Camping Adventure

Our first experience in rustic camping. It was seriously so much fun!

I want to say how thankful we are to have even been able to take this trip; for a few reasons. Like I said in the last post, I booked these trips in February having no idea how Kirk would be feeling when we went on the trips and no idea when (or even if) he would be going back to work. I, selfishly, booked them for us because I felt we deserved it and I needed to have something to look forward to; I needed to feel like everything would be ok. Even then I felt like what we had been through warranted a family trip (or two, or three, if I'm honest). We've both gotten questions about how Kirk feels taking them or how his work feels about him leaving on trips as soon as he went back to work. We had no idea this would be the timing. And, danget, if there is one thing we have deserve after the last 7 months, it's a couple family vacations. #thankyouverymuch We don't feel guilty because we have no reason to feel guilty. This year has been hell. Dammit, we deserve it so please don't make either of us feel bad about it. And, can I just say, that even if your spouse hadn't spent 9 weeks in the hospital, even if the person you love hadn't spent a week on a vent, even if your husband or wife didn't have to regain all of their strength back, chances are you deserve a vacation, too. 

So, our trip. 

The last couple years, we have rented a cottage near Ludington and Manistee. Since we bought the pop-up last summer, we decided to put it to use this summer. We have spent a couple trips at a local campground, but nothing far from home and certainly not rustic. This trip was at Lake Michigan Recreation Area near Manistee. It was beautiful!  The campground itself has four "loops". Our site in the Orchid loop was big, not too close to any other neighbors and close to the bathrooms. No showers, of course, but there were flush toilets and running water.

One great thing about the campground, is the gorgeous beach. We weren't able to spend too much time there because the campground is in the middle of Nordhouse Dunes. Dunes and Kirk are not a good combo right now.

                                               

                                               

                                       

My parents rented a cottage for a few days about 45 minutes from our campground. We spent a couple days there with my whole family, which is always fun. My brother is such a good sport and our kids adore him!

Anyone else taken the Beanboozled challenge?  Is that even how you spell it?  Either way, it's where you are given a good Jelly Belly or a yucky one.  The yucky ones include barf, lawn clippings, rotten cheese, sweaty socks.  Gross but oh so fun!

My sister and her family were staying in Ludington. We spent most our days at the beach together in either Ludington or Manistee. I love the fact our kids have been able to enjoy a vacation (sort of) together every year. This year, the kids spent a lot of time in the water. Especially Lincoln, Gianna and Ellery. Isadora and Easton spent more time in the sand and Quin did a little of both.

                                                

                                                

                                                   

We didn't miss out on House of Flavors and thankfully, they still have sorbet for Isadora. I didn't get an actual picture of them eating ice cream, but we did get a picture afterward on the river walk in Manistee.

                                          

We had an absolutely wonderful vacation. It was full of family time and lots of really great memories. We do have one more trip at the end of the month. I can only hope it is as memorable as this one!

                                 

Quick Vacation Post

I am so incredibly grateful for today. All of us together on vacation isn't something I was sure would happen this summer. 

I booked two camping trips in February while Kirk was still in the hospital. I had to book the trips because it gave me something to look forward to. I remember telling Kirk and him telling me he wanted to be close to a hospital just to be safe. 

Crazy. 

This is just a quick post. A quick post to say we are all together, we are all happy and more thankful for these moments than we ever have been. 

Thank You

Christmas. My last post was during Christmas. How different our lives were then. We had no idea. 

I feel like most people know the basics and there is no need to rehash the whole story. Long story short, Kirk thought he had the flu but he was much more sick than we could ever imagine. He was in liver failure, kidney failure, septic and on a ventilator. He spent three weeks in the ICU at Henry Ford, a week on the floor, and five weeks at U of M for inpatient rehab. 

What happened? We don't know. It does not appear to be the autoimmune disease all the doctors we saw thought he had and he will not need a liver transplant. I can't tell you our relief at that news. 

I need to say thank you. I need to thank family, friends, random people who don't know me or Kirk, and anyone and everyone who has helped us along this journey. I haven't found the words to say thank you. How do you say thank you to people who didn't know what to do, but did something anyway? Thank you just doesn't seem like enough. 

I will never forget being in the ICU and never knowing if I would see my husband again. Never knowing if I would hear his voice again. I called his voicemail over and over and over just to hear him say "Kirk Schultz". I thought about my kids. What would I say? Where will we go? What the hell would we do? I sobbed. Bawled. Literally fell to my knees. For 16 years Kirk has been the person I turn to when something in my life is wrong and I appreciated everyone offering to help, but I just wanted my husband; my very best friend. 

I did learn to accept that people really did want to help and do whatever they can. I learned there are few things anyone could have said to make me feel better in my darkest days. I learned meals are not always the best option (though I appreciated all the food!). I learned a hug goes a long way. I heard people say to me day after day they didn't know what to say. I learned those people needed a hug as much as I did. We live in a city where we have no family and very few friends. I didn't realize how many until we found ourselves needing friends. Our neighbors shoveled and snowblowed, Isadora's school brought food, babysat and offered free day care, a friend picked my kids up from school everyday for almost 9 weeks, another made food, another offered money and her sister's (I've literally met her sister one time) work took up a collection and gave us gift cards and money. The photographer who has taken the kids' pictures the last few years offered us a free session and pictures. And here I thought we had only a few friends in Howell. 

The outpouring of love is unreal. I mean really amazing. Our families and friends have gone beyond anything we could have imagined. It's truly amazing. My brother and my sister spent days and weekends with the kids. I would call a friend and ask if they could help. She would drop everything just to be here. And Kirk's co-workers? Nothing short of amazing. 

We've made it today. Holy cow. I cannot believe it. I can't believe this all happened. I just can't. I look at Kirk today and am in complete awe of him. He is a walking miracle. He lost 50 lbs. It was weeks before he could take even one step. When he first got to UM he had no strength. He couldn't hold his electric razor with one hand to shave. Today he is walking with his cane about 50% of the time. Truthfully, he needs it much less. He will start back at work very part time in July. It's been great having him home and watching him get stronger every single day. The kids love it, but he's ready to get some normalcy back in his life. 

The kids. Our little troopers. Our little monsters. I freaking adore these two little kiddos. I hate bragging about my kids because those people annoy me, but they truly have been amazing through all of this. My goal was always to keep things as normal as possible for them. I never wanted them to feel neglected and I always wanted to be home for them in the morning or at night. We went to dance and swimming, they never missed school and people stepped up to help me. I never could have done this on my own. My Mom (holy cow my Mom. A lifesaver.) was here every single week for weeks helping me, the kids, cooking, cleaning; anything to make my life easier. It was weeks before the kids saw Kirk. It was Valentine's Day. What a special Valentine's Day. One of them will occasionally bring up the hospital or Kirk being sick, but I don't expect them to forget. This was a huge event in all our lives. 

I find myself wondering daily if everything happens for a reason. Are we all here for a purpose?  I don't know. Maybe, maybe not but I do think it's up to us to figure it out. 

Thank you to everyone from the deepest parts of my soul. Someone out there is leaving me pennies. I don't know who it is. I think it's the baby and Kirk thinks it's one of our grandparents. I find so much comfort in those pennies. Every single time I find one (or two since I seem to find them in pairs) I'm reminded it's all going to be ok. I've always said it's all going to work out and it has. Everything is ok. 

A special shout out to my brother-in-law, Doug, whose shoulder I cried on (literally not figuratively), who did the talking when I couldn't, and the listening when I couldn't hear what the doctors were saying. Thank you so very much. 

Have I said thank you?  If you sent a card, thank you. Food, thank you. A text, thank you. Money, thank you. Gift card, thank you. Flowers or a basket, thank you. A thought, a prayer, thank you. You spent more time with my kids than you ever imagined, thank you.  If I forgot something, I'm sorry. I haven't forgotten what you did for us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

What a busy couple of weeks it has been!

A couple weeks ago we headed out to cut down our Christmas tree.  It has become one of our favorite holiday traditions.  Last year the trees weren't so great, but we had a few options this year before settling on this little guy.

After we get our tree, we always head inside for donuts and cider.

The lowlight this year was some drunk guy who was on a rampage rear ending us.  He hit one guy, rear-ended us twice, drove away, rear ended two more people before rolling his car.  It was one of the scariest things eve to happen to us.  Luckily, we have very little damage to the car and we are all safe.

Here's an article about it.

We were totally freaked out about the whole situation.  We stayed close to home the rest of the weekend, but we did find plenty to do!

We decorated our little tree.  It totally reminded me of decorating our tree at home when we were little.  My mom would always move the ornaments around after we went to bed or after we were done decorating.

The kids also had the chance to sit on Santa's lap.  We went up to the library this year.  It was crazy and we had to wait awhile, but it was free and the kids were really good this year.  Lincoln told him he wants a Zoomer Dino and Isadora an Elsa doll.

At the end of the day, we went up the rec center where they were having a cute little Christmas party called Rec the Halls.  The kids sent letters to Santa (he even sent a letter back!), went on a train ride and walked through the decorated trees they have at the rec center.  It was the first year for this event, but we thought it was super fun.

Just like everyone else with small kids, we have a crazy little elf around the house.  Punkin showed up on Saint Nicholas Day and filled the kids' boots up with candy and other small goodies.  He has been a little stinker and finding the craziest places to hide.  Lincoln loves looking for him every morning and Isa is a little weirded out by him.  She grips me every morning while looking for him.  It is a little creepy he finds new places to hide while we're all sleeping.

I think every single year I comment how great it is to have kids this age during the Christmas season.  I can't say it enough.  It's so fantastic seeing how excited the kids are every single day.  I absolutely LOVE it. Lincoln had a couple elves in his classroom this year so that made it even more fun for him.  I cannot wait to see the kids on Christmas morning.  I may get less sleep then them.  :)

I will be sure to get plenty of pictures Christmas morning.  I will be sure to update the blog...eventually!

Merriest of Christmases to you!

Playing Ketchup

I couldn't resist "playing ketchup". Isadora loves ketchup. She was actually dipping waffles in ketchup a couple weeks ago. Gag. 

Anywho, it's been months!

I missed Isa's birthday. Our sweet little monster turned 3!  3!  Can you believe it? Where in the world has the time gone?

All Isa said she wanted to do on her birthday was go to the playground. So,  we took the kids to the same playground we took Lincoln on his 3rd birthday. The kids had a blast and it was a beautiful day!

Kirk's parents met us there and we had cake and Isa opened more presents. Her fave, of course. The cake, that is. The presents are a close second. 

And dance!  Isadora started dance class. It's a parent/tot class so I go in with her. They faze out the parents so that just the kids go in on their own without us. There will be a recital in the summer. I love going with her and seeing her dance moves. She's getting better!

Lincoln had a day off school in October so we took advantage of the day and headed to Frankenmuth for the night. So much fun! We hadn't been with both the kids. We had a great time. 

Halloween was a success!  I tried my hand at semi-homemade costumes this year. Meet my skeleton and "bad witchhhhh".

We've had some random adventures over the last three months. Walks, pumpkin picking, playing in the pop up. 

Lincoln loves school!  We can't believe how well he is doing. Kirk and I are both so happy we opted for pre-k. It has been the perfect fit for him. I've had the chance to volunteer at his Halloween party, at the school book fair and this week I am volunteering at Santa's Workshop. 

Lincoln lost a tooth!  Giant sad face from me!

There has been more happening seeing as it is Christmas and all. Our family is in the full swing of things and I am LOVING Christmas this year!  Loving it!  I will write again in the next few days about the holidays thus far and include photos. 

Here's to making more of an effort to keep the blog up to date!