Don't Faint! New Post!

Yes, it's me. I'm here. I'm back. I realize the import-ance of many things as well as the profound insignificance of so much in the world. Key word - world. Worldly. Not of God. So much of what we do we think we are doing for noble reasons. But are we? We take care of our families, we earn a living, we enter and attempt to survive in the rat race. And somehow, little by little God gets shoved aside. Sometimes we hear His voice as the faintest whisper, so it is still audible, but when our children and spouses and bosses and obligations all speak at once they often drown out God's voice. The noise of others' demands and wants and wishes overtake us, and we succumb to what others think must be done in our lives. We listen to the world because it is so darn persistent and loud.

But I'm done.

My family and I have just returned from a family vacation - all six of us. Sons aged 18-23 came with mom and dad. Many thought that quite remarkable. "You mean all the boys are really going?"

"Yes, of course. It's a FAMILY vacation." Hence the cast of characters. But it got me thinking that it really is pretty remarkable and pretty wonderful. And somewhere somehow we've done a whole lot more good than bad, for all my boys realize the importance of family.

As vacations go, one could say our vacation sucked. That is if one were looking exclusively at the weather. The weather sucked - bigtime! We rented two cabins for a week. We go to Houghton Lake in Michigan. Began this tradition many moons ago when our sons were small. Hadn't been back in eight years what with stupid school sports practices which run all summer long and the rocky finances of a family of six.

Much anticipation and excitement built as we counted down the days. Lists were made. I'm a list maker for matters of importance. Provisions bought. Six people's stuff packed into our Suburban and away we went.

First stop: Frankenmuth, Michigan. We know this city by heart. Here is a glimpse into the extreme weirdness of me: Ever since our boys were young and had to use the restroom, of course, I took them into the ladies' room with me. Hubby wasn't exactly enlightened back then. I did the babies. Every single time we went to the very same larger stall because there was so much more room. It became "home" in Frankenmuth's Bavarian Inn. Many times the crowds would be pushy, we would be hot and sweaty, and we escaped, if only for five minutes into this little hide-away. And it refreshed us. Sound silly? Probably. But this year I visited my special little hide-away again. I didn't drag my young men in there with me - now THAT would have been weird! But I did enjoy the sameness, the familiar, the respite.

Frankenmuth was a huge success. We arrived for lunch at a brew haus, a micro-brewery which makes its own unique types of beer. I don't like beer at all. For me to drink a beer it must not taste anything like beer. And the menu offered one such flavor - raspberry beer. The beer flavor was nowhere to be tasted, so I drank with my over 21-ers. For some reason my sons get the biggest kick out of it when I drink anything alcoholic. I guess it's because it's such a rare occurence. Who knows? They're goofy, but I love 'em. Yes, that photo is three of them being silly in the brew haus. Ooh, don't they look scary! Not!

Next we checked into our hotel, rested a bit and went out to explore the street we know so very well. Same familiar haunts. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. At the Bavarian Inn we stuffed ourselves, but pleasantly so, on a family style smorgasboard of delicious fried chicken and German meats and the best noodles we've ever eaten. So much good food. Many other delectable side dishes. You know how sometimes when you build up something in your mind so much that the reality just cannot live up to the expectations? Well, this was not the case. We loved everything. It was as good, if not better, than we'd remembered. And to make the night even better we had the best waitress we have ever had - in any restaurant anywhere. Her name was Danielle and she'll probably never be reading this blog of mine, but she was so capable and friendly that I wrote her manager. I hope she realizes how much she added to our pleasure.

Life was good.

Next morning we drove up a bit north to our week's destination of Houghton Lake. The sky opened up, the wind blew and the waves crashed to shore.

To be continued - tomorrow - same bat time, same bat channel.

~ Maureen :)




Labels: Frankenmuth, Houghton Lake, Michigan, vacation