TUT 2006 and Anita's 7th Birthday (01.27.2006 - 01.30.2006)

We spent a nice long weekend in Houghton Lake, Michigan. Houghton Lake is an hour away from Oscoda in the middle of the state. It was about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour ride there. We drove up Friday morning and got into the cabin easily. It was a very nice and roomy cabin with a nice view of the lake. We went out on the frozen lake and immediately set work on constructing the shanty using Michael's 20 year old tent. Amazingly, all the parts were there, and the tent held up very well. It was nice and toasty in the tent.

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday afternoon at Tip Up Town (TUT) 2006 enjoying the festivities and rides there. The temperature was mild - Mid 30's - 40 degrees all weekend. We also celebrated Anita's 7th birthday early ... She had a total of three birthday cakes all weekend! There are pictures of two below in the series of photos. :O) Enjoy!

PS: Gong hay fat choy!


Heading into Prudenville, MI and Houghton Lake, MI... Welcome to TUT 2006!


The kids and I with the Mayor of TUT in his Fishing Store, Lymon's on the Lake.


Some folks driving their ice shanty over Houghton Lake to go ice fishing! This to my typifies Northern Michigan living.


The kids, Roger and I with our Ice Shanty. This was Michael's tent and is over 20 years old!


Here is the view from our cabin. See our shanty on Houghton Lake?


First Birthday Cake Celebration at Coyles Restaurant. Their frog legs were fabulous!


Yummer riding on a snowmobile around a small track. It was her first time. Looks pretty good, eh? :O)


The kids sitting on a cool TUT USA chair carved from ice.


Folks getting ready to go into the Polar Bear Dip. They had to pay to participate!


Yummer and her second birthday cake using Bug as a chinrest.

First Pic of Fai in Guinea

Fai made to Guinea safely! :O) She is in the first row of PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers). Here is a picture of her group. Enjoy!

MRM Soccer! (01.13.2006)

We signed Minnie up for Soccer lessons, and the first session was on Friday, January 13! Eerie. He wore his new soccer jersey and did really well on the exercises. He did a really nice job listening to the coaches, not touching the ball with his hands, stopping and dribbling the ball down the field. I think he has tremendous potential!


Minnie = Future Pele?

Breakfast at Big Boy's Restaurant (01.11.2006)

We had breakfast with Fai right before she left for the Peace Corps staging event in Philadelphia, PA.


Breakfast at Big Boy's!

Last Weekday of X-mas Break (01.06.2006)

I went into the office today, and left Dad with the kids. As I was noshing on sushi with Auntie Fai and working, Dad had a great time playing with the kids on the last bit of the Luge Run. As you can see in the pictures below, it has been warm in Michigan. Compare that to the first pictures that I took of the Luge Run in its prime. Cold day, but at least it was sunny... and yes, the kids had a blast heading down the run then coming in for a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows.


A really nice picture of happy Minnie.


Yummers having fun on the last bit of the Luge Run.


The kids on what's left of the Luge Run.

Native American Culture at the Plymouth Library (01.05.2006)

To alleviate a little bit of the Holiday Break boredom, I registered the kids for the Native American Culture program at the Plymouth library today. Reg Pettibone and his wife, Marca, performed several dances that celebrated Mother Earth, ancestors, and parents and explained how his nation, the Ho-Chunk, once lived. It was a very interesting program and included a tale on how the raccoon got his mask. If you have the chance to catch him, it's a must-do!


Reg Pettibone and his wife, Marca, in traditional Ho-Chunk garb.

Family Game Night at the Plymouth Library (01.03.2006)

The Plymouth District Library held its first Family Game Night where the library supplied a ton of games, pizza and soda. We had a lot of fun and played multiple games of gin rummy. There was also several kids who were playing chess in the corner, and Anita would go over there to casually observe while Dad was shuffling cards. We also played Uno which I haven't played since I was about ten. The next night we went to Target and bought some Uno cards and have been playing every night since. The kids even played each other in the parlour this morning. Minnie has really become a great Uno card player. Pretty amazing.


Anita enjoying her pizza. She had seven pieces!

Fw: For those who are coming to Detroit for the Superbowl !!

This one came from my old friend, Candace, who now lives in Colorado --- I had to chuckle at this one.

For all the visitors, from other than Michigan, coming to the Super Bowl in January....

1. First, you must learn to pronounce the city name. It's Deh-troit. NOT DEE-troit. If you pro-nounce it DEE-Troit then we will assume you are from Toledo and here for the country Music hoe-down.

2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Detroit has its own version of traffic rules... Hold on and pray!

3. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 am to 10:00 am. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. Weekends are open game.

4. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. If you're first off the starting line when the light turns green, count to five before going across the intersection. This will avoid getting in the way of cross-traffic who just ran their yellow light to keep from getting shot.

5. Schoenherr can ONLY be properly pronounced by a native of the Detroit metro area. That goes for Gratiot too.

6. Construction and renovation on I-94, I-96, I-75, I-275, I-375, The Lodge and The Southfield Freeways are a way of life and forever. Just deal with it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 96 has IMPROVED since they finished with the construction earlier this year! No construction there or 275 as of today.

7. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect or they are "out-of-towners"
EDITOR'S NOTE: Not true ....

8. All old men (or women) with white hair, wearing a hat and who flip you off have total right-of-way.

9. The minimum acceptable speed on I-696 and I-275 is 85 regardless of the posted speeds. Anything less is considered downright SISSY. Oh, and don't even think of allowing more than one car length between cars!

10. That attractive wrought iron on the windows and doors in Detroit is NOT ornamental. DO NOT get out of your car to take pictures.

11. Never stare at the driver of the car with the bumper sticker that says "Keep honking, I'm reloading", they really are!

12. If you are in the left lane, and only going 70 in a 60 mph zone, people are not waving because they are so friendly in Detroit. I would suggest you duck.

13. I-275 and I-696 is our daily version of NASCAR.

14. It's not M-10, it's "the Lodge".

15. Michigan might be the gateway to the great lake but THAT's not one of them, it's a pothole.

16. If someone tells you it's on Outer Drive, you better hope you have a map.
EDITOR'S NOTE: AMEN!

17. The Michigan left turn is simple. If you want to turn left, go a 1/4 of a mile past your turn, get to the left, then make a left, then make another left, then make a right when you get back to the intersection where you wanted to turn left in the first place. NOW you have gone left.

18. And those 2 really ugly arches over Telegraph???? DON'T EVEN ASK!! WE DON'T HAVE A CLUE!!!!!

WELCOME, ENJOY YOUR STAY, BUT AVOID EYE-CONTACT WITH THE LOCALS

New Year's Eve 2005 (12.31.2005)

Happy New Year ... The kids didn't exactly make it all of the way to 2006. But, we were able to rouse them up right 15 minutes before the ball dropped in Times Square. Wasn't Dick Clark amazing?


I think these special cookies say it all!


Minnie right before the ball dropped...


and Yummer right before the ball dropped.