Monday we had a busy morning. First I picked up groceries and then I met with Penny's speech teacher and indeed, Penny has graduated from speech (even if she can't say 'graduated' properly). I wasn't surprised. It was also really, really nice to hear that she is above grade level in everything. Makes me feel like I didn't fail with homeschooling. After that meeting I took Penny to the doctor. She got real emotional about having to get a shot, just like the rest of her siblings. I also had some questions for the doctor but I feel like general practioners are just not super helpful. I guess their job is just to refer you to other people.
Tuesday night I had Bunco. It was Nancy's birthday and she always calls me "Jenny from the Block" (aka Jennifer Lopez) so I decided I was going to dress up like J Lo as my "birthday gift" to Nancy. Melissa offered to help make me over and we were having lots of fun until I realized I mis-remembered what time Bunco starts. I definitely made an entrance as I walked in late dressed as Jenny from the Block. Nancy loved it so it was totally worth it.
Wednesday night my mom and brother flew into town for a late celebration of her 70th birthday. We were so excited to have them here in Michigan and we had lots of adventures to go on. The kids still had to go to school Thursday so we had some adventures without them. Our first adventure was to get doughnuts and cider at Long's Farm- this was a must on Grandma's list. There are very little things that are tastier than freshly baked doughnuts. We attempted to sit down and eat our doughnuts there because the weather was so nice but we were immeaditely attacked by bees and decided it was not worth the bees. We ate in the car instead.
Next we drove out to Lansing so Grams could vist the Delphi Stained Glass store. Grams got the things she needed and Mike was real impressed by the artwork on the walls. I worked hard to keep my eyes open in this pic, can you tell?
On our way back we drove through Kensington and took a quick stop at the Nature Center. Grams was too tired to walk a trail but we enjoyed the scenic views and saw some cranes walking around.
Then we picked up the kids from school, brought them home to change out of their uniforms and headed to Greenfield Village for Halloween Nights. Tyler missed a turn on our way there and that added about 20 mins to our trip so we didn't get there as early as I had hoped. I had hoped we would have time to get a snack or bite to eat before our scheduled train ride but no such luck. So basically we got there, did a potty break and then loaded onto the train. We had some perfect weather while we rode the Ghoul Train. The Ghoul train essentially was a train ride with obnoxious spooky sounds playing and every once in awhile some spooky sites to see- skeletons in a canoe, a grim reaper by the fence, some witches around a fire...
As we got off the train the weather took a turn and the rain came down. Thankfully I had brought some cheap ponchos that helped but the rain started really coming down and the ponchos didn't offer perfect protection. We eventually found a patio to hang out under.
After a bit the rain calmed down some and we were able to get back out there and see the things. We got to listen to a humrous fortune teller tell someone else their future, found some fun photo op's, went in a spooky covered bridge that was guarded by a troll, took pictures with scarecrows that scared the pants off the kids, listened to singing vampires and pumpkins, saw a tortured bride ghost, heard the story of Hansel and Gretel as told by the witch's sister, watched a little skit done by Captain Hook and Smee, we met a vampire and Little Bo Peep and we ate some yummy kettle corn and caramel corn. So even though we had a rough patch with the crappy weather, there were still some fun times had.
Friday Tyler took off work so he could go adventuring with us. It was raining all over Michigan but after much searching I discovered the storm was missing Midland, Michigan so to Midland we went to see the Dow Gardens. We ended up having perfect weather as we toured the gardens. The kids enjoyed the canopy walk and were more brave this time with the rope net- probably because they had Uncle Mike to impress. Grams liked all the beautiful glass flowers that were throughout the park and they even had some real roses still blooming.
When we were done at Dow Gardens we took Mike to Lake Huron so he could say he saw one of the Great Lakes. The water was a gross shade of green but still it was a pretty view and the kids had a lot of fun chasing seagulls, playing with sticks and just being kids. By the way, do you like Ben's hat? He calls it his "furry friend."
Our last stop on Thursday was Bronner's. We decided to go ahead and buy the kids their new ornaments as per tradition, rather than make another trip out there in a few weeks. Ben chose his traditional snowman one (this one had a cape and top hat), Lucy chose a unicorn lollipop, Penny chose a slushee and Steven got Steve from Minecraft. Mike was able to find some things for his kids and experience the world's largest Christmas store!
When we finally got home we were all exhausted. We ordered some pizza and maybe we should have called it a night BUT Tyler, Mike and I decided to go see a movie. We saw "Venom: Let There Be Carnage." It was a little silly and over the top but entertaining. And it's always nice to go to the movies.
Saturday we left the kids behind and Mike, my mom and I went to Hell. When we got there, there was a guy singing "Welcome to Hell" and he sounded just like Dracula, it was actually pretty awesome. Mike and Grams got some souvenirs from Hell and then we strolled around outside. There were a couple booths selling things and Grams just had to buy a Halloween lantern from this cute family.
After we went through Hell we went to Ann Arbor. Grams is also addicted to the chocolate cherry covered pretzels that are sold at Cherry Republic. We got our yummy things there and then strolled downtown. We had lunch at Taq and it was really good. I had a waffle taco with chicken and bacon and syrup. It was surprisingly a good combination. We also went to the "Nickle Arcarde" which was basically just more shops. It was a good outing and made better since it didn't have the presence of impatient children.
After Ann Arbor we were done with our adventures for the day. We ended the day eating some dinner, watching "Lego Masters" with the kids and then forcing Grams to watch the first "Venom" movie with us. She didn't love it but she was a good sport about it.
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