so here's a detailed rundown of our...vacation. I'm still getting used to that word. we've never actually gone anywhere 'just because' in our entire marriage. it's always been for some occasion or to visit someone or to have a meeting. but we camped near Saugatuck for two nights last week and it was WONDERFUL.
we camped at Ely Lake Campground, which is a county park located on some very sandy seasonal roads. at times, it felt like we were driving on snow. there were (quite stinky) pit toilets and a hand pump for water and some rambunctious raccoons who actually OPENED our cooler on the second night, which we had stupidly left out. but it was pretty and quiet and really cheap--only $10 a night. we had a whole camping loop to ourselves...
this was our camp site. we stayed for two nights. it rained the whole first night, which ruined our plans to bike into Saugatuck, but I think it would have been a more challenging ride than I anticipated, so that was okay. we had lunch at the funky Monroe's Cafe-Grill, walked around town, went to the beach, stopped at Otavalito. and I bought Rob a flask as a late birthday present. we did take our bikes into Saugatuck to explore the town and we from downtown Saugatuck to Oval Beach on Lake Michigan (free admission for bikers!). it was a little bit cloudy, which meant it wasn't too hot. I got in the chilly water to make up for the lack of showers at the campground. I do feel a deep affection for Lake Michigan, for some reason, and would probably be happier to live on its shores than on the shores of any ocean.
we also found a grove of wild blueberries near our camp site so we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast on the day we left. I realized as I was picking the berries that that kind of discovery is one of the purest forms of joy for me. on the way out, we saw a baby hawk in the middle of the road and the camp host was going to contact the DNR to rescue it.
after camping at Ely Lake, we headed to Chicago for a free Decemberists concert with the Grant Park Orchestra in Millennium Park. on the way, we stopped at my parents' house so Rob could use the internet to send off some ads for Calvin. my mom took us out for lunch at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant where everything is so bizarrely Texas-sized. the beverages came in quart Ball jars. Rob got a baked sweet potato that looked like it was genetically engineered to be the size of a football. and my taco salad was about as big as my head. but it was tasty and good to catch up with my mom and sister.
after that 'light' meal, we headed to Chicago to meet friends for dinner at Star of Siam, a cheap and delicious Thai restaurant just north of the loop. I had the mild chicken curry, which was excellent. we also walked around Millennium Park, which we had never been in before. it was wonderful to watch children and adults play with the highly interactive environment. the best part is a pool that's designed for you to put your feet in, which was great because it was very uncomfortably hot and humid.
I actually skipped the first part of the concert because there were so many people in the park and went back to our car to change into cooler clothes. we ended up not being able to see the stage because it was so packed, but we hung out by the foot-soaking pool and stayed cool. I ended up meeting someone from a Christian artists' group in Chicago that the OVERHANG folks are connected to. on our way out of Chicago to Sheboygan the heavens opened and it POURED! thankfully, it quieted down north of the city, because we could hardly see through our windshield at 25 mph.
we arrived in Sheboygan rather late, after the concert, so we were listening to all kinds of things to stay awake—including old school Madonna. we arrived and had beers with Norb and Amy before heading to bed. in the morning, we woke to a little voice outside our bedroom door: "I think we should just wake them up." we got out of bed, met Choe Grace who is the newest member of the household, had breakfast of yogurt with fresh red raspberries from their yard, watched Alex's tennis lesson and then went to the local art museum. there's a great museum in Sheboygan funded by the Kohler (kitchen and bath fixtures) family. there are some pretty good links about the exhibit we saw and the amazing bathrooms.
we spent some time running around in the afternoon with Norb--tried to meet an artist friend of his who would like to get more involved with *cino, got the obligatory Gibbsville cheese, bought Wisconsin beer (Spotted Cow is highly recommended) and got an impromptu tour of a newly restored theatre. it was interesting to talk with them about how the theatre is run, given our interest in the Riviera Theatre, which is currently under renovation in Three Rivers. I bought the 5-for-$1 pack of postcards, which apparently they don't sell many of because the volunteer at the ticket counter was thrilled. she also told us how she used to sneak into shows at the theatre--well, people she knew did anyway...
after a lazy afternoon and naps, we had a tasty meal of black beans and rice with grilled Caribbean jerk pork and zucchini. afterwards, we took a walk through the neighborhoods and along Lake Michigan. the wind was blowing inland off the lake quite strongly and the cold was refreshing after the previous day's heat. the kids went to bed and we sat around drinking German wine and eating chocolate chip cookie dough casserole--which is basically underbaked chocolate chip cookie bars microwaved and topped with ice cream. deeeeelicious. the next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast of the doughnuts Norb's dad had dropped off 'anonymously' and then, after picking some raspberries and gooseberries for the road, we headed out for a wedding gathering in Iowa. we look forward to more good food and conversation and lots of little-kid-tickling next time we see Norb and Amy--our visits with them are always too short.
it took about eight hours to drive to Sioux Center, which felt really long. we took the scenic route on Interstate 90 through Wisconsin and Minnesota. in Iowa, we encountered signs of Rabgrai throughout the weekend, which made us ponder taking a long bike trip. we camped at Children's Park in Sioux Center. it was interesting to be back where we had lived for two years and it made us realize ways in which we had changed. we wondered if we could live there again and be as satisfied. we chatted with professor friends who always try to convince us to come back and teach. we caught up with college friends and became friends with acquaintances. we had the obligatory Casey's Bakery breakfast and found some good deals at a consignment stop (Rob wins: $7 Doc Martens). the Vande Kraats family was so welcoming and hospitable. they said several times that we're like family to them, which makes me feel much better about crashing the rehearsal dinner and the wedding/reception.
it was really nice to see our friends Ryan and Steph from Vancouver again after three years and to meet their 8-month-old. I always have such good conversations with Steph. I think we would be quite good friends if we lived closer. our best time with them was on Sunday morning after all of the wedding stuff was done when we brought breakfast over to where the family was staying at the Dordt alumni house. Ryan and Steph skipped church because Oliver, exhausted from meeting so many new people, was sleeping. Steph highly recommended Marcus Borg and gDiapers. and then we embarked on the 10-hour drive to my parents' house--another long driving day.
we got to my parents' house late, but they were still up, so we had drinks and talked. we slept on an air mattress on their new back porch, which was very relaxing. in the morning: blueberry pancakes with the wild Michigan blueberries from Ely Lake and using my great aunt Millie's recipe, followed by a bike ride with my mom. it was good to see my hometown at a slower speed. Rob and my dad worked on replacing the brakes and rotors on our car, which was a HUGE favor by my dad that saved us probably $400. we were so grateful. then we went to lunch at my sister Breanne's house and it was neat to see all of the things they've been doing to the house that has been in our family since it was built in the early 20th century. their yard looks great, with flowers and a new fence to create a play area for their boys. and two-year-old Charley is so delightful. we had ice cream cones for dessert and after a while, his disappeared somehow. I found it later in the refrigerator in the garage.
we went back to my parents' house and I made spicy peanut sauce and started marinating chicken for satay with a special Penzey's seasoning. took a nap in the hammock, in spite of the neighbor's lawnmower and very vocal parrot. and then got up to start helping my dad cut veggies for grilled vegetable pizza. we did four pizzas, all with tomato sauce, cheese, fresh tomatoes and grilled zucchini/squash/onions/mushrooms, but one had grilled hot peppers, one had green olives and one had grilled pineapple (the fourth was plain). delicious with the satay and I love cooking with my dad. I snuggled for a while with a freshly bathed and lotioned Xander, my youngest nephew who will turn one in just a couple of weeks, and then we headed back to GR. it was one of those miserable drives during which I'm SO tired, but feel like I can't fall asleep, so it was good to get home and head straight to bed.
except for the ads that Rob had to do, this was an incredibly unusual trip for us. our trips are usually loaded with responsibilities--even a three-and-a-half-week house sitting stint in Vancouver a few years ago was unrealistically burdened with the expectation of designing an online curriculum (which still isn't done). our spring trip to Florida this year required hours of work at on Panera's free internet and the publishing of a catapult issue. this trip taught us that taking Sabbath time seriously is richly rewarding.
it also inspired a lot of thought and discussion about having children. including the wedding we attended in Three Rivers before heading to Ely Lake Campground, we met four of our friends' young children under one year old. it was also interesting to see older siblings interacting with one another and with their parents at the weddings. those experiences reinforced various ideas and commitments—that two children is better than one for the benefits of siblings, that children dramatically change your life, that having kids is a very intense experience of both giving and receiving, and that being a parent doesn’t mean your life has to stop. we should love our children deeply, but not treat them so delicately that they can’t adapt to new circumstances or that we come to resent them for the ways in which they limit our own development. parents also commit to their children no matter what kind of innate personality emerges—shy and reserved or social and outgoing, laid back or high maintenance. logistically, I’m glad to have so many people around us who have experienced thought and practice related to birthing methods, diapers, vaccines, breast feeding and continuing to cultivate a healthy marriage and person through the challenges of having children. and for anyone who might think there’s a hidden message here, we’re still planning to wait a couple of years.
it was also interesting to perceive themes in the concerns of our friends who are our age--not only children, but place and identity. who am I? how does my work reflect my core identity? how does my place reflect my core identity? am I living where I belong? what constitutes 'home' for me? for my children? am I making the world a better place? and it's wonderful to see the diverse ways we're all working out the answers to these questions.
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