Sunny and 72, breezy and not a cloud in the sky. You could not ask for a better day. We spent the afternoon swimming at Crystal Mountain yesterday and left LeighAnne there. She is there till Wednesday morning with 5 other girls from her office in a condo. We did some miniature golf today and the beach. The was a pond there with tons of bull frogs and one very fast garter snake that I tried unsuccessfully to catch. I wanted to get a few photos online for Grandma Paula. They setup a new water slide at Crystal Mountain that you take the ski lift up the mountain to get to and then you slide down the back side of the mountain. Carmen and Maria are excited to try that later this week. We are SO thankful for our families. One of the many blessings we take for granted.
VBS was great. I almost wish it went on all summer and we could just drop by whenever we wanted. This evening we are getting ready for another trip up north to Crystal Mountain Resort and Grandma & Grandpa's in Traverse City. We took coconut over to stay with Grandma Paula and Grandpa Joe. He deserves a vacation too :) The grass is cut and we're packing while we watch Singing in the Rain. For some reason the girls got inspired to dress up and do a play with 5 scenes for us. Maria was me, Carmen was Leigh and Isabel was Mikey. Hopefully they can do it for Grandma Rose and Grandpa Bob too!
The Rabideau's bunny rabbit has 5 little, and I mean little, babies. One of them is so small it fits in just part of Carmen's hand. The girls really love VBS and Isabel shocked me by really coming out of her little shell. She was like a different person today. It was like a very pleasant transformation from a solitary caterpillar to a little social butterfly.
After VBS, which went very well, we met up with some friends from school at the U of M Natural History Museum. Some more photos here. Later on we had a major down pour come through along with some large hail and lightning. We probably got a weeks worth of rain in just 15 minutes.
The girls have Vacation Bible School this whole week although this year we are doing it at St. Thomas the Apostle's in downtown Ann Arbor. Some of their friends from school attend that parish so they will also be doing VBS. Isabel went last year but she was a bit reluctant this time till she got there and saw some kids she knew and found out there were doing crafts, having snacks and playing in the gym and playground. "I think I'll stay."
This was a gift from Tina and Kevin. It is a kit that comes with 5 caterpillars in a special jar with food. It was neat to see the changes they go through. Slowly each one went to the top of the jar and became a chrysalis. This morning I notice that 3 had already emerged from their cocoon so we took them outside and released them.Maria named this one Melissa.
Just the legal and somewhat cheap kind in the backyard but we enjoyed it. Mikey loved it at first but then decided he would enjoy them from a distance. In other news we spent the days with old friends from SSA that moved down to Maimi last year. Maria is spending the night with them and some other friends while they are in town.
Less than a day now till the Summer solstice and the official start of summer. 7:59PM EDT Friday to be exact. We went to the Bat Park as the kids call it since there are many bats flying about right around dusk. We found an old bird nest, caught fire flies and of course watched the bats catch insects.
Grandma Paula suitcase finally arrived this morning with plenty of gifts from Spain. The girls spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa so they were quite excited when it arrived. There are way to many things to list but needless to say we have a wonderful family in Spain.
Grandma Paula landed about 4:30 this afternoon. Her suitcase did not unfortunately, but the airline is bringing it to her house tomorrow. She stopped by our house on the way home because she had to see the kids. She had the absolute best trip and we are so happy for her!
After spending basically the whole day in the pool we decided to go to Greenfield Village. It is one of the weekends where they stay open late and today was the Motor Muster. Of course Mikey was very excited about the train but there were all sorts of classic cars there as well as a big band playing WWII era swing music with people dancing dressed as soldiers and WACS as well. It was a lot of fun and Grandpa Joe came along as well. We stayed till about 9 and on the way out we stopped to look at the horses. Leigh got too close to one of the horses and got her fingers bitten pretty badly. Everyone was very concerned particularly Mikey who kept saying, "ouch! the horse bit mommy!" That is why you never look a gift horses in the mouth. Grandpa Joe took Maria and Isabel home with him to spend the night and keep him company. Carmen and I got to spend some quality one on one time together. Well, it was a trip to the Meijer's in Canton but it was a lot of fun. Carmen best qualities come out when she is not with the other kids. On the way out it was pretty late and we caught some fireworks that were going on at the LibertyFest. They were some of the best fireworks I have ever seen short of a particular Tigers game several years back. Carmen has quite the healthy appetite and so we stopped at Subways on the way home. Actually 3 before we found one open.
Sunny and 72, breezy and not a cloud in the sky. You could not ask for a better day. We spent the afternoon swimming at Crystal Mountain yesterday and left LeighAnne there. She is there till Wednesday morning with 5 other girls from her office in a condo. We did some miniature golf today and the beach. The was a pond there with tons of bull frogs and one very fast garter snake that I tried unsuccessfully to catch. I wanted to get a few photos online for Grandma Paula. They setup a new water slide at Crystal Mountain that you take the ski lift up the mountain to get to and then you slide down the back side of the mountain. Carmen and Maria are excited to try that later this week. We are SO thankful for our families. One of the many blessings we take for granted.
