Dodge Mansion

We visited the Dodge mansion today. The grounds were absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was in Europe. This is an age long gone. Imagine living in this 88,000 square foot mansion. Pretty amazing. One of the highlights was a little cottage (pictured below the mansion) just about half mile away through the woods where Dodge built his daughter a miniature house to teach her house skills such as cleaning, cooking, etc. Everything is miniature. She had a sitting room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc. All the rooms were completely furnished with beautiful furniture, but the size of an 8 year old. I'm talking vanity, grandfather's clock, stove... I would love to have a house like that all too myself. He even built a guards house next to it so that she would be safe. I didn't have any pictures to do it justice. I have to go back with my Mom and take the tour. I don't think my boys would have done too well.

Village Raises a Child

Today I was reminded once again what an influence my neighbors and friends have on my children. In the left picture one of my neighbors is teaching Thomas about flowers. He asks to go to her house everyday and can already list many of the flowers and bushes at our zoo. In the picture on the right one of my neighbors is teaching Thomas the proper stance to get a groundball. I am realizing more and more everyday the impact that other's have on my children's lives as well as the impact I can have on other children's lives. I'm grateful and I consider myself very lucky that my current neighbors and friends have been a force for good. It really is true that a village raises a child.

Summer Fun

Although, there are a few things about Michigan that I don't love: 10 below with a wind chill, mosquitoes, scary bugs, and humidity. There are plenty of things that I do: great friends, spring, fall, summer, swimming, flowers, lakes, beaches, hikes, and lots of great activities. Here are some of our favorite summer activities. Roasting marshmallows and making smores at our neighbor's house.

Watching the Detroit Tigers play baseball.

Swimming, swimming, swimming!!! This picture was taken at an indoor water park close to our house. We also really love swimming at our friend's houses. They are the most generous people in the world and everyone is always invited.

And it wouldn't be summer without corn on the cob and mud holes. The best part about getting dirty is having me spray them off with the hose. They love it.

I will need to be reminded of how much I love Michigan in about six months when the temperature is freezing with a wind chill of well below zero.

Fourth of July

I think the Fourth of July just might be my favorite holiday. It's summer time so the weather is nice. You get to hang out with family (if I lived closer) and friends all day, eat great food, hopefully go swimming, and relax with hardly any preparation or expectations (like Christmas.) So great. We started the day by attending our Church's flag raising and pancake breakfast. You should have seen the thickness on these pancakes. They were incredibly huge. I must admit I was instantly weary and did not want to be caught off guard with some nasty uncooked pancake mix, but although thick, they were cooked all the way through. Kudos to the volunteer chefs.



After the activity, we rushed to our local community parade, which I absolutely loved last year. It failed to disappoint my high expectations and we had a great time watching all of the fire trucks and crazy stunt people walking around. I must admit my criteria for a good parade are relatively low: easy to park, not too many people, and free candy. Really everything else is a bonus. The great thing about local parades compared to big city parades such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington DC, and Provo, Utah (Not a big city, but huge parade) is that people are usually nicer and much more laid back about security. The policeman and local news camera man both asked if there was anything they could do to help (you can see them standing around in the background of the picture of Steve and the boys). They also don't care about little kids laying in the street or playing with the caution tape. All policeman should be like that. Bless them. I have also had great success in sitting next to people who are so kind and fun to be around. For example, we sat next to this small group of Grandpa and Grandmas who were thoroughly entertained by our kids. The Grandma sitting right next to me was hilarious. When passed a chip clip from a passing politician, she quickly put it in her hair making me and her small group laugh. Once the comedian, ever the comedian.







After the parade, we went to our friend's house to swim, eat some hamburgers, and watch fireworks. Donny managed to swipe a couple of cupcakes when no one was looking, which was often. Happy Fourth of July!

Older Brothers

Most of the time it is hard to have older brothers. (Thomas pushed him off a toy at the playground.)

But then every once in awhile, Donny is probably happy for the extra attention and love.

Columbus--The Best Family City Ever

For those of you who ever never been to Columbus. It has got to be one of the best family cities in America. First of all, their zoo is amazing. It has been rated number one in the country by many magazines, so people agree with me. But the habitats are designed so that you can view the animals in what would seem their natural environment. They have a lot of space and everything feels very real. I especially loved watching the manatees and cute baby elephant. They also have plenty of interactive and hands on exhibits. Amazing.

The other highlight of Columbus is the COSI science museum. You should see this thing. The most kid friendly place ever. Lots of water, creative toys, and places to run and explore. Every kid's dream.

And the last place I will mention, but certainly the list could go on and on, are the bunny fountains. Water shoots up out of the ground in different patterns and velocity. My kids obviously loved it.

Sadly, this is probably the last time I will visit Columbus for a long time. I used to have many family and friends here that I could visit, but now one of my best friends is finally moving after five years. She has been a life saver. I will miss my annual visits. Thanks Rachel for showing me around Columbus. It definitely has been a wonderful place to call a home away from home.

Camping in Canada

For our first real vacation as a family since Steve started residency, we decided to take Memorial Day weekend and go camping. I must admit that I was dreading the thought of sleeping three nights outdoors with my boys and/or one of them getting lost. Well, thank goodness all of my fears went unfounded, because we had a wonderful time. I like camping enough to go again. I think it will become a fun family tradition. That being said, I think it really helped to go camping with a family much more experienced then us. You should have seen her "miracle" bins. She was like Mary Poppins pulling out pans, utensils, seasonings, towels, tablecloths, tools, and any other random accessory. I began to think that we could live for a few weeks out of those things. Her preparedness definitely made our first camping experience a positive one.

It also helps that she has three older boys that Thomas followed around like a long lost puppy. They were good enough to pretend to involve him in all of their hikes, baseball games, and fire activities. They also made sure he didn't get hurt, which definitely was a real possibility. Hurray for the great outdoors and smores made with peanut butter. Bless you Julie for originating that new ingredient. I don't think I will ever go back. Thanks also for providing Bocci-ball and hours of fun. Speaking of smores, our friends like theirs burnt to a crisp. I tried it, but I still like mine perfectly brown and soft inside. I am not a huge charcoal flavor fan unless you include the stripes on a chicken when it comes off the bbq. Here our some of the pictures from the trip. We went to the Pinery on Lake Huron. It was my first time swimming in a great lake. Mind you, it was totally cold, but ten degrees warmer than the Puget Sound. Those lakes are absolutely huge. They looked like the Sound minus the salt water, rocky beaches, and jelly fish. Beautiful for swimming.



We went on a few hikes that were so much fun. We took pit stops at every cool natural monument we found. Thomas was really excited to climb this tree with the big boys.



We rented a canoe for an hour. Thomas peed off the side twice. Speaking of peeing, we didn't anticipate the long one hour wait to get back into the U.S. at the border. Apparently, Memorial Day is a busy crossing time. Thomas and Hewitt were forced to go pee in a bottle. Actually, they were quite thrilled and I'm surprised they haven't tried it again. Steve, on the other hand, got mad at me when Hewitt slipped out of his and barely missed hitting him in the face. He really was mad. Like I've ever held a water bottle to a peeing boy before. Who knows where those things will shoot. So regardless, cheers to camping.