Sheesheebonghuk

I couldn't decide whether to call this post "A Bus, Two Planes, and a Rental Car"* or "Sheesheebonghuk."**

*If you asked Riley what he did on vacation, he would tell you that he took "a bus, two planes, and a rental car." My parents seem to believe that I make an extraordinary effort to join the rest of the family for a week each summer, but traveling with Riley is easy. Ever since he was two months old, he has loved to travel. He relishes every leg of the journey, takes everything in stride, and never complains. For him, the trip between our house and our destination in Leland, Michigan, is as much fun as the actual vacation.

**If you asked Riley what he learned on vacation, he would reply "sheesheebonghuk." One morning early in the week, my mom, my brother, and I took Riley and Howard, my brother's son, to a couple of child-friendly museum exhibits in Traverse City. The first stop was the Great Lakes Children's Museum, where the boys spent most of their time playing with a hands-on exhibit devoted to exploring how water power can be harnessed and controlled. 

Next, we took a short drive to the Jump to Japan pop culture exhibit located in an annex adjacent to Grand Traverse Bay.  In order to reach the pop culture exhibit, we had to cross a busy thoroughfare via an underground tunnel decorated with pictures, their Native American names, and the English translations. There, we learned that "sheesheebonghuk" is a Native American word for "ducks." (Ottawa and Chippewa Indians once lived in the area surrounding Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan.)

The pop culture exhibit primarily focused on Japanese animation and manga art. Riley has been an anime fan since seeing Kiki's Delivery Service last summer, so he was happy as a clam. He was especially excited to find an Astroboy comic book in the exhibit.

My brother Bill models the latest in Totoro fashion.  

All told, we had a lovely time during our week in Leland. The weather forecast continually threatened rain and cool temperatures, but we ended up having beautiful weather all week long. Riley reveled in spending time with his cousin Howard, and I enjoyed doing little more than eating, sleeping, reading, working on puzzles, sitting in the sun, and drinking wine.

After leaving Riley in the company of his Aunt Kate, I happened upon him behind the counter in this candy store where he charmed the young salesclerk into giving him a bag full of free M&Ms.

When Riley wasn't transfixed by the sight of Howard wrestling and rough housing in the water with his father, Uncle Bear, he worked at relocating every stone in Lake Leelanau. He drafted any willing body to pluck the stones from the water at the shore's edge in front of our cottage. Then he would individually toss each stone off the pier and back into the water. Occasionally, somebody else's rockcombing find (Petoskey stones, iron ore, and other fossils) ended up being sacrificed to Riley's cause. I lost count of how many times he traversed the length of the pier to grab yet another stone. 

Between that, playing on the Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan beaches, and endless games of hide and seek with Howard, Riley went to bed happily exhausted each evening.