A Summer With Glo

There is some freakishly weird connection between Glo, and John and me.  I think it comes from having three solid years at home with us and without siblings, and from spending every summer with me at Interlochen.  She is so much a part of our lives that we definitely get on each other nerves occasionally (!), but I kind of can't imagine my life without her.  She has watched every movie we have watched (much to the surprise of her siblings--Silence of the Lambs, Insidious) and has been on just about every trip we have ever taken.

This summer, she has had to make a major life adjustment by living and working in Michigan.  She can't remember a time when we didn't live in Pennsylvania, and State College is a pretty basic town with one major road.  It's very different here in Southeast Michigan. Even though we still live in the country, the surrounding area is a major city with rush hour, and traffic, and lots of people.  She has needed to become familiar with the general area, holding down two jobs.  She felt completely uprooted as she didn't even have a bedroom while we painted and carpeted the basement.  And bugs.  She has had to get used to humidity and bugs, and it's definitely a Michigan minus for her.

But when I think of summer, I always think of Glo.  Here are some of the reasons from this summer (some of which have already been posted in other posts):

Mackinac Island--riding the ferry.  Glo has been with me every time I've gone.  She knows her way around the island now!

Glo learned how to make guacamole this summer.  With her salad making skillz (thanks Salad's Up), it takes her just a few minutes.  And she has perfected the recipe as the months have gone by.  If only the avocados were always perfectly ripe when she goes grocery shopping, we wouldn't have to wait!

Fourth of July celebration at Greenfield Village.  Glo is ALWAYS up for any adventure and maintains the best attitude whether it's a win or a loss (this was a major win).

Glo loves puzzles more than I do.  Along with the books we have bought for book club this summer, we always buy a puzzle.  The National Parks puzzle was definitely the nightmare choice of Summer, 2018.

Traveling.  I love flying with Glo, because she is low-maintenance and gets around an airport easily and quickly. (We were flying to Altoona here.)

Naps.  While Mark likes to just fall asleep anywhere at any time, Glo likes to schedule naps with me.  It's up to her if we lay down on my king-sized comfy bed, or on the soft leather couches in the living room.  Sometimes, I can get her to do a whole lot with me if there's a promise of a nap afterwards ;-)

Again, new adventures.  I took Glo to the Ann Arbor art fair for her first time.  She loved it so much that we went back a second night.  She showed me all kinds of things that I would never have noticed.

Babysitter Glo.  Always up for entertaining the troops in the back seat of Greenie, or in the morning before the parents wake up.

While she isn't quite as excited to try new restaurants as John and I are (that's what comes from growing up with parents who eat out frequently--she just wants to eat home-cooked food), we can usually tempt her to come with us.

Glo loves nature especially cute little animals.  She has taken on the responsibility of feeding a flock of neighborhood goldfinches.

And speaking of nature, one of the young women had a birthday, and her "spirit animal" was a California condor.  So Glo found a picture of one and drew it for her <3

This was a moment that I don't think I'll see again for a while.

Again, if Glo can get out in nature, she's all for it.  And thankfully, the farm uses pesticides (I know, thankful?) so there were no bugs to torment her while she picked blueberries.

Taking Baby into Lake Huron at the Mackinac Bridge.  Little Baby was getting her clothes all wet, so she got her first chance to skinny dip <3 #lucky

I won't lie--Glo has been a whole new person since Hannah came home.  As much as they fought as kids, they are dear friends now and having Hannah around makes Glo REALLY happy.

This picture is such a joke, because of all my kids, Glo is the only one who eats like a bird (for breakfast this morning, she had a piece of toast).  However, we had ordered the all-you-can-eat buffet at Zehnder's so she DID take a few bites.

After our basement flooded, and John and I went out of town, she dried everything out and found John's old Star Wars trading cards, one of which is worth $1,200.



Every morning, without fail, and before she does anything else, she takes the dogs for a bike ride down the driveway.  They get so excited to go that if I'm not already up, Maize's barking is my alarm clock.

We also scoured the countryside for mulberries.

 She came to Youth Conference with us.

I'm not sure who loves whom more....

She ate two bites and brought the rest home for John ;-)

While in Altoona, Glo picked up Panera, and they gave her an entire baguette (Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!). She managed to get it through security at the airport and just chowed down on it while waiting.

Now if this store was here in the Lower Peninsula, I might actually get her to eat something! #OhCrepe!

Her mission papers are all filled out, she's had all her interviews, and now we're just waiting for the 120-day lead-in time to submit them.  I've been telling her that she doesn't HAVE to serve a mission, but considering she's wanted to serve one since she was little, I don't feel like I can stand in her way.  But goodness, I will certainly miss her next summer.