Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

We must really be on vacation--kids having dessert nearly every day, 2 parades in three days, going to bed with sandy feet and hair . . .memories. Henry had his first icecream cone--at Barden's of course. (yes, he's had icecream plenty of times, just not in a cone). If you aren't from Traverse City you'd probably drive right by this ramshackle old place and head for Cold Stone Creamery, but the locals know better. It's a delight. And Elisabeth wants to go there every day. At 8:30 this morning, on the way to the grocery store, Henry calls to me, "I want to go to Gardens." Gardens? "The name of the grocery store is Glens, Henry." "No, Gardens," he says, and points to Bardens. Ah, he catches on quickly. Speaking of icecream, the parent's trick of spelling in front of their children doesn't work anymore. Elisabeth knows what we're spelling, and Henry thinks it is always icecream. "I want some H-N-D!" he cries. "I...

Henry rode a two-wheeler (with training wheels, so I guess it is really a 4 wheeler), but he rode it by himself. I have video to prove it, but don’t have a clue as to how to get it on here. I also have it on my phone. These media crazed parents. Nothing better to do but film their children with various pieces of equipment. Here are some pictures from our hike at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore--Ezra, Ari and Jason joined us for this trip. The kids loved having young companions to encourage them along the trail. We ended with a beautiful view of the dunes, then headed to Empire Beach. Of course, we thought it would be too cold to swim, but it was just perfect. So in they went anyway. But the good thing about being here 3 weeks: we have time to go back! See Dad Stevens helping Henry use the saw? Now I know where John gets his desire to teach Elisabeth about square roots at age 3 and the Periodic Table at age 5. Get 'em started early on what you love. . . .Like reading . . ....

Much to Elisabeth's delight we headed to the Cherry Festival Midway this afternoon. It didn't take long to use up the tickets and get some more! The first ride I took Henry on was an elephant ride. He cried and didn't want to go, but I'd already handed over the tickets. Come on! So we got in and I thought, "What am I doing? He's 2." And we were off. . . and up. I hadn't realized we were going up . . .and down. . . I thought for sure he'd cry, but he didn't. He waved dutifully to Grandma, and Elisabeth who was in front, waved to us, saying, "Hello down there! Hello up there!" The next ride was a zoo train. Elisabeth was the patient big sister--it was obviously not the thrill she expected. But Henry was a serious conductor. Elisabeth's favorite was the swings, Henry's the (less than 2 minutes, I'm sure) motorcycle ride, but my favorite was seeing Henry on the car. He told Grandma, "By myself!" and even though he wa...