A Drive-In Movie & Back Home

Hello! I thought I would check in after a weekend of transition. Our camper is officially in storage, and we are living back at the cottage. It feels good to be “home” and now that we know we are probably staying here longer than expected, I look forward to making it more of a home. This summer, we cleared out our storage unit in Toledo and now have all of our personal belongings up north. I’m anxious to begin going through it!

These next few weeks will involve transitioning from summer to school mode. The boys have stayed up late and slept in all summer so we shall see how this goes! I have quite a bit of unpacking, organizing, and purging to do but going to take my time. I really want to enjoy these last few weeks of summer with the boys.

Here’s a few snapshots of our last days at Turtle Lake beach. We sure will miss it!

Keep on scrolling for a weekend recap!

Friday

Friday mornings typically begin a little early because Andrew has speech therapy at 10:15. Getting out the door before 10:00 right now is a struggle, so we have some major adjustments in our future!

Drew’s session is only a half hour, so I run Owen and Lucas down to the library for a short while before we go back to pick him up. After picking up Drew, I got an oil change (always fun with a van full of boys) and we headed back to the camper for lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach since it was our last full day at Turtle Lake Campground!

That evening, we had plans to go to a drive-in movie! It was the boys’ first experience, and they had a blast. We pulled up to the Cherry Bowl Drive In Theatre around 8:30. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was scheduled to start around dusk, so we arrived early to ensure a good spot.

The place had a 50s nostalgic vibe which was neat. The boys had fun with the photo cutouts, and especially the funhouse mirrors. Owen was particularly enamored with them and was just cracking up at himself. Ryan had to bribe Lucas for a photo in the Marilyn Monroe photo cutout. Too funny!

There was a small play area under the big screen, so the boys burned some energy off before the movie.

We had stopped at the dollar store on the way to grab a few snacks. However, we still found ourselves in the concession building, and left with $30 worth of subpar snack food ha-ha. You live and learn, I guess!

We got ourselves situated in the back of Ryan’s truck with pillows, blankets, and even foam mattresses. The boys got very giddy and hyper. Owen goes “when are we going to the movie?” It wasn’t registering with him that we were watching the movie from the back of daddy’s truck!

Big fail on our end: not bringing a battery powered radio. The speakers weren’t very good and Ryan’s truck battery wasn’t allowing us to play his radio the whole movie. Thankfully, our neighbor offered to roll her windows down and we could hear just fine. Lesson learned for next time, though!

The movie didn’t even begin until just after 9:30. Owen got pretty tired about an hour into it, but he pushed through. Heck, mom and dad did too! There were slushies spilled, popcorn everywhere, and personal space squabbles but all in all it was a memorable night and we’ll be back next summer! And with a few lessons learned;)

Saturday

Ryan had to go to work for a few hours, so I got a head start on the cleaning and packing of the camper. He arrived back to the camper late morning, and we pretty much spent the majority of the afternoon moving out and preparing for storage.

Thankfully, a horse show was going on that day which kept the boys entertained!

Around 3:30, we were pretty beat and decided we would finish up the next day. We headed straight to our cottage, and it felt so refreshing to be back at Lake Leelanau.

Ryan and I spent some time unpacking while the boys played. Owen of course founding a walking stick bug right away. That kid sure has a knack for finding creatures in nature!

Before long, we were starving and with no food in the house, decided to head to one of our favorite local spots, Hop Lot Brewing Company. When we arrived, the place was PACKED with cars, but luckily, I scored a table right away. It was nice to relax with a beer and eat a tasty meal after a long day.

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking and organizing a bit more. Owen took a sudden interest in his bike (wanting to be like his big brother). He got the hang of it quickly, and they had lots of fun riding down the driveway several times. Sorry for the poor photo quality (all I had was video and had to take a screenshot for a still photo).

Drew and I (Woody too) enjoyed the sunset. Boy, have I missed the beautiful lake sunsets!!

Sunday

We slept in a little later than planned on Sunday. I did enjoy some quiet time with my book and coffee.

We kept breakfast simple and then headed back to the campground to wrap up the camper. I focused on the inside and Ryan the outside. We drove the camper straight to storage from the campsite. The boys were sad to leave the campground, but it hasn’t taken them long to find their fun back at the lake.

By the time we left the storage place, it was midafternoon, and we were pretty hungry. We hit up another favorite place, Rico’s Cafe. It’s not fancy or trendy, but the food and service is great.

After lunch, we headed back home. My wonderful husband detailed the minivan which was WAY overdue and beyond appreciated! I spent more time unpacking, organizing, and catching up on laundry.

As evening approached, we decided it was time to stop productivity for the day and relax by the lake. We played a game of Yahtzee, Ryan took Owen out on the kayak, and the sunset showed off in pretty shades of pink.

Our lovely neighbor invited us over for a fire. It was a perfect way to end our weekend back home at the lake.