The 4th Of July means a road trip to Michigan. Every year my cousin and I pack up the car with everything we own plus her dog Boo. Boo is the best little traveler! Twelve hours in the car and never a word of complaint from The Boo Girl.
Michigan was beautiful and peaceful and restful as always.
My Florida cousin, Sue, arrived with her 4 amazing teenagers and the good times began.
There were fireworks and the small town America 4th of July parade:
And of course the Outhouse Float. It was done very tastefully in that the woman pretending to be using the outhouse with her pants around her ankles carefully disguised the fact that she had other clothes on. As I said, tasteful. (Of course there's a photo! Nobody would believe it was real if there wasn't a photo!)
The first part of the week we hovered around the TV watching the Casey Anthony trial. We were at an art store in Houghton Lake when the verdict came in. Luckily Arnie’s Art Supplies has a coffee shop with a TV. I think the jurors watched a different trial than I did. I respect the verdict, but I don't like the verdict.
Next we played with our art supplies. We made mixed media pieces. We made collages. All day and into the wee hours of the morning we played at our artistic endeavors.
No trip to Michigan is complete without a night camping in the woods. Well, actually, that is not true. My trip is quite complete without a night in a tent. However, the 4 kids camped by a lake with their mom and their Uncle John. They had a campfire. They made S’mores. They slept under the stars. And in the morning they awoke to find Mama Bear and Baby Bear tracks right by their tent.
It’s rumored that bears love S’mores. And somewhere in the woods of Northern Michigan there are two bears with marshmallow whiskers.
The visit is never long enough. It is very rare that we all get together. In honor of the occasion I lifted the ban on photos of myself and we posed for a family photo. It’s amazing to look at the lives that have been created because an L.A. girl married a Michigan boy 50+ years ago. My aunt and uncle have every reason to be proud of their children, grandchildren and maybe even their niece!
And no, I am not in this version of the photo. I was focusing the camera. I have not lifted the ban on photos of myself on the internet.
Meanwhile, back in Maryland- somebody was not happy about being left behind while that DOG got to go to Michigan:
