shower was on day 2. But we made do. She got a lot of really cute things for baby Adelaide. Although I have to say that Greyden was a little upset that he didn't get anything. I mean come on people, he's only 8 months old. How am I supposed to explain to him that his cousin is getting presents and he's not? Kerry spent the first few years of her life getting presents on both her birthday AND on mine, so I would expect the same consideration in return. I'm not bitter or anything though.

 The day after the shower was my parent's annual 4th of July party. People bring their campers and Dad fires up the grill (which doesn't cool down for approximately 48 hours straight, and includes breakfast. You can read a little bit about that here.) Unfortunately the one thing that you can't read about there are the Hillbilly Hayrides (heavy on hillbillies, light on hay - god, I wish I could remember who pointed that out that night) that started as a way to get people back to the gravel pit for the fireworks and ended up as a drunken tour of the farm at 2:30 in the morning. And, oddly enough, the youngest person on the "hayride" at that time was maybe 45. All of us youngins had gone to bed hours before that. I actually heard some people walking to their campers at 3:30 in the morning when I was up feeding Grey. Apparently my parents and their friends don't come with "off" switches. 

By far the best part of going up for the 4th of July is getting together with my friends. Remember last year when I posted the pictures of all of us with our pregnant bellies? This year it was all of us with our babies. My friend Nikki and her husband Bryan came up from Plainwell with their camper & baby Bryson (6.5 months). My friend Katie and her husband Marc came up from Kalamazoo for the day with baby Alana (4.5 months) and opted to skip the camping scene since they are real campers and camp in an actual tent. (Not that I blame them a bit. An infant + a tent = my version of hell. I could barely handle "camping" in an RV with running water, a bathroom, and air conditioning. But then again, I never claimed to be a "true camper" either. I'm thinking maybe they were just being wusses.) I also got to spend some time with my friend Janis, her husband Eric, and their 2 kids, Connor (3 1/2) and Emily (20 months) who I also could not convince to pitch a tent and camp. (Apparently I need to brush up on my persuasion skills.) She didn't believe me that camping would be "so much fun!". I can't imagine why not. I guess after 26 years of being friends she can tell that while I say it would be fun to tent camp with two kids, there is no way in hell I myself would be caught doing it.

 One of the highlights of the 4th weekend is the amazing fireworks display that my uncle puts on every year. (Yes, fireworks are illegal in Michigan. No, we don't care.) His fireworks display easily rivals the fireworks shows put on by every town in the Thumb. Normally I look forward to the show, but this year it was my main source of stress. We obviously had to wait until dark to start lighting them off, and by that time I'd have a baby that was (god willing) down for the night. I could just picture the fireworks waking him up and sending him into hysterics and me spending the next 4 hours trying to get him back to sleep. I spent the entire show clutching the baby monitor waiting to hear a wail. And nothing happened. When we went to check on him afterward, he had rolled over and that was about it. Apparently the fireworks (which sounded like gun shots in the monitor) bothered me a whole lot more than they bothered him.

The rest of the trip was spent relaxing with our families, mostly outdoors since we won't be able to do that here for another 2 months at least. We spent a few more days at my parent's house (boycotting any and all grilled food) and a few days at my in-law's house on the other side of the state. The entire trip was great (besides the breaking down part), but by the time we left 10 days later, we were really, really ready to be home. Especially since Junior had decided to put himself on his own schedule while we were traveling, which involved him waking up at 1:30 and 4:30 every night, and getting up for the day around 6:30. Every morning. And while I was definitely looking forward to getting home and things getting back to normal, I was not looking forward to the ride home. Like I said before, Kevin has the easy part while I'm stuck in the back entertaining Junior, this time without being able to count the seconds until we pick up the babysitter Kerry. We managed to make it all the way to Carthage, TX on day 1 which is about 3.5 hours from our house. We could have just finished out the drive, but regardless of what time we go to sleep Junior will still be up at 6 so we called it a night around 10. It worked out well because Sunday we were able to sleep in until 7 (why Junior couldn't manage that during the previous days of the trip, I have no idea), and then take our time getting home. An hour after getting home we were unpacked and relaxing. One of the things I was worried about after getting home was Junior's sleep schedule. I just knew that he'd be up 6 times a night for the first few nights after getting home. I'm happy to say he proved me wrong. He's gotten up around 2:30 to eat each night since we've been home and that's it. 

Here is our campsite and the party barn at the back of the farm:

The view from the party barn - our campsite was just around the corner to the left:

Greyden and Bryson:

Sorry, Bryson. Greyden doesn't mess around:

Pretty baby girl Alana:

Bryson:

We tried to do some group shots of the babies, which Alana obviously didn't approve of.

Nikki with Bryson, Katie with Alana, and me with Greyden. You'd never know Greyden was the oldest of the bunch by 5 weeks!

 

In the RV with Grandma and Grandpa taking Aunt Kerry to the airport:

Greyden's sad face - he didn't want Aunt Kerry to go home:

Geyden's first ice cream cone:

He might have liked it.

 

 Kevin's parents with Greyden:

Kevin's parents with all 3 of their grandchildren:

And without Greyden's tongue sticking out:

Nikki and Katie both ended up with some tired babies. Notice there isn't a picture of me holding a sleeping Greyden. Oh, that's because he was too afraid of missing something and therefore didn't want to sleep.  

Sunset in Michigan:

 

Kerry. Due August 21st. I know I promised her when I took the picture that I'd point out that she had a non-alcoholic beer in her hand, but it was a long time ago so I can't in good conscience verify that it was in fact non-alcoholic. Sorry, Kerry.

 

Dad's grill. Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

 

Dad's project - starting a bonfire up the middle of a hollowed out birch tree. Interesting, but hell for roasting marshmallows.

My favorite picture ever: