This morning the kids of Farrand had their annual character parade. Here are some pics from this morning below. Minnie's class was the first one out of the door. There were cars lined up and down the street! Neighbors and parents were all craning their eyes for a glimpse. It was a very fun event! :O)
After dinner tonight, we got the kids ready in their costumes and prettied up the Gator Ghost Ship. Away, the pirates, dad, Groom Gram and I went! We received lots of compliments from kids, parents, and folks who were handing out the treats. "Now, *THAT'S* cool!" "Awesome" "Someone had too much time on their hands ..." Adults and children of all ages loved it... It was the hit of Plymouth!
Well, Roger ("Groom Gram") drove in last night on the day of his birthday! We went to Denny's for a celebration dinner. Roger, Minnie and I had breakfast for dinner. It was really tasty, and we had a good time, too.
This evening after work and working around the house for the adults, we had a pizza party and built the spooky Gator Ghost Ship. You can see the progress below.
Groom Gram and kids are getting the cardboard in place to size and trim.
It took a whole bunch of duct tape, wire, screws, washers and wood to keep this spooky ship together. Now, Groom Gram and kids are painting the ship with this $ 2.00 paint that we picked up at Lowe's over the weekend! We can't wait to see it go around the neighborhood tomorrow! :O)
Here is the video of us just starting the project.
Tonight was the 16th annual Pizza Pumpkin Night event at Farrand. It was very entertaining to see all of the kids greet each other in cute costumes. We went from room to room presenting our tickets and winning prizes. This year the kids are dressed as pirates. Although we didn't win as many cakes or huge prizes like last year, we still had a lot of fun!
Smiling pirates!
The pirates with their booty next to the "Trick or Treat" sign by the cafeteria.
Minnie's kindergarten class had a Halloween party this afternoon, and I attended for an hour. There were crafts on every table such as decorating a pumpkin, making a Frankenstein face, glueing eyeballs on a spider, and finally decorating a cupcake for snack. The kids had a great time, and I think the moms did, too. I know, I sure did!
Here is Minnie's cupcake. Cool ,eh? :O)
Minnie and his classmates decorating their spiders.
Earlier this year, Yummers brought home some seeds from her Brownies' field trip to the Matthaei Botanical Garden in Ann Arbor. We planted the seeds and now we have two pumpkins as a result! They are really cute. The green one reminded me of the one that Minnie picked out a couple years ago. :O)
I finally found the broadcast of Magglio Ordonez's game winning homerun on youtube this morning. We watched the game at home and had a pizza party with the kids. It was absolutely amazing. We were screaming and yelling when we realised it was a homer. Congratulations to the whole team for a great year!
Again, apologies for the long delay in posting ... We are getting ready for the BIG house renovation project this weekend. Plus, we have a lot of other stuff going on like school and extracurricular activities with the kids.
2006 10 03 MRM Fall Sign Minnie made a sign for fall while it was still warm outside which I thought was really cute.
We went up to the cabin for the last time this year before it got "really" cold. It was chillier the weekend we went than in the past. My ears were frozen while jogging around the park. The colours were spectacular, and we had a wonderful time in our old favourite towns and a new favourite, Northport.
2006 10 06 MJM B-Day We spent Dad's birthday at the cabin in Lake Leelanau. We went driving around looking at the colours and started off in Leland. Later on, we ate pizza from Pete's Pourhouse and indulged in birthday cupcakes from the Cupcake Station. Below are pictures from the dock of The Bluebird Restaurant about 10 minutes from our cabin. You can actually drive up Lake Leelanau to the restaurant for a meal.
Later during the day, the kids made a bowling alley across from the house. They had a lot of fun! :O)
2006 10 07 Colours Tour Here is the REAL colours tour ...
We also went up to the Dune Climb again. I climbed twice, and the kids climbed four times and ran around gathering tumbleweed to make Tumbleweed Village.
Neat picture of the Dune Climb's reflection captured in water.
The kids are up on the second small climb after the big one. There is Glen Lake in the background.
Another view from the second small climb between the grass.
The kids and Tumbleweed Village.
Here are the kids pulling Granny up Stop # 9 of the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. (This is the one with the 450 foot drop overlooking Lake Michigan!)
The view again of Lake Michigan. Wow. It was really windy that day, and the sand was just kicking everyone in the face. Still - it was just an amazing sight.
2006 10 08 Northport We went to Omena and Northport this day and headed up to the very tip of Leelanau County where the Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located.
Here we are trespassing on someone's private beach to capture this pretty of Grand Traverse Bay.
Downtown Northport
Here are two strange men at the Northport's rock shop.
While we were in the rock shop, Roger told us that we needed to see something. We looked over the bridge(covered in flowers - see above photo) and noticed lots of salmon trying to make their way up to spawn (i.e. lay eggs). Minnie was so excited, and he wanted to go down to catch them. Dad and I didn't want to go ... Then, all of a sudden, we all see Roger go down to the river and pluck out a salmon!!! Minnie started yelling, "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! GRANDPA GOT A FISH!" So, we nonchalantly got in the van and drove behind the street where Roger was waiting with the fish. It was about 16 inches and weighed 20 pounds! Roger put it in the back of the van with eggs splattering.
Roger realised while we were in the van that he was missing his mobile phone, so we headed back to the creek. He found the phone lying in the creek as wet as it could be! Michael also found this poor creature we called, "Duffy the Squirrel."
Apologies for the delay in posting ... We've been pretty busy lately getting ready for the upcoming house renovations. So, in the midst of selling and freecycling stuff, we've still made time out to have fun during the cooler weather. Though, today was absolutely gorgeous and sunny outside. Here goes!
2006 09 21: Anita is the Farrand Fox + School Open House Anita is the first Farrand Fox (FF) for the school year in her class. We had lunch together with the other FFs in the school's library. It was really fun!
We also went to the "mini Open House" and visited Minnie's classroom. He showed us where he sat, his cubby and all of the different stations. He also introduced us to his teacher, Mrs. Fryberger who informed Dad and I that he was one of her "quiet ones" but she could, "always count on him to help out with the other kids in her class." Well, of course! ;O)
2006 09 23: Soccer Practice and First Pre-Game: Win 6-5 The kids were back on Coach Ben's team and won their pre-game 6-5. It was awesome. We also found out one of Yummers' classmates from school was on her team which was nice. Now, they play together in the after school program as well as on the team. This past Saturday, Ben called and told us that the game was rained out
2006 09 26: Ducks on the waterfall at Hines Park When I've been stopped at the light at Hines Park, the kids have pointed out to me a duck or several ducks who are standing on the edge of the small waterfall that runs down from the little lake into the river under the bridge. Last week, we left a few minutes early and park at the side of the road to check it out. It was very cute, and the kids get a big kick out of seeing them each morning! :O)
2006 09 29: The Farrand Fox Trot Last Friday was the second Farrand Fox Trot, and I went to the school a total of four times (drop kids off, stayed around to watch Anita run the trot, come back for the Farrand Fox lunch, come back to watch Minnie run the trot and then pick the kids up from school). Still, we had a lot of fun, and it was for a great cause to raise money for the school! This one was probably more fun 'cos both kids were in it this year, but last year's event was memorable as well!
2006 09 30: The Plymouth Symphony Orchestra Opening Night We took the kids to their first "Fancy Night" to listen to our hometown orchestra perform in the historic Penn Theatre. The performances were inspiring, and I was thrilled that the PSO kicked off their opening season there. The kids were PERFECT and received many compliments on how beautiful they were / their clothes / etc. Minnie did fall asleep near the end of the fourth number. Yummers was getting a little sleepy as well. No wonder since the show started at their bedtime @ 8.00 PM EST! At intermission, we took it as our cue to leave. Everyone was impressed with the children and wished us all to come back to another performance.
2006 10 01: Cranbrook Science Museum We went to the MetroParent Education Expo Event at the Cranbrook Science Museum. It was our first time there, and it did not disappoint. A skeleton of T-Rex was impressive as were the dinosaur bones that were found by a road crew doing work at 15 Mile in Auburn Hills (location ?). Minnie and Yummers enjoyed the "When Crocodiles Ruled the World" exhibit as well as the Minerals and Rocks display. However, the best was saved for last as we visited the "Bat Cave" where we saw bats, a screech owl and a sloth being nurtured back to health. Finally, we enjoyed a catered box lunch outside at the picnic table courtesy of Panera Bread. Yum! :O)
