A Bunch of Things

1. Nathan turned 13 in October. So, we have a teenager now. Nothing has changed. I'll keep you posted.



He really likes birds. The thing is he really likes birds! For his birthday he received some John James Audubon books and new binoculars with a harness to facilitate this passion of his. He dressed up as a birdwatcher/ornithologist for Halloween, but the truth is he looks like this a lot.

2. We love our Michigan bridge--The Mackinac Bridge. Brigham especially loves it and talks about it all the time, plus recreates it with our wooden railroad toys and his toy cars. We got to visit recently and I thought it was cool that I could get a picture of this old lighthouse and the bridge (and fog!) together.



3. This is a bird Brigham made out of playdough all by himself. I was impressed!



4. Since Joseph was home yesterday, I had him remove the window air conditioner, which is always a perfect opportunity to do some cleaning (DON'T begin to believe I like this). Anyway, while I was pulling out furniture to vacuum and dust, I found this little drawing on the wall and decided that it is one of my prized possessions. I couldn't clean it off! Sariah did it a couple of years ago.


5. This has to be the fattest squirrel I've ever seen. Is that a beer belly? And a belly button???

I have arrived!

I stopped blogging. I waited and waited. Finally, I got what I was waiting for. A comment from my famous and slightly quirky brother!

Now that I'm totally fulfilled, I'll show you where I have been.


Well, that's not the only place I've been, but one of the most memorable!

There, now the blogging pressure is off me. I don't know if I'll keep blogging (I don't keep a journal, so I should do it) or not. It's been nice having a break from the computer.

Pure Michigan

These Michigan ads are killing me. KILLING me. I can't wait until summer! These, people, are hitting me right here {hand on heart} , kind of like those Mormon commercials!

My favorites: Simple Sunrise, Lost & Found, Pure Michigan Backyard, Waters of Pure Michigan, The Potential of Water, Treasure, The Nature of Trees (scroll down quite a ways)

How 'bout you, Heidi, are these ads killing you??

Lake Michigan in the Winter

I actually took these photos over Christmas break which feels like eons ago. I had never been over to the lake during the winter and still want to make it back when there's more ice sometime. I never realized that fences are put up to keep the sand on the beaches. I didn't walk out there, but the ice was covered with sand and it looked really strange.

This was in St. Joseph. We had a fun day at the Children's Museum and just drove by the beach right before we headed back home.

A World Apart

Hands down, my favorite part of our upper peninsula vacation were the two spots we visited on Lake Superior with rock outcroppings. Presque Isle Park, Marquette AND Hunter's Point, Copper Harbor.

We picked up some take-out Tex-Mex one night (best taco salads we've ever eaten) and headed to Presque Isle Park. I had read that there were very old rocks exposed at this park, but didn't know what to expect. After we had eaten, we began to explore. We immediately came upon an inlet of water with a pebble beach, crystal clear water, and wildly red and green colored rocks. I had a feeling of instant happiness and any feelings that I might want to move away from Michigan to be near the ocean and marine biology evaporated completely. I'm pretty sure I never want to leave here. The feeling of happiness/joy was that strong for me.

Copper Harbor's outcroppings of rock were also dated back to possibly Pre-Cambrian times (the bedrock of basalt is exposed). We didn't know what we were seeing at the time and have since identified some fossils and types of rocks that we saw there.

These were both places I could never have dreamt up. Just incredible. I can't wait to go back!

Click here to see more pictures.

Michigan: Visited and Revisited

I bought a map of Michigan for my kids at the beginning of the summer and had it laminated. Sariah picked some glittery star stickers for us to mark the places we visited. It's hard to see the stars on the store bought map because it's busy with graphics, so I created a new map this morning (below--I missed a couple of locations in the "thumb") to show where we've been this summer. Some places we visited for a few hours, some for a whole day, some for a few days. Besides that we criss-crossed the state via highways till I feel like I have a pretty good view of what my state looks like. Plus, as a huge bonus, there are places I still want to see and places where I MUST return (I still need to blog about some of that).

The Mighty Mac

Mighty Mac with a freighter passing underneath

Before 1957, the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan were not connected and ferries were the only way to go back and forth between the two. On November 1, 1957, the Mackinac Bridge (also known as the Big Mac or Mighty Mac) opened. If you go here and read the section called 'Length', there's a lot of technicality explaining why it may or may not be the longest suspension bridge around (this Wikipedia link also includes a lot of pictures of the bridge). Suffice it to say, it's one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. The bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet.


Every year, on Labor Day, one half of the bridge is opened to foot traffic. Other than that, no pedestrians or bikes are allowed on the bridge. Ever since I heard about this tradition, I have wanted to participate. However, the timing isn't great because it's about four hours from our home and school starts the next day. We've never walked the bridge.

I got the great idea this year to go and walk the bridge alone. Just before leaving I had a conversation with my friend, Sue, who told me that she's never had any inclination to walk the bridge due to her fear of heights.



I have a fear of heights as well, but didn't think it would be an issue for me.

As I was nearing the bridge, I stopped on an I-75 rest stop. This particular rest stop had a small hike up to an overlook. I figured, why not, a good excuse to get the blood flowing. The overlook was a platform built up to view across the highway. There was a body of water surrounded by trees (we are talking Michigan, after all). What happened to me up on that platform still gives me the shudders to think about. Due to my very unlucky fear of heights, I got electric nerve impulses to the ends of my fingers and to the ends of my toes that hurt badly. Enough that I had to get outta there quick.

A few miles later, I drove over the bridge and had the same experience, though slightly less painful. That bridge never bothered me when Joseph was driving.


Needless to say, I DID NOT walk the bridge on Labor Day. This just isn't my year to overcome my fear of heights, I guess!

Back From a Whirlwind Tour of the U.P.

I spent the day unpacking, doing laundry and RE-vacuuming my van, which I loathe, and not blogging, which I love. But, I just had to log on to say that we had a super time and we saw some incredible things. For all of you hooked on my ongoing Michigan saga, stay tuned...

(U.P. stands for Upper Peninsula for those of you not from Michigan.)

The Land of Plenty of Fudge (and some cheese)

After we visited the railroad (see post below), we headed over to Frankenmuth, only six miles away. I love to watch fudge being made and Joseph's favorite cheese store is also there.

Downtown Frankenmuth is a bowery of flowers. It's a tourist town, but it's more than that too.

This flower is called "Angel's Trumpet." Beautiful and large!

This is Zehnder's where we come every year for my birthday. They are known for their chicken dinners and thus the cool chicken made of plants.

We stayed in the Fudge shop to watch all the different stages of fudge making.






I thought this (picture below) was particularly clever, given our fresh water Great Lakes. I have loved watching taffy pulling machines since I was little. I think one of the first times I saw it was at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City. The funniest part of watching the taffy being pulled was the fly that kept trying to land on it. The lady next to me started laughing about the same time I did and we made a comment about how much we wanted to go inside and buy some taffy!



Last, but not least is the cheese shop. We discovered aged cheddar several years ago. Any time we are in Frankenmuth, we try to pick some up. It's very, very rich and extremely tasty. A few years ago, I read a little about cheese making and about how cheese is aged. It was interesting to learn that they don't really know all that happens in the process. Descriptions of the flavor of cheese are interesting. I'd never thought too much about it. Just knew I liked cheese. Joseph more than likes it! They have some interesting things that you can sample inside this shop not the least of which was chocolate cheese and chocolate mint cheese!

I almost had to buy this cheese, shaped as my favorite state!

On the way out of town, we took a few of these "stick-your-head-in-the-whole-pictures." Elijah insisted he was the chicken's head. No way! He's the eyeball for sure!




Finally, my favorite picture from the whole day!


For a few more pictures, click here.

Living the Good Life in America

There is a good feeling in the Thumb region of Michigan. I'm not sure if this is always the case with farm land and I've missed it in the past, or if the Thumb is really unique. Route 25 ribbons around the perimeter, with forest on either side. The land in the middle of the Thumb is, from what I could see, mostly farm land. As we were driving through it, I felt almost euphoric. There was a moment when we were driving past a field of young plants. I think I've seen it before, either in a documentary, a commercial, or perhaps one of my other lives. Whizzing by row after row with rich brown earth in between the rows. (I tried to take a video, but my battery was too low, so the picture below will have to do. I turned to my dad and said, "When I see a scene like that, I feel like I'm living the good life in America!" And boy, did I mean it!




Too bad it was a cloudy day and that I was lazily taking photos from my moving vehicle. You just can't get the same feel of the place.

We might have missed the wind farm located between Pigeon and Elkton, if not for my dad. He has seen them in previous travels and said it would be worth seeing. It could be seen for miles! It was a highlight for Brigham who is still talking about it!




Isn't this a pretty farm? May thought the house looked just like the one in Anne of Green Gables.

A Great Lake

Growing up in Utah, we had the Great Salt Lake. It's big. It's salty. Down on the west end of our front porch there was an iron rail. From that vantage point (we lived in the foothills), we could watch the sun set over the Great Salt Lake. Beautiful.

I remember as young child visiting the waters of the lake. I remember seeing a duck or seagull floating on the surface and trying to walk out to touch it, getting my clothing wet. I remember getting out and having itchy legs from all that salt.

Now, we live within two hours of another Great Lake. If you live here in Michigan and have visited Lake Michigan, you know it is vast, immense. There is sugar sand, there are waves (some surfable, I understand), there are dunes, sunsets. The water is not salty!

Here is something I read from a website this weekend (while, of course, planning my next beach trip):

ESCH ROAD BEACH

Near Empire, Mich.

If this lake has a beach that challenges the ones in Hawaii or Mexico, this is it: sugar sand in what resembles a broad mountain cove, with those "mountains" covered with what could pass--if you don't look too closely--as tropical jungle.

It's an illusion, of course, though a glorious one. The largest mountains are the massive Empire Bluffs, and high, forested dunes ring the cove.

I will definitely be wanting to visit this beach. This is pretty far north though, about three and a half hours from home.

I'm writing this post because I just can't get over it. I love this lake!

This year we're also going to try out Lake Huron and Lake Superior. I'm sure you already know you'll be hearing from me about it!

Warren Dunes State Park

We'll hit a new beach each week this summer. Starting off our first official week of summer we have Warren Dunes State Park! It was nice to have the entrance fee covered by our handy window sticker and we headed down the winding road to find the beach. Rounding a curve, suddenly the dune was before us and it was breathtaking. It is said to be 260 feet high and being that we don't have hills and mountains around us, it was a sight to behold. We decided to hit the dune first and then cross the parking lot to the beach. Since we were there right after some thunder and lightening storms, it was a good time to find some more fulgerite. (Almost all of my pictures for the day were underexposed!)








There were the inevitable buryings in the sand.

Ack! I almost tripped over that HEAD in the sand!

Digging and rock skipping:



The water was cold, but inviting anyway because the day was a hot 88*. There was a breeze most of the day so people were out with their kites. Brigham loved the water as long as he was able to cling tightly to me. Thus, the video post below!

Ahhh! Michigan summer is here!