Splash!

Moose's favorite day is Costco shopping for the summer because as he says, "we ask for anything we want and you always let us get it." Because we wanted to maximize space, and minimize time away from the dogs in the hotel room and arguing kids, Ben and I went to Costco and took Moose with us, leaving Bear and Roo with the dogs.

Every summer, we grab and load 2 carts full of food to stock up enough food and snacks for two months, usually spending about $2,000. Going up and down the aisles, Ben kept saying we needed to slow down because we were gonna be spending $3,000 instead, while I was figuring it would be closer to $2,500. At checkout, when the total was $2,189.45, we were shocked. The tax was only $9.73 on all of it! We saved in a way we didn't know we would and maxed out on food. Score!

The 3 of us packed it all into the rental trunk and brought it to the boat to unload... in the rain. Moose and I had to get out of the yard for closing time and Ben spent the night on the boat, trying to get all of the projects done. 

Once we got back to the hotel, we got the girls and went to dinner and shopping for a few items we didn't want to get from Costco. Aldi, a store none of us had been to, was the first one we could find. Apparently you need to have a quarter to get a cart. We did not have one, so we tried messing around with the one left in the train of carts, but when none of the 4 of us could figure it out, despite our attempts to be smarter than the cart, we decided we had 8 arms to carry everything we needed.

Wednesday morning we had to load the rental car, check out of the hotel, and be at the boat yard by 10 AM. Of course, once we were up and ready to pack up, it was pouring rain. We had to change our plan. Instead of everyone grabbing some bags and loading them into the car, I had to run to get the car and move it to the overhang so we didn't get everything soaked. Most of our things were on the luggage cart, including the dogs in the kennel, so I had the kids start loading the car while I ran up for the last few things from the room and do a once over to make sure we had it all. On the elevator upstairs, I started wondering if the kids would try to lift the kennel into the trunk with the dogs in it, or take them out. I giggled thinking about how I forgot to give specific directions about this and figured whatever happened, happened, as I had no control from this far away. When I got back, the kids had the everything loaded- kennel and dogs included!

After checking out, we jumped into the car. Our ETA was 10:16 and I gulped, knowing that Ben would have a fit that we were so late. Before I knew it, the directions had me at the end of a highway, returning to city speed limits, going down somewhat residential streets. I looked and saw that I was driving my babies, dogs, and all our belongings at a slow rate through Gary, Indiana- a city known for 2 things, not necessarily in this order: 1) Michael Jackson's birth place and 2) crime/murder. Oh boy. Don't worry, I already knew these things, as I looked up the route to get to the boat yard the day before, and saw that I'd only end up there if I made a wrong turn, making the drive a little longer. Oopsies. Here I was, frustrated with myself for missing whatever turn I mssed, driving in the rain, and trying to get the heck outta there as fast as I could without speeding or having to stop at any stoplights. To make matters worse, Ben called and asked me why I wasn't there at 10. Considering I had no idea where we were, it was pouring rain, and we got to the boat yard by 10:10 alive and with all our belongings, I thought we did pretty well! (In case you were wondering like I was, the kids took the dogs out of the kennel before lifting it into the car, then put them back inside it after. They attemped to lift it before taking the dogs out and realized that wouldn't work. I asked while we were driving cuz I didnt want to forget to ask. I knew they'd figure it out!)

Everyone unloaded the car again and Ben left to take the trash out once more and return the rental car. While he was gone, the kids and I unpacked and put away clothes and food.

The plan was we would be the last boat to splash, which we were anticipating to be right around 4 or 5. A few people backed out of their time slots, so we wound up being last in just before noon, right after Ben got back from dropping off the car.

The kids had never seen the boat get splashed, so this was pretty exciting for them. We watched the whole time and then got on the boat, tied to the end of the well so that we would be ready to get up and leave and do the O'Brien Lock first thing when Ben woke up in the morning. The last thing to check, after Ben completed his "before we leave" projects, was if Lake Michigan would be feasible for us to travel on back to DuSable Harbor Marina, or if we would need to take the river instead. Weather forecasts were looking good and we'd head out to the lake in the morning!