Where is Morley, Michigan? That’s the question we usually get and with good reason. It’s a small village off of I-131 between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids. My grandparents have a small cabin on 80 acres up there and it’s wonderful. My mom grew up running around in the woods up there, I remember going up there and running around, and now my kids have been up there and they too ran wild.
After Noomi’s birthday party Ajax headed up north with Grandma Dara and Papa for some one-on-one time. He did wonderful and loved the alone time with his grandparents and all the tractors and dogs. Noomi was quite content to be home with Dave and I and loved all the attention. It was a tea party every night.
On Thursday, we loaded up the car and headed to Morely, which was only a 2 hour drive from our house. We met my cousin Angie and her five kids, my aunt Rena and cousin Marissa there. We also met up with Ajax and the grandparents who brought their new fancy trailer. We went hiking and exploring, I took Ajax tubing down the river twice, and we also went kayaking. Dave and Rod went down the river, and then Emily and I went kayaking down the river from town.
I wasn’t comfortable taking Ajax kayaking down the river, so we went into town and put in the small pond and went around for a bit. He did great. Noomi we felt was still too young so she stayed home with Grandma Dara. On Friday night, my sister and cousin Sara came up with her husband and their five kids, so it was a party all the way around. One thing about being from a large family, is that your kid will always have an age equivalent cousin or two, so each kid had two other kids their age, or near, to play with.
At night the kids slept in the trailer, except for the last night when we all piled into the tent, which actually wasn’t that bad except for some reason the tent flap was open at the end where Noomi and I were sleeping and now we have a bunch of bug bites. I think one of the kids was playing around with the zipper, but since it was dark when we went to bed I didn’t notice. Next time I’ll check.
On Sunday morning, we got up early, packed up and hit the road for home. A good camping trip means that your family smells so bad you refuse to stop until your home, and some people may or may not have pants or shoes on. It was a wonderful camping trip and we had so much fun up north with family, but I definitely liked coming home and showering and sleeping in my own bed. The kids even slept in Monday morning, Ajax till almost 7:30 and Noomi till 8 am. Good times were had by all, thank you family!
