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)
We participated as road marshalls in the second annual Tour de Leelanau bike race this year. It was very interesting as we just decided on a whim that we would volunteer to do something. So, after a flurry of phone calls and e-mails, we were assigned as road marshalls at two junctions (Junction # 59: M-22 / Westman Road outside of the Homestead and Junction # 102 Kovarik Road / Jelinak Road).
We arrived early at our first post. We chatted with several local people who lived at the Homestead. Then, Greg and Clarissa arrived. They were also assigned Junction # 59 as road marshalls. They gave us our road marshall T-shirts and briefed us from the previous night's meeting.
After the men's breakaway group of four and peleton went around Westman, the women's race began from the top of the Homestead. While we were chatting, one of the men's riders pedaled past us and continued down M-22. We quickly hopped into the minivan and caught up with him pretty far down the road. Michael drove alongside while I yelled at him, "You missed the turn!!!!" With which the rider replied, "Oh crap!" We watched in our rear view mirror as he turned around. Oops!
We continued heading towards our second post at Kovarik Road / Jelinak Road past the little town of Isadore. When we were done, we headed towards the finish line to watch and then attend the afterglow party where we feasted ravenously.
After the party, we drove to Sutton's Bay and checked out a couple stores to show the kids what Petoskey stones looked like. Minnie was fascinated with a book on fossils, and the kids really enjoyed looking at the loose crystals and rocks that were for sale.
We headed home to the cabin afterwards where the kids looked for rocks on the beach and biked to the playground. Michael and I took a little walk and heard someone yell out, "How did you like the tour?" which we replied with a thumbs-up (MJM) and "It was excellent!" from me. Michael then said as we walked by, "I think that was the announcer from the race." I shook my head and disagreed. Later on after the kids went to bed, we went back to their campsite, and Michael was right! It was the announcer and several team members and family of the Sunrise Sports bicycling team who competed in the TdL! They were really cool, and we had a very nice conversation with them as well. All in all, an excellent day!
Without further ado, here are the pictures and some video!
It's early Saturday morning, and the kids are getting into the spirit of things!
Are you ready? You better be!
Tailgating kids!
Snoozing Yummers!
The motor brigade at the bottom of the Homestead getting ready for the women to start their race.
Here is the corner of our secong post at the corner of Kovarik Road and Jelenak Road looking towards Kovarik Road.
The kids are getting the intersection clean for the riders (and picking flowers, too). On a side note, Minnie found a rock with small fossils imprinted on it. Very cool!
While we were waiting, Dad took the kids to the adjacent apple orchards. Here is a picture of apples still on the tree.
The kids and I are ready to show the riders which way to go!
When we were done directing the remaining riders, we drove to the finish line at the Leelanau Sands Casino. Along the way, we were stopped by other road marshalls and the police during the progression of the race.
Here are the kids with the first place Men's winner, Eddy Hilger, from the Priority Health team! Eddy was nice enough to give his bouquet of flowers to Yummers and his cycling cap to Minnie!
The first three women's racers are celebrating at the Finish line. The third place finisher (woman on far right) is originally from Plymouth and now resides in Colorado Springs). The 2nd place finisher (woman on the left) is in the process of completing her PhD. Incredible ... Go girls!
Here are the kids at the after-glow party! Behind them is Lake Michigan.
Tour de Leelanau: Here we are as road marshalls on the corner of M-22 and Westman Road right outside of The Homestead. This is the breakway group of four leading the pack.
Tour de Leelanau: The one-two-three finish of the Women's race at the Leelanau Sands Casino.
EDIT on 10.02.2006: Results and other sites with pictures and video!
