A Trip Up North

This weekend we traveled up to Manistee and Muskegon with Kelsey's Mom and Brother. I know, it seems strange that we went somewhere with my husband's ex-wife, but we all get along and we feel that it's good for the kids if we do things together once in a while. We drove separately and stayed in different places, so it's not like we were acting like one big family the whole weekend.

Jim and I drove up by ourselves and Kelsey rode with her mom. They left before us since I had to work. We decided that we were going to take our bikes with us because all of the literature we read on the area mentioned the bike trails. So, we packed our suitcases in the trunk and then loaded the bikes up on the bike rack:




That picture is before we came back home, but on the way up there the concept was the same, only the bikes both faced the same direction. We tied the front tires to keep them from bouncing against the car and damaging the paint. It's a good thing we did, too. About an hour from home, I was sleeping and Jim woke me up saying, "Oh no! We just lost a bike!"

I bolted up and looked behind us, expecting to see a HUGE accident from people hitting or trying not to hit it. But traffic was fine. Then Jim told me that it was being drug behind the car. We pulled over and I jumped out to get the bike out of the road. Jim couldn't open his door because there was too much traffic. When I got to the back of the car, the bike was still in the road, but no one had hit it! I drug it out of the road by the rope that was barely holding it to the other bike. Amazingly, the bike is still usable! The right brake handle was shaved to a point, a chunk was shaved off the seat and the reflector on the front handle bars was mangled, but that was it! God was watching over us and all the people on the expressway!!


Here is a picture of some of the damage:



The rest of the trip was pleasantly uneventful! Our hotel room was amazing! The walls and ceilings were knotty pine, the furniture was all natural looking wood. Every room had an animal theme and ours was the "Deer Blind".





Everything was so beautiful up there!! Saturday we drove to Muskegon and spent the day at Michigan's Adventure. What a blast! The park is owned by the same company the owns Cedar Point, but this is smaller, less crowded, has shorter lines and allows you access to the water park and theme park with just ONE ticket. Kelsey even got to meet Charlie Brown!







Sunday morning Jim and I went for a bike ride. It wasn't as nice as we'd anticipated - I was expecting paved bike trails like what we have around home. But no, these bike trails were natural, and northern Michigan is hilly and sandy - do you have any idea how difficult it is to maintain control on a bike in sand when going down hill??? I was so scared that I was going to crash!!

On the way home, we saw a race car at the gas station - Kelsey was really excited about it, so we stopped and took a picture of her and Jim next to it.



All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip!

Thunder Over Michigan

Yesterday we went to the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show at the Willow Run Airport. It was miserably hot (over 100 with the heat index), but we still had a lot f fun!!

Of course, the Blue Angels were amazing, as always! But this year there was another act that I really really enjoyed! It was a plane called the Oracle Challenger. The plane was a red single propeller plane with the old-fashioned double wings. This guy was amazing!! He flew upside down only TEN feet above the runway and under poles with ribbons on them. He also made the nose of the plane sticking straight up in the air and he hovered like a helicopter!! Okay, so none of it sounds nearly as amazing now as I'm typing it out, but I PROMISE you that it was incredible!!!


Kelsey playing Pilot - helmet and all!


The Oracle Challenger - upside down and REALLY low!!


Fat Albert - part of the Blue Angels team


The Blue Angels


The Blue Angels again - and you can almost read the words on them!

I'd like to thank my wonderful husband for his great photography - it's hard to catch the planes in the frame when they're going so fast, and he did a wonderful job!!!

Riverdance

Today we took Kelsey to see a live performance of Riverdance, a show of traditional Irish stepdancing, instrumental and vocal music. I was awestruck by the whole show.

I've always found Irish music to be very pleasing to listen to, but I never imagined what it would be like to see the traditional dancing that accompanies that music!! I can't believe the way the dancers move their feet so rapidly - the the movement of their tap shoes against the floor makes the most amazing rhythms.

Kelsey loved it too - just like she's said every other time we've taken her to a show with music and dancing, she looked at me and said, "I want to dance like THAT someday!" It's good to have high ambitions. :-)

If you ever have a chance to see Riverdance, I highly suggest you go - it was amazing!!

How It Is On Sesame Street

We took Kelsey to see Sesame Street Live today - what a blast we all had! First off, I had Suite tickets courtesy of my employer, so we were treated like Royalty from the moment we arrived at the Parking Garage.

We were escorted to a parking space by the attendant and then he led us to the side entrance for Suite Holders. When we crossed the street he stopped traffic for us as if we were actually important people!

Once we got inside, there was a full spread of food prior to the start of the show. They served gourmet children's food from hot dogs to chicken nuggets, tater tots, mac and cheese, carrot sticks, crinkle cut cheese sticks, fruit salad, pudding, and the list goes on. After we got our food, we sat at a table on a balcony that looked out over the lobby of the theater - what a view! The architecture in that place is amazing!!

After we ate, we went downstairs to get Kelsey a light-up souvenir and some popcorn to munch on during the show. Then we went back up to the suite. When the show started, they announced the number and letter of the day - the number "1" and the letter "K". Kelsey was overcome with joy...."They picked 'K' because they knew I was coming!" Well, I can see why she would think that, after the way we'd be treated thus far....LOL

The show was enjoyable - lots of singing and dancing - the children were invited to sing and dance along with the characters on stage too. The message was a good one, as it always is with Sesame Street. During intermission the theater served us ice cream and cookies. It's amazing how such simple foods can make a child smile so brightly!

We've taken Kelsey to do a lot of things that we've thought were enjoyable, but I don't think I've ever seen her have quite as much fun as she had today! And of course, my husband and I had a blast because we were able to share in her enjoyment. I hope that she will treasure memories like this as she gets older...Lord knows I was never taken to sit in a Suite and watch Sesame Street as a child. She's a lucky girl and I am thankful we had the opportunity to give her such an experience.

And to top off the day, she stayed up long enough to see Tony Stewart win the Bud Shootout in Daytona tonight - that was the best ending this child could have asked for! She's certainly her Daddy's girl, especially when it comes to Nascar and Tony Stewart!