Sunday was when we went up, after church, and changing our clothes. We had a wonderful time with cousins and family. JJ was even able to come and stay overnight with us as he found out he had Monday off. A real special treat! There was still plenty of snow, but not so much that we were freezing. It was actually only 20 degrees cooler up there then down in the valley. We made a makeshift campfire and roasted marshmallows and starbursts. We stayed up late that night playing games with my brother and sister-in-law. It was a great night.
Monday was good too. We got up to go to the Brighton breakfast, sponsored by different people this year, but it was still decent. Hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, and juice. Most of it was cold, but still edible and filled us up. We met the rest of the family there at the breakfast. At 10:30 was the parade. Every year the police tell us we can't do the parade because we don't have a permit, and every year we have a parade, oddly enough with police in it. The kids loaded up on candy, loved watching the different cars and bikes all decked out. A lot of people build their own cars and display them. The Brighton Girls Camp handed out balloons. But the piece that most of the children liked best was the fire engine... oh yeah, and all the candy that got thrown out. They loaded up! It was like Halloween in July! After the parade, we went back to the cabin, had lunch, some napped, we took a hike around the lake (which some parts of the path were still covered in snow). Around 3:30, everyone went home, except us. Here is where is got not as perfect. It started perfect. Everyone fell asleep except Melanie and me. All boys were napping. I woke them up when it was dinnertime, JJ had to leave right after dinner. Sad part number one. Melanie started crying, probably because everyone left so abruptly, it was discouraging to her. After dinner, the boys watched Chip n' Dale, while Melanie and I played card games, and then I inventoried the pantry. We couldn't roast marshmallows again because it was raining and I wasn't sure the flue was open in the fireplace. Melanie wanted me to rest, so she said that she would put the boys to bed. That did not go over well. The boys did not fall asleep until 11PM. Then, at 2AM and every hour after that, Patrick kept asking if it was time to get up yet. Finally, at 5AM, I gave up with sleep and said yes. He was thrilled, I was not.
Tuesday was torture day for me. Running on 3 hours of sleep, my patience was thin, my motherly reflexes were slow. Everyone was on their own for breakfast, which meant dry cereal. Eventually, after a bath, I felt better. I dressed children, packed a lunch into our bag as well as trail mix, bread, water, and anything else you needed for three children on a hike. It was chillier because of the previous nights' rain, around 56 degrees. We hiked over the snow and mud to find our favorite spot to feed squirrels. The bench was a little wet, but we still fed them and they enjoyed. Gregory was friendly with everyone that passed and we stayed there for awhile. Eventually we kept going to our favorite spot for lunch. Luckily, there were some ducks there, so we fed them some bread as well. The children also thought it would be fun to put some grapes on the trees to help feed the chipmunks.
Patrick and Gregory got a little bored, so we soon left and kept going. Each child wanted their pictures taken on top of some of the rocks, so Melanie obliged.
Then, Melanie tried to take a picture of herself on a rock. That didn't go so well. She slipped and fell and bruised her bottom. She did, however, take a picture of the offending rock.
She cried for awhile, but then her bum was all forgotten when the next incident happened. Now, if you have been following from the beginning, this is the part with Gregory's incident. If anyone has been up to Brighton with us, you are familiar with Silver Lake, and possibly the boardwalk. Well, we were walking on the boardwalk that crosses the lake, so you are actually walking over the lake. Parts of this boardwalk have handrails to prevent falling in, other parts don't. It had been a very wet winter, with a lot of thawing this year. Parts of the boardwalk are flooded. Gregory was walking the ledge of the boardwalk holding onto the handrails. I told him to stop doing this, he might fall in, which he say (in his childlike innocence) "I'm not trying to fall in." Perfect. That makes me feel much better. However, I do convince him to stop it. A little further down, the handrail stops. I turn around to see how he is doing, just in time to see him on the ledge of the boardwalk, slip, hit his head, and fall into the freezing murky water. I shriek, probably scaring off all the local wildlife, and rush over to him. I yank him out of the water, and he is soaking wet from head to toe, sputtering out water. I check him out, no cuts, no bleeding. He is very cold and says his head hurts, there is a bruise forming on his cheek, but it won't go far, probably because of the cold. Luckily, we are very close to the end of the hike and where the car is parked. Patrick is way ahead, and did not witness any of this. So, we rush on to get Gregory to the car, and eventually the cabin. Patrick sees us, oblivious, except that Gregory is crying (which is normal to him), and asks if we can go inside the visitor center. I point out Gregory's wetness and say no. We rush to the car and get to the cabin. Our cabin has a few heaters around that you flip on with a switch. I stuck Gregory in front of one and strip him down. He likes this. He is dancing and flaunting his stuff in front of the heater while I stick his shoes in front of another heater, and stick his clothes in the laundry. When I come back, he is wiggling his naked butt at the heater, smiling. Maybe I should call him the rebound kid. Eventually he is dressed in clean, warm clothes, and he and I take a much needed nap while Melanie and Patrick watch more Chip n' Dale.
That evening, we had mini hotdogs, mac n' cheese, and soda. Patrick had fallen asleep (surprise, surprise), but I wake him up to eat. He eats, then goes back to sleep. I play more games with melanie, clean up, and put an ice pack on Gregory's head, which he says hurts and I have no children's Tylenol. Patrick wakes at 8PM, but then we all fall asleep (in my bed) around 10PM, listening to rain falling again.
Wednesday. Luckily, I get lots of sleep. We all wake up around 8AM. Waffles for breakfast. Everyone is really good about packing and cleaning up that we have time for one more hike. I am nervous about it, but am hoping for the best. Nothing goes wrong. It is very warm, which made a little bit more flooding in the lake, so more parts of the boardwalk are covered in a inch of water. Melanie decided to take a picture of the spot Gregory fell in, which was now inhabited by ducks, which we fed.
On this hike, there were no incidents, but I was keeping a close eye on Gregory, and Patrick (nothing had happened to him yet, I was cautious). We stopped at our spot again, and fed more squirrels. Much more wildlife today. Melanie got tons of pictures, I have to pick and choose which ones to use.
After some patience, one of them got very close to Melanie's shoe.
For some reason, they were also fascinated by the worms.
I think this picture is a bluejay. What do you think?
Here are my two favorite squirrel pictures.
With no incidents, we headed back to the cabin for lunch, more cleaning, and more packing. The only disappointing thing that day was, after I cleaned everything, packed the car, took out the garbages, and was about to lock up the cabin, Gregory pooped his pants. I lost it with him, I admit. I was furious. We had to unpack the car to get new underwear and clean him up. Eventually, we were ready. We got home close to 2PM. All in all, we survived, we are home, and we are excited to go back again, this time with friends!
