mini Mi reunion

We drove up to Athens, MI, to spend some quality time with the maternal-paternal side of the family.  Since Jill is now watching an additional 2 year old on Wed and Fridays, we couldn't get on the road until after 5.  Which meant that we didn't get on the road until closer to 6.  An hour later we ate dinner at Burger King in Gilman.  Not much later, I made a wrong turn.  Later still we (except for the sleeping Janny) had to eat ice cream treats at a gas station.  At 1:45 am local time, we arrived at great-grandpa's house to a warm greeting (I think/hope that he was sleeping prior to our arrival).

On the way home, we drove during the day.  I'm preferring night driving now. At least one of the kids is asleep and we need to stop way less often.

We visited an apple orchard that was hurting for apples due to the great 2012 drought.  Our county is 9" short of rain on the year.

Fabulous cousins (now with spouse/fiancee/girlfriend) and uncles and aunts joined the reunion.  Local-boy-made-pastor Rick preached at Factoryville Bible church on Sunday morning.

Athens is super-duper rural.  Dirt roads abound.  This broken bridge means that instead of 3/4 mile between Aunt Kevin's house and great-grandpa's, one must drive 4 1/2 miles.  It's still strong enough for fishing.

On the way home, we drove across a covered bridge near Centreville.  The roof and supports are clearly not original, but it still has a wooden deck.  We saw a big green frog on a log near the river.

Only 3 days remain until our biggest kid turns 3.  She's been looking forward to her birthday for a solid 2 months.  Grandma S is planning the games for the morning kid party, and we invited a whole bunch of friends for an open house evening party.