The Amazing Adventures of Tiny T: Up North 2020

Week 2 was FUN - My 2 weeks of PTO started, Hung and Du made it up, and we got to spend the week with the Boltons!! The girls decided we are "framily" and call each other cousins which I love. And now I am Fraunt Rachael and Bec is Fraunt Rebecca :) We did our best to socially distance (although the girls did get pretty close by the end) but we needed time with our besties!

Here are some highlights from the week:

Berry picking with the Boltons - the Raspberries were excellent!!
Hung brought up our new Nintendo Switch and Tay and Hung spend every night playing Zelda
We tried Kayaking for the first time in Glen Arbor - It was a 4 hour trip that sometimes felt like 20! But we all made it and enjoyed doing something new. Cullen switched with for the last quarter as the double kayak was wearing me out and Avery and I were WAY behind the pack. I was grateful for the help!! We took turns with each kid, Avery and I played some 20 questions and Tay paddled backwards half the time so I got an extra good arm workout. Afterwards, we got lunch at Art's and ate a park together.
We had some great beach days are both Sutton's Bay and Lake Michigan. We tried a new beach on Lake Michigan that was gorgeous but the tide came up and we literally lost our beach and blankets were covered in sand. Then on the walk out a car almost backed in G, Tay, and Avery. G gave them a piece of her mind and it was an exciting end to the beach trip to say the least. Uncle Cullen and Aunt KJ joined us while the boys golfed.
We had dinner at the Lodge which turned out to be a great night but we had to wait over an hour for our table and then the food took forever. They really were trying their best and we all made the best of it given Covid. We didn't get home until 10:30 but the wait staff was awesome and gave us S'mores kits on our way out to thank us for being so gracious. The kids amazed me - they were so upbeat and positive. We explored the golf course and played lots of I Spy to get us through the wait. It was actually a lovely evening! We also got to have dinner on the patio of the Riverside for KJ and Cullee's last night. Again, the kids rocked the long wait times and slow service and we ended the night with Ice Cream in Fish Town.
On the Bolton's last day we rented a Pontoon Boat on Grand Traverse Bay. It was a bit choppy and on Ave's first attempt at Tubing she was literally water boarded and dragged under for 5+ seconds - It was incredibly scary but everyone handled it, she was OK and I was SUPER proud of her for trying again with Ella to get over her fear. It was her 2nd brush with death in 2 days!! YIKES! Besides that hiccup, it was a lovely afternoon on the water with great weather. And I am happy we got more time with Rebecca and her crew!

We have another day in Leland and then we are off to Grandma T's cottage!! These kids are pretty darn lucky and I am, too! Grateful for such amazing family and "framily" to salvage the Summer of Covid!

Socially Distanced Berry Picking

Lovely Lunch at Trish's on a rainy day - Luckily we made it under the awning for the crazy downpour. Tay wanted to stay at the cottage and kept telling us we should have listened to his advice and eaten at home LOL

A little Zelda Time

Kayaking Adventure in Glen Arbor

Avery and I struggling near the end - I was grateful she pulled us for a bit!! Not sure she loved it....

Avery and Tay recreated a pic from about 3 years ago :) The kids made a place called "Minnowtopia" - It was very intricate but they never caught a Minnow...