the sun will come out tomorrow

The girls refuse to sing their VBS songs on camera so I had to sneak these clips below. It has been on and off raining since Monday morning and quite cool so we have been doing things indoors and outdoors when possible. Decent weather is predicted for Thursday through the rest of the weekend. We went swimming at the resort and went to the newly renovated State Theater downtown this morning for the 25 cent matinee of Kung Fu Panda.
Our afternoon plan is to try out this new place called Wilderness Crossing.

Some photos from one of our walks and of this hornets nest in the backyard.

the Spirit of Traverse City

Mikey and I got a few rides on The Spirit of Traverse City, a small gauge railroad in downtown Traverse City.

Mission Sunday

We are in Traverse City for the week. It was a beautiful sunny 75 degree day today and so after mass in Elk Rapids we spent the majority of it on Old Mission Peninsula near the Old Mission. There is a nice beach where the kids played in the sand and swam in the lake and Grandpa Bob and I, along with Leigh and the boys, did a little Geocaching.
We stumbled across this tiny and virtually unknown cemetery (Lakeside) quite serendipitously while looking for a Geocache.

This was another very cool Geocache located next to the Old Mission Inn which is Michigan's oldest continuously operating hotel.

The Old Mission General Store (circa 1836) where we got ice cream.

On the way home we checked out the old Train Station downtown which is now just used for shops. Hopefully, someday it will again be used for passenger travel. In the distance you can see the dark and ominous clouds that rolled in late in the day.
Grandpa grilled some hamburgers & hot dogs when we got home and we sat by the bonfire for a while. It has cooled off significantly and not supposed to get very warm for the next few days.

Surprise! more trains

I knew we would end up catching the Amtrak one day this week. It is scheduled to depart at 8:20 for Chicago but it was a little late this morning. This is the same train and crew that originates from Pontiac and going through Birmingham so we recognized them and they recognized Mikey from his many trips with Grandma & Grandpa.

Carmen enjoyed dressing Mikey up who was a good sport about it. Mikey looks a lot like Carmen did at that age.

A little video from Vacation Bible School. The kids learn lots of songs that they will sing all summer long.

Petey doing what he does best.

the elegance of railway travel

A view of "St Thomas' Castle" as Mikey calls it. It does look a little like a castle. Mikey probably thinks Thomas the Train lives in it.
I think we got too much sun yesterday. Most especially me! Despite all the suntan lotion 5 hours plus in the pool was a bit much. We are taking it easy today.
I finally stopped today to show Mikey this 1949 Pullman observation/lounge car, Babbling Brook, which is part of the Ann Arbor Art Train. This train makes me think of Ayn Rand's, Fountainhead. Bummer, we could not get in.

Esther Williams

Swimming at the Orchard Hills pool after VBS.

the little conductor

What do you get when you take a little boy who loves trains and is raised by three older sisters? You get a sweet little boy who makes a bed with a shoebox and blanket for his little train. God bless them. Mikey's love of trains might be in his blood since Grandma Joe also loved to ride trains when he was younger. He and and his brother would hop the moving trains then jump off them also at high speeds. He paid a price though, injuring his feet on a few occassions.
After dropping the girls off at VBS we checked out the nearby Ann Arbor Amtrak station and old train station next door. We found a benchmark among the bricks in front of the old station. No trains come or leave at that time but the guy at Amtrak gave Mikey a Junior Conductor hat. On the other side of the Amtrak is an old freight car next to a modern building still on the original rail bridge. Mikey and I liked that. After we played in the park across the street till pickup.