Nellie, age 17

 

Big cousin, little cousin

Some things never change...Nellie with a tiny toad!

Storytime with Nellie...in German

That one time we dropped off Nellie to tour Europe

First day of school

How Nellie will live in my memory for a long time!

Between band, working at the Sun Theater, a vibrant social life (including a regular Dungeons and Dragons night with friends?!), flute lessons, and kicking off summer with a trip to Germany, I felt like I never saw Nellie this spring! We even started joking about our "rare Nellie sightings." So a long vacation up north and a quieter month of July with some one-on-one hikes and a concert has been a great chance to reconnect and spend lots of quality time together. 

During last year's interview, Nellie focused on the upcoming junior year, which is known to be tough. She handled it like a pro, though, one day at a time. She successfully navigated two AP classes and continued to grow in maturity and independence as she increasingly managed her own time and responsibilities. Though I did get to witness one particular moment when she ripped up her Precalculus homework and had to tape it back together later. It's hard to believe Nellie is officially a senior (and we're senior parents). But at the same time, she was sort of born ready, running full-tilt toward adulthood, whether we're ready or not! We're hoping for a slightly quieter year as we prioritize fewer activities so we can spend as much time together as possible. I know this year will be exciting, and a little terrifying, and we will all learn a lot.

Here's a fun fact - I had to go back and look, but this is Nellie's 15th birthday interview. We started this when Nellie was 3, which makes sense because Annie was a baby and I'd given up on the idea of a baby book. We're nearing the end of this birthday interview journey!

Annie, age 15

The official Tigers photographer captured this picture and sent it to Kevin!

Annie and her birthday present

My new normal view of Annie

A great moment this year!

We kicked off Annie's birthday with a trail run!

What a year it's been for Annie as she started high school! She learned the ropes of high school coursework, ran cross country, played basketball, made new friends and deepened old friendships, was in two musicals, and successfully completed drivers training. I love spending time with her, and for better or worse (for her), there's a lot of that! We have long car rides to and from school made longer by construction are the best time to chat and debrief. And now she can drive us around...which may be the first major source of conflict in our mother/daughter relationship. Annie is a girl who stops in to see me between classes or at lunch just to say 'hi.' She continues to be my "right-hand girl" in helping keep life more organized and running more smoothly.

We're excited to see what the next year holds as Annie moves on to sophomore year!

4th of July week 2024 - Days 7 and 8

All good things must come to an end! Yesterday we said goodbye to Ethan, though Annie and I got him to go for a run with us first. It was rainy most of the day, so we did some chores (washed windows, returned cans to the store and restocked some essentials in the condo) and took one more leisurely drive to Dancing Crane. We hung out for awhile before one more trip into town for final souvenir and gift shopping, then met John, Sue, and Sally at Lockview for dinner. I finally got to have some whitefish - a favorite!

This morning, Annie and I went for one more up north run/walk. That is, we ran to the coffee shop and shared an iced latte as we walked back. We packed and cleaned up, which, as usual, was quite an affair. The littles really wanted one more stop at Sherman Park, so they played on the playground while Annie, Nellie, and I sat on the beach for a few more minutes.

Then we drove home, and it is good to be home.

Waiting for a table at Lockview

The Flinstone car still works! They weren't sure it would hold five kids, but there were five cavepeople and a dinosaur riding it in the picture, so...

This freighter came by right before we left, and we loved the painted mural of runners on it!

Fourth of July Week 2024 - Day 6

 Finally the 4th! I'm still getting used to the idea of not all being together at Gull Lake, but we did have a great day. It started early, because some people wanted to get up for the sunrise. Those people were able to fall right back to sleep...but not all of us. It wasn't much of a sunrise because it was very foggy, but seeing the sun slowly break through the mist was lovely.

I got in a quick solo walk before everyone was up, got a few groceries, then we were off on our Soo Locks boat tour! The weather was perfect and the passengers were in a holiday mood. Eddie and Mary got to go through the locks for the first time and everyone learned a lot.

We spent the afternoon at Sherman Park - we hadn't been in many years but it's a great place to go swimming, or as the kids told me, playing Ninja Warrior. After the park, we headed into town for the parade. It was our first evening parade, which was kind of nice! We ate hot dogs with all the best sides, the kids did poppers and sparklers, and then we got to watch another dazzling fireworks display. Happy 4th of July!

Setting out

Swimming with freighters

Waiting...and waiting...for the parade to start

Sparklers!

Fourth of July Week 2024 - Day 5

 We were all over today to ! We tried to get up extra early-ish, and packed up to go on the road. After much discussion and debate, our first stop was Dancing Crane for sustenance, then Upper and Lower Falls at Tahquamenon Falls (we'd never been to Lower Falls together, Bark Dock beach, Iroquois Point, and Monocle Lake. We decided on ice cream before supper because it was a long day! 

It was raining when we woke up, and although it sprinkled on and off, by the time we got to the beach it was sunny and warm. Nellie and Annie did all the driving, partly because it's a fun drive, and partly so that someone could sit in back to manage the conflict. 😬 I think we'll sleep well tonight!

Fourth of July Week - Day 4

Annie and I ran together at LSSU as early as we could get out, though I was kind of hoping she'd decide to sleep in because my legs are REAL sore after yesterday's hiking. Then Ethan arrived! When asked what he wanted to do while he was in the Soo, he said he wanted to do all the things we like to do. So we ate lunch, played in the lawn, walked downtown to watch boats in the locks, visited our favorite shops, got coffee and pasties, watched Full House, got dinner at Clyde's Drive-In, and skipped rocks at Rotary Park.

Love this view!

Ethan bought some sour cream and onion CRICKETS. DJ ate most of the bag. 

Fourth of July Week - Day 3

We set out to explore more of our beautiful state today and had some adventures at Pictured Rocks! It was a longish drive that required a lot of patience from everyone (pause here - it also required that the van become a dictatorship in which I could choose all music and DVDs and assign seats for the rest of the trip) but worth it for the amazing sights and new experiences!

We went on two hikes, one to Miners Falls and one from Miners Castle to Miners Beach. We ate our picnic lunch in between. Both were beautiful, but the second one was definitely more challenging. I re-discovered that downhill can be significantly more difficult than uphill. My legs might never be the same.

It's Canada Day! So John, Sally, and Sue came over with dinner and we watched fireworks over the river courtesy of our northern neighbors. It was a wonderful display; first time I've made it back in 12 years!

Sooo excited to head out on a day trip (maybe)

Annie loves driving!

Beautiful, sunny hike to Miners Falls!

So it was expressly "not encouraged" by the Park Service to leave the boardwalk, but we got a much better view of the falls...

DJ had no interest in potentially breaking any rules.

Miners Castle

It was a tough hike but this one loved it. After expressing some feelings...

Miners River is bright orange!

And finally, the beach.