BOWER’S FARM WITH MOLLY, OCTOBER 12, 2009

Molly’s four-year-old pre-school class took a field trip to Bower’s Farm in Bloomfield Hills and she invited me to go with her.  In spite of the 41-degree temperature, we had a great day.  First, we shared a donut and cider and heard a story read by our guide, Farmer Alan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we took a tractor ride around the farm and ended up at the pumpkin patch.  Molly literally “picked” 2 pumpkins—one for her and one for Jack.  Her teacher, Mrs.. Presson, got one for the classroom, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then tackled the corn maze and Molly and her two friends had to locate 3 different stations and punch their maze card at each one.  The girls loved it and we chased them back and forth through the corn, laughing and giggling all the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I have a terrible confession to make.  The battery in my camera died so I have no pictures of Molly with all the animals on the farm!  We saw turkeys, pigs, ducks, horses, rabbits, goats and a cow.  Molly even milked a goat.  I am so sorry that I have no pictures of all these special events.  The staff was wonderful with the class and the children were encouraged to touch all of the animals—carefully—and to ask questions about them.  I was very impressed with the patience and knowledge of the staff.

 

I would ask for your help in supporting the farm.  Thanks to Campbell’s Soup and FFA, the farm is entered in a grant to redo the barn, but they need your vote.  Go to http://www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/barn_bowers.aspx and cast your vote for Bower’s Farm.  You can vote once a day on each computer in your household.  Thanks for your help.

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION AT ALGONAC STATE PARK, OCTOBER 9-11, 2009

 

Busy first week home as we emptied and prepared the coach for our annual Halloween celebration at Algonac Sate Park with Ben, Emily, Jack and Molly.  (We also took time on Monday to celebrate my baby brother’s birthday—Mark turned 61.  And on Tuesday we shared dinner at Dave and Deanna’s with Sandi and Dave and Alice and Jim and watched the Tigers lose to Minnesota.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hank and I drove out to the State Park on Friday in a pouring rain.  Ben and his family weren’t joining us until Saturday because of the kids’ soccer games and our friend, Caprice, decided not to drag her family out Friday night either.  They were staying in a tent and would have been miserable in all that rain and cold.  Friends, Art and Jane, came over from Harsens Island and we had a fun dinner at the Marine City Grill.  They were very camera-shy and so I have no picture of them to post on the blog.  Saturday dawned dry and sunny—thank goodness—and Hank and I put Caprice’s tent up, decorated our coach and got the pumpkins ready for the kids to carve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were so lucky the sun was shining and that all 5 kids—our 2 and Caprice and Bill’s 3 (plus a few kids from next door)—could play outside.  Bill got firewood and we sat around the fire waiting for trick-or-treating to start at 5:30.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emily brought along a Bubble-Fogger and it was the hit of the week-end.  All of the kids were more interested in the bubbles it was producing than in the candy we were passing out.  The bubbles looked like shiny ping-pong balls and emitted a puff of smoke when you popped them.

 

 

 

Molly dressed up as a snow angel and Jack was a cross between Boba Fett and wolverine and called himself Wolverfett or Bobarine.   Hank wore a cowboy hat and I had a stylish orange witch hat.  But the prize went to Bill, Caprice, Dayton, Liam and Lochlain who emerged from their tent dressed as the Incredibles.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cries of “trick or treat” rang out and it was such fun to see all the costumes, both kids’ and parents’, and the different ways people decorated their campsites.  It’s become one of our favorite camping week-ends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill and Caprice brought along a projector, put a sheet on the side of their car and we had an instant drive-in movie for the kids to watch Madagascar.  Again, kids from all around us dragged their chairs over to watch the movie.  Perfect, as it gave all the adults time to visit around the campfire. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temperatures went down into the 30’s that night and I marvel at how hardy Caprice’s family was to sleep in a tent—even if they did have a space heater.  This is the third time we have shared this event with Ben and his family.  Caprice says they will be back next fall, too, but will rent a pop-up for the event.

This last picture is one of Grandpa’s favorites.

COMING HOME, SEPTEMBER 28-OCTOBER 4, 2009

 

Sunday morning Hank and I drove my brother, Mark, back down the mountain to LAX for his flight back to Michigan.  We were so glad that he finally got to see Kathleen and Tony’s house.  We packed a lot into his short visit and he was a real trooper about all the moving around we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday morning we said our sad good-byes to Garrett and Madison—and Kath and Tony, too.  Very hard being so far apart and not seeing each other very much.  The kids lightened up the leave-taking by making faces in all the photos!

 

 

 

Since we got such an early start, we drove all the way through to eastern Arizona.  Hot desert most of the way, so I was sure to snap a picture as we crossed over the Colorado River.  We also passed through some more areas with lava fields on display.  Our campground, in Holbrook, was near the Petrified Forest and had a log on display that was over 2 million years old.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday we drove to Amarillo, Texas and, once again, encountered the high winds that buffeted the coach and made driving very tiring for Hank.  We loved the salmon and turquoise over-passes in Albuquerque and saw signs of the town preparing for the giant hot-air balloon festival later in the week.  We passed many huge cattle lots and grain elevators and also saw the “largest cross in the western hemisphere”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next day we drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma and stayed there both Wednesday and Thursday night.  Hank needed a break from driving and it gave us a chance to spend some time with my high school friend, Jeannie, who lives there.  We have visited her before and she always treats us to a special home-cooked dinner in her beautiful home.  We both love this area—except for the winds—and always have a great time with Jeannie.  She pulled out our old yearbook and we marveled at how young we all looked.  We’re hoping that someone will put together a 50-year reunion for our class in 2012.

 

Friday we stopped near St. Louis and met Dave and Peggy, friends from Royal Oak who were on their way to Colorado.  We had dinner with them in St. Charles, Missouri and fell in love with this quaint little town—lots of brick in the buildings, streets and even the sidewalks.  This is the place where Lewis and Clark started their expedition.  We definitely would like to come back and spend more time here.

 

 

 

 

Saturday we drove to Indianapolis.  The MSU-UofM game was being played that afternoon and we were keeping track of the score via our iPhones.  We stopped for fuel and then parked in the back of the station to watch the end of the game.  So glad we did as our beloved Spartans BEAT the Wolverines—FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!!!  The truck drivers parked on either side of us must have wondered what the heck we were screaming about.

 

Sunday we crossed into Michigan.  It’s too bad it was a cloudy, rainy day as the trees are beginning to turn and the colors were so pretty—they would have showed up better in the pictures if it had been a sunny day.  Back home to Royal Oak and our condo after driving over 8500 miles in the 67 days we were gone.  We visited 16 states and stayed in 26 different campgrounds.  We both feel it was the trip of a lifetime and are so pleased to have visited family and friends AND to have seen so much of the spectacular beauty this country has to offer. 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing this western adventure with us.