Thanksgiving 2024

This year, Bill and Brenda got to come up for almost an entire week!  They have a trailer that they improved into an RV.  It is comfortable enough for the dogs to spend their days in, and them to spend the nights, well, until we stayed below freezing for days in a row.

Before they arrived, I subbed and found the most apt Thanksgiving poem in a book at the twins' school.


The twins usurped all of Enisi's time the second they arrived!  They couldn't wait to show her all of the things we collected for her during the year.

All 5 had two days of school the week of Thanksgiving, so Monday night saw us all going up to the school for the twins' art show!

Grace showing off her art.

Juliet showing off her art.


Not the twins' art, but a very cool effect on the clay pumpkins! It maded them look really soft, but they were porous and rough to the touch.

For "friendsgiving" Grace wanted to bring sprite (so easy!) and Juliet wanted mashed potatoes (not so easy.)  But I made up 32 servings of mashed potatoes to deliver to school on Tuesday afternoon.  My girls are really good at gratitude though, so it was totally worth it!

All three Williams (II, IV, III) and Grace!

All my girls!


Billy's parents, very kindly, gave him one of their vehicles, a Cadillac XT5.  It's so fancy that I had to get instructions just to use the gear shift!  This meant a trip to the SOS, but with an appointment, our wait was minimal! 


Thanksgiving this year was paid for by my sister, since Billy hadn't yet started at his new job, so Bob Evans did the heavy lifting, and my mom helped me reheat the food, while Brenda entertained the children and Bill and Billy argued something political, or monetary, or something very important. ; )

In picture one we got Avia and Alice,


Picture two had Grace, Emily, and Enisi!  


No pictures with everyone, but Juliet did a good job, and made sure everyone had a handprint on the tablecloth!


By my calculations, I have 10 years left on this tablecloth, and by then we'll probably need a new table anyhow!


We sent some leftovers home with Avia for Sarah and Acea, so they could also enjoy some tasty Thanksgiving food!

Grace decked out our garden pumpkin for Thanksgiving!

Speaking of Grace, she was totally, 100% safe getting down the fire starter.


I finally got out my favorite Christmas decoration from my childhood, after 10 or so years of it being stored away, and found that it was wrapped in a wiggles sheet?!  Is this considered vintage yet?


And there he his!  The Santa with his cookies and toys!  I had to replace two of the bulbs in the cottage this year, but bought a 5 pack, so as the others burn out, I'll have replacements!


Once the Christmas decorations were out, and the pumpkin pie was gone, the whipped cream disappeared; has anyone seen it?






So strange; I guess some mysteries will never be solved.

On Friday, all of my crew, plus Bill and Brenda, loaded up and went to see Moana 2!  I enjoyed the solitude and got many projects done around the house!

They left early Saturday morning, but not too early, since we got some overnight snow, and the plows needed time to clear the roads.

Hopefully they'll be able to come more often with the new trailer!

later days

12-22-24 backdated for continuity. 

Date Night

When my mom returned, we planned a date night, so that she and the kids could have a sleepover at our house.  We stayed local in a new area of Lansing.

There wasn't much going on, since it was a Thursday night, but Billy found that it was Bingo night at Eagle Monk brewery.  He'd been there with his friend, but I'd never had the occasion to go.  We ubered there from our hotel, and had a while until the game started, so I explored the brewery a bit.

They have an entire backroom set up for games!


A bunch of beer signage, but I don't know if they actually serve all of the signs posted or not.

A BLT pizza without the veggies. lol.

A cheat sheet, so that we could play the rarer bingo games.

Poor Billy, his cards were not nice to him!

I won the very last game!  The poker chip was a $2 off 'coupon!'

I enjoy playing bingo, even when I don't win, but it was fun to win. 

The plan was to hang out at the hotel bar for a bit upon our return, but I was not feeling well.  So, it was an early night for us.


After a less than restful night, we got up and had a full breakfast at the hotel, that Billy had booked with our room.  I got my usual bacon, eggs and toast. While Billy had Belgian waffles.

We went to Horrocks to look for my Scottish breakfast tea, but they still don't have it in.  We did buy some cheeses and other goodies though.

It was a fun outing, even if we didn't go far.  Sneaking in dates has gotten easier, but I'm really grateful to my mom for giving us overnights away!

later days

12-22-24: backdated for continuity.

Emily and William Robotics Final Practice and Competition

Since Grace and Juliet's season was over, I was finally able to go on a Thursday to Emily and William's practice!  Sadly, it was the final one of the year.  Their robotics coach had a checklist for each group, which was immensely helpful for me, because even though I didn't know what exactly needed to be done, sometimes the kids did, or I could try to work it out, since the coach was being asked a million question as minute.

I wasn't sure whether or not I would get to take pictures of the kids with the robot at the competition, so I did it in the classroom.



Competition was in Battle Creek, which is about an hour away.  We had to be there at 7, so it was an early wake up!  There was hardly any traffic to speak of, until we got close to the school, then it was obvious as to where the competition was!

Everyone had to wear safety goggles in the pit, but William was sporting his at our table in the cafeteria. He looks adorable though!

And Emily is so pretty, even in oversized plastic goggles! <3

Schedule for the day.


During their regular sessions, some of the 9th graders from the team last year, would stop by to help build the robot and code.  While I'm sure the help was welcomed, it meant that this year's middle schoolers weren't doing quite as much of the heavy lifting.  

So, Emily spent most of her day finally getting to code and adjust the robot!

There was a hiccough at the start, that the robot was too big, and they had to scramble to adjust it, or be disqualified.  They figured it out, but it kind of set the tone for the day.

The team going in for the judging!  They had a big group this year!

One of the teams had a fancy cart for their robot!

The challenge was to collect as many 'samples' as you could, while paired with another team.  Some of the teams had some really cool preprogrammed code.

Let me back up and explain how the competition works.  They have 2 minutes total.  The first 30 seconds, the robots run a preprogrammed code, and can store points during this time.  Some of the 'samples' were outside of the pit in particular locations, which allowed you to program the robot.  This part was very similar to what the twins did in their competition.

The second part of the time was for the robot to collect samples and put them in the bucket or bring them over to 'home' where a human player would add an attachment for them to hang them on the pit bars, while being controlled by two 'drivers.'  

At the very end, the robots could 'climb' the pit bars for extra points!


They went a total of four rounds, and each time scored more points!


William was on the outreach team, so his part was kind of finished.  His favorite part of the day was collecting buttons from all of the tables.



Emily was a driver at the start of the day.


So many buttons!


William was a 'coach' later in the day.


During some of the lulls, where everyone was just hanging out, I walked over to a thrift store.  I didn't buy much, since I knew I would be carrying it with me, but it was fun to shop, even if the walk was a bit chilly.

Sadly, they did not place high enough to progress.  So, we left around 4.  We went to the mall to shop for William some shoes, but he didn't find any that he liked.  We also went to the Horrock's there, and it is a very different experience than going to the one in Lansing!

After seeing some of the impressive robots they have built, it is super inspiring!  I'll give as much time and energy to the teams my kids want to join in the future!  But for now, I'm glad the season is over for everyone!

later days

78 Michigan Parks: Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area #56

We stopped at a grocery store en route to the next park, where we bought snacks, since I forgot to pack the chips in our lunch, and we were both craving something salty!


The sun was setting by the time we arrived, but we could hear wild turkeys gobbling away, though we couldn't see them.


The moon over the lake was pretty, but as the sun set, it got cold fast!


We didn't see anything moving around during out November visit, but I bet May-September it's a busy place!


Looking at the thumbnail of this picture, I didn't remember taking a picture of headstones, but I was just marking that they had horseshoe courts! lol.


It was properly dark by the time we drove through (or around) Flint.  Three in one day is our new record, though easily contested.  I look forward to seeing more of our adopted state soon!

later days

If you want to see all the ones we've visited so far, here are the links to the posts:

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Keith J Charters #33
Silver Lake State Park #49
Muskegon State Park #50*
Newaygo State Park #51
PJ Hoffmaster State Park #52
Grand Haven State Park #53
Ionia State Park #54
Sleepy Hollow State Park #55
Seven Lakes State Park #58

backdated 12-21-24 for continuity.