The Natural Life

Last week we traveled every day from Wednesday to Sunday.

To and around cities.

Cities.

I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about them.

But all of Braeden's urology appointments were set up at the children's hospital in Ann Arbor (the best hospital we've ever been to), so we prepared.

I even convinced my mom who, surprisingly didn't need convincing, to take the ferry boat from Milwaukee, Wisconsin across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, Michigan.

While this option didn't necessarily save us time vs. driving around Chicago, it saved me the desire to jump out of the window of the car as it navigated 80 mph around a city full of hundreds of thousands of aggressive drivers.

I hate it.  It does not seem normal to me.  Yet, to some people, it's daily life.

To each their own.

Luckily, we signed up for the ferry.  

While waiting for the freshly arrived boat to unload, Braeden and I played out in the lush Milwaukee grass.  The sun was shining, and we donned only one jacket -- no hats and mittens -- as we had to do in the cold, rainy/snowy mix, gray Keweenaw.

Sometimes it's good to get away.

So we played in the grass.  And when I say played, I mean, Brady P. practiced his dives and rolls.  Laughing and smiling while the drying grass clippings stuck to his Copper Harbor sweatshirt.

It felt very liberating to us both.

I felt proud.

Little Brady P., who had already hugged all the kids his size inside the building, was now enjoying his time in the sunshine to the max.  Running in circles around the lone tree in the yard.  Diving and rolling and laughing.

I'm glad he gets a thrill out of nature.

Cuz I knew we'd be on that boat for almost three hours... and the car for three hours on each side of that.

He loved being on the boat.  So much that he stayed curious the whole time, even though it was his nap time.  He perched in the window to watch the sparkling waves.  I'm sure it reminded him of Lake Superior.

Perched

I'm really glad we spent that time outside because that was pretty much the only outdoor time we got.  The weather was up and down, but were often in the car... or the hospital... or in the concrete jungle... not rolling in the grass... or throwing rocks.

At the hospital, however Brady P. checked out with a positive outcome.  And we were told to come back in a year.  "Unless," his doctor said, "you want to skip this extremely long trip and get his next ultrasound done in Marquette.  Then we could just have a phone appointment."

Yes, doctor.  Yes.  We would prefer to skip that trip.

Picture # 4 by Super Man

As luck (and my mood) would have it, the ferry was cancelled on our way home, and we had to drive around Lake Michigan anyway.  But for that, my mom and I compromised, and we took the long way home in order to keep stress levels low, so this Yooper wouldn't jump out of the car.