Trip Account

We left somewhat early last Monday morning and met Becky and her kids in Franklin, KY for gas and a quick breakfast. As I mentioned before, the boys were excellent the entire way up which made the trip seem so much shorter and more enjoyable.

Tuesday it rained. I was inside most of the day and Kristy and I were able to do some straightening and unpacking and things while the guys took dad into town to get him up to speed on his new lap-top. This was his retirement gift from us. We chose to give it to him at the beginning of the week instead of at his retirement party so that he could be asking questions and getting familiar with it before we left town again. There is a nice coffee shop in Sturgis that has high-speed internet. They also have truffles.

The next morning, Kris and I got the boys ready and headed out fairly early for the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. We met Kem and Rob Hoopingarner at the entrance along with their beautiful little girls Regan and Peyton and with all of our zoo passes were able to get in free. It’s a nice zoo, I believe I went there on a field trip when I was a kid but didn’t remember much about it at all. They obviously have some things updated since then. They have a very good Africa section and their giraffe exhibit is really fun. They have little crackers you can buy to feed the giraffes and the feeding deck is at head height for the animals. They are obviously not afraid of the people and were begging for the little snacks. We took a lot of pictures.

The petting area is pretty large and there is a train which is of course a must if Owen is in your group. The weather wasn’t too bad, there was a threat of rain which seemed to make the rest of the potential visitors content to stay home. I like a quiet zoo…don’t you? It was still warm and humid, but certainly bearable and we had a really good time.

It’s so fun to watch the people you grew up with taking care of their kids. Kem and I graduated together and Rob graduated the year before us. So we all had classes together and knew each other from the time we were very young. Their oldest daughter looks so much like Kem and I just got a kick out of looking at her and Owen together. Kem and Rob are very attentive parents and it was just nice to see them all doing so well.

We all went to my cousin RoxAnne’s house on Thursday. By all I mean all of my aunts uncles and cousins that could make it for lunch. We ended up being there pretty much all day long. Becky and Bobby and their kids had all been staying there since there really wasn’t room for all of us at dad’s. Roxie has 7 children and one on the way so with Becky’s four there were 11 little one’s to keep track of. Sounds overwhelming doesn’t it? It really isn’t as bad as it sounds. Roxie and her husband Jeff built a new home and moved in about one year ago. They have 5 bedrooms a large play area downstairs and a great big back yard.
They have rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs and cows so there’s plenty to keep the kids occupied and with all of them to entertain one another the mom’s had lots of time to talk and enjoy each other’s company. Roxie’s second son Jeffrey is in a wheel chair due to a genetic illness, they built their house with a large walk in shower and several other features that made Grace’s stay there more comfortable as well.

When all of us arrived, there were about 21 kids all together and that’s not nearly everyone. We counted and as soon as Roxie and my cousin Jesse’s wife Laura have their babies there will be 31 great grandchildren to my grandparents John and Katie.

By far my favorite thing about Jeff & Roxie’s house is the view. Michigan doesn’t have a lot of high spots for gazing out over the fields and lakes but Jeff and Roxie were able to purchase this spot and it is a real winner. Their back porch is large and runs the length of about half of the house. I stood out there with the breeze blowing and wished I had my quilt to work on while I was taking it all in.

Kris and I drove down the road a little way to Reubmommy’s house that afternoon and visited with her and two of my dad’s sisters, Sue and Ann. Kris couldn’t take the heat after a while and he and Owen went outside to play with the kittens. Yes, it was cooler outside than in my grandmother’s house. She’s little and she’s 93…she gets cold easy.

We then headed back to Roxie’s and had dinner there with a smaller large crowd, including dad and Roxie’s parents Larry and Esther. Afterward we chatted and our little Troyer gang headed to Nottawa to the Sand Lake Party Store for ice cream. It’s become a tradition when we go to Michigan to go to this little store and get cones. They serve huge scoops of ice cream, call it “just enough”, and practically give it away. A very good combination. They recently moved to a new location and now have more seating inside as well as a large deck overlooking the lake off the back of the building. A very nice way to cap off the day.

On Friday there was more rain and the guys took off again for Sturgis to check in with the world on their computers. Our plan was to meet up with them and allow the little boys and their daddies to go see “Cars” at the Strand. The Strand theater has been around forever and they only charge about $3.00 to see a movie so it seemed like a great idea…however…it was Friday and they change the movies on Friday, so our little plan was a little late. I had already driven into Sturgis with Owen and Clay and carried them and an umbrella to the back door of the coffee shop through the downpour before we realized this dilemma. So our plans changed and Kris and I took Owen with us while we shopped at Maurice’s for Kris. Timothy took Clay home and Bobby and Becky (who were also planning to meet up with us) hung out at the coffee shop for a while. That night the sky cleared and Tim and Kristy grilled a traditional Slovene meal for us. Kathy and her girls joined us for dinner that night and that was the only time I got to see them, and that the whole family was actually together. Our dinner was tasty but Kristy was a little sparing on the meat. Joel was a little upset that he didn’t get any chicken, but there were other meats to be had. They made a salad with a dressing made from pumpkin seed oil and the meat sauces and seasonings were all very good. We decided to make yet another trip into Nottawa for ice cream after dinner.

On Saturday we got ready for dad’s party. We had invited a large number of people to the Elk’s lodge in Sturgis for a retirement party for dad. The building is new and very nice and since Joel is a member he was able to rent it for us. We have been discussing food plans and such for weeks now and by the time the party rolled around it all went pretty smoothly. There was plenty of food without it being too excessive and a good crowd showed up to honor dad. I was pleased with it all and I think dad enjoyed it.

We decided to head home on Sunday and since dad goes to church in Indiana and directly on our route, we joined him for worship. Again, there was no air-conditioning and though they had a breeze and the ceiling fans were helping, it was still pretty hot in there. The preacher quit early cause he was too warm. Dad had warned us that the singing would be sub-par and, well, it was. I couldn’t help but enjoy it for it’s value as comedy though. Ivan was asleep when we got into the sanctuary and sat down. After the first couple songs I looked down and he was awake and looking around. I looked again after another song and he was asleep again…I couldn’t help but think…”It’s his only defense.”

We went to lunch with dad afterward and then hit the road. It was a pretty pleasant drive and the boys did really well again until the last couple of hours. Owen was fine, but Ivan was not happy and insisted that we all know about it. I had to entertain him as best I could so that we wouldn’t all grind our teeth to nubs. We made it in good time and are glad to be home.

Kristy and Tim stayed in dad’s motor home parked just outside the back door of the house so we all had plenty of room to spread out a little bit while we were there. It was really nice to get to see them and the boys again. Unfortunately we won’t be able to see them again for many months. I felt like Owen and Clay really were able to play together this time, they were able to fight too, but for the most part they really enjoyed each other’s company. Hopefully we’ll be able to make the trip to see them one of these days. I really appreciate them making that effort each year, it is not cheap to fly your entire family across the ocean and they’ve done it quite a bit. They flew out of Chicago last night so I’m sure that I will hear from them soon saying they made it home safely.

Of course this isn’t even a fourth of the pictures and I do wish I could show you all of them but that would just be excessive now wouldn’t it? Some of you are probably thinking what I’ve already done is excessive so on that note I’ll stop and call it a post.