Kensington Metropark

With the recommendation of my neighbor Lisa who is becoming a regular on our weekly outings, we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather with a bike ride. I have been hearing about this park for awhile, but this is the first time we have ever visited. There is a 8 mile bike/jogging trail around a beautiful lake with a bunch of nature hikes, beaches, and playgrounds along the way. I didn't realize that the bike ride was 8 miles long when we started, however, but once we got going and decided we wanted to stop we were already halfway. So poor Thomas rode his bike 8 miles around the lake. He started complaining around mile 6 and I started getting nervous, but he stopped when we hit the boardwalk and had no problem finishing. It was so much fun. I can't wait to take Steve. I feel bad sometimes that he can't do all of these fun adventures with us. Poor guy has to work.

Easter

Easter this year was a lot of fun. We kicked things off with an Easter egg hunt at the local park put on by the community. My boys personalities are summarized completely by this experience. The kids were divided by age groups. Upon hearing the bell, Thomas ran around like crazy and gathered a bunch of eggs, but dropped them all while carelessly swinging his basket while running. He ended up with zero eggs. Hewitt, on the other hand, did not run at all when the bell rang and instead sat himself on the ground with no desire to find an egg. I handed him one, opened it, and gave him a piece of candy. After savoring it for a few minutes, Hewitt decided that he wanted another and started looking for eggs. He probably picked up two before they were all gone. Thankfully for Thomas, some nice man took pity on Hewitt and offered him about 7 eggs, most of which Hewitt donated to Thomas, who was crying. Donny was the only one who walked away a winner. He grabbed about 10 eggs and was super happy the entire time. He required no attention or help.

Easter egg dying is a fun tradition, but a messy one. I will take lessons from my cousin Ellice in the future who had aprons on all of her children as well as all utensils on a cookie sheet pan for each child. I think her children were just as happy, only cleaner.

For Easter this year, the Easter bunny brought a basket full of marble pieces that she bought at a local Mom2Mom sale for $10. Best purchase the Easter bunny ever made. They've played with it for hours and hours. Thank goodness we don't have a baby right now because I am finding marbles everywhere.


HAPPY EASTER!!!

Poor Donny

One of Donny's many bloody noses. Not all are caused by his brothers, sometimes it's just the dry air, but more often than not it is their fault.

American vs. Lafayette

Last night for our date, we and some good friends visited the famous Coney Island Restaurants located in downtown Detroit. Like Pat's and Geno’s in Philadelphia, American Coney and Lafayette Coney are bigtime rivals. They have an interesting history. In 1917 the Keros brothers decided to start a Greek American restaurant with the Coney hotdog and Gyro as staples, but soon after starting the business, the brothers had an argument resulting in the restaurant splitting into two. The restaurants have remained side by side ever since and there have been taste disputes for the past century. So last night we took the Coney challenge and tasted both hot dogs (after palate cleansing in between.) I must say it was very fun and the hot dogs were much better than anticipated. The typical Coney has chili, mustard, and onions. Each topping differs between the two Coneys so you have to try and isolate the sides as well. After careful review, I declared the American coney the winner of the taste category, but the Lafayette won out in texture. Steve would tell you that the American would win both categories, because he liked the “snap” of his American hot dog. Our friends Julie and Shelly agreed. So if you ever come to Detroit, you have to take the Coney challenge and find your favorite. Both restaurants are packed and have a loyal following. Let the best Coney win!

The interior of the American Coney Island Restaurant

Belle Isle

Spring has come early to Detroit or at least last week was beautiful. (Today was a different story--windy, cold, and rainy) We took advantage of the nice weather to head to Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit river between Detroit and Canada. The shores of both are equal distance and really quite close. I wonder if people try to swim it because it isn't very far. I think if I was in trouble from the law, I would make the attempt. Here are some pictures from our outing.

One of the highlights was getting to feed the albino deer. I must admit our tour guide was a little perturbed when I called the deer a goat and when I was skeptical that they were in the wild. I told him that I was pretty sure the white deer wouldn't last long in the woods unless they were in the arctic. So then I called them the polar deer. Very cool no matter what their origins.

I have no idea how this ice sculpture came to be around this tree, but it was fun to walk around on. I wonder if some snowplow got a little bored and pushed all the snow on this one tree. It was cool.

I also thought this long hay was cool although my friend Lisa thought it was ridiculous I would stop the car to get a picture. If only I had a nice camera and a photographer's eye. I'm sure my friend Jane could have taken some cool shots here.

On the pier, overlooking the Detroit River and the Canada side. Doesn't it seem close? I'm pretty sure I could swim it if I needed to get out of the country for some reason.

Also, for all of you moms out there. Please notice the large space in between the railings. It was a death trap. I was sure I was going to have to jump in the freezing cold water to save one of the boys when they fell in. I remember my Mom being paranoid about these kind of situations and scoffing at how ridiculous she was. Now, that I am older though, these things give me nightmares.

We didn't last long without getting in, ice and all.

It was cold although it probably wasn't much colder than the Pacific Ocean, which I used to swim in all the time as a kid. Everything is relative.

We love Belle Isle and I'm sure we will be taking Steve before we move.

When in Detroit...

Detroit hosted its annual international auto show a few weeks ago. We had been hearing how cool it was for weeks prior and decided that we had to go. So thanks to our friend Lisa who watched the boys we could take our time and enjoy the event. Not being much of a car person I did not have too high of expectations, but I must admit it was very fun. The concept cars were amazing and I couldn't believe some of the new technology. One of the fun exhibits included a Ford car parallel parking itself. You would get in the car with the driver, he would pass by an open spot, and then put his arms outside of the sun roof to show his free hands while the car quickly parked itself. I only wished I had that little feature in Philly. The time I could have saved!

We also got to sit in all the new 2010s. Steve fell in love with Lexus much to our Ford working neighbor's dismay. We have to promise to really give European and American cars a chance before buying anything. (We are talking in 20 years...) The new $250,000 Bentley was incredible as well as all of the other fancy, fast cars. (See I didn't really know what I was looking at.) I did ask one of the workers about why there was a $50,000 discrepancy between two very similar land rovers. She informed me that it was mainly the $25,000 paint job. Can you believe that? That paint better be bullet proof to cost $25,000. You can buy another car with that.
So all in all, it was a very fun evening. I must admit that I pay much more attention to cars while I drive now although I'm sure that will wear off soon. The only bummer was that now Steev has a dream car. Hope the price goes down in the next ten years and he can buy that exact one:)

Playing a car video game at the Ford Exhibit


Steve posing in front of a new Ferrari.


This Lexas Sport Coupe became Steve's dream car. How practical would it be in Seattle though?

New Bentley


One of the new Lexus's--pretty car, huh. BMW claimed it had the same car for much cheaper. It was fun to hear the salesmen/women try to convince you of their product. They were good.

When in Detroit, visit the Auto Show!

Sledding

We decided to try out our new Christmas inner tube the Monday after Christmas. The boys had a great time. I thought they weren't going to last very long, but they surprised me. The only reason we left after just shy of an hour was because Donny's hands were cold. The poor kid kept pointing at his fingers and saying cold, cold. He whimpered all the way home. I felt bad. I am sure they are going to be many more fun sledding days to come, but perhaps I will have to shorten Donny's participation. I forget that he is still so little.

In another note, yes, it is freezing in Detroit although not as bad as Des Moines, Iowa or Rochester, Minnesota so I have to remember to be thankful. Sorry to my friends and family who live there. Your pictures are incredible. ( I tried to upload a sledding video, but couldn't get it to work. I am definitely not as technically savvy as I thought I was. Oh well, pictures will have to suffice, but watching Thomas and Donny sled down this fairly steep hill with a small jump at the end is something to see.)

Donny fell in the snow on his face and started crying. It was pretty sad.

Thomas was very proud of his snowman. It looked to me like it was melting into the ground, but oh well, he made it himself. Who am I to be critical?