Crockstar Chronicle: dentist

Showing posts with label dentist. Show all posts

CANADA!

On Monday, we drove up to the pinky for a state park adventure after a Grand Rapids doctor visit, and it got me thinking that there aren't many state parks left toward Ann Arbor, which was slated for Wednesday. I talked it over with my mom and Billy, and decided that it was high time to let the kids use their passports!

Since Alice rarely joins us, I shared the secret with her, so that she wouldn't miss out. We took Billy's car in, and I readied the passports, but was able to maintain the secret! Then, the dentist called, letting us know that William did not need to come in before starting orthodontic treatment, which allowed me to bump Juliet's appointment up to William's time! This meant more time in Canada!

Finally, the day arrived, and we headed to the appointment. Poor Juliet was having a filling done, and my mom took everyone else over to the art museum. All things considered, it was a short appointment, and Juliet got a smoothie from the shop, since she had a numb lip! Yours truly got a coffee, and a cookie to share with the other children.

We finally got to reveal the secret, and everyone was excited to go to Canada! And the mystery of why Alice was coming with us was finally solved. = )

The internet had prepared me that I could encounter issues travelling outside the country without Billy, so he'd written a letter of consent, just in case, but it was ultimately unnecessary.

We opted to take the tunnel for the outbound trip. The kids liked it and compared it to all sorts of shows and video games.

Our first stop in Canada was a thrift store!

Then we went to a discount grocer, where all the kids took turns poking the milk.

Right now, the US dollar is up against the Canadian dollar, so this baguette was really closer to 70 cents for us. Unsurprisingly though, prices were comparable on most things, the number was just bigger.

On our Monday adventure, I'd found Canadian tattoos, which the girls were proud to sport in front of the Canadian flag!

The boba straw was paper, so they had a posted guide. I was teasing William that I wasn't sure if he could follow the instructions, but he did just fine, first try!

Giant reflective Balls!

Once we concluded our visit to the mall, we went to Dollar Tree Canada. Everything there is a base of $1.75can, so not any cheaper, but we found a few things, like some Hello Kitty Kinder eggs!

Juliet hanging out on the big black bollard.

By the time we finished shopping, it was close to 6, so we grabbed a hot and ready pizza and headed to the park. It was surprisingly busy! There were all ages and races represented. It was crazy to see the bigger kids teaching the littler kids how to play basketball, and moms and kids practicing scooter, we even saw one boy teaching another one to skateboard! Usually, our party is the only one, or one of just a few visitors, mostly dog walkers! It was a little like being in a movie.

We didn't stay long, because with the setting of the sun, the temperature was dropping quickly!

The Detroit skyline was most impressive from the Canadian standpoint. It was weird driving North to get back to Michigan. We took the Ambassador Bridge, which has quite a view. We were dumped practically onto the interstate, and made good time getting out of Detroit.

I was thankful for the pretty weather and the opportunity to travel internationally with the kids for their first time! Alice wants to go back for her 18th birthday, but we'll have to see!

later days

P.S. The only thing that Billy asked for was some Rickard's Red beer. I was looking up how much I could bring him, before having to declare it, and learned that because of the ongoing tariff dispute between the US and Canada, I was not able to bring him any. The internet said that they would confiscate and destroy it. = (

78 Michigan Parks: Maybury State Park #67

It wasn't even a week past William's tooth extraction surgery, when he (and Grace and Juliet) had a scheduled cleaning, back in Ann Arbor. Well, the stress of it being a Tuesday, the final school day before Thanksgiving break, another trip to the dentist, and it being 6am, had William "hootin' and hollerin' "* about how much he disliked State Parks and didn't want to go to anymore, ever again!

Thankfully, once the appointment had concluded, special drinks were acquired, and fluoride ban had run it's duration, William seemed like a happy, willing participant in our State Park visit.

This round was Maybury state park, which is in metro Detroit, but had previously been closed for updates, so we had skipped over it. This cover picture was actually at the end, but I'll come back to that.

This state park used to be in a very isolated area, but the amount of new construction and volume of traffic indicates that it is currently in an area rife with growing pains. We did manage to turn into the park, and got our pictures.

This park is number 67 (six-seven) on our map, so the kids are all making the 6-7 hand sign.

This park was very equestrian centric, but the kids found fun things none-the-less. Stairs to nowhere!

It was wet and dreary, but close to 50F, which is not miserable when you are wearing winter garb.

Youngest at the top, oldest at the bottom. William is an entire step taller than Grace!

Um, I cannot wait to recreate this when they are adults!

William was the 'horse,' and was an excellent sport about it!

Juliet the conductor.

William helping Juliet get onto the swings.

Once we'd had our fill of the tiny play area, we loaded back up into the car for a quick visit to the thrift shop. As we were leaving the area, we found another, main, entrance. We didn't have the time** to further explore, but we did stop to take the 'official' picture, thanks to Avia's encouragement.

I was glad the day ended better for William than it began. We had a bit of success at the Salvation Army, with two pair of pants for Emily and a jacket for Leon, despite the 15-minute timer I set!

There are still two more Metro Detroit parks on our list, but those will have to wait until spring.

later days

A list of our previous visits:

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Keith J Charters #33
Sleeper State Park #46
Port Crescent State Park #47
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
Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area #56
Lake Port State Park #57
Seven Lakes State Park #58
Holly Recreation Area #59
Algonac #60
Holland State Park #61
Island Park State Recreation Area #63b
Highland Recreation Area #64b
Pontiac Lake Recreation Area #65
Dodge #4 State Park #66a
Bald Moutain State Recreation Area #66b

Saugatuck Dunes State Park #68
Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
WJ Hays State Park #71
Belle I sle Park #72
Van Buren State Park #73
Grand Mere State Park #74

Warren Dunes State Park #75a
Warren Woods State Park #75b
Lake Hudson Recreation Area #77
Sterling State Park #78
Port Austin State Harbor #Bonus 1
Kal-Haven State Park #Bonus 2

Yankee Springs #Fail

*Everyone asked what was wrong as they trickled out of their bedrooms, and "What was all the hootin and hollerin'" was a direct Alice quote!

**Enisi and Edudi were due to arrive at 5pm, so we were trying to fit in a little fun post-dentist and pre-grandparents!

78 Michigan Parks: Lake Port State Park #57

Juliet complained of some pain in her tooth, so I set up an emergency appointment for her, unfortunately it was a few weeks out. Not too long after, Grace was complaining of pain, but Juliet said her pain had resolved, so I simply switched the appointment over to Grace. A few days before the appointment, Grace said her pain had resolved, but William had a tooth that was bothering him. So, I called one more time to change the appointment over to William. Since it was due to be a short visit, Emily, Grace, Juliet, and Avia all came along so that we could go on an adventure afterward!

We made the quick walk over to Palmer Commons to drop off batteries, writing utensils, and printer ink cartridges in the recycling receptacle. We also learned that they would recycle dead cell phones! So those can now be added to our stash.

Ultimately, the dentist didn't see much, but indicated that his tooth enamel is quite thin, which we already knew, and that he would probably have these aches until he had crowns covering the teeth or implants replacing the teeth. = (

Once the appointment was over, we joined back together to head out on our adventure. After looking at the map, Avia said she was game for a six-hour thumb tour, so that we could hit four state parks!

The first stop was Lakeport State Park, which Emily had visited earlier in the summer with Abby's family.

The parking lot was a bit of a walk from the beach, and it was an overcast day, but we enjoyed walking along the beach, even if the wind was a bit chilly.

We saw a couple of groups collecting rocks from the beach, and found a few pretty ones ourselves!

Emily said that she thought the water was lower, because when they were there, the rocks were covered at the top edge of the water, but for our trip the waterline was below the rock barrier.

I found a pretty waterfall to send to Billy.

And then all the kids wanted in the picture too!

The twins found a surfboard shaped rock!

Facing south, as we were on the American side of Lake Huron.

On our way north, to the next State Park, I found my first ever fully touch screen gas pump. I didn't like it. This was on the backside, I took it while mine was pumping, so that I could show off the octane rating selection, which disappears once you start pumping.