Vacation!

Here is a picture of my kids with their cousins on my side of the family. They're my brother's sons. Except for K, they played together very well. My son was the oldest, then Noah (white shirt), then J, then Nolan. Poor K had on one to play with, and she desperately wanted to go outside and use the swingset with the others, but she really didn't understand that she couldn't walk near the swings when the others were swinging. She's crying in the picture. I think she was tired.

I don't know why this text is centered. I'm not sure it will appear that way, but if it does, I'm aware of the problem, but I don't know how to fix it. I got to this blogging screen through Picasa2 instead of the regular way.

We went to Potter Park Zoo in Lansing and had a great time. Mostly the kids wanted their pictures taken in the wooden, painted animal frames with their faces showing so they looked like animals.

K had diarrhea the first couple days, but since she wore a diaper, we just had to change her seven or eight times a day. I got it the last day. N got it once we got home. I still have it a little.

We went to my dad's house. He lives about five minutes from my mom. He's the one with Internet, but my kids hated it there (except when we did fireworks) so I didn't spend much time there. I did spend last Wednesday there with my brother, and I sort of assisted him while we changed out his garbage disposal, which had been rusted out for the past 15 years so that he was only using one side of his sink. Now he has the use of both sides.

My kids spent a lot of time walking to the park near my mom's house. They roamed the neighborhood a bit. I used to do it all the time. N had a watch, so I had him keep checking back to my mom's house every half hour.

It was a lot colder in Michigan. I didn't bring enough warm clothing for N and J, so my mom and I went to Goodwill, and I got them each two more long-sleeved shirts. It did warm up at the end, though. The colder weather was very nice after the heat we'd had here a couple weeks ago.

One day we went to the Michigan Historical Society museum. We decided to take the bus so the kids could see what riding the city bus was like. We were going to leave K with my step-father. She had a lot of tears when she learned she wouldn't get to go on the bus. She's seen N and J get on the schoolbus all year, and has wanted to join them so badly. Finally, I relented and said she could come, too. She was an absolute angel on the bus. I think it was probably the highlight of the trip for her. Unfortunately, she pitched major temper tantrums throughout the museum so we had to rush though it. I guess I should have just taken her for a bus ride and nothing else.

In Detroit, we stayed in my college roommate's house. I shared a bed with the girls, and I got almost no sleep. I swear K used her hands like awls to try to gouge out my eyes while I slept. We visited Mr. K's sister Sherri, and their mom (Grandma) came over. I went to my brother's house twice, and Mr. K's brother with a big house and swimming pool held a party in honor of our visit and Sherri's daughter's birthday. We got to see most of Mr. K's relatives then. It rained and was cold so only N, J, and the older cousins bothered to swim. We finally got to meet the kids' two other cousins who were born in 2006, like K.