Other Happenings In October and Early November

In a newspaper, I found a picture of a voting line in Berlin.  I sent it to my favorite German, because it kind of looks like her (but it isn't, she voted by mail.)

Emily bought me a lovely llama pin (that is quite heavy) for my birthday.  I went that afternoon to buy a sweater that had a heavy enough weave to support it.

I also got my repaired and cleaned wedding ring set back on my birthday!  The stone was loose, so I had taken it in a few weeks before, with no estimated date of completetion.

Our front tree dropped all of it's leaves over night.  I did a large section of the yard, with a rake, but there were still two trees full of leaves, so I knew it was a losing battle.

After we took down our Halloween decorations, I got to decorate my pumpkin with the turkey kit that I got from somewhere in the last year!  Isn't it cute?

After a long, long absence, the kids (and I) were so excited to have Avia back!  

Sadly, her plane from Detroit was delayed a couple of times, so we ended up grabbing some McDonald's while we waited.  Sadly, we missed indoor dining, so we had to bring it back to the airport.

At one of the rummage sales we went to, I scored Sarah a bag of maps!  Some of them were old, I think this one is from 1923?  She was actually excited by them, which made it totally worth my $1! = )

I read an article a couple of months ago, that interviewed people who were picking up food from a local food pantry.  One of the things they lamented was rarely having cake mix.  So, as a group, the kids and I discussed what we could do.  We decided that every birthday we celebrate in our family, we would make up a kit with cake mix, icing, oil, birthday candles, and egg money (hidden under the icing lid.) William was the first child's birthday we celebrated, so he got to be the first to give away a 'birthday cake'! (I did it for my birthday too, but did not take a selfie.)

Zoey's mom invited our whole crew, minus Billy, over for a Friday movie day!  Grace was delighted, and most of the kids, not so much Alice, had a fun time exploring and playing with her toys.  We had a fun time!

It's always a sad day for me when I winterize my sandals. = (

Grace scored a super fun toy at one of the rummage sales: a toy garden kit! Even Alice played with it, what a win!

Netflix had Saved by the Bell, 9 seasons worth of the original, college years, and several specials.  I narrated all of my thoughts to Erin Elise as I watched.  I'm sure she's super glad that's over. ; )

As incentive to come to my first MOPS meeting of the year, Alice got to pick out some goodies from out favorite international market.  I like to be *slightly* adventurous each time we go, and this time I picked a pomegranate drink with basil seeds.  It was a lot like drinking jello.  The flavor was not really strange, but you could chew the seeds, if you could catch them between your teeth.  I wouldn't seek it out again, but wouldn't add it to my never again list either.

Another rummage sale find for grace was a make your own marker kit.  The box was open, but all the packages inside were sealed and new.  She spent hours making her own colors.  She even made a set to give to Zoey.

I met up with some of the Dimondale Busy Moms at Horrock's.  They have a massive Bier Garten there that I didn't even know about!  Since then, I've even brought Billy by to see it!

The food truck on site:

Before the weather turned cold, we walked to Dime's, where we could eat outside, the kids could drink their root beer, catch some pokemon, and then let Emily and the twins, or William walk home once they were bored.

October was a nice warm one this year, I felt so happy all month!

later days

Whitefish Point, Michigan

It was the best make fun of Sarah night we've had in years not the Vancouver sister's trip that we had planned on our last adventure, but it all worked out because our Mom got to come along for the chaos fun!

The fun started when Sarah wanted to read her super boring book called "The mind numbing journey of people or immigrants or spies who travelled to America from Denmark or Finland or Norway on, before or after the First World War, part II" (or something like that) in the car.  I had to remind her that reading in the car was bad for your eyes and so she started talking about her friend and thumb remover Dr. Stewart.

Then  we found a picture of Grandma Sondra in the bag of food Avia had brought, because she thought we'd want to see it on our trip to the UP?  So, Grandma Sondra became our mascot* for this trip. = )

Here she is politely declining some road trip candy.

Haley was making sure she didn't get wet.

Checking out all of the lighthouses in Michigan.

Crossing the Mackinaw Bridge!

I was the driver for the second part of our evening trip up north.  It was rainy and dark (and cold, but not cold enough to affect the roads) the entire drive up.

Haley was the photographer on my phone when I was in the driver seat. Safety first!

We stayed in a cabin that was just north of Paradise, MI.  It was perfect.

We were all pretty worn out, so it was an early bed time after settling in.

Avia cooked us all breakfast the next morning, before we headed out to the lighthouse at Whitefish Point!

Sarah looks the same in all my pictures, because she hadn't quite figured out what was going on yet and hidden herself away!  But she knew she didn't like it.

My bed with 3 blankets.  The UP is a cold place.

Posing by the mudroom door before we head out.

A few weeks ago I found a replica of the Whitefish Point lighthouse at a yard sale. I was so excited to bring it up for comparison. = )

We toured the shipwreck museum.  It was well done, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Inside the lighthouse keeper's family's former residence.

You can see Canada from the second floor!

We made it to Lake Superior!  So now I can cross seeing all 5 great lakes off my list.  I don't know who took the selfie, but I didn't get it. = (

I wore inappropriate shoes, so I ended up barefooted on the beach and it was cold!!!!

Haley and I each tossed in a rock "for Canada!"

A path that I thought Billy would like:

Grandma Sondra liked the dunes. ; )  We had to give her a make-shift poncho with the off and on rain we were getting.

Next on our trip was a trip to Paradise for coffee, gas and souvenirs.

Another stretch of Lake Superior.  The weather was so much nicer than the rain that they had called for earlier in the week, which was a nice surprise.   We had a little rain, but the sun peeked through the clouds every now and again.

#flatgrandma coming in to checkout the convenience store in paradise.

Food truck!

The Tahquamenon Falls were not too far away, so we headed in that direction. The lines were incredibly long, and parking scarce, but we braved both to get some fun pictures!

Save #flatgrandma Haley!

Haley was about to pose for a picture with me, but instead went off to chase a chipmunk.

When we drove back down to the lower falls the line was shorter, and parking a little bit easier.

We all had our first ever Pastie at the café in the Lower Falls.  They were about to close for the season, so it was particularly good. = )  They were really big, so we took them to go.  I think Seven ended up with a whole one to himself when we got back.

After we finished at the falls we set off to see another light house, but it was 18 miles away on a dirt road (we think the entire way, we only went about 5 miles before we decided that it wasn't worth it.)

Back at the cabin  Avia skunked Haley and I at Scrabble, but Sarah and I won the single round of Pictionary that we played.

The next morning we had blueberry pancakes (since there were no muffin cups) before we headed out.

When we left it was cold and a little overcast.

And it snowed on us, in October,  before we left the UP!

We stopped to take pictures a few times, and wanted some pictures of the bridge in the daylight.

But it was cold, so #flatgrandma and I hung out in the car.

We were running about 5 minutes late for our zip line appointment.  It was lightly raining most of the drive.  When I called they said not to worry, and that they would wait for us.

So, we were surprised to arrive and not be the last ones!

Helmets & harnesses on!

This particular location is a zip line course versus just a single zipline.  So, we went on 10 different ziplines during the day.  Avia was the very first volunteer.

Haley did some acrobatics.

I was thoroughly chilled by the 5th or 6th line, but made it to the end!  I borrowed the boots that Sarah had brought along for Haley, since by 'close toed' they probably meant something a little less likely to fall than my slip on shoes.

The site was only a few hours away from Lansing, so they got me home in time to get everyone ready for Monday.

We don't have any solid plans for next year, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. = )

later days

*when Emily saw my pictures, she had a brilliant idea that I was quite sad we hadn't come up with.  She said we should have hidden the picture in every picture like an Eye Spy! Maybe on our next trip. = )

Edited 7/18/2023: This post is now a part of my project: 78 State Parks! #15

Grand Haven State Park #53