We left last Thursday morning. Graham had woken up with a runny nose and seemed very stuffy. This made me even more stressed about how he would do on the plane (we had a 45 minute drive to the airport, flew to Milwaukee, then Grand Rapids, and then had a two hour drive to the cottage). As always, Graham was a champ! He slept on M's lap for over half of the first flight. We were sitting in the first row, so we had some extra leg room. After he woke up, we laid him on the floor between my mom and I so he could kick and stretch. He loved it! He was definitely more restless the second flight, but happily demolished a magazine while sitting in my lap. When we got to Grand Rapids, we headed to get the rental car. My dad had rented a car sear with the car. The car seat turned out to be sort of a nightmare. They only had two seats, an infant seat and a toddler booster. Although he has moved out of his infant seat, he hadn't hit the weight limit on the one they had, so while not ideal, it would work. We had a tough time getting it into the car. They did not have a base for the seat, so we were going to have to install it using the seatbelt. Michael and I have never done this, as all of our seats use the LATCH system. The rental car company did not have directions and did not have anyone to help us put the seat in. Luckily M was able to watch a video on his phone and install the seat. In the future, I will always travel with our own car seat.
We finally made it to the cottage! While we were there we drove the jet ski, swam, and Michael drove the speed boat. My mom, grandma, and I did a little shopping in town as well. On the 4th, we watched a great fireworks show. Many of the boats drive out and park on the lake to get a better view of the fireworks. My grandparents' cottage happens to be in the perfect spot, so we just have to sit on the deck. We had nice weather. The first day was cloudy, but very warm and humid, so we were still able to get in the water. Graham really enjoyed being in the water. He liked to float in his little inner tube and be carried around by Michael. He also enjoyed trying to eat the sand. My grandma had borrowed some toys from a friend of hers. We found out that Graham REALLY likes cars. There was a blue car that he took almost everywhere with him.
The trip home was easy. Graham slept for most of the flight again, which was direct this time, and just played in our laps when he woke up.
We had a wonderful first family vacation! We were able to relax, spend time together, and just have fun!
Michigan Trip from Jenny Pretekin on Vimeo.
