Live from Tormville!

We packed a lunch

We packed a lunch today and headed straight out to The Henry Ford from church. So for those of you who saw me chewing on my leftover Gus's Blackened Chicken salad while my husband was putting our life savings into the gas tank at Speedway ($3.85/gallon. Really???) that would be why. 

And has anyone given Speedway a heads up that their Sunday business is going to drop off drastically in a month plus?  (We're in the process of relocating our church - so our Sunday morning tank filling will be moving west) (heeee*)

These are the types of things I lose sleep over. 

I highly recommend the membership to The Henry Ford. We've had ours off and on for years. I'll guess 8 years or so all told.  Two visits in a year and it totally pays for itself - and I like that we can then just bop in for a couple hours and check out a new exhibits without feeling like we have to see the whole museum in one visit. 

I, of course, tend to favor the village - so I'm getting anxious for that to open (they close for winter)

Today though - our goal was to check out the new Driving America exhibit. 

It was pretty cool - the kids enjoyed seeing all the different cars from way back. I got a chuckle out of the old car seats (my battery was dying - didn't get a shot) and the flow of it all was nice. 

This shot makes me smile because Brian always stands like that, with one leg crossed over the other and a hand in his pocket. Totally him. The right hand is usually gesturing in exclamation about whatever subject he might be yammering on about.  This morning it was about how he had a dream that he was drowning in the Artic Sea, so his fingers were fluttering upwards. 

They also added these cool interactive touchscreens that were loaded with information, but what our kids liked most was driving the old car. They had to crank it up, work the clutch, and stop for cows and dodge potholes and get to the finish line in x amount of time.  The only thing here was that it was almost too high for our very tall five year old (that's the almost 7 yr old in the photo) so I was wishing they had a little stool or something for him.  His view was definitely distorted. 

They had another one where you could learn to talk like a trucker on the CB (cleanly) which Wendy had fun with. 

The diner is also open for real dining now which smells really good and made the kids bellies ache after their peanut butter sandwich lunch - but the burgers were not 15 cents. Greg snuck over to check the prices when the kids were distracted elsewhere and said the least expensive thing that he could see to get was $7.  $7 x the 5 of us that went (#6 had to work this afternoon so didn't come) = peanut butter sandwiches and bananas from the cooler.  It'll fall under one of those things to do when just one kid is along.  Lucky little one kid. 

This lucky little one kid thought I was taking his picture - so I couldn't resist. 

Brian practiced his wrenching skills at the Texaco station while his mother warned him - 'don't you dare get grease on your church pants"  

From there we asked the kids if they wanted to move onto trains or planes and they chose the planes. We saw the trains the last two trips, so that made sense. 

Wendy made a new friend. 

Sitting next to us here was a young 20-something guy who had been walking around the museum taking pictures of himself next to different exhibits with his ipad. It ran through my head that it would have been fun to follow him and see how many pictures we could sneak into before he noticed. 

This is the way my brain works. I abstained. 

The kids love the make a plane portion. There are fold by fold directions on how to make a variety of planes, and I tried my hand at making the sabertooth, but I failed miserably.  I got lost somewhere between steps 10 and 11.  

Mark was declared the winner because his plane got stuck in the roof netting. 

31 Day Photo Challenge: Favorite Color

Funny: I had written in my notebook that today's assignment was yellow - so I was caught off-guard when I went through my Google Reader when we got home and was seeing all different colors.  Then I realized I had written yellow because yellow is MY favorite color.  This is how my brain works. 

We then drove home and momma took her Sunday afternoon nap. 

Only 5 more hours until Monday!!!

 

 

That's a problem

Yes - the lack of snow is a problem, but that's not what this post is about. 

Mark and I took advantage of the beautiful sunshiney 50 degree afternoon and went for a hike. I've been wanting to check out the water/flooding problem I've been hearing about. The problem that may finally prompt me to finish rubber-maiding our crawl space. 

The only reason I've been hearing about this problem is because it has a direct impact on my teenager's boss's place. That's his barn in the photo. 

Allan's (landscaping) boss lives just a few houses away, behind his other (dog-walking) boss's condo. (Allan doesn't wander too far). Allan spent a lot of hours over Christmas break helping his boss move equipment and salt from some of the outbuildings. Some of his vehicles are over halfway underwater. It was hard to capture in the photos - but all that water behind the trees there - that's not supposed to be there. 

nope - none of that water is supposed to be there. 

He's never had water like this before and he's been callling everyone he can think of to get it fixed. It's going to be even worse if we ever end up getting snow and have spring thaw on top of an already flooded field. 

It seems the problem starts somewhere over here - a full block away from the first photo.  (This is someone's backyard)

It seems there is a culvert that goes under the railroad track that is blocked with 10 feet of muck  (this report came from my oldest).  Because it's there, it's the railroads problem.  They were working on it just after Christmas, but can't seem to make heads or tails of it.

I didn't see anyone out there today. 

I think we're going to have a big mess come spring, if not sooner - even now the water keeps rising. It's in more than a few of the backyards already.

It's also getting pretty close to the gas pipeline - not sure that'll be any good. The ground there was so soft, we couldn't walk any closer without getting our shoes completely covered in mud. 

Yep, weatherizing the crawl space is our winter project.

I hate our crawl space. It's not as easy on the knees as it was 14 years ago. 

But we live in a high water level sub as it is. Our sump pump runs constantly in the spring time. 

Should be interesting.....

We spent my birthday at The Henry Ford

okay - here it is. My birthday - the long version.  We spent the afternoon at The Henry Ford.   (And we renewed our membership - so you'll be seeing more pictures throughout the next year)

First off - I really miss the fact that the Village hasn't opened during the days in December during this year and last. They are still open for Holiday Nights, but not during the day - totally due to the economy. (and Holiday Nights cost above the membership, and with two adults and four kids - in this economy, we can't afford that) It was the one time that *I* insisted we head down to Dearborn. I loved walking the Village in December, and we often went on the weekend of my birthday. 

Come on economy, pick back up. My tradition is sad. 

But the museum is fun. Santa is there and they have this lovely train set up each Christmas that's all sorts of white and Christmasy and lit up and it's gorgeous and I couldn't wait to show the boys. (seen in this post)

But it wasn't there this year. I asked. Apparently the mice got it while it was in storage. 

We also didn't see Santa. We planned to - but the line was an hour and a half long. He's coming to Mark's school next week - we'll see him then. 

We did, however, enjoy listening to this guy reading The Polar Express on one of the trains. Mark was all sorts of Whoa!!  

From left to right - Allan brought clothes to change into after church, but forgot a change of shoes - so he's got pretty spiffy shoes on for the casual duds he's wearing. He was also approached by someone who saw his unicycle shirt and invited him to come and check out the Redford Township Unicycle Club when they start meeting again in January.  I thought maybe they had disbanded because they never answered the email I sent them back in May - but this lady assured me that they are most definitely up and running and would love to have Allan come out and see what they are about.  Neato. 

Wendy also forgot shoes to change into and had such a bad blister by the end of our few hours that I had to go bandaid hunting for her. 

Greg brought pants that aren't supposed to be seen out of his garage. Even Uncle George commented on them. 

Brian brought shoes to change into but chose to keep his church clothes on. 

Mark keeps it simple like his mother. 

The mother tends to lag behind the gang. By choice. We just wore the same thing all day long from top to bottom.

They had a sweet Wizard of Oz exhibit that was fun for the adults and the kids - lots to see and do in that room. Even fun for those who have never seen the Wizard of Oz.  *grin* 

And they had one of these things too that the boys were able to climb into. I thought it was new, but the boys say they've been in it before. My husband sometimes took the kids down to the museum when I wasn't able to. The beauty of the membership.

After the museum we came back home and appreciated and enjoyed the soup I had put going in the crockpot in the morning. 

Then there was singing and birthday ice cream after my delicious two hour nap. 

It was a good day. 

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As for today?

A mailbox chock full of goodies - thank you!
A trip to the barber shop for Markie
A drop off of a special order golf ball to the Heart of Michigan shop in town
Stood in line at the post office to mail three other orders. The line was long but moved very quickly.

And tonight Brian is going on a fire station tour - and I think I'll stay home and finish writing Christmas cards. 

It's a good day. 

 

 

Get Healthy Michigan: A good day spent, and (a lot of) photos to prove it.

After Wendy's photo shoot yesterday morning and after Brian got home from his last soccer game - we ate lunch, raked a few leaves to the curb, and then headed out to our local park for the Get Healthy Michigan event. We were in much need of a family day, and this fit the bill perfectly: Close to home, spending time outside, exercise - AND, everything was free. My kids said it was the best day ever.  In their wildest dreams they never imagined the day would ever come that they could spend unlimited time on rock climbing/bungee jumping/and bounce houses.  Check out their smiles in the photos following: 

I love his determination

I love the look on Brian's face

Did I mention the smiles?

I think Mark spent over 30 minutes straight on this thing - one would have thought he'd fall asleep early last night, right?  Nope. 

Props to this guy. He really worked with Wendy to help her get past her fear of heights and attempt the rock climbing wall. 

After we completed five healthy events and had our passports stamped saying so - we then received tickets to go through the food line. The food was proved by Jonna's Market, and I'm pretty much going to stop ever cooking chicken again because our kids informed us that whatever dad and I have cooked before just doesn't even come close.  It was that good.

All five of us had full take out boxes and enough to take home that we ate it again for supper, sharing with Uncle George who had come over to play guitar for us while we carved our pumpkins. 

Did I mention that we got free pumpkins too?  Although Mark, our 4 year old, informed me that I should have made pie with these ones. 

The pumpkin lady was a cat. 

A day well spent. 

 

little sleep and lots of laughs

I don't know about you, but around here - the weekend was a giggly blur. 

I can't even rememember what we did on Friday - but Saturday we had soccer, Saturday cleaning and then Wendy had some friends over for a birthday slash let's go downtown to the Halloween event - event. The weather while crappy all week, turned out perfectly for our outing. We couldn't have ordered anything better.  There were thousands of people who came out to enjoy the weather with us.

I had the girls on one hand, and my little boys on the other. My husband didn't get home from work until after 8, so he just missed all the fun. 

All the fun included creatively scipted gravestones.....

....the headless horseman..... (I had wanted to run the Headless Horseman 5K, but ended up not signing up when I had one babysitter out of town, and a working husband) (and a gaggle of giggling girls for the night)

....some tall Halloween creature things, I assume they entered the contest. Always lots of cool costumes.

....cool grandma's out enjoying quality time and spooking with their grandkids....

....cowboys....

....zombies...

This picture makes my heart swell up. Markie is not fond of crowd situations. He was leaning on Brian's shoulder for support. He passed on the candy bowl more than a few times because he couldn't stand the bowl rush crowds.

After we covered the entire event, we headed home for birthday cake and a giggling sleepover. 

This lot likes to play the dare game when they open gifts. They spin the bottle to find out whose turn it is, then that person has to dare Wendy something in order for her to be able to open the gift.  

• Kiss the dog 15x
• Open the present with only your teeth 
• Open the present with one foot and one finger
• Open the present while standing on your head

Then they got to Mark.  Wendy: what's my dare, Markie?   Mark: Open the present with your BOOTY!! 

I didn't see that one coming. 
Nearly rose the roof with those giggles.

The giggling lasted until just past midnight
The girls weren't quite as perky Sunday morning when we woke them up for Sunday school.

All in all, a good time.  A few friends and I were discussing the city event overall while a lot of fun, is easier if you have kids of just one age grouping. If you have big kids and little kids, it's very hard to keep an eye on them all for how crowded it is.

On Sunday we enjoyed having my husband home for the day - went church, visiting, relaxed.

Today it's baking, laundry, assignments, and two Halloween parties tonight.  

church + people watching + kayaking = a perfect sunday

Yesterday we all managed to wake up and get ready in time for church. The forecast was saying possible thunderstorms, so I built a wall to keep Tippy, our newly acquired 13 year old Border Collie who doesn't like thunderstorms (that's an understatement) off the deck if it happened to storm while we were gone. I'll have to compile a list of thunderstorm stories to share one of these days.

It didn't storm while we were gone. In fact, it cleared up and was nice enough that Wendy and I walked to town for the last day of our Melon Festival. As we were leaving the house, I heard it was pouring the next town over so I grabbed the umbrellas - but the only thing we ended up needing those for was the bright sunshine. 

We found a spot on the courthouse lawn, and enjoyed watching the Livingston Sensation finals. It's like American Idol, but smaller and more local.  Yesterday they had the ten finalists - and this gal is the one that took home the grand prize. 

I also enjoyed people watching. I always do. I had the idea that I'd snap a few photos so you could people watch with me. 

Oh, hey, it's my cute niece. She was flitting around like a butterfly to the singing, but I couldn't quite capture it. She was a quick little butterfly. 

Wendy saw Mrs. C sitting by herself, so she and her cousin Elizabeth just had to go and keep her company. Mrs. C is a friend from church, but my kids have gotten to know her a little better because she's also an aid at their elementary. She pops up all over the place - we see her at garage sales, local festivals, state parks in upper michigan....  Brian will get all excited - MOM!!!!  IT'S MRS. C!!!  AGAIN!!!!  But he wasn't with me yesterday.

I browsed through town a bit after the Livingston Sensation was over - did some on the spot visiting - stopped by the Heart of Michigan store in town to peek around and see how my husbands balls are displayed and tried out a Faygo Float and then headed back home. 

Since our babysitter was just lazing around, we decided to go out on a kayaking date. 

Speaking of school - I saw this kindergarten teacher out on the dock fishing with her three kids. They fished the whole time we kayaked and caught quite a few - all of which they threw back. I asked why they weren't frying them up for dinner, and the oldest, who has been a classmate of Wendy's for many years - she wrinkled her nose.  It's only fun to catch them. 

This was the first kayaking trip that I had to put my camera away for. (We have waterproof bags) I was trying to capture how rocky the water was, but don't know that I quite did it here. It was coming right up over the front and sides. Greg loves the rocky water, but me? If I had a choice I'd go for calm and peaceful. This was fun to try though, but boy - I'm feeling it this morning. We were out there for well over an hour. 

It got a little calmer over by the dam - it was like halftime before headed back out into the big part of the lake. 

It was a good day.

As for today? Monday?

A bit of laundry on the line, some bills to pay, some creating to do and share and perhaps some balloon chasing this evening.

Life is good. 

 

 

A new park in town

There's a new playground in Genoa Township, and that fact combined with the rule I made for myself to bring the boys someplace each week, and yesterday's restless behavior - I made all three of them hop in the van at about 3:15.  Between the four of us, I think we can offer up a pretty good review of the place.

• Pro: As a mom, I loved that there was a pavilion with picnic tables right next to the playground.  I picture meeting mom's here for lunch and play in the future.  Double plus - there are bathrooms in this facility as well - but we didn't check them out.

• Pro: I was totally digging the brilliant blue and green of the, flooring (?) (is that the right word?)  I also like how they incorporated Michigan (both upper AND lower - very important) and put the logo right where this structure is located. 
• Con: At 3:30 in the afternoon on an 86 degree day - that flooring was wicked hot.  It was hot for me through the material of my capris when I was on my knee taking photos.

• Pro: Even the 15 yr old liked it. He had brought his unicycle, thinking he'd uni the trail while the little boys played, but he dumped that unicycle pretty quick when he saw the park.  Quotes from Al: "Wow, this park is so cool" and "Whoever designed this park really has a thing for circles"

• Pro: Apparently there are directions at the top of this slide teaching how to use it (one leg on each side) 
• Con: We didn't learn that until the one old enough to read directions checked it out
• Con: The slide was very static charged. My oldest went up it, and then touched the metal of the structure and got a shock so loud that a lady in the pavilion heard it.  If you held your arm over the slide, you could hear the static.
• Con: That slide was very hot. 
• Pro: It was kind of a fun funky slide, and two of my boys will be boys said they can't wait to try it in the winter.  
• That might be a con.

 

• Pro: It is definitely a park for all ages. And yes, even I had to try the spinning seats. There was a sign or sticker somewhere that stated it was designed for ages 12 and under. I'm an old 12.
• Con: Those spinners go wicked fast if they are done properly, and I had to catch a kid more than once. Mark took a hit to the lip on that one on the right. But that could be just my boys. They try things out to the fullest. 

• Pro: The boys burned off some good energy here.
• Pro: They have working water fountains here.

• Pro: Lots of moving, interactive parts for busy curious kids. That one that Brian is on (red shorts) also spins around
• Pro: They remembered Upper Michigan

• Pro: Everyone was too tired to tease each other on the way home. And tip: to use the seat, rock forward, then backward, then forward, then backward.....and hold on tight.  Trust me. 

• Pro: Even though we had one gash to the head (it's a very distinct mark hit - I'll have him show me where he got it next time so I can puzzle it out), one bruised lip from the standing spinner, and one loud shock - they still deem it a place that they can't wait to share with dad and Wendy. We'll go back - when it's a little cooler. 
• Pro: Most of my cons are directly related to the hot weather, so had we reviewed on a cooler day/evening - there would be less cons.  *wink*

Overall we think it's a great park, but a few trees for a little bit of shade would be nice. I don't recommend cottonwoods. 

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Which way did it go? I thought you were watching it! YOU were supposed to keep an eye on it! 

And then after dinner I asked the boys, Hey - do you want to come with me to watch three balloons launch, or do you want to go with dad and George to the concert downtown. They both shouted, Balloons!!! and hopped in my ride. They got big high fives from our new friend for that choice.

We didn't chase last night - I had a downtown concert to get to, afterall. 

It was a busyfull day, full of summer fun.

Happy Saturday!
be good 

 

 

The Pink Party - 2011

Wendy and I headed downtown last night for the third annual Pink Party.  I didn't get a pass this year, but it's still fun to go, walk around - and I dunno, just knowing there are going to be a bunch of men in tuxes makes it pretty hard to leave the camera at home.  Here they are being paraded in by the bagpiper.  LOVE the sound of the bagpiper. 

It was absolutely pouring just before the event started, but thankfully - they didn't need the umbrellas at all once it began. It turned out to be a gorgeous night.   Ladies that sign up in groups of 8 are given an escort for the evening. The escort carries their bags, hold the umbrella, opens doors - it's pretty cool.

It's a fun walk around town.

There are a few more pictures in my facebook album.

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Yesterday was also Wendy's last day of basketball camp

She always has a really good time with it - she'll sign up again the next time around.

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I also met this cute couple on the outskirts of the Pink Party last night - I'll share more of those later.  I started nodding off at the computer last night. Again.  But I slept deep and hard, so I'm looking forward to a productive day. Just as soon as I get moving......  I must get to Costco today.  It's payday, and the cupboards have never been quite so bare. So the kids tell me as we were scavanging the depths for something to serve for dinner last night.

I think it's good character building, don't you?  Or creative dinner making. Call it what you want....

Happy Friday! 

There aren't actually any people in the McPherson Mansion

Our local newspaper has this contest.

It's a sheet full of businesses, all with ballot type random drawings, and if you fill them out and drop them off, there's a chance you could be picked from the slips to win a turkey! We've never played this game before, but being that the three year old and I have been getting a little shack happy over here without a vehicle, and that the funds are all draining faster than something really fast, and I figure we're about due for a change of luck despite my mother telling me that sometimes these bad spells can go on for years - I thought we'd try our luck at winning one of these birds.  I mean, what have we got to lose, right? Can't win if we don't enter and all that - rah.rah.rah.

So I filled out all the entries within biking distance, put Markie into our grungy 12 year old garage sale Burley, strapped him in tight with the bungee cord and hopped on my borrowed bike and did the circuit.  Our first stop was at Country Lane Flower Shop.  I've never actually been in there before despite the million times I've walked by, so that was a good experience.  I even asked if they were hiring as my 15 year old is looking for a job, but they are just looking for drivers right now (and not of the unicycle or Burley pulling type)  We put our slip into the cookie jar style pumpkin (a little bit crumpled so it won't stick to the other entries) and off we went to the next place.

The salon.  The salon is right on the corner and the light was red.  We know a lot of people in this town, so as we were parking our bike, our friends Jim and Cindy were waiting at the red light.  Hey - Jim hollored - whatchya doing?   We're going to win a turkey! I replied.  My little parrot chimed in, "Win a tewkey!"  Jim gave us a thumbs up and wished us luck. Jim's exactly the type of guy to bump into when you need a reminder to be optimistic.  Second entry in the pot. Fingers crossed. Optimistic.

We headed downtown then, dropped off a CD of photos, put another entry into the pumpkin at the jewelry store and then pedaled another nine blocks to the McPherson Mansion.

I'd never been to the McPherson Mansion, so I was tickled to have an excuse to walk through the front door.  I had followed the whole purchasing of it with interest, had walked by it during the remodel, and was more than a little bit excited to lean my borrowed bike on the front porch and walk in with a purpose.  Markie had our entry tightly clenched in his sweaty peanut butter smelling fist. 

I have to admit that I kind of thought we'd see people when we walked into the mansion, but this was not to be the case.

As we walked in the front door, I took a quick glance around to admire the remodel, the stairway, and the furniture in the two empty conference rooms.  I then looked to my left and to my right - but I couldn't quite make out where Suite 105 was.  There were no handy little arrows with signs like they have in hotels. We peeked into the designated waiting room, but still - no people and no arrows.

There was, however, a phone with instructions to pick it up. 

I picked it up.

Voice on the other end speaking from an unknown location:  Can I help you?

Me:  Yes, I'm looking for Suite 105

Voice: Are you meeting somebody?

Me:  No, I just want to drop off my entry

Voice: Your entry?

Me: Yes, for a turkey

Voice: You have a turkey?

Me (starting to get the giggles): No, I want to win a turkey.

Voice: I'm sorry?

Me: I have a slip of paper with my name on it that I must bring to suite 105 if I want to try and win a turkey

Voice: Oh

Voice:  Look up in front of you - see the sign that says waiting room?

Me:  Yes (this was getting so bizarre)

Voice: Go through the waiting room, to your right, down the hall and it's on your left at the end.

Me: Thank you

*click*

We walked hand in hand through the mansion, following the voice's instructions, and looking for signs of life - any sign of life, but there was none.

We made it to Suite 105, only to be met with a closed locked door, on the handle of which was one other lonely determined persons entry.

We shared the tape (thank you kind lonely determined person) with our entry, and made our way back out - giggling as we went.

There aren't actually any people in the McPherson Mansion.  Now you know.

 

 

I have to admit, our town is pretty cool

My mom wanted to see some more pictures from our Saturday night out at our town's Halloween festivities.  She said she's going to just start planning her trips around our city calendar because we have so many different fun festivals and events where we live. The Balloonfest, the Fantasy of Lights, the Pink Party, History Days, Melon Festival, Spring Clean-Up, Cemetery Tours, the list goes on.... And it's all within walking distance!

Which pretty much just serves to make me feel guilty if I skip any of them, which I've been known to do.  I almost skipped this one. The weather was iffy all day, I had no clue if the hubby would make it home in time, the kids had been bickering.....

But then I think, it's the festivals like this that make the town memories. That will make them want to come back home just that much more when they've grown and flown the nest. They are what make them feel attached to the place that they live.

Does that make sense?

(We rode the little boo cart through town - the kids loved it) (and so did we)

You  know, I'm going to miss this smile when he outgrows it.

Dad took these two onto the haunted train (which wasn't really scary, as per both the 5 and 10 year old) but Markie wanted nothing to do with it, so I stayed off with him. 

And we made our way to the smore eating station. We got the better end of that split.

All in all I'm glad we went.
The weather turned out perfect
The kids all had fun
It was WAY more crowded than last year
I found out Sunday that we should have waited in that long long long line at Gus's - they were giving out all the breadsticks you wanted AND full size candybars.
Don't tell my kids
But darnit - I missed out on breadsticks. 

Next year.....

******

We walked back home and got there the same time as George - which is a whole other post.  I warned you this is going to be a post heavy week, right? 

be good!