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

All the Other Fun Bits!

This post is where I stick all of the other fun, interesting, or miscellaneous photos from the past few months, to offer more of a complete picture of our life!

Zoe got to come over for a while just before school started!  Lots of all my kids' parties involve playing together online, while sitting side by side!

Juliet got a cute little box card from Avia!

Grace got an LOL popup room from Avia in the same letter!

Our dishwasher was out of commission for a few weeks.  Thankfully we have the extended warranty, but we are somehow already two years into it!!!?!

I requested a replacement sharps container for the syringes, they ended up sending me 8!!! We will get through them over time, but they are bulky for sure.

We've had a run of bad weather this year, ended up in the basement, again.  = (

Grace was impressed by her ramen noodle length!

At the palliative care thrift store, we attempted to go to the Christmas store, but missed the Christmas in July sale and it's too early for their regular hours.  So, while Alice ran back in to get something she'd passed on, Emily and I visited their garden!  It was really pretty.  We might have to come back here for her senior pictures!!!

Leading up to her birthday, Alice came with us to all the thrift stores and yard sales.  We found lots of goodies at the rummage sale. = )

Grace found a twin to one of Juliet's stuffies at a thrift store.  We didn't buy it, but she wanted a picture to show Juliet. = )

During this shopping trip, Alice talked me in to Chick-fil-a, using some of the free points we earned from her birthday party.  It was a hard sale, let me tell you. ; )

I think this was supposed to be a seahorse, but am not 100% sure.

Emily came home with some fun algebra homework!  Each letter is worth it's position in dollars and you have to come up with $100 words.  I shared it with my mom and sisters, and Haley's family enjoyed it so much they sent us some words too!  We worked on it several days before she had to turn it in. = )

When the new Hello Kitty happy meals came out, Avia sent money to spoil the grandchildren, so they got dinner there one night.  I don't know what I ate, but tomatoes from my garden were probably involved! = )

My children have gotten so good about replacing the milk carton in the upstairs fridge, that one day while I was at Aldi, I had no clue how many we had in the basement!  It was an amazing feeling, but luckily Billy was home to give me an idea of how much I needed to buy.  After bragging about it, I found that one of them also place the empty roll of toilet paper underneath the extras, instead of recycling and refilling it.  oh, children.  

I took a picture of some rocks so that the kids could compare.

To the milk chocolate candy rocks that I bought at Horrock's.  All of them thought they wer pretty cool, and enjoyed pranking their friends, by eating 'rocks' at lunch.

Juliet had what looked like a gash on her leg, luckily it was just a piece of wet leaf!

However, Grace did have a small injury in the same spot!  Thankfully, hers was already bandaged.

The girls "hanging" around one afternoon.

A cute 'five minute' hairstyle that came across my feed. ponytail -> divide into thirds -> braid one third -> braid with other two thirds -> loosen plaits!  Next time I'll start with one of the other sides, since the braid didn't show up until the fourth twis!

 Today was another fun hairstyle: pumpkin! I personally liked the better the first way.

But grace really wanted some fabric on it, so we found an orange sock!  

I can't wait to see how well it stayed (or didn't) when she gets home today!

later days

Computer Cabinet Cleanout

William was the first to clean out his computer cabinet, because his birthday gifts had no home in his cabinet, and were living, illegally, on top of his cabinet.  So, before we decorated for Christmas, he had to clean his cabinet out, since we use the top of his cabinet for the advent calendar!

Then, during the thanksgiving break, Emily, Grace and Juliet also decided to clean theirs out (to beat the rush before Christmas!)

I was so proud of how well they evaluated what to keep and what to give away.

As the get rid of box filled up, I started to pull things that other people might be interested in, as stocking stuffers or small treats for kids they knew!

First, I brought the unclaimed (via text message) items up to the school and set them out in the teacher's lounge, then brought the rest (as well as the entire contents of my get rid of pile) to a moms meeting.  One of the sweet ladies in the group offered to take the remainder to a free to shop 'thrift' store.  So, I was relieved of having to take it anywhere!  

My mudroom felt really empty, until it was time for Alice to clean out her cabinet.  She didn't get rid of quite as much as her siblings, but we did vacuum and dust her cabinet, and she threw out trash that had been in there a while.  So, her cabinet looks better, even though she won't admit it. lol.

The twins also spent two evenings cleaning out the American girl doll closet, getting rid of a few things, and under the bed where their folding kitchen from last year lives, getting rid of quite a bit!

So, I brought more to our last moms' meeting of the year, where people were able to claim a few treasures. And a totally different, but also sweet, lady offered to take my cast offs to a thrift store, since she was running her own there after the meeting!   

My house feels lighter and cleaner, and we now have a little more space for the goodies under the tree. = )

later days