Greenfield Village and Detroit River Tour

One day during my vacation week off we went to Greenfield Village. It's a collection of old houses and replicas of old houses that was created by Henry Ford back in the day (not sure of the date) and is owned by Ford Motor Company.

This guy was telling us that when riding these kind of bikes, if you stop too fast the whole seat and back wheel flips over the front!

These are a few of the old rooms. I feel sorry for the chamber maids whose job is was to empty the chamber pots like the one seen under the bed!

This is one of Thomas Edison's labs. There must have been hundred of bottles of powders and potions along both of the walls.

Oh, look! Another covered bridge! This one wasn't as big as the one in my last post but pretty cool just the same!

These ladies were in a old farm house showing how people cooked and what they ate back in those days. It did smell really good in there! Made me want to join them!

These are some of the medications in an old doctors office.  I thought the name "Extract of Wahoo" was funny and apparently when you took this you did a lot of wahooing in the bathroom if you know what I mean!

These female pills and pills for stomach cramps during pregnancy. Sure made  me wonder what could be in them.

We also took a Detroit River Boat Tour which was actually really nice!

These were million dollar houses (in Detroit!) on the waterfront with their own docks for boats!

The boat went under the Ambassador Bridge which is the bridge to Canada. We used to cross that bridge a lot because they have a really nice casino right across the water. But since 9/11 getting back into the US is such a pain  we almost never go any more!

This is a view of the Renaissance Center, or The RenCen as us locals call it.  The Renaissance Center is actually a pretty cool place! Shops, restaurant,  fountains and a hotel all on a beautiful water front area. It's also home to the GM World Headquarters. There is a restaurant at the top of the tower called the Summit and it slowly spins around.  The boat you see is the Riverfront Princess, which is a party boat and has been in the news once or twice for fights and shootings!

I did enjoy my week off and also got to spend lots of time with my grandsons!

Until the next time!

Frankenmuth

On Monday we took a day trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan. Actually it wasn't really a day trip because its only a little over a hour away from us and we only stayed for a few hours, so a morning trip I guess I should call it!

Anyway, part of the purpose of going was to go to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland to get personalized ornaments for the boys for Christmas. It's a tradition I started and will continue to get them for as long as I am able. Anyway, the first year when I was only getting one for Maxwell, we went sometime over the summer. It wasn't busy at all and we were in and out in no time. We didn't go to the Frankenmuth town though because they had something going on and it was extremely busy!

The second year when we were getting ornaments for  Maxwell and  Levi we ended up going in November, right after Thanksgiving. Big mistake! It was so jam packed you could hardly move and it was so hard to walk around. Plus we waited in line for a hour to get the ornaments personalized. That time it was too cold to walk around Frankenmuth town.

This year was perfect! We went to Bronner's and got two cute ornaments! I can't show them because I like to keep them a secret until Thanksgiving when I give them to the kids.

Here's the bag though! It was practically empty so we were able to walk around and look at lots of Christmas décor!

I ended up buying  this pretty cloisonné bell  ornament.

And this snow man to add to my collection!

I had to use great restraint to keep from spending hundreds of dollars!

When we left Bronner's we ventured a few miles away to the town of Frankenmuth. They are famous for their chicken dinners but in all honesty, I never thought they were very good! 

We at lunch at a restaurant called Michigan on Main which was all Michigan made food. 

Then we walked around town a little. I liked this fountain and that little girl loved it and was laughing at her grandpa who was taking her picture from the other side!

Another thing Frankenmuth is know for is this covered bridge. We walked across it and then drove across it too!

Of course, no trip to a little touristy Michigan town is complete without fudge! This is the newest flavor!

We went into a few little shops and I thought this sink in one of the bathrooms was pretty innovative.

It has the soap on the left, water in the middle and hand dryer on the right! 

Next thing we have planned is a trip to Greenfield Village, 

I'll tell you all about it next time! 

Until then.....

Exploring New Places

We went on a couple new walking places in the last week, both of them pretty close to our house.

The first one was Coldwater Springs Nature Trail. It's a paved trail that goes by a small lake and a river.

The other trail we walked is called Miller Woods. The sign at the entrance says "Take only pictures, leave only footprints" 

It's only 3/10th of a mile, unpaved and almost completely shaded with trees.

Bridge over a particularly muddy place. There's probably a little water there if it rains enough. 

Someone built a little shelter. 

I love walking trails and am itching to get up north again to walk some real trails, like to waterfalls and stuff like that! 

I'm on vacation this week! I've got some fun stuff planned with lots in grandson time worked it too! 

Until the next time.....

It's Been Too Long

Well, someone (Mz. Sally) pointed out to me that it's been almost 2 months since I last posted so I figured I would catch you all up on what's going on in my life!

In a nutshell, not much!! Working and spending as much time as I can with my grandsons! 

Maxwell is talking up a storm and it's such a pleasure to listen to him tell his little 3-4 word sentences: for example pointing to his dads guitar "Daddy sit down and go briinnng , brinnng, brininng"! I love it!

We got him a water table for his birthday in January and finally got to break it out over Memorial Day weekend! He loves it and plays with it every chance he gets!

We all went to the zoo over that weekend, too. Shauna, Brad, the boys, me, Rich and Brad's mom Sandy. Maxwell wasn't too interested in the animals, though. What he did like was walking through the puddles and pushing the button on the water misting machines they had all over! Oh well, he's 2! Maybe next year!

Levi is almost 9 months old already! He's about thisfar from crawling and will scoot and roll all over the place. Last week he just started sitting himself up from laying down and babbles and babbles all the time! And laughs at the slightest thing. And he LOVES his big brother. His little eyes light up whenever  he looks at him!

Anyway, I'll stop babbling myself and just get to the pictures!

Time to start using the potty!

Hanging out at Nonnie and Bonk's!

The very popular water table

Be still my heart!

I'm on vacation next week.  We are not going anywhere this time but I do have a couple day trips planned, Frankenmuth and stopping at Bronner's Christmas Store to get the ornaments for the kid's without most of the population of Michigan being there at the same time! 

Greenfield Village because we haven't been there for about 15 years!

And hopefully a Detroit River Boat Tour, which I've heard is really nice.

I'll try to have lots of pictures to share!

Until then...….

This 'n' That

It's beginning to look a lot like Spring around these parts! The sun is warm and the temps are warming up daily! It's nice to open the windows once in a while now!

About a month ago we traded in my 2008 Dodge Avenger for a new Chevy Equinox. I felt a little verklempt when we walked away from it because in all my driving life, that had to have been my all time favorite car! It was peppy, loaded with all the extras and to me represented a better, more lucrative time in our lives. I loved it and drove it for 6 years until I got a new car. Then Rich drove it for a few more years but it was definitely showing it's age. 

The passenger side window would't go up anymore and Rich duck taped it shut!

It got into a fight with a gate at Rich's work one day and lost! Seeing as it was paid for we didn't have good insurance on it so it never got fixed!

The leather seats were cracked and falling apart and the motor was showing signs of needing some work.

So we said goodbye and got this instead.

It's nice but it's no Avenger! 

A few weeks ago we drover to Tawas and spent the day with my brother Tom and SIL Debbie at their trailer. We walked a lot, ate a couple good meals and then headed home after dinner. 

Other than that we've haven't done much. We did take a short anniversary trip in March which I'll tell you about in a later post. 

Rich started driving for Uber Eats a few weeks ago to get out of the house and make a little bit of money. So far he likes it! He even got a little thank you package from one of the McDonalds he delivers for!

And no post is compete without these guys!

Levi is 7 mos old already and Maxwell is talking up a storm! He calls me "Nonnia" and Rich "Bonk" for whatever reason! It's completely adorable!

Until the next time!

Getting Through

It's been almost 2 months since I last posted! So much for trying to post more. You would think with the weather being so crappy I would have more time to post, but the crappy weather has also sucked out all of my ambition and it's everything I can do just to get the day to day done!

Anyway, we are finally into March and looking forward to this winter being over! It's going to be in the 40's later this week every day so that's a start!

So enough about the weather.

My car blew a rear main seal in the engine and was at the dealers for a week getting fixed! Luckily it's still covered by the 5 year/100,000 mile  warranty so it didn't cost anything! It did however, blow engine oil all over our driveway! Nice mess for Rich to clean up!

While we had the rental car we decided to take a short road trip to Port Huron, about a hour and 40 minutes from our house.   We went to Lakeport State Park first but it was closed so we ended up at a community park with lake access. We wanted to see Lake Huron in all its frozen splendor!

 It was frozen indeed and ice was piled up along the shore.

See how thick it is?

The ice pushed the sand up forming little frozen caves. They were all over!

We hung out for a while but it was pretty cold! Then we had lunch and drove home!

Work is work and I am living for November when I can finally retire from there!

Don't know what I'll do yet, though. Probably get another job if I can. Not sure I'll collect SS and supplement it with  a part time job or just work full time somewhere else and put off collecting SS for a few more years. I just know I will be leaving U of M regardless!

My babies are getting so big!

Maxwell is 2 and well....he's a 2 year old! He hasn't played in the snow yet because he absolutely refuses to put boots on! But he is such a good boy and such a joy!

Levi is 5 months old already! He's rolling over from his tummy to his back and smiles and laughs all the time!

He loves his brother, too! His little face lights up any time he looks at Maxwell!

That's all the news for now.

Until the next time!