A Trip for Two - Picture (and word) Overload

Jackson has been asking to go to the UP (Upper Peninsula) ever since the scouts at school started bragging about going there to find turtle shells.  (They have been on a major campaign to get him to switch to the school pack and it's getting hard to fight the big budget of the fun school scouting activities.)  Jackson called Barrington at work on Thursday and asked if we could go "up north" that weekend.  Clearly, Barrington was not listening and said that we could go.  

Enter The Scheduler.  (That's me.)  Who kindly reminded the duo that they had a flag football game that wouldn't be over until 4:30 on Saturday and had to be back home for school and work on Monday morning.  The Planner (also, me) informed Barrington that it takes 4.5 hours to drive to the southern most point of the UP.  Needless to say, we had a disappointed little guy.  That's when The Rockstar (me, too) had a brilliant idea.  I decided I would find a place close by and I would take Jackson on an overnight trip, just the two of us.  My friend Corinne takes her children for a fun trip when they reach certain ages and I've always thought it was something that I would like to start with my boys.  All the confusion, plus the fact that I didn't have any church responsibilities this week due to General Conference, gave me the push I needed.  (And, yes, I will get to all of the talks.  Don't judge.)

We left for the 50 minute drive to Frankenmuth, Michigan about 6:00 pm and talked the whole way there.  (There might have been a lot of talk about Yeti's and the Loch Ness Monster.)  We were ready for dinner when we arrived.  I had some friends clue me into what we needed to do and it was mandatory that we attend one of the town's "World Famous" family style chicken dinners.  I didn't find it incredibly special (and sort of thought it was a huge waste of food) but it was fun to have lots to choose from.  Jackson actually tried at least a bite of everything, which was amazing for the picky guy.  It was LOVELY, I tell you, to enjoy a dinner without having a baby or two year old trying to climb on the table.  We talked and ate and worked on a word find that was on the back of the kid's menu.

Jackson was obsessed with this horse, Buddy, for our whole trip.  We spotted him out and about several times.

We then took a super scary detour to a town just a few miles away because the bridge was out.  That is when we actually pictured ourselves going over the bridge and into the cold water in the darkness.  Yikes!   Our trusty GPS got us to our hotel and we checked in.  We took a 10 pm swim where I learned that I can hold my breath longer than any of the 3rd graders that Jackson has challenged.  (I knew I still had it.)  He was super thrilled that I let him hang out in the hot tub with me.  I couldn't say no as it was BITTER cold.  When we got back to our room we hung out and watched a little bit of the movie Rudy.  When it was time for bed, Jackson asked if I would sleep next to him instead of in the other bed :0).

The next morning we checked out and just hung out exploring the adorable Bavarian town.

We walked along this main street a lot that day.  Several times I put my arm on this cute eight year old's shoulder and he reached up to hold my hand.  Then, often throughout the day, he just grabbed my hand to hold it as we walked down the street.  It think this was my favorite thing all weekend...maybe even in all of my life.

  We watched as fudge and taffy were being made:

Sampled a million cheeses at the Cheese Haus:

Checked out the town center.

One of us climbed every tree we could find:

And rolled through lots of grass:

We learned how to roll pretzels.  (Something that my parents took me to do as a kid).

I learned that cafeteria lady is not a good look for me.

We played miniature golf where we ended up getting the exact same score - 28 over par!

I continued my streak at beating him in air hockey, although he did win the last game because we played so long that the table shut off.  We played checkers:

I seriously had such a wonderful time with this little guy.  It is so easy for us to butt heads these days.  Jackson loves to provoke his brothers.  This trip was a time where I didn't have to correct him about anything or demand that people get along.  He was happy to participate in everything.  There was no forcing him to enjoy himself.  He seemed to take in everything and even ask me what I wanted to do a couple of times.

We walked around a little shopping area where Jackson bought some sharks teeth, a stone and a pocket knife.

Where we bypassed this for ice cream:

I may have tried to coerce my own son to go over this rope and sit on the rock behind him, all for a cool picture.  He refused and decided to play it safe, just like his mother.

Then we went on a little drive to go through a massive corn maze.  This is something that Jackson was really looking forward to.  However, as we entered I asked how long the maze took to get through.  The woman said 1-2 hours!!!  Onward we went.

Jackson thought this sign was pretty funny.

We happened upon some kids who had a walkie-talkie.  They were talking to their sister, but hadn't been able to find her in 2 hours.  Jackson started helping us out with some markers.

I think we made it out of there in about an hour.  We had been walking all day and were ready to sit down.

There were some goats that we fed corn to who seemed like they had not been fed for a long time.  Jackson made sure the greedy big guy didn't take food from the babies. There was a cute dog that he chased around while I looked at the fields.  I could not get enough of the golden color of this field.  I wish the picture did it justice.

We got in the car about 6:00, 24 hours after our departure.  As we drove out of town, there was a rainbow.  A perfect ending to a perfect trip.

As we drove home, we talked about how some moms have to work for various reasons.  And that some moms choose to stay home with their kids.  Jackson seemed confused that I actually wanted to stay home with them because I always "seem so stressed out."  That makes me so sad.   I can't blame him for thinking that, I need to do better...WAY better.
 
I'm so very glad that we made this trip together.  I can't remember the last time I had such a perfectly wonderful day.  I'm so looking forward to the next one.