Easter and the Pottawatomi Inn

Well, Mark says that he's found something else that I am willing to get up early for...Easter Sunrise Service. (Add that to leaving on vacation and garage sales)

The Sunrise Service was at 7:00 am at the Fellowship Center. It was moving to hear the songs and stories as the sun rose and shone all golden through the eastern windows. One of my favorite authors described herself as having a musical crying personality--so do I. So every time they began a beautiful song, my tears started up and I got a big lump in my throat. Sometimes I wish I could just sit there like everyone else and enjoy it, but I am wiping my eyes and trying not to weep.

After the Sunrise Service, we had breakfast in the church lunchroom and then morning service. Then we came back home, had a short nap and headed up to Pokagon State Park, which was about 45 minutes away. Luke commented that vacation was supposed to be far away, that it was too close! Our kids have been used to 11 hours drives...

The Pottawatomi Inn was really nice with an indoor pool, library, lounges, and hiking trails. It was also just a few minutes from an outlet mall which the girls and I visited while the boys and Daddy hiked. We stayed until Tuesday noon, and it was a nice mix of relaxing by ourselves, playing games with others at the retreat, and swimming at the pool.

Monday night, we ate at Los Limas, a Mexican restaurant in town, that had a big room in back where we could all sit together. Some of the people we were with were Bruce & Heather , Dustin & Mandy , Shane & Stephanie , John & Patsy , Roger & Sue , and Jeff & Margo.

Today it is pouring rain, just buckets, but we are cozy in the Tippy. A nice hot cup of coffee, an Anne of Green Gables tape playing... Rachel is working on a nine piece quilt, Miranda is reading The Other Mr. Darcy (a sequel ?! to Pride and Prejudice written recently).

The boys haven't noticed that it is raining...Luke's Nintendo DS came in the mail today. He had been saving and saving and wouldn't you know, he had a birthday...it was time to go shopping! He had been on ebay looking and researching the best deal, so last week, he hit the Buy It Now button and bought a black used one. however, he told me with eyes shining that it looks brand new without even any scratches! It was a screaming deal.

This DS came with a price besides the money though...Luke has promised that however long he plays it, he will read that many minutes that day. 1 hour of DS = 1 hour of reading. He did ask me if that applies to Ocean Isle when he and Clint are together, and I said no, not then. :)

We did find a used game shop and also the library has DS games we can check out. I wonder if there are any educational games??