May 2022 – Danny and Zane Baptism
We drove to Abby’s in Saint Johns, Michigan in two days. On Tuesday the 24th, we left in the afternoon and drove to Syracuse and stayed in a Candlewood Suites, since they are dog friendly, and Lila was coming with us. On Wednesday morning we had a lovely breakfast at Julie’s Diner, across the street from the hotel, and then set off for Michigan, via Ontario. As we were driving up to Niagara Falls, we encountered a sign that said “Be sure to use ArriveCAN if you are going to Canada”. We got off the road and entered our COVID info and thought we had finished. When we arrived at Border Control in Canada, the agent informed us that we hadn’t finished and he helped us finish it. Interestingly, they have no option for going through Canada without stopping somewhere. He just asked us to enter any address at all in the app, so we were going to Calgary, somehow. Anyway, we arrived in Saint Johns after 6 and had a nice hamburger dinner with Abby, Kaan, Danny and Zane. We hadn’t seen them, other than on FaceTime, in 3 years.
Needless to say, the kids have changed a lot, especially Zane who was a cute two year old when we saw him in summer of 2019. Now he is a funny, delightful 5 year old.
On Thursday, we shopped at Kroger, Best Buy, Penny’s, etc. and Susan made Huli-Huli Chicken for dinner. On Friday, we did some shopping and the rest of the family arrived. Abby and Ed arrived in the afternoon and Geoff, Cyrus and Graham arrived around 6 PM. We had “Veg Out” for dinner (a family favorite with scrambled hamburger, salsa, chips, etc.
Saturday was the big day. The Baptism was at 10:30, and the Deacon had agreed to use our Camino scallop shells to transfer the water to the heads. While on the Camino, the shells were tied to our backpacks for the entire trip. (Scallop shells are the symbol of St. James; hence Coquille San Jacques).
Godparents for Danny are Kaan’s brother Cooper and sister Skyler. Godparents for Zane are Anna and Ed.
The picture of Danny and Zane with their shells is a classic picture of an 8 year old older brother.
After the service, we returned for a brunch at Abby & Kaan’s, with Kaan’s parents and step parents. Lots of great food and a nice cake from Kroger.
In the afternoon, we relaxed and talked and some folks went across the street to swim and others played video games. We then got ready for church and went for Danny’s First Communion. His class had done theirs earlier, but his was waiting for the Baptism. The Priest recognized Danny at the end to congratulate him and everyone applauded. 
After the service, we took pictures outside with various family groupings: Boak (11 of 12 in our family):
Here are Kaan’s mom and step dad:
Here is with Kaan’s dad. Unfortunately, his stepmom was not around at this point so we didn’t get a picture:
After Mass, we returned to Abby & Kaan’s for a relaxing evening with the whole crew. Dinner was pizza, since everyone was too exhausted to do anything else. Speaking of exhausted, the kids stayed up until after the grandparents both Saturday and Sunday nights.
Sunday we relaxed with the family and in the afternoon, Amy, Kaan’s stepmom took us on a tour of the old mansion/B&B where she works. What a place. The rest of the day was the same as Saturday, with video games, pool time, etc. In the evening we had steak and hamburgers outside. (Cyrus had two hamburgers and steak).
Monday, after breakfast, we said goodbye to all and each headed out. Anna and Ed back to Detroit for a plane; Geoff, Cyrus and Graham for a long drive, and we again went through Canada. Our ArriveCAN address was 26 Fox Run, Branford, ON. We spent most of an hour returning to the US, since there were a lot of holiday travelers doing the same. As we were on the NY Thruway almost to our stop for the night, we got a call from Ed to inform us that he had COVID.
We stopped at the La Quinta in Batavia, NY, and got takeout from a nearby Applebee’s, since we decided to quarantine ourselves. On Tuesday, we drove home with a long traffic jam on I-495, but got home around 6.
