Mothers Day in Michigan

"Fasten that good Dad!"

My Grandma isn't doing too well, so I wanted to be sure to get Jack and Kyle up north to see her. Everything worked out to where my whole family was able to get together for Mother's Day weekend [and my nephew's 10th birthday!] It was the first time we had everyone on my mom's side of the family together in over 14 years. It was pretty special.

I was a little apprehensive about flying with the little dude, but it wasn't that bad at all. Having Kyle with me and not having other kids to chase down certainly made going through the airport and security do-able. I can't imagine traveling by myself with Jack or having 2 or 3 kids running around. The kid did get a little whinny on the plane, but thankfully he never got to the point of crying. It was just a 2 hour ride, so we were in Detroit before we knew it. We rented a car and set off toward my Aunt Lulu's house.

Once we settled in with everything we grabbed some lovely Michigan fare [the best Spinach pie in my life], and drove to my grandma's house. She was so excited to see Jack. Kyle and I were second to Jack in ranks for Grandma's hugs. I felt bad because he was pretty cranky from traveling and everything, so once she got him in her bear hug he started to cry. For the rest of the trip, the kid was nothing but smiles though. Everyone couldn't stop saying "he's so happy!", "you guys did good", "what a great baby!", etc. I felt like such a proud Mom...people seem to think I'm doing something right!


The following day, which was Friday, Kyle, Jack and I woke up, drank some coffee, and got ready. The weather was perfect. It was in the 60's with blue skies. I couldn't have gotten enough of it. Since we rented a car we could drive around wherever our little hearts desired. I took Kyle on the ultimate Oakland County tour. First we went to Meijer's where we bought some Faygo Pop, then drove past our old house on Teggerdine, ate some lunch at Big Boys pointed out Circus Circus, Brewbakers, and my elementary school. I loved that I could finally share all of this with Kyle and he could see everything. He enjoyed it. Once we arrived to my Grandma's, my Mom and Enzo were there along with my brother Steve. My mom was so happy to see Jack. Then she quickly started going up to her brothers and sisters saying, "Look at my baby, isn't he the cutest!?".

Saturday was picture day at school grandma's. We had a photographer scheduled to come out and take all of our family's photos. Each of my Grandma's children's families were assigned a color; yellow, purple, green, etc. We were the blue team.

Altogether, we had an even 40 people there.

We thought it would be a mess getting everyone together, but we surprisingly all worked it well together. It only took a few hours for the photographer to get pictures of everyone. I've got over 250 pictures from this weekend alone. 


We all had so much fun taking the pictures, relaxing in the comfy Michigan grass, playing Corn-hole, drinking some cold beer, playing catch-up with long lost relatives, laughing at the kids running around, playing with Jack, telling jokes, and ended the night sitting around the bon fire at my Uncle Brad's house.

It was a great day we will all remember.

Sunday was of course Mother's Day...my very first one! It felt so special. I think it may become one of my favorite holidays. Once I woke up, Kyle gave me my Mother's Day cards [including one from Jack - I told you he was smart]. Not only did I get some snazzy Pandora charms for my bracelet, Kyle also gave me the gift of not having to change a single diaper all day! Jackpot. Once again, we all met up at my Grandma's house. We had a BBQ outside, and did plenty of more standing around, b*lls&itting, and just enjoying one another's company.

Monday was our last day there. It was terrible having to say goodbye. The 5 days we were up there went by in a flash. Overall, I am just so thankful that we were able to have this experience. I couldn't be happier that I could see my grandma squeeze Jack, show Kyle around Michigan, spend time with everyone in my family, wiggle my naked toes in the grass, have some laughs and just relax.

These moments are exactly what life is about.