Sunday Adventure Part I

This morning, even though the temperature was 50 some degrees when we woke up, and even though the weather called for storms, we hopped in Big Red Van and headed off to Port Huron to have an adventure.

Our first stop was the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, just northwest of the mouth of the St. Clair River.

The lighthouse is one of the oldest on the Great Lakes.

The lighthouse is right on the beach, and when my back was turned taking a picture of the lighthouse, Peter waded into Lake Huron . . .  of course.  That strip of land behind Peter?  That's Ontario.

After visiting the lighthouse, we drove into Port Huron in search of lunch.  We hung a left on Quay Street, and found this little park next to the boat slips on the Black River.  There was a checker/chess set . . .

 . . .  and a roaring fire.  I mentioned that it was cold, right?

We had lunch at the Quay Street Brewery, another one of Michigan's brewpubs.  Niki and I ordered a sampler of their beers.  Samplers are normally 4 or 5 beers.  It seemed like our waitress brought out about 15.  (And no - we did not finish them.)

Our dates for lunch . . .

Dinner in Detroit

On Saturday, Niki and I met up with our friends Joel & Natalie at Niki's Pizza in Greektown (Detroit).  We followed dinner up with drinks at the Detroiter Bar.  The feta cheese pizza was awesome, and the company was even better!

Camp NanaB 2013 Kickoff!

Tonight, we kicked off Camp NanaB 2013.

Quinn quickly got into the swing of things . . .

Granny-Great and Grandpa-Great were on hand.

Learning about the first adventure:

Quinn of the Woods #1

Off to find the Bug Camp

Which way to the trail?

And while Connie found some water to play in . . .

 . . . the kids found the Bug Camp.

Quinn of the Woods #2

In the woods

Campers, Camp Counselor, and Camp Director

Camp NanaB sign is out.

And then Granny-Great and Grandpa-Great hauled out the water guns . . .

Niki, Connie, and Kayla

Charlotte nails Quinn.  Check out Grandpa-Great's expression.

Peter looks positively bad-a*&.

And the water fight is on!

Maisie expertly timed a break in the action.

What will tomorrow hold?

Aaaaaand this is what happens when the kids use Photobooth on the iPad

Evans cousin convention

Does it count as a cousin convention when there are only three cousins?  Sure!  Why not?  Erin and Sonia made the long (though not nearly as long as it used to be) drive up to Michigan to see us for a few days, and the kids are having a blast.  All three kids are obsessed with Star Wars and have been acting out scenes from the movie (well, if the movies had scenes involving things like interaction between Yoda and the Ewoks) and acting like complete goofballs.  Here is just a taste of the mayhem we caught on film (or at least the SD card):

The kids have played in the cinnamon-infused sandbox.

They have wolfed down ice cream.

Charlotte found and befriended a dragonfly.

They played some more in the sand box.

Aaaaaand, they ended the day with a wild dance party in their Abbey nighties.

Shake your booty!

The end.

Jolli Lodge - Last Post

Saturday morning, we decided to hike up Pyramid Point.  Pyramid Point is a peninsula between Good Harbor Bay and Sleeping Bear Bay, and is visible from the Jolli Lodge.  The hike is pretty easy -- less than a mile uphill on a very nice groomed path in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

After hiking through a meadow, we made our way into a forest.

After climbing through the forest, the trail ended and the world seemed to fall away!

Family portrait . . .  In the background, you can see North Manitou Island.  It was pretty hazy, so it was hard to see long distances.

After hiking back to our Big Red Van, we drove over to Cedar for our "international" experience of the vacation.  Cedar is known for its Polish population and their very energetic Polka-Fest.  But, we were there for the tacos at the Cedar Sol Hydro Farm.  Apparently, they sell hydroponic equipment and hydroponic crops . . . and tacos.  As reported by the Pennsylvania/D.C. Taylors, the tacos were excellent!

We sucked down our tacos and headed back to the Jolli Lodge for more swimming.  (You can see Pyramid Point in the background.)

Peter, running off after his blue tube . . .

No vacation is truly a vacation until we've taken a picture of Peter jumping into a lake.

Splash!

The Lodge from the beach.

The four of us went out in a couple of kayaks for a while, and then later Peter and I spent a considerable amount of time at sea.  When we came back to the beach, Peter found the paddle, climbed back in, and practiced for a while.

For dinner on Saturday, we got together with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Don, Maisie, Quinn, NanaB, and GrandDad at a cottage they rented in Leland.  Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures.  

Sunday morning, we woke up, had breakfast at the Early Bird in Leland, picked up the dog and hung out with Uncle Dave and Aunt Lisa . . .  and didn't take any pictures again.  Awwwwww.

We can't wait to go up North again!

The Mystery of the Pink Cat

No, that's not the title of the latest Busytown Mysteries episode the kids are watching -- it's a real life mystery!

We were all in the kitchen, finishing up lunch.  Charlotte asked to be excused and when she walked toward the family room she came across Rocky.  "MOM!" she shouted, "Rocky is all pink!"

I walked over to investigate and found that indeed, large patches of Rocky's fur were neon pink.  It wasn't wet and didn't smell like anything.  It was on his head, sides, front paws, and face.  We shut him up in the laundry room and did what Sally Cat (from Busytown Mysteries) would have done -- took pictures.

We started combing the house, looking for what on earth could have turned Rocky so pink.  Nothing on the main floor looked like the culprit, so I decided to check the basement.  Before I was halfway down the stairs I spotted a large, bright pink spot on the concrete floor.

Charlotte, following close behind me, explained she had been "decorating" the basement floor with chalk.  Apparently, Rocky had headed down there to go potty (the cats' litter boxes are down there) and had fallen in love with the pink spot.  He must have pawed at it and rolled in it for a while in order to get such good coverage.  Luckily, I can't find any footprints or anything else that got stained by the chalk (other than a Snoopy stuffed animal that Peter dragged through it before I could get it all wiped up).

We hauled Mr. Pinky upstairs and hosed him down in the kids' bathroom.  The chalk washed out easily and I didn't even need to use any shampoo.  Peter shrieked with glee as he saw Rocky shrink from his normal magnificent fluffiness down to this:

"Can you turn him back into Wocky again?" Peter asked.

Poor Rocky is now licking himself all over and desperately trying to forget the traumatic experience.  Decorating the basement floor has now been banned, and we're all headed outside to investigate what the workmen are doing at the very back of our yard (where the heavy equipment was parked while the neighborhood was getting repaved, the grass is being replanted and sprinkler systems reinstalled).  WHEW.