Update #3 - Our Michigan Trip (part 2)

August 3, 2008 was the one year anniversary of Grandma's death. It was fitting that we were in Michigan, staying on the lake. It was the perfect way to remember her. Mom found out about an antique fair that was, according to Papa, about an hour or so away. I loved the idea of looking for antiques ("ANTIIIIIIIIQUES!") just like Grandma would have wanted to do. We all piled into our cars, and after an hour and a half of driving, Papa had us stop so we could "stretch our legs." Um. ok. Let me just say that if we were close, I don't see why we had to "stretch our legs." But what we learned was that we were still like 40 miles away. Which is another 2 hours of driving. AWESOME. At least we stopped at a fruit stand and got ourselves some fresh cherries for the drive. These cherries were soooooooooo good!

And the antique fair was pretty great, even though it was an insanely long drive to get there. Grandma would have just loved it! Liane and I both found some sugar cube tongs for our tea sets, some cute hankies just like Grandma would have loved, and I got an amazing set of HUGE 12" woodblock printer's letters. They are AMAZING. (I will show them in another post... they aren't part of this set of pictures). We sprinkled a little of Grandma at the fair before we left :)
After the 3.5 hour drive back, we relaxed a little, read a little, and then decided we would go out to Point Betsie at sunset. That was Grandma's favorite place, and we thought we should have a little memorial for Grandma there.

Papa started off by talking about some favorite memories of Grandma, of Michigan, and how much we miss her... and then we sprinkled her onto the sand. After that, each of us got a turn to share a little about Grandma and sprinkle a little of her, too.
Liane did a little "over the shoulder" chuck when it was her turn...
And even Riley sprinkled some of Grandma onto the sand. Later on, we caught Riley playing in another area of sand, shaking the sand through his fingers, saying "I've got Grandma! I've got Grandma!" hahaahaa
Carl. That's all I need to say.
Liane has apparently lived quite the sheltered life, cause before this trip she had never skipped a rock before. After a quick lesson with Papa (the reigning king of rock-skipping), she got the hang of it. Here she celebrates the FIVE BOUNCES she achieved!

I love this picture of Melinda. :)

Liane, putting into practice some of Papa's techniques. The kids had been playing frisbee when it flew into the water. Of course that didn't stop them one bit! And once one got wet, of course the other had to as well. No swimsuits? No problem. HA.

It was the perfect way to remember Grandma - a beautiful day in Michigan, on the shore of the lake in her favorite place, sharing her memories with each other. I could almost feel her there, enjoying herself right along with us.