On the road again

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By Jason

Hey guys, 

Sorry for the long silence. We've been reconnecting with family in Michigan, and our long relaxed stay there was a bit busier than we would have thought. 

We were in Michigan for five weeks. In that time we:

  1. Visited my dad a dozen times or more and celebrated his 66th birthday with family
  2. Went to Cedar Point
  3. Went to a Lions game
  4. Went to a Tigers game
  5. Ran our own personal 5k
  6. Visited Canada's beautiful Point Pelee
  7. MELP'd on Lake Michigan
  8. Learned what a Clown Shark was, and how terrifying it could be
  9. Made a lot of delicious food, a lot of which did not match the Midwest palate. 
  10. Attended Judy's cousin's wedding
  11. Taught Judy how to be comfortable riding a bike
  12. Have wonderful dinner in Mexicantown, and were keyed into one of the best and most economical pastry bakeries there.
  13. Found my current #2 favorite Pho (in Windsor, ON no less!)
  14. Went fishing (but not catching)
  15. Played dress up and puppet show and learned to braid hair and all sorts of other fun girly things
  16. Googly-eyed a good part of mom's house (Keep looking, you haven't yet found them all!)
  17. Learned why you might wish to Crush a Candy.
  18. Attended a Unitarian Universalist church service and rediscovered some of the benefits of having religious observance in our lives.
  19. Taught a whole group of people Liar's Dice and Ticket to Ride
  20. Packed up and put a bow on the last preparations for the next steps of our journey.

In the midst of all of this we had a great time visiting our families (a lot) and our friends (somewhat less so). We surrounded ourselves with five- to twelve-year-olds and fell in love, out of love, and then back to neutral on the idea of having some of our own. We learned that people with dementia can be some of the most genuine and loving folks you'll ever encounter. We became immensely frustrated with the feeling of being stuck in the "youngest child" role, then strangely and pleasantly surprised to see that role diminish and change over time. We learned that influence doesn't always look like what you think it would, and that lessons taught through action and example are often the most effective.

And now we're off again. If you're scoring at home, our trip currently looks as follows:

 

We leave for Iceland on Friday! We'll be staying in Reykjavik for three days, then on to Bergen, Norway.