2022

Great Wolf Lodge

Alright, alright, alright. We had all been looking forward to this trip since we booked it the end of last summer, and in late January the time finally arrived. We set out on a snowy Thursday for three nights and four days of water, warmth, and fun with the Hudsons. We originally planned to leave the resort one night for a nicer dinner somewhere in Traverse City. Didn't happen. I fact we didn't even go outside for three days. GWL sucks you in and doesn't release you until its completely depleted your energy reserves and drained your bank account. 

We (especially the kids) really did have a GREAT time though. We splashed in the water, ate pizza, became magicians, bowled, and played arcade games. Huxley loved running around the lazy river, and Liesl insisted upon doing almost everything herself. Mom and Dad loved the trips to the hot tub to warm up.  See you next year Great Wolf!

Huxley's First Time on the Slopes

Dad had been excited to take Huxley skiing for a couple of years now, and this was the year it finally happened! Dad talked up skiing in the weeks leading up to the adventure, saying how much fun it was, etc. to get Huxley ready. The day finally arrived for Dad and Huxley to make the trek to Timber Ridge. Turns out it was their busiest day of the season and the first orders of business were waiting about 20 minutes to get a lift ticket and another 30-40 minutes to get rentals. 

Finally, they strapped on their skis and stepped onto the magic carpet. Huxley did amazingly well! She skied down between Dad's legs a few times, then used the leash a couple of runs. Dad was quite proud that she then bravely insisted going down herself without being touched. They stopped for lunch after about 2.5 hours, then skied another couple of hours after lunch. Needless to say they were both happy and exhausted on the ride home. 

Liesl's Second Birthday

Due to COVID Liesl didn't really get to have a first birthday celebration. This year was different though! We headed over to SkyZone for some tramp jumping fun. Lots of your friends came to help you celebrate and everyone had a great time. You were super excited to bounce on the trampolines, run around, and eat pizza and cake. The best part was the look on your face when everyone sang happy birthday to you. You just soaked in all the attention and successfully blew out your candles (after almost setting your hair on fire).

Dad's Graduation

Finally, at long last, Dad is done. Like done, done. As in Dr. Daddy done. It was a long road with some momentous life changes along the way including: getting married, moving (twice), buying and renovating a house, and having two little ones. He does NOT recommend anyone else following his lead. However, the flexibility offered by being a PhD student was quite useful for us as a young family, and will be sorely missed when he starts working more traditional hours. It was easy for Dad to stay home with sick kids, take them to appointments, run errands, etc. Looking forward, Dad is ready to put the skills he learned in graduate school to use and help effect some positive change in the world! 

There is actually not as many photos from this day as one might expect. It was so nice to see everyone in person again that most of the time was spent catching up and chatting.

Summer Moments

These photos attempt to capture some of the essence of summer. "Pure Michigan", if you will. This year Mom and Dad had more weddings (3) than in recent memory. The first was a local wedding back in March. For the second, they made the drive down to St. Louis (sorry, no photos of the arch, just one in front a fountain and one at the Budweiser factory) to celebrate the wedding of Dad's old college friend. 

Then, we all went up to Traverse City to celebrate a cousin's (Lauren's) wedding. We stayed with Gramps and Grammy in an Airbnb within walking distance to the venue. This was the girls' first time at a wedding. Huxley was very curious during the ceremony and had a fun time at the reception. Liesl...let's just say Liesl has yet to see a wedding ceremony because she did what toddlers do best and threw a tantrum 5 minutes prior. She did have a blast dancing at the reception though!

We also all spent time quality time around home with family and friends having fires, going on boat rides, playing in the water, and just straight chillin' (as exemplified by Liesl in the video below).

Mackinaw with the Schells

What summer would be complete without a trip up North? This year, the whole Schell family traveled to Mackinaw City. As anyone with kids will know, packing the car is an adventure in itself...this is why families have minivans. One of the first required activities upon our arrival was checking out the hotel pool of course, followed by pleading to "Go for a quick swim before dinner." 

The next day we made our way to Mackinaw island, and we could have asked for more perfect weather. Lower 70's, sunny, and calm wind. We rode on a pirate ship on the way over complete with mops to swab the deck, squirt gun canons and pirate music. On the island we planned on taking the quintessential bike around the perimeter. We got 2 miles in before turning around because....children. We then had a nice lunch overlooking the bay and back in time for ice cream and a swim. 

Day 2 we explored Fort Michilimackinaw, Huxley and Dad went putt putt golfing while Liesl napped. On our final day we drove over the Mackinaw bridge and visited Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (Huxley climbed all the stairs herself!) before turning south and heading home.

Another Autumn Post?

It seems like I write a post about autumn every year...Whatever, it's the best! I mean, who doesn't love warm days, cool nights, donuts, apples, and the start of fall sports? This year we had an unseasonably warm October and early November, followed by the largest pre-Thanksgiving snowfall in a LONG time. We probably got close to 2 feet over the course of a few days!

We continued our yearly tradition of heading to Shultz Fruit Farm to pick a couple bags of apples,  and pick up some delicious donuts. Halloween this year was warm but rainy. We headed out into the neighborhood with the Hudson's and Gornick's. This time around the older kids were running from door to door almost faster than than the adults could keep up. The rain held off until the last little bit, so everyone mostly stayed dry, except for Liesl and Mom who stayed out a bit longer after Liesl refused to skip any houses when the rain started. 

Chadd and Coltan helped us decorate the house this year with a portion of their impressive collection of Halloween decorations. It turned out great! So great in fact that Dad won the "Best Halloween Decorations" category at his work!

The Holidays

Ho, Ho, How in the heck did another year go by already!? We noticed this year that have started to develop some holiday traditions as a family. We took holiday photos again, but for the first time they were inside. During the session Liesl was in a somewhat grumpy mood and we could not figure out why. That all become clear a couple of days later when we found out she had COVID. Luckily, this was early December so we were all free from quarantine by Christmas. 

We also went to Gull Meadow Farms to look at their lights and blow-up display, but we took along some friends this year (the Hudson's came along). We also made it out the reindeer farm to meet Santa's sleigh pullers...and Santa himself! Huxley was brave and told Santa exactly what she wanted, Liesl still was not too sure about the jolly old elf. Mom and Dad treated themselves this year to a preeeeeety high-end present...a minivan! Dad has fond memories of going on road trips in vans while growing up, so he is especially excited to get it out on the open road and force the kids to experience some quality "Scenic Overlooks".

Skiing at Crystal Mountain

Right after Christmas we took the van on its maiden voyage to Crystal Mountain for a Pure Michigan ski vacation with the Schurrs. We stayed at a great lodge right next to the ski hill with a wonderful view of the slopes. Life tends to come full circle in many respects. Dad has fond memories of going on ski trips to northern Michigan with his Dad, and was ecstatic to take the kids on their first ski trip...even if there wasn't a whole lot of skiing involved.

Huxley skied down a few runs on the first day, but took a lesson the next morning. She did great and ended up riding the lift by the end of it. She even went up on the lift with Dad for the first time! Liesl...did what we would expect Liesl to do. She got dressed up in her gear, slid down the hill a few times looking looking a puffy colorful marshmallow, then said she was done and wanted some hot chocolate. 

In addition to skiing we did a host of other fun winter activities. Huxley tried ice skating for the first time and was on the ice non-stop for over an hour! The whole family went on a night time carriage ride through the woods. The kids loved the horses. We, of course finished, most nights with perhaps the most important tradition of ski vacations, a swim, hot tub, and delicious dinner.