Tuesday, August 18, 2015

When in Michigan

Many people assume that "traveling to Michigan" or "vacationing in Michigan" equates to staying in a rustic cabin on a lake in some remote area of the Upper Peninsula.  Although that sounds absolutely lovely, it is not what our vacations to Michigan entail.  My family lives in a suburb of Detroit which is many, many hours (like four) from places such as Traverse City.  I know because I attempted to plan a day trip there or to someplace similar but our time in Michigan was limited and eight hours of driving is not really a day trip.  Maybe ten years ago but yo, I'm too tired for that kind of stuff these days.

One of the great advantages to where my family lives is that the hotels aren't outrageously expensive ($115/night for a big room.)  (Grammy stays with her parents while Rich, the girls and I stay in a hotel because my grandparents' house is too small for all of us.)  There are also a ton of places to visit in that area.  I would have been perfectly satisfied sitting on my butt for our entire visit (man, I need a break) but we wanted to keep the kids (and Rich) entertained.  Our first full day in Michigan was a visit/rest day.  We then had half day trips to Greenfield Village and Frankenmuth.  The kids really enjoyed Greenfield Village.  It ended up being the hottest day so we didn't make a full day of it but we had our fill.  The big draw at Frankenmuth was the dollhouse store except that we arrived to find that it was going out of business and only had a very limited supply of merchandise remaining.  We ate lunch at the cafe (not the sit down restaurant) at Zenders.  I have to comment that the stuffing was amazing.  I dream of it.

So here are photos from our first three days in Michigan.

8.18a
Our hotel room faced the front of the property and the girls set up spy missions whenever we were in the room.

8.18b

8.18c
The D750 flare issue.  The flare problem occurs when the top of the flare is missing.  I've been using this camera for almost 8 months with plenty of flare photos and this was my first experience with the flare issue.  What's super weird is that it happened to several backlit photos taken in this part of the yard.  Even off to the side of the playhouse where that wooden trellis is.  It's not as noticeable in this picture but in the others, the top of the flare is a straight line.  I feel like it had something to do with the roof line and the top of the trellis and how the light was bouncing.

8.18d

8.18e

8.18f

8.18g 

8.18h

8.18i

8.18j

8.18k

8.18l
Biggie kept up the spy missions when we were out.

8.18m
Somebody said something.

8.18n
Over it.

8.18o

8.18p

8.18q

8.18r

9 comments:

Lexi said...

I've been a reader for years and love your posts- seeing New England is great! too funny how the world is so small, I live about an hour away from Greenfield in Ohio and love going there for trips.

Farah said...

I love the jumping photo!

Anonymous said...

I noticed your girls are still in a 5 point harness. My girl is 5, 38 lbs, and 41". Still in the 5 point but she is noticing that her friends just use boosters. She is BEGGING to switch but I'm refusing saying it's the safest spot for her. Just wondering if your girls have had that same wish and how you addressed it and your thoughts on when to switch to booster.

JEN said...

We have a membership to Greenfield Village. Did you girls try out the new playground?

Dixie Bell Designs said...

My brother used to live probably in the same vicinity as your family... we once went to the Henry Ford museum and it was way more cool/exciting for everyone in the group than we were expecting! I recommend it for your next trip if you've never been!

Just the Tip said...

So neat. We live in VA but the girls neurosurgeon is actually in MI, so we've been to MI 7x in the last year. 2 surgeries, 4 post ops and 1 medical conference. It's in Royal Oak, I've been pretty surprised at some of the 'to do' things in the Detroit Area, they can be awesome!

Sarah said...

The car seats in the van can be used as a booster with a seat belt but it's easier to keep the kids in the 5 point harness b/c they can get in and out themselves. They wouldn't be able to reach to buckle the seat belts. I like the safety aspect as well - especially for highway driving. We do use the built-in boosters when we make short trips around town in the Volvo and there are less than 3 kids. They've asked when they can do backless boosters all the time and I tell them when they are bigger. Thankfully, it hasn't been a big deal. In our state, it's 40 pounds to go to booster and Anna has been hovering at 40 to just over 40 pounds for a year now.

Sarah said...

Jen, we didn't make it to the playground but it looked it nice.

I visited the Henry Ford museum years and years ago but don't really remember it. It's on our list for future though!

Lisa MH said...

I'm a long-time reading and my family lives in Detroit suburbs too! We're going back for a visit in the fall (we live in California). Our daughter will have just turned two and we're excited to take her apple picking and to Greenfield Village as well. I feel like I'm in a crossover episode of a tv show since you're visiting places that I'll be going shortly. :)