78 Michigan Parks: Seven Lakes State Park #58

The day after William's birthday, he had a double dental appointment in Ann Arbor.  First up was a 3D scan for his orthodontist to get the full picture for his long-term treatment.  It was a short procedure, so I was really glad that we had a second appointment to make the drive worth it.

Our next stop was his regular dental clinic to get some fillings in.  That procedure was a little longer, but the day was fair and it was still early, so we went on an adventure!

We were navigating to a different state park, but I saw the state park sign on the interstate, so we followed the signs to Seven Lakes State Park, excited to see a lake or two, presumably.  We snuck in a sign picture, while I parked in a no parking zone (shhhhh!)

Sadly, when we rushed back to the car (not that anyone was going in or out) we saw the closed sign. = (  Sure enough, on google it advises that they are indeed closed at the moment.

If we are given the chance, I'd like to go back, but I'm marking it off the list for now.

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
Holland State Park #61
Island Park State Recreation Area #63b
Dodge #4 State Park #66a
Bald Moutain State Recreation Area #66b
Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
Belle Isle Park #72
Van Buren State Park #73

Sterling State Park #78

backdated for continuity: 11-12-24

Grand Rapids - Adventure

Alice and Emily did another intake appointment with the endocrinologist last week (we were just over the returning patient deadline.) Our hope is that we can get them enrolled in CSHCS to help cover the cost of dental care, because we believe their teeth have been impacted by hypophosphatasia, despite having no other noticeable symptoms.  It was a little weird to be there without William, Grace, and Juliet, but I think they enjoyed their time with Avia* who picked them up from school and took them out to the ice cream shop for dinner! (picture courtesy of Avia) 

Because the doctor sent us for blood work and x-rays after the appointment, we didn't have time to make the drive to a new state park afterwards, but still found adventure!

We drove down to a very commercial area of Grand Rapids, and wound up by the mall.  Billy saw an on the border, which triggered a craving for Mexican food.  We saw a world market, and I thought Alice and Emily would enjoy seeing all the exotic things there, so we stopped in.

They did enjoy it, but the one thing that Alice picked out was over what she was willing to spend, so we didn't buy anything.  We did find lots of Hello Kitty things that we've logged away, mentally, for future use.

Alice and Emily's first time at World Market!

Not Billy's first time at World Market.

When we were inbound, Billy saw a sign for a restaurant that was Mexican food and Pizza.  It sounded interesting, but nothing came up in a google search.  We drove outbound, watching the informational signs for the Mexican & pizza place. 

We finally found it!  We drove way out into the country, and found.... a gas station.

They did indeed have Mexican cuisine and Pizza, but it was not at all what the stylized logo led us to believe.

We had a good laugh, and then got back on the road to find a true Mexican resturant.

We ended up in adorable downtown Ionia!  El Mariachi matched our notion of a Mexican restaurant perfectly.

It gets a pretty good rating, Billy gave the salsa a 5/10, and sadly the queso tasted like alfredo to me, so 2/10? the tortilla chips were good! And the girls enjoyed the lemonades they got.

We ordered one of their specialties called the Lava Bowl and split it 4 ways.  It was huge!  We all enjoyed it, 10/10!

The tortillas came in the cutest sombrero basket!!!

There was so much food in the lava bowl, that even with all four of us eating it, we still took a takeaway box!  I was busy loading the boxes when our desert came, so I didn't get a picture before everyone started into it, but it was pretty!

We left nothing, so I would say 10/10!

I would go back, if we ever find ourselves in the area!

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The stack of tortillas sat in our fridge for a few days, so I chopped them up, fried them, and added cinnamon and sugar.  Had we added ice cream and whipped cream, it would have tasted just like our desert! = )

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later days

*speaking of Avia, she is the one that sweetly funded our outing!  I brought 2 rounds of sandwiches (lunch and dinner) but when the state park was out (it was going to be two hours and change there, and then two hours and change home, on a school night!) we decided to find a more urban adventure.

edit 10-26-24: backdated for continuity. 

78 Michigan Parks: Belle Isle Park #72

We finally got Grace and Juliet's CSHCS insurance to reapprove their dental care, for some reason during their July renewal, it was removed, so I had to reschedule their August appointment.  Luckily for us, Avia was back, and came with us!

Lunch and Dinner sandwiches for all!  (Well, not the big girls who ate hot lunch at school.)

While waiting in the lobby, the kids knocked out their multiplication.  It was going well until they started playing Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakal. They got good reports overall, but since William is about to start orthodontic treatment, they want to fill in some tiny cavities.  And he also has to get a scan before starting, so we have lots of dental appointments on the calendar.  Originally, we had three in two weeks, but his orthodontist wanted the scan done before his treatment, so we moved that out, and were also able to reschedule his fillings for his scan day.  I'm really thankful for the spaced out appointments!

Our first adventure stop was Salvation Army.  Amazingly, they found a copy of Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakal on DVD.  For $.50 Avia bought it for them.  Juliet also found a birthday gift for William!

On the way to Belle Isle, William tried to figure out the DVD player with verbal help from me and Avia.  He did get it to work, but the DVD had a scratch that no amount of jean rubbing or toothpaste application would fix.   = (

We ended up going through downtown Detroit again, but at least this time it made sense. After a few wrong turns, we made it to Belle Isle!  

Looking Southward toward Canada. (so weird!!)

We stopped at the fountain,

saw an old anchor from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

Walked around the outside of the Maritime Museum, since it was closed,

Read things about the war of 1812,

Learned a little about the Canal System on the island,

And found a brown sign with white lettering that said Belle Isle!!!!  Okay, so it's not the usual type, but was the closest we could get, they didn't have the other type of sign. = (

We also admired the leaf prints in the sidewalk.

And found some corporate art, before heading south.

It is a very nice island, and we had beautiful weather for our visit!  It would be easy to spend an entire day or maybe two or three to explore all the offerings of the island!

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
Holland State Park #61
Island Park State Recreation Area #63b

Dodge #4 State Park #66a

Bald Moutain State Recreation Area #66b
Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
Van Buren State Park #73

edit 10-26-24: backdated for continuity