Halloween in Two 'Hoods

Well, Halloween was a while ago. November has been ... exhausting. We were full-on (and I mean, busy-every-day-to-the-point-where-I-had-to-call-in-favors-because-we-didn't-have-enough-people-with-drivers-licenses full-on) with all the things. And then, covid hit our house so now we have nothing ... and we miss all the things (and are really tired). Maybe somewhere in between those two extremes would be the sweet spot!

But for now, let's rewind a few weeks to Halloween weekend, which was really great fun. Friday night, we carved pumpkins. The kids actually were all in helping again this year and did a nice job scooping out the guts. Unfortunately a couple of the pumpkins had rotten spots on the inside, so we didn't have any seeds to roast this year (that's what happens when your parents realize three days before Halloween that you don't have pumpkins yet because you all just got back from fall break and give us a break, kids!). Then Mike broke out his dremel and I used a knife and we made their drawings come to life. Everyone was pleased with the final product!

On Halloween proper, we had hockey practices first thing in the morning and then ate our spooky meal for lunch instead of dinner - spaghetti and eyeball meatballs! I also made "witch's brew" hot chocolate in my slow cooker and dyed it green and the kids basically thought it was the best day ever. We finished the "spooky" Halloween movie that we had started the night before (thank you Disney+ for non-scary options for my highly imaginative people) and then ate a quick cereal dinner - because we had two neighborhoods to trick-or-treat.

First, we headed over to the old 'hood and met up with our usual Halloween buddies. The kids were so excited to see their friends - and we were all delighted to see how decked out our old house was. D thought it was quite awesome to go trick-or-treating at our old house! My favorite was walking up to our next-door neighbors' house and having them exclaim "We were hoping you would be back!" 

After we loaded up with candy (and tested Jesse's homebrew cider - yum!), it was back to the new neighborhood to hook up with Andrew, Regan, and Weston. Mike joined their dads and took them around the neighborhood while I stayed and manned the door and the candy bowl. I should have gone with. Where were all the trick-or-treaters?!?!?! Word on the cul-de-sac was that it was pretty dead for Halloween. Mike said the neighborhood seemed busy to them while they were out - but our bar is pretty low from past years at the old house.

The kids came back quite chilled, very happy, and with obscene amounts of candy. Like so crazy that the strap on D's bag had ripped. After we donated at least a third of the candy and ate it for over a week, we still overflowed the largest bowl we have in the house. The gingerbread house decorating this year will have a healthy supply of extra candy to choose from!

Final note: costumes this year were interesting. The girls decided that they were going to make their own. Fiona put a lot of time and planning into hers and created a "Fashion Designer" outfit. She even used one of my big purses as part of our outfit/her candy bag. Quinn made a last second change and decided to be a teacher. She accomplished this by borrowing clothes from F's closet. And Dec was Harry Potter - because of course he was. He was just the best little wizard! It was both very liberating and very strange to not be in charge of costumes!

This is one-third of the candy haul!

Fall Break: Climbing Door County

Saturday morning, Declan woke up feeling much more himself and ready for adventure. In fact, I think everyone woke up ready for adventure!

After a quick breakfast, we headed up to Cave Point County Park (which was just north of the Whitefish Dunes State Park that we had hiked the day before). This was easily my favorite activity of our trip. I would have happily stayed and explored it all day. Beautiful dolomite/limestone rock ledges, gorgeous blue/green waters of Lake Michigan, and tons of off-roading opportunities. It was a morning made in heaven for the Vs!

Mike took the lead and the big kids were instructed that they could not venture out anywhere "that Mike hasn't already gone." While Brad reasonably asked if we really wanted the big kids following Mike's adventurer heart, Cheryl pointed out that at least there were some safety measures in place with that rule. They looked at me for a verdict. I told them my kids always follow their dad ... and I generally do too. We were up and down rock faces - and even climbed down a hole in the trail to get a better look at the underwater cave below the ledge.

My claim to fame was leading Dec, Jack, and Coop across a tiny ledge right at water level - where you very much had to time the crossing so as not to get hit by waves. So much fun! 

We hiked all the way through Cave Point park to the Nature Center in Whitefish Dunes park that had been closed the day before. Quinn was so happy as she had been disappointed to miss it on the other hike. After a quick exploration and education on the many many shipwrecks along the Door County coast, we took a more direct (read: less off-roading) path back to the parking lot. Everyone was hungry after a busy morning. But we were super impressed with the kids, especially on the way back. They were tired and hungry, but maintained good attitudes.

After lunch, we were back on the road to go visit the Cana Island Lighthouse. I mean, did you even go to Door County if you don't visit a lighthouse? 

The draw of Cana Island was the wagon ride across a causeway (under about 12-16 inches of water) to get to the actual island from the mainland. While we had to park quite a distance from the main parking lot, the line for the wagon was not terribly long. We maybe waited 15 minutes and the kids were happy to explore the shoreline (and throw rocks in the lake). You could walk across the causeway if you were feeling especially brave. Without kids, we probably would have done it. But since no one had waterproof footwear and bare, cold feet sounded like a disaster, we were happy to wait for the wagon.

Once across, we got our place in the line for the lighthouse (about a 45 minute wait) and explored the island until our group number was called. The kids enjoyed walking the shore, climbing the trees, and playing tag in the giant field. The wait actually felt pretty quick and then it was our turn to climb to the top of the lighthouse. 

We split the adults to have Mike in the front, Brad and me shoring up the middle of the group, and Cheryl guarding the caboose. Bugs and I were a team and by the time we got to the top, we were both commenting on our burning thighs! The views from the top of the lighthouse were great and it was interesting to see which kids did not care for the height and which kids were completely oblivious of it. We got about 12 minutes at the top and then had to leave so the next group could come up. The walk down made everyone dizzy - but no one got sick.

We squeezed into the wagon going back (legitimately squeezed. C and I sat on the floor with most of the kids while M and B balanced on the back step). After a few plan changes, we decided to go to a pizza place on the way home. Which was a terrible idea on a Saturday night during fall tourist season. The wait for the restaurant (just to get a table. not food) was 90 minutes. We thought we'd grab carry out pizza and just all sit in the back of Brad's truck to each. 2+ hour wait for carry out. 

So ... long story short, we ended up back at the house for gas station frozen pizza. And it was delicious! Then we built a fire outside, walked down to the beach to look at the stars, made s'mores, and had the best final night. We didn't let the kids stay up too late, so there was some lovely adult time around the fire while we burned up the last of the wood. My favorite was when we heard an animal walking near us in the woods (probably a fox). Cheryl and I move farther away from it and Mike moved toward it. Typical. We ended the night with a little more Baywatch to verify it was still terrible. 

Then Sunday morning, we packed it all up, walked down to the beach for a final good-bye to the lake, and pointed our cars toward Minnesota! Ironically, we stopped in the same town to eat lunch (Ps at McDonalds and Vs at Subway). We bounced off the main drag just over the halfway point to visit one last Wisconsin State Park (Lake Wissota) and stretch our legs. 

The kids loved it because there are horse trails in the park and we actually met up with a group of riders. Dec got to pet the nose of one of the horses and they were wishing they had the apples from the car! We only spent about 30-40 minutes walking around, but it was a nice break before the final stretch of driving.

One viewing of The Mighty Ducks later and we were pulling into the driveway around 4pm. I would not say we were in game shape on Monday morning. But we were good enough that everyone had a clean place to sleep, was showered, and had clean clothes for Monday. Oh, and we had groceries. Then I spent the rest of the week trying to get back on top of the laundry.

The verdict: a good trip with great friends!

Fall Break: Door County Sand Dunes

After a great Thursday, I woke up Friday to the sound of Declan crying. Generally not a good sign. I laid in bed trying to convince myself that one of his sisters had annoyed him, but my gut was telling me differently. So I got up, walked downstairs, and found D crying on the couch with Coop trying to make him feel better. He looked at me and said "I'm both too hot and too cold." Yeah, definitely not a good sign! So he and I removed ourselves from the rest of the group and retreated to the master bedroom upstairs.

[The house was so big that we weren't even using the master. We had left it open as a catch all room or for kids to play in. But - it also provided a great isolation room, complete with bed, couch, tv, and bathroom!]

Thankfully, he did not have a fever but clearly something was up. Soon enough, I figured out it was his tummy - and he threw up several times that morning. Each time he threw up, he felt better. Around lunch time, he threw up (for what would be the last time) and then came out of the bathroom asking for cinnamon toast. By early afternoon, he was mostly back to himself (minus low energy because of all the puking). We have no idea what it was, but since no one else got sick (and it was pretty short lived), we suspect it was either something he ate that disagreed with him - or a reaction to the well water in the jacuzzi bath tub the night before. After the fact, we realized that water was incredibly gross.

While Dec and I holed up trying to figure out what was going on with his tummy and not infect the other eight people in the house, Mike, Brad, and Cheryl took the kids down to the house's private beach on Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the wind had finally died down. I hear tales of epic sandcastle building and more sets of wet shoes! If I have one regret from the trip, it is that we didn't get back down to the beach for an extended time during the day so Dec could build sandcastles. He was pretty disappointed.

By the time the rest of the gang finished lunch, D had a little sparkle and color back. So we decided to join everyone for the afternoon activity - hiking Whitefish Dunes State Park, conveniently located right next to the end of our driveway. First up, climbing "Old Baldy" - the tallest sand dune in the park. It was decidedly underwhelming to people from Minnesota. Apparently a big sand dune doesn't impress us! 

After Old Baldy, we continued on the trails in the park. There was a pit stop where we thought we heard a deer, but now think it was probably a squirrel. It was highly entertaining to watch 5 silent, awestruck children wishing for a deer ... and one bored and annoyed Fiona. When we got to the end of the Red Trail, the gang decided to carry on to the Nature Center (where they arrived at 3:10 - and it closed at 3pm) while Dec and I turned back. I didn't want to push him too hard although he was really hanging in there well. When the rest of the group returned, Brad told me they had gone a total of 4 miles walking, giving me great confidence that turning back had been the right choice.

The hikers were wiped out when they returned, so we watched Raya and the Last Dragon and the kids played a lot of playdoh. There were many "baking" and decorating competitions with playdoh and I suspect that may have been the favorite activity of the vacation for several kids. Between the weird morning and the late nights, attitudes were dicey at best. Cheryl and I declared an early bedtime and all kids were tucked into bed by 8pm without a single complaint. That's when you know it was necessary!

Mike, Brad, and I watched the U of M/UMD hockey game and then had a good natured argument about what to watch. Brad wanted a dumb horror movie (I'm not insulting it. It was legit a dumb one). I did not (not a horror fan). We compromised on Baywatch. And then discussed how we remember Baywatch not being as terrible as it was. Entertaining. But terrible. 

Fall Break: Exploring Door County

Thursday morning started off slow in the best possible way. The kids enjoyed the game room and exploring the house while Mike and Brad ran into town to pick up our grocery orders (and other miscellaneous sundries that had been forgotten. Like a coat for Cheryl!). When they got back, Brad rounded everyone up and said that we needed to drive down the road to the pier. It was a crazy windy day and the waves on Lake Michigan were impressive.

Brad was not lying. The waves were crashing onto the pier like crazy. So, of course, we had to venture out as far as safely possible (or if you are Mike, time the waves in order to dash across the pier, touch the flag pole, and dash back) and then run out of the splash zone when the waves were larger than expected. My favorite was when I had finally talked Fiona into coming out farther by assuring her that she wouldn't get wet and then all ten of us had a shrieking mad dash back toward shore. 

It was fun, crazy windy, and so so cold. Quinn had forgotten her hat and gloves on the floor mat by the front door, so she stole my hat and thanked Fiona for having grabbed gloves and mittens. Eventually I took Mike's hat - and the girls decided to wait in the car out of the wind. You know it's a fun activity when there is a hat Ponzi scheme and several sets of tennis shoes end up in the dryer during lunch.

After lunch, we drove up to Egg Harbor to hit up the fun park. We arrived a few minutes before the Pilchers, walked to the ticket counter, were almost blown over by the wind, and decided to wait for them in our car! I was very worried about the fun factor as it was sooo cold and windy. But nonetheless, we bought tickets for mini golf, the arcade, and go-karts. Thankfully this time, everyone had remembered their own hat! 

We started with mini golf and had a surprisingly wonderful time. By hole three, Mike and I realized that the balance of competitive and non-competitive make-up of our family was making the score a sore spot. So we simply stopped writing it down. And suddenly, everyone was so happy! Quinn and Dec had back-to-back hole-in-one shots on hole 8, I sunk a hole-in-one on hole 9, and Bugs got hers on hole 13. Mike, who likely would have won had the score keeping continued, was the only V without an ace. The rest of us would like the blog record to show that!

Dec loved mini golf so much and asked if we could go back to Door County so he can golf again. We've assured him that there are mini golf courses in Minnesota and we don't have to drive all the way across Wisconsin to play. Quinn and Fiona are much like their mama and were losing interest before we made it through 18 holes - but we powered through mostly because of Dec's joy. 

After golf, the kids used their tokens and tested out the arcade games. I even got a few games of skee ball in. The break from the wind was also welcome! They traded in their tickets for handfuls of candy (as I look at the overflowing bowl of candy from Halloween - more on that later - I see that this is where the sugar rush began) and then we bundled back up for go-karts. 

Jack and Coop decided to drive their own cars, Quinn, Dec, and Hannah were all too short, and Fiona wanted to ride with someone as well. So Cheryl gamely agreed to drive her first ever go-kart and go with Fiona. The two of them had a lovely time. Quinn asked to ride with me and told me that Mike drives faster - but I drive better. 

When we were done at the fun park, we decided to hit up the candy shop in downtown Egg Harbor. The kids were so excited - until we got there and it was closed. So we all decided to walk around town and find another spot to grab a treat. Every treat shop was closed. But the pub was open! So in we went with six kids in tow and ordered a couple pints and a few desserts with multiple spoons! Problem solved. 

After dinner and another late bedtime for the kids, the adults stayed up way.too.late playing Funemployed. But it was worth it in every way. We laughed until we cried, we ate junk food, we drank, and we had so much fun. Thank goodness we got our irresponsible adult time in ... because Friday morning started out sideways!

Fall Break: Heading to Door County

We are back from Fall Break and I'm not going to lie -- the washer has been running pretty much constantly since we walked in the door. If someone would like to come over and fold clothes for me, I wouldn't say no ..... 

[Facts: I started this post a week ago. The October cold continues to cycle through the house and last week was a bit of a dumpster fire. However, my laundry comment still stands.]

This year, we decided on an adventure to Door County, Wisconsin, complete with our travel buddies, the Pilchers. We rented a house on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula, complete with a private sand beach and a basement game room. Nine out of ten adventurers had never been to Door County (and I went twenty plus year ago), so everyone was very excited. The only thing that made everyone wary was the six hour drive required to get there (and get home).

We hit the road Wednesday morning, ran into a major traffic jam just over the border - so followed the GPS' hint to save over an hour on backroads ... and used that detour to meet up with the Ps at a random park and ride in rural Wisconsin (how all good adventures - or horror movies - begin). We caravanned to Eau Claire for lunch and then drove another hour to Rib Mountain State Park. Rib Mountain was just over halfway and the perfect pitstop to get some energy out and stretch our legs. 

[According to the state park website, Rib Mountain is over a billion years old and is one of the oldest geologic formations on Earth. The more you know!]

We started our steep trek up the "mountain" in the rain (and therefore the mud), but were rewarded with a double rainbow at the top. Then we pressed our luck and got the kids to then climb the 60 foot observation tower. It was well-worth the climb as the views at the top were fantastic. Wisconsin's fall colors were showing off! 

We did a bit more hiking after that and discovered that either the park map is confusing or Mike can't read a map - because the "sliding rock" formation that we were hiking to proved quite elusive. There is dissention in the ranks as to whether or not we ever found it [we totally did not]. Honestly, we all wish we had more time to spend at the park as it was one of the trip highlights for all the Vs.

However, we were all anxious to get to the house, get settled, and check out the game room! So we hit the road again and finally made it to the house around 6:30pm. Mike and Quinn ran to the nearby gas station grocery store and picked up frozen pizzas and fruit and dinner was casual. Then off the kids headed to play air hockey, ping pong, pool, and shuffleboard in the basement. Bedtime was very late - a choice that came back to haunt us later in the trip.