Desperately Seeking Gina

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…Playing Hooky

After Tyler was born, I’d stare lovingly at him while he slept and daydream about what fun adventures we’d have when he grew up. I’d wipe the drool from his chin and wonder about the boy he would become. Would he like the same things as me? Or would he strictly be drawn to sports and whatever else men {boys} enjoy?

I’m extremely happy and proud to say that he seems to like it all. He loves to read and watch movies {totally me}, but he’s your basic, everyday kinda boy as well. He loves to watch sports, and play them, too. And he’s into wrestling {I’m embarrassingly admitting it, although I did go through a “phase” too, remember The Rock?}. He loves to fish and hunt {mostly for frogs at this point, but I see “buck” hunting in his future} and he definitely loves to get his hands dirty, along with just about every other square inch of his little 7 year old frame.

And, though I may sigh heavily as he begs to go out and play “jackpot” or to play catch, or when I hear “wanna play a game?” one more time, I am grateful that we get along so well…and that we have so much in common. He’s my little buddy and I love him so much.

I mentioned that we spent quite a bit of time together during my vacay. The best time, by far, was the day before I left. His mom let him play hooky from school so we had an entire day together.

We started off at 10 am, with breakfast at Mickey D’s {his choice}. We sat in our big, fancy, circular booth made for a crowd long after we’d finished our McMuffins. As he was getting full he asked if I wanted the last two bites of his and said, “I’ll even take off the meat for ya, g.” How cute is this kid? Not to mention considerate!

Next, I had to make a trip to the bank, which Tyler noticed was close to Mom’s & Dad’s old place on Lake Harbor Road, and he asked if we could drive by. So we did…and since their other house on Bayview was so close, we pulled in the driveway there and reminisced about the good ole days. “How old was I when Nana lived here?” “What did we do here?”

Ty noticed Lake Harbor Park and I told him we used to walk there from Nana & Papa’s to feed the ducks and walk to Lake Michigan…so we decided to stop and take a look. I’m so glad we did. We hiked through the park, taking the big hill trail {totally Ty’s idea} instead of the flat trail that I’d always used to take {and gosh, were my calves sore the next day}. We hiked along the channel from Mona Lake all the way to Lake Michigan, with me telling Ty about the history of the park {what I could remember from the bulletin board}. We stopped along the way to look at the water {up close for Tyler}, birds, and flowering bushes. I asked what I could do to get a little photo shoot out of him by these really cool looking wooden steps we came across. He said his price was a trip to WalMart to purchase a toy. He drives a hard bargain.

We spent some time on the overlook boardwalk gazing at the lake and enjoying the warm sunshine.Then…we decided we’d head over to the Cinema Carousel to catch a movie. We watched Iron Man after playing some games. Tyler cuddled up next to me during the movie, which almost melted my heart {and my bag of Reece’s pieces}. After one last game of air hockey, we left to meet up with Thom. Tyler and I played catch in the front yard of Grandma’s house while Thom got ready and then we drove down to Holland for pizza and Tulips. I’d never been to the Tulip Festival and I was excited to go. We ate our Jet’s Pizza at Centennial Park and I was trying to be quick with my camera to get a shot of Tyler in front of the tulips because even though he enjoys the same things as I do, he is just 7 and his attention span is pretty short. Plus…”flowers are for girls” lol.
To cap off the day, Tyler and I made a quick stop at the Maxx to see Nana {if I haven’t mentioned it before…she’s working there now, too} to say goodbye to all my friends there. And then, to end our day? Superman ice cream cones for the both of us.

So…pretty much the perfect day for me…and I hope that Tyler feels the same. Thanks for the great day, kiddo!

love,
g

….Friday Five & Week-long Update

Five things I love to do on vacation:
1. Sleep In!
2. Eat breakfast out.
3. Catch a movie.
4. Hang out at the beach.
5. Spend time with Fam.
Hi, Friends! I took an unexpected but welcomed blogging break last week during my vacation to {Michigan}. I sat down several times to post, but just stared at the screen. Spent a lot of time with Tyler and the fam, and enjoyed every single second of them. Being away has made me so much more appreciative that they are a part of my life, even when they’re so far away.
I packed in so many activities during the week & a half that I had forgotten a lot of them by the time I returned home. Going through all my pictures on Monday night brought back a flood of memories and exclamations of {oh yeah! I remember that day} and sighs of {what good, good times}.
Here are the cliff notes:
* Slept in almost every day…but this isn’t hard to do when my regular routine is waking up at 5am.
* Had breakfast out at least twice. And didn’t have any tinge of guilt as I ate strawberry & cream laden french toast {YUM}.
* At one breakfast, ran into a couple of my parent’s old friends, Skip & Kathy….they moved over and had brekky with Mom and I.
* Spent a whole Saturday at the baseball field with the fam, checking out the East Muskegon t-ball and baseball league while Tyler had his team pictures taken.
* Watched two whole T-ball games and marveled at how well and advanced Tyler has become. He’s such a good little ball player.
* Spent some alone time at Grandma’s house going through photographs and feeling a little sad that I didn’t ask more questions about her past and her childhood.
* Had a really, really nice family dinner on Sunday when the weather was awesome.
*Shopped like a crazy woman. Why is it that shopping at places like Target and Hobby Lobby are different here even though the stores are laid out exactly the same, and the products are exactly the same? The faces I pass in the aisles are just as unfamiliar, yet I have this sense of belonging….hmmm…strange.
Okay….I know there are some highlights I’m missing…and I have some pics to share…but I must iron a shirt for work and get outta here.
Hope you all are well and I’d love to hear about your weeks, too!
{Hugs}

…If they can catch it

……they’ll dip it in some batter and deep fry it.

Thom and I headed to “downtown” Heber Springs for their annual Spring Fest on Saturday afternoon. We checked out the auto show, had lunch {Mexican: Ortega’s}, and then strolled through the Art in the Park booths. I could hardly wait to try my first deep fried treat….my choices? Deep fried twinkies, reese’s, oreos, or……cheesecake. If they hadn’t been so expensive…I would have tried one of each. Have you guys ever had any of them? I finally chose the twinkie. It was {yummy}.

So now…it’s 5:15 am on Sunday morning…and I’m getting ready to head out the door for {Michigan}. I’m excited about seeing the fam…and hoping to see my friends whilst I’m home. Hope you all have a {lovely} week. I’ll post from Mom’s house.

{Hugs}

…Organizational Fun

Working at the Maxx is definitely dangerous. I have a thing for paper goods. Stationery, file folders, note cards, paper napkins…you name it. If it’s cute or pink…it’s gotta be mine. I check for new items daily on the way to my office. Sometimes twice. I may need to seek professional help.

Found these adorable paperclips today. Aren’t they great? Durable, colorful, and fun to look at. Keeps papers clipped together nicely. And…since I got them at the Maxx…they’re affordable too. Checked out the website tonight…and they have a bunch of other fun, funny stuff.

…Projects

I have a few scrapbooking projects started…and hopefully, they’ll be done before it’s time to drive back to Michigan. This is one I’ve been working on, but each page is not quite finished, since I still have some journaling to do on them.