Happy Birthday to BlamPa...

What would you want to do for your 60th birthday? This is the question I posed to my hubby. His response...I just want to spend time with my family. Now that is a request I can run with. I called the Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea, Michigan, booked 3 rooms (one of which was the Kid's Suite), and notified all family members it was time to celebrate the aging process. Last Thursday Claude and I left our home around 3pm to be sure we made it to Buffalo Trace Distillery before the gift shop closed. This is our favorite place to buy Dr. McGillicuddy's root beer. We made it in time, purchased 2 six packs of root beer and 6 votive candles that are bourbon scented for our 2 Michigan kids. Then we were on the road to LaGrange We spent the night at the Marx home, allowing Andie and Michael a bit of time in the evening for a bit of a date. This made it easy for us to get up Friday morning for the drive to Chelsea in the Marx mobile with Andie, Hayden and Bailey.

We made it fine on the drive. The mini's were just great. We did our drive with only 2 stops. One for lunch at McDonald's and one a Cabelos.

Cabelo's is a great place for a rest stop. Its big and open with a floor to 3 story ceiling size mountain covered with stuffed wildlife. They even have a stream stocked with fish the kids can feed. Hayden and Bailey loved the furniture section with the stuffed moose, deer and bear they could sit on.

We made it to the hotel, checked into the 3 rooms, then donned our bathing suits for a quick dip in the pool till everyone else arrived. Hayden and Bailey loved the pool. Andie helped Bailey float and play and I had Hayden duty. They had so much fun floating and splashing from one end to the other. The ladder was great fun to climb in and out of the pool. Soon the rest of the family arrived and Nissa's kids quickly got into their suits and joined us. Claude took the swimming time to head to the grocery store for water, milk, chips, soda, paper products and other things we needed for the weekend. Then he stopped by Kentucky Fried Chicken for buckets of chicken to fill everyone's tummies for dinner. After a little swim and when Claude got back to the hotel, we all headed upstairs for dinner.

The Kid's Suite has a section that is called Fort Chelsea. It has bunk beds and a TV with a PlayStation. The kids loved climbing onto the top bunk. They watched a movie, played with cars and trains Andie brought, and just had fun being together again. Saturday we had breakfast at the hotels buffet. Jake baked the birthday cake and brought it over with white icing. The kids decorated it with decorations Andie donated to the cause. This was an amazing sugar on top of sugar edible concoction.

Andie brought body crayons and Aubrey had fun coloring herself.

At 11am we hurried out to a tour of the Chelsea Teddy Bear Factory. This was a really fun activity. A bit of history...about 3 years ago we took Katelyn, Paul and Aubrey to the factory at it's old location in the Clock Tower. While there each kid picked out a Teddy Bear. Katelyn, Paul and Aubrey felt that Hayden needed to have a stuffed toy as well even though he couldn't be there. They carefully picked out a cow they were sure he would love. Hayden loved the cow and it became one of his 'loveys'. He eventually named it Sally. Andie's concern that he might hurl on it or it might be misplaced led to the purchase of a 2nd Sally to be held in reserve and used when the original was being washed & dried or was temporarily misplaced. This was a great idea and has served her and Hayden well over the years. When Bailey was due to be born, Claude and I determined that she needed a lovey as well. While visiting Jake in Chelsea, we dropped by the Teddy Bear Factory at it's new location and found a monkey made just like Hayden's cow. We purchased it and it became Bailey's favorite lovey. This necessitated a purchase of a second monkey to act just as Hayden's 2nd Sally had. Bailey eventually named her monkey Wah-Wah. You have seen him in many of the pictures with Bailey. That is the background history you need. As you enter the factory there is a huge stuffed teddy bear right there. We quickly gathered the kids around for a photo op. You have Aubrey holding Hayden, Kately holding Bailey and Paul. The tour started. The Mini's lasted about as many minutes as their age. Then they were off to explore the store while the tour guide continued to share her knowledge.

While Hayden and Bailey were roaming they came to the racks of stuffed animals in the back of the gift shop. On these racks were a shelf full of Sally's (cows) and shelf full of Wah-Wah's (monkeys). The excitement from Hayden and Bailey was extremely audible. It was a pure delight to watch and hear them as they found so many of their favorite lovey's. We were able to explain to Hayden that this was where Sally was born. He was just very happy to know this fact. As the tour moved into the actual factory where they make the bears, Hayden continued to look up at the tour guide and say, "Excuse me." She finally looked at him and let him explain that he had a Sally and Bailey had a Wah-Wah and they were both born here. It was extremely cute and we all got a kick out of his persistence in being sure she understood it.

Again, Grampa let each grandmonster pick out a new stuffed animal. Bailey picked out a duck which when she got home she told Michael was named Quack-Quack. Hayden picked out another cow and determined Sally would name it when he got home. However, somehow we started calling it Sally II all the rest of the weekend. Nissa even got a bear for Todd and then biker leathers to dress it in. Nissa has always been our teddy bear loving child and she was in pure heaven at the factory. On the way home we picked up tacos from Taco Bell for lunch. Bailey took a nap. Hayden and I had quiet time in our room by watching Lady & the Tramp while curled up in our bed. The Thompson kids headed to the pool for some real splashing fun. In the afternoon we pulled out games and just had some family fun. Andie brought a coin construction game. Claude supplied the coins, Andie the pieces to connect them, and Jacob and Katelyn sat down to create the space shuttle.

I brought a Twister game which Katelyn, Paul, and Aubrey played. They included Hayden and then Hayden played a game with Aunt Nissa.

We had play time in the bath tub with new washcloths. They were in the shape of dinosaur eggs and some had planets on them. We played with puzzles, Legos, Toss the Potato, Nissa and Katelyn made a tied quilt out of fleece and we visited.

We had a little pool time and then came upstairs for pizza, lots and lots of pizza. Then we had birthday cake and Claude opened his presents.

After a final round in the pool, we finally called it a day and got some much needed rest. Sunday morning we all met for breakfast at the buffet. Then it was time to pack up everything and load the cars. A kind stranger agreed to take our picture in front of the hotel. It is at the beginning of the blog entry. This was a splendid way to spend a milestone birthday. Grampa was very happy being with his family and watching his grandmonsters enjoy each other. It was a delight to visit with each other.