Life as a Yowler

We do a lot of traveling, but rarely stay at a hotel in Michigan. A few weeks ago, we planned this weekend getaway with our friends to Troy, Michigan. We were home for two nights(from the last trip), then headed for our outing. My time at home was spent trying to catch up on laundry, school, and sleep for everyone.

We got the coolest souvenir at Sequoia National Park. The kids had a blast stacking blocks and building this big sequoia tree.

Brandon drove the kids to Nichol’s Light extravaganza Thursday evening. I stayed home and did laundry and packed. He didn’t take any pictures, but said the kids loved it. Isla was pointing and pointing. I was kind of glad I was home and my eyeball was safe.

We had our company Christmas party this week.

After the company Christmas, we headed to Greenfield Village. We made the tough decision to leave Isla with my mom. It’s the first time I’ve left her overnight. The poor baby has been drug all over the country, and we knew she would like it better with grandma. She will never remember, and I didn’t want her out in the cold for so long.

This was my kids’ first time at Greenfield Village. They loved going in all the little shops and watching things being made.

We got to see Santa. He announced that Joah, Brielle, and Caed had all made the nice list. Brielle’s reaction was classic. She jumped and clapped and yelled.

The kids had a lot of fun, until about the last half hour. They all started to melt down. Joah, who is usually never cold, started crying about being cold. The other two were whining obnoxiously. We decided to leave right before fireworks because our kids were losing it. Joah was being so dramatic and loud. On the walk out, he made sure to announce to everyone who looked at him, “I have just traveled for 40 hours in a mini van…..a mini van! That’s why I’m having a hard night.” Some people laughed. Some people judged. Some people ran away as fast as they could. All the kids were asleep before we got to the hotel. We woke them up to walk inside to our room. Caed fell asleep while walking and fell over. Clearly they were all beat.

We woke up the next morning and went swimming.

Then we headed to Sommerset Mall. It was decorated so nice for Christmas.

We got cake pops from Starbucks.

We walked around and did some shopping.We walked into Build a Bear Workshop, and the beer character came out. Brielle kept hugging him over and over.

The girls zipped themselves in Shawn’s coat go stay warm.

It was a very fun weekend!