On Wednesday after work I picked up Lindsay, kissed Fran goodbye and pointed the car toward New Lothrop. 10 minutes later we arrived at the gas station to refuel our parched throats with some delicious Red Bull and Diet Caffeine Free Coke. About an hour and a half later we stopped to deposit our drinks at a friendly neighborhood rest stop. 30 minutes after that we stopped in Frankenmuth, MI! Wait… Frankenmuth? No, we’re meeting them for dinner in Birch Run not Frankenmuth. Me: (not very patiently) Lindsay (pause, pause, pause), I JUST asked you Frankenmuth? and you said yes Frankenmuth. Lindsay: (apathetic toward my anger) Oh, nope, Birch Run. 10 minutes later we arrived in Birch Run to kick off our delicious weekend of food and family.
We lodged at Grandma and Grandpa Rose’s house (because the Bakers had a full house already) and checked in around 9:00 on Wednesday evening. Grandma and Grandpa chatted us up well past our bedtime (not theirs though, they are kind of party animals) and we hit the sack with visions of drumsticks and mashed potatoes dancing in our heads. I made the decision that I was going to sleep on my back and snore just as loud as I could because we got to sleep on separate twin beds and there wasn’t a blasted thing Lindsay could do about it. She typically turns into Muhammed Ali the very second I even consider snoring, but not even Ali has a 7 foot reach. So I slept great and she had to deal with it.
When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed we awoke to such rich aromas and succulent fare that surely even King Solomon could not have imagined. The Thanksgiving Fairy must have worked all night under the cover of my snoring because nary a dirty dish was to be found and Grandparents Rose were sitting quietly reading the morning paper. 24 people came to feast and when it was all said and done it was about 6 in the PM.
We headed off to Mom and Dad Baker’s house to try to recruit some poor suckers to go Christmas shopping with us at 10:00 PM at the outlets in Birch Run where they were having some can’t miss door buster deals. The outlets were insanely busy and forced me to bust out my Dominican Driving. After a while the parking situation digressed to the point that I had to drop Lindsay off at the store and just weave in and out of traffic until she was ready. Genesee County must have released the insane asylum just for the night because I have never seen so many idiots, morons, and brainless idiots trying to operate motor vehicles since drivers training. Oh, there were some women drivers too. Old Lindsay got some sweet deals though and by the time we rolled back into Hotel Rosencrantz at 1:00 AM she had freed several dollars from our bank account.
Friday morning we woke at the crack of dawn (8:00) to find Grandma and Grandpa Rose about 3 hours into a peanut brittle project. We bid them adieu and headed off the the Baker’s to split some wood. Mom Baker and Lindsay quickly left for more shopping while Dad and I went out back to do all kinds of manly wood splitting and hauling. We got all of the wood done that they will need for the winter and then feasted on summer sausage, cheese, and crackers (maybe my favorite meal ever). For dinner we had chili and cornbread. We played a game of spoons in there somewhere too.
Friday night, before heading back to the hotel we stopped by Uncle Dave’s new house to check it out. We loved it and promised to visit again in the morning. When we arrived back at the Rose’s we played Rummicube until we could barely count to 30 anymore.
Saturday morning we woke up and said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa before we headed out to Uncle Dave’s. After we visited him and he lavished gifts upon us we left for good old Boyne City, USA at 8:45.
All in all it was a great weekend and we loved spending time with our family. Look for us next Thanksgiving at the Verwys’!
Lindsay, Jack, and Whitey
Grandma Thanksgiving Fairy
Grandpa Thanksgiving Fairy
