Farewell Poppy, Hello Summer

We were less adventurous the last few days of Poppy's stay. We hope we didn't bore him or drive him bonkers with our crazy kids. We sure were glad to have him! 

Monday was Memorial Day so we walked down to Main Street and watched the parade go by. It was not too exciting but the boys still seemed to enjoy it, despite the fact that there was no candy. At least there were some army cars, some jeeps and some planes that flew over head...

After the parade the boys attempted to go for a paddle boat ride on the lake but were dissuaded by the crazy crowds. So...instead we went to Target (so Poppy could dote upon the grandkids)and then we went to McDonald's (so Poppy could further dote upon the grandkids). Afterwards Tyler and I were able to go out to a movie. We saw "Godzilla." It wasn't awful but nothing spectacular either. It was just good to get out without the kids- so good! Plus the lady who sold us our tickets gave us a student discount out of niceness, or maybe we just look that young ;).

Tuesday we went for another hike per Poppy's request:

After the hike we went down to Main Street so Poppy could find some genuine Milford, Michigan gifts. While Poppy was purchasing something me and the kids wondered outside and I caught this moment of my two cuties:

That night we had our final dinner together at Big Boys. Poppy was disappointed that his burger didn't taste like it did 40 years ago. I thought the food was delicious though. And for once, the kids behaved spectacularly. It was a good final hurrah.

Wednesday, we spent a thrilling morning together at the local library and then it was time to send Poppy off. The weather was horrible, huge downpour. It made it really hard to see in front of me, let alone read the signs and get on the right exits. It was no fun but somehow we made it to the airport with time to spare. It was hard to say goodbye to Poppy, my little piece of home. Only a few more months until baby time though and then him AND Grams will be here! C-section is scheduled for August 20th!

Also this week, besides that one downpour, the weather has felt great. We've been in the 70's and it's been great. I want the 70's to last forever! We've had the added bonus of all the trees in our yard and neighbor's yard officially being green. And they all converge right over our yard making for a beautiful shady place. I'm in love with being outside right now:

There are at least 3 squirrels that live in that tree, and they can frequently be found hanging out in our yard:

Steven to the Roly Poly: "He loves me because I found him. I'm going to keep him forever!" And he has- that Roly Poly is still hanging out in a container of dirt and leaves in our yard:

Poppy Thus Far!

Poppy arrived in Michigan this past Wednesday!! I was scared about driving to the airport and being able to find it AND him but thankfully it all went without a hitch. Since picking him up we have been trying to show off the beauty and wonders that Metropolitan Detroit has to offer. 

I kept Steven home from school Thursday and Friday so he could spend time with his Poppy. Thursday we took him to the Detroit Zoo. On our way there we encountered some of the worst traffic I've seen but somehow we survived the drive...only to arrive at a zoo that was SWAMPED with kids on Field Trips. It was CrAzY packed but we still managed to push through crowds and have some fun. 

On Friday we took him on a hike in our favorite place, Kensington Metropark. The weather was pretty perfect and even though I didn't have any bird feed, Steven still managed to get a bird to eat some cereal out of his hand. Of course I didn't get a picture because I really didn't think a bird would go for Golden Grahams but I did take these gems:

On Saturday we went to Greenfield Village. Coolest place EVER! I was opposed to going at first because it was super pricey but it was totally worth the cost, so much so that Tyler upgraded to a membership so we can come back. This place is everything it claims: it "is like stepping into an 80 acre time machine." 

One of the first homes we went into had women in era appropriate dress cooking a meal with era appropriate kitchen tools. Then we went on to see rye being mowed by a horse drawn mower of sorts. And of course there were sheep and chickens nearby. Here's Lucy helping out at the farm:

After that came some cool mills and machinery and a variety of craft shops: blankets being woven, socks being sewed, glass ornaments being created, newspaper being pressed, tin being shaped...So much fun! The kids (and me) were especially in awe of the glass ornaments:

After that we walked by the civilian war camps and saw soldiers marching through the streets:

By that time, it was food time and then nearby was a super fun playground. It had a machine that sprayed water, slides, a bouncy swing, a rock wall to climb, a tunnel and a fun truck to "drive":

We didn't last too much longer after the playground. We were just able to make it to the Railroad Station where we saw a genuine turn table for trains and we saw Edison's Power Plant and an old school house. But in the end we only saw about half of the Village (if that!).Hence the reason we upgraded our tickets, Tyler LOVES seeing how things are made and all the old machinery so we will definitely be returning to see the rest of it's awesomeness.

As we left, my van decided to not turn on. We thought it might be the battery but after a nice person attempted to give us a jump start, we realized that was not the problem. So Tyler got on the phone with AAA, and I prayed for a miracle because it had gotten warm and we were all exhausted and the idea of waiting for AAA sounded horrible. And a miracle happened! I felt prompted to try and start the car again and it worked! Just like that!

Anyways, apparently it is having "connection" issues and Tyler isn't sure how to fix it. And it decided to have connection issues when we went to leave church today but then after waiting some time and trying, again miracles. I'm not sure we have a limitless supply of miracles so hopefully we can fix it soon. 

We still get to have our Poppy here until Wednesday, so we have a few more days for adventure, if our mode of transportation permits. It has been nice having him here, the boys do love playing and wrestling with Poppy- he is WAY more fun then me ;)

May Adventures

So I am pretty obsessed with going to Kensington Metropark it seems. After I wrote my last post, we went for a hike as a family there. We didn't see anything spectacular but the weather was gorgeous and nothing beats quality time together in the outdoors:

Mother's Day was pretty perfect. Tyler did a great job of spoiling me. He made me strawberry crepes for breakfast, chocolate covered strawberries for a treat, bought me a new laptop (because my other one had become virus infected & unfixable), and he made me a club sandwich for dinner (because I was craving it). The boys picked out 2 new pairs of sunglasses for me and Steven made a sweet "about mom book" for me at school (in which he colored my skin with a brown crayon and declared that I like Walmart, mac n cheese and watching Funniest Home Videos).

This week Steven has become obsessed with planting things. He wanted to go out and buy flower seeds and I explained to him it takes a long time for the flower to grow. He told me, "That's ok, I can wait like an hour." 

Steven also wants to plant an apple seed so we can have an apple tree (that only take like an hour to grow too, right?) But Benny doesn't like that idea. And I quote, "I don't want an apple tree because than I would have to shake it to get the apples out and I can't reach that high." That kid, I think we can help him out with that one ;)

The Sister Missionaries came over for dinner this week and apparently Lucy did not approve. She literally would not even look at them and cried the ENTIRE time! Poor Sisters felt so unloved :( Yet Lucy is doing great in nursery so far, apparently no tears and she even smiles some for her teachers.

And since I begun with the place I am obsessed with, we shall end with it too. Yesterday I took another hike there we with Ben & Lucy. We met this old man who was feeding the birds and he gave us some of his bird seed (which was actually just peanuts...) but it worked! I got a little bird to eat out of my hands, and got some to get pretty close. We even fed the chipmunks much to Ben's delight, he was so excited about how fat their cheeks got! We also saw some cranes that were, as Ben says, "flapping their wings on each other" (mating it seemed).

Pretty red cardinal in the tree:

And afterwards we dropped by the farm that's within the Metropark and saw some adorable piglets:

Misc Tidbits

This week I went on another little hike with Benjamin and Lucy at Kensington Metropark. We saw lots of chipmunks scurrying about, pretty robins and a couple turtles in the pond. But the best part, we actually made it through the hike with no whining about tiredness. So fun!

Ben kept climbing on things and saying, "Take my picture!"

Lucy loves giving me her "Cheee!" face for pictures:

And these pictures show how well Benny and Lucy are getting along as of late, Lucy is very territorial:

Lucy was given tiger whiskers by Steven this week, the boys can't seem to stop drawing on faces:

This week I was driving Steven home from school when I said, "Oh shoot! I'm speeding again! I need to be more careful!" Steven got really worried and said, "You're not going to call the police and tell them you're speeding, are you!?" Ha! I'm not crazy!

Here is baby Penny at 25 weeks:

And look at these tulips that have spontaneously started growing in our yard:

 The weather here is definitely improving. Lots of rain to help things grow and much warmer temperatures. We even hit the 80's on Thursday. I took the kids to a very small Farmers Market down the street that day and got sweaty- SWEATY! We finally turned the heater off and switched out our fleece sheets for cotton ones. Life is good :)

Frankenmuth, Michigan

Today we took a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan to check out the WORLD'S LARGEST CHRISTMAS STORE!!! And believe me, it was HUGE! 

It had every ornament that you could possibly imagine, including these gems:

It had a ton of pieces for Christmas Villages, so much cute stuff that I suddenly had a desire to start my own Christmas Village... and then I remembered that my kids would never allow those breakables to remain unbroken in our home:

It even had a small section of the coolest Halloween Village ever:

There was also this huge display of Precious Moments, some Christmas, some not. I have some of them but obviously my collection is lacking:

And this random Statue of Liberty that Steven easily detected was not the real thing:

And here's a picture with me for once. Proof that I actually was there:

Afterwards we went to Frankenmuth River Place Shops. One of the shops had a Mirror Maze that was way overpriced for the smallness of it (though the mirrors make it look deceivingly bigger) but it was still fun. We all took turns walking into a mirror, thinking it was a hallway, and there were a couple times that Steven got far ahead and due to all the Steven reflections, it took me a few tries to find out which one was the real deal:

Our worst nightmare, tons of Benny's and Steven's!!!!

Besides the Mirror Maze, there were lots of cute touristy shops there and I even picked up some yummy fudge. Added bonus, these fun cut outs to pose in:

 L-R: Tyler, Lucy, Ben, Steven:

Nearby the shops was this fun little bridge:

Which we had to cross of course:

When we had arrived at the shops Ben kept saying he saw eyes in the bushes and we thought he was just talking crazy talk, but on our way out, sure enough: 

Overall a super fun day and so worth the one hour drive. I do love exploring new places!