On Tuesday the kids had their dentist appointments (all 4 at once). Penny got super upset yet again during her cleaning which made the appointment hard for me but somehow they finished with all the kids in a half hour so at least it was quick. They all got good reports at the end- no cavities but last time they missed some cavities so I am not so sure if this is truly good news. I would like to hope everything's a-ok but with our bad teeth problems and some bad experiences with this dentist I just can't be sure.
Tuesday afternoon we were going to go on a quick trip to our neighborhood beach but our beach was closed since they just treated the weeds in the water. This meant that we ended up making the half an hour journey to the beach in Kensington. Not the short trip we planned on but everyone still had fun. They love the beach but they also are big fans of the playground there. My only hitch with the whole thing was the family smoking a hookah because it totally spread its whole stink across the beach.
Tuesday night Grams and I went on a date to Cheesecake Factory and ate the most amazing meal and dessert. It was serious yummy and left me craving more!
Wednesday we went on a short trip to Lake Saint Clair Metropark- it's about an hour away. This Metropark is all kinds of amazing. After having a little picnic under the ramadas the kids had some fun at it's amazing playground. Then we walked over to Shipwreck Lagoon and played some miniature golf. It was super warm and we got super sweaty and we are not the greatest of players but it was still fun (because we cheated a lot). I really enjoy playing mini golf- even if I have no skill!
The only not fun parts of the golfing was #1- the fighting over who got to go first and #2 Ben melting down because he could not keep his ball from falling into the river on one of the holes. It took him about 5 tries of hitting the ball and the crying before he finally got it. It was the worst. And I couldn't convince him that we were just having fun and it was ok if we skipped that part. So I guess I got to hand it to him that he sure is persistent but oh, the wailing and the crying. It was real rough.
After sweating up a storm the kids headed to the splash pad to cool off with Poppy. Grams and I headed to the car to get our beach gear. When the kids were done splashing Steven and Poppy went to the pool at this Metro park (it had a floating obstacle course and slide- both for older kids since it was super deep) and the rest of us hung out the beach. The beach was pretty deserted which we found out was because it was recently just reopened after being treated for e-coli. This made me slightly nervous and Grams very nervous but we all survived without getting diseased. The kids honestly spent most of their time chasing the seagulls.
After changing from our beach fun, the kids played a little more on the playground and then we journeyed back home- exhausted.
That night after dinner we finally went to the ice cream place by our house, Creamy Freeze. The sell Guernsey Ice Cream like all the other places but I am not complaining since that is super yummy ice cream.
Thursday we went to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall. The kids love the play place there and it's big enough that my big boys can get away with playing there with the girls. After they played their hearts out and had some food we did some shopping- or rather the Grandparents did some spoiling. The girls paid their first visit to Claire's which was one of my favorite places when I was younger and they loved it. It was buy 3, get 3 free so they got spoiled with sticker earrings, rings, and Lucy got a mermaid notebook and Penny got fake glasses. Ben got a Pokemon cards and Steven got a Minecraft Minifigure. And Poppy got me a cactus Lego Minifigure. The cactus guy came in one of those surprise bags but the nice worker felt every bag and found him the right one. She was really talented, ha ha!
Thursday night Tyler and I got to go on a temple date which was really nice. No big revelations yet on whether or not I should have one more kid but that's ok.
Friday morning was uneventful but that afternoon I dropped off my 3 youngest with a friend and then Grams, Poppy, Steven and me headed up to Northern Michigan for a little adventure. Our fist stop was at our hotel in Cheboygan. Our room had a balcony view of the Cheboygan River which was real pretty.
After settling in our room we grabbed some dinner and then went to find the Cheboygan Front Range Lighthouse because that's just what I do. This will not be one of my favorite lighthouses though. It was kind of run down and located in an industrial (not pretty at all) area. We attempted to go to another lighthouse but road closures kept us from doing that. Instead we went back to the hotel where Poppy and Steven went swimming at the pool. Grams and I left them and went on our own adventure to Cheboygan State Park where we found a little beach to sit and talk at. It was probably the best part of the trip just chatting with my mom about life and enjoying the beautiful view and weather.
After our beach chat, I did some reading on the balcony and then called it a day.
The next morning we drove to Mackinac city where we boarded the ferry to Mackinac Island. The wind was blowing and it was a chilly wait for the ferry but once we got inside it all was well and the views were pretty.
Once we arrived on the island we went on a Carriage Tour. There are no cars on the island so you either get around by bike or by horse- my parents choice was horse. While I thought I would rather do the bike, I am glad we did the carriage tour. We got to learn a lot of fun facts about the island and see all the things on the island. Some interesting things I learned... The Grand Hotel (which really is grand) was built in 93 days. And even though no mail is delivered on the island- Amazon delivers by horse carriage. Good old Amazon!
Our first stop on the tour was at the Butterfly House. Steven really wanted to go and since this was his special trip I obliged. It wasn't really worth it. It was a very small house and many of the butterflies looked like they had been manhandled. I don't think they take good care of the butterflies. They also didn't flutter around much. So not super impressed but I did see one of my favorites ones- the ones with blue wings.
After the disappointing Butterfly House we continued our tour into the woods of Mackinac Island. They were pretty and we learned more interesting things- like how they used to have to walk over the frozen lakes to get supplies using Christmas trees as lights and about the Pileated Woodpecker that holes up the trees. They made that woodpecker sound giant but when I looked it up later, it didn't look so big. We also got to check out the beautiful arch rock. Our tour guide told us she had 3 stories about how that was created. The first- erosion. The second- woodpeckers. When she said that one Steven immediately let out "No, that's not true." Glad he's learned the difference between truth and tales. Her third tale was about a girl who was chained to a rock and then her tears made a hole in the middle of it. He didn't even bother to comment on the validity of it.
Our final stop on the tour was at Fort Mackinac. Steven and I both wanted to check it out and it was fun but not quite as big as I thought it was. I also think Greenfield Village has given me such high expectations of historic themed places that nothing is quite the same. But the views from the wall were great and the cannon firing was fun too.
After we watched them fire the cannon we got some lunch at the Fort at The Tea Room which was actually a balcony with a gorgeous view. The food was overpriced but still yummy.
When we finished eating we hit the Children's Quarters which had some fun hands on things and photo props.
When we were done at the Fort we went into town and shopped the shops downtown. It was awful crowded and I got headachy (probably because I didn't sleep super fantastic the night before and it was sunny) so it was not my favorite part of the day but we did find some fun shirts and I did find some salt water taffy (my favorite!). Grandma also got her Creamsicle fudge and Steven got some Superman ice cream. Then it was back on to the ferry for us (this time we sat on top) and back home for us!
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