A week in the summer

It's summer for just a little while longer. Skylar goes back to school on the 11th. Thank goodness Michigan passed the law that doesn't let kids start school until after Labor Day. I think I'm on that band wagon. The 11th of August is too stinking early.

I brought Skylar back with me on Sunday. On Monday we cleaned the house and went grocery shopping. We had tacos with Heather and Skylar ran through the sprinkler. Then we went and bought ice cream at Jersey Junction, my favorite place to go!


On Tuesday we headed to the beach! We went to P. J. Hoffmaster State park in Muskegon. Bill had told me it was more of a family friendly beach. It was beautiful! The lake was clear, the weather was perfect and there weren't too many people there when we first arrived. It wasn't too busy when we left either. Skylar and I built sandcastles. I didn't have any buckets or shovels, so we improvised. I think we did pretty good.

Skylar loves the water, and even though there were tiny minnows swimming around, we didn't let that stop us!








Wednesday, we drove over to Detroit to Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum. It rained a little on the way there, but by the time we finished our lunch in the car, it had stopped and there was blue sky peeking out from behind the clouds. It soon cleared up all together!

We didn't know until we got there, that July 30th was Henry Ford's birthday!











This is Skylar, next to the oldest windmill in America. It's the Farris Windmill. I don't remember how old it was, but it was old.
















Of course she rode the carousel. I did not. It was starting to get a little hot, and I just felt like sitting while she had fun. We learned that this frog is worth $200,000! It's one of four left in the world. Frogs weren't often used on carousel's. The designer who created this one made them as his trademark. He designed only frogs and they were the only animal on a carousel to be dressed in human clothes!





We met Uncle Bill and Jenny for dinner at Dick O'Dow's in Birmingham. Then, of course, we had to go get ice cream! We found Kilwin's which used to be one of the premier spots on Mackinac Island to buy fudge. I'm not sure if they're still there, but they have an ice cream/candy shop on old Woodward. Skylar and I enjoyed our second ice creams of the week. She's enjoying Superman on top of Play-dough! She had quite the blue tongue when she was finished!




Thursday we went to Meijer Gardens. Skylar bought a bonnet at the Greenfield Village Museum and she wanted to wear it. It helped keep the sun off her face!

M.G. currently has a Monet exhibit. In the Children's Garden, you can "experience" what it might have been like to be in one of the paintings. You can't see them, but Skylar is counting the lily pads in the little pond.




The last time Skylar was here it was much colder. I don't remember if we saw the waterfall or not, but we stopped by to see all the fish this time. They swim right over to the edge, hoping that they'll get a nibble. We didn't feed them, but some other kids who were there threw carrots into the water. I didn't know fish liked carrots. I guess they do.

For lunch we went to Marie Catrib's, my other favorite place to go. Skylar tried the cream cheese and jelly sandwich, which she loved. I had my usual; the Trenton. It's basically a B.L.T. with three fried eggs. All the food comes fresh from local farms. We went back home and got all the pictures ordered so Skylar could start her new scrapbook. This one she made for her sitter. Friday morning, Bill came home and the house was invaded by girls. I had a scrapbook party/sleepover. It was fun. We scrapbooked, watched movies and ate junk food until our tummies hurt!

Saturday, I took Skylar to my Grandma's where my parents and Cyndi met us. We enjoyed a nice dinner out, and then I went back home to the peace and quiet. I miss having her. There's a big difference between eight and nine years old. I hope she'll keep coming back and remember the little girl inside her.

She made a sign and taped it to the door of my office (also the room she slept in). It says: "I will miss you Auntie Em, Uncle Bill, Jouliete & Felix." She left kisses (with her bright pink lipstick) all over. It's very cute. I didn't see it until I arrived back home from dropping her off.

That was my week in the summer with Skylar