Michigan Living: Fall Week 12

Fall is officially here... the weather shows it and the local news guy confirmed it! So this week was a mix of cooler temps, rain, clouds, and sun-- and lots of color on the trees which makes Emily super stoked!





This week we took our first (of many) trips to Uncle John's Cider Mill- a local 'farm' that juices its own apples into cider. They also have a Kids Coral (Danielle really wanted that mentioned), and pumpkin patch, some games, food, a winery, and a bunch of other fun Fall stuff...
















And here's Danielle's new mode of transportation...









...and possible the only way we can get around in the snow...











...and not a bad way to spend the evening...









...unless you get caught stealing pumpkins.

Michigan Living Week 11: Fall (almost)

So definitely summer is over, or at least mostly over since the nighttime lows have been around 37 degrees and the daytime highs somewhere between 65-70. That's close enough to Fall temps for us ex-Californians to call it FALL! Not to mention the fact that the leaves have begun to change from green to a myriad of different colors (did you know they come in more varieties than just green?). So what do you do in Fall? That's right-- CORN MAZE! We attempted our first this week, and set a new record. The maze (in Williamston for you locals) says it takes about 1/2 to 1.5 hours to finish-- we did it in 2.5 hours! Ha! That'll show 'em... we certainly got our $25 worth!












Also Fall brings a new flavor of Starbucks gift card which Emily got super excited aboyut (spelled phonetically), even got the barista to load her other gift card onto this one (in case you can't tell, it says Starbucks in Braille, and Emily has been learning Braille for the last couple of years).





Fall also opened the opportunity to begin using our fireplace-- which is very cool, but a little odd since progress invented forced air heating so as to not burn your house down with open fire in the wall-- but it sure looks cool!



Fall also means eating and drinking-- pretty much caramel and apple everything! (Mug made by Emily at Rebekah's pottery birthday party... caramel apple cider made by Emily too!)










Last, but not least, Fall has brought out a new fashion sense for me (Chris)-- wool socks and cap. Honestly I wasn't even sure I owned socks, and have never been sure of what they were good for... who knew the answer was Fall?

Michigan Living: Summer Week 10

Maybe we could call this the first "normal" week... wasn't really filled with too many odd MI adventures, just a good, solid week!



School began for both girls this week and went great! Other than the fact that everyone has to be up at 6:15 to get Bekah to school by 7:30 no problems! Super cool! And of course we had to have an "after first day of school" celebration at BIGGBY...



Rebekah also finally finished her extended birthday bash with 10 friends at Playing Picasso (a paint-your-own-pottery place). She had a great time with some great girls!











(As we were typing this a huge frog/toad thing just jumped on our window ledge... which is psychotic since it's like 15 feet off the ground!)



We had some great weather this week, and a visit from this terrifying bug on our porch... how freaky is that?

Michigan Living: Summer Week 9

The Ninth Week in Michigan sounded pretty much like this...

Open House... Steak N Shake... Football... Lake... Tornado Siren... Birthday... Lucky... Washer Death... Fire Pit...

Both Rebekah and Danielle had their open house/orientation for school this week. Both got endless attempts at their new locker combinations and an equally numberless walks around the campus routing out their classrooms.



Had to make a trip to Jackson (about an hour away) and stopped at a mid-west institution: Steak N Shake... way better than White Castle if you ask me!





Thursday brought a special treat with the first DeWitt Football home game of the year. It was a thousand degrees and a shutout (DeWitt won!) but super fun nonetheless.

I talked to our "new" vacation/weekend/activity coordinator (admin assistant)- Janet- about ideas of "fun stuff" to do on Friday, and she invited us up to her lake house at Five Lakes-- complete with pontoon, swimming, speed boat, tubes, jet ski, and basically "the best day ever" (a direct quote from Rebekah and Danielle!)




Saturday morning the "now I have to replace my soiled underpants" siren went off (that would be the Tornado siren for you CA readers!)... no cloud, storm, or weather of any kind in the sky, but the siren was wailing. So the ladies went down to the basement with Chris eventually waddling down in a towel since he was half-way through a shower when it happened. Turns out they test those things on the first Saturday of every month (October thru April)-- good to know! (the 911 operator was very helpful.)

Rebekah turned 13!!!!!!!!!!!!! Birthday celebration began at Five Lakes then dinner and presents on Friday. Saturday morning was spent shopping with Mom for make-up and then learning how to put it on. Rebekah says that this was the best birthday ever!!! And technically it's not over yet since next week she'll take 10 of her new MI friends to a pottery painting place, pizza, and cupcakes-- not too shabby, huh?

Danielle had a psychological breakthrough-- she now loves dogs! At least she likes Golden Retrievers! The folks who owned the awesome lake house also had a beautiful Golden Retriever named Lucky who became Danielle's new best friend. She even began to entertain the thought of getting a dog someday as long as it was like Lucky!!




Our washer decided to die mid load on Friday evening! So we bought a new one on Saturday...it is nice to have a washer that actually cleans clothes!!






Finally we ended this week with a cold evening (something like 68 degrees) in front of a hot fire pit roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for smores! The mosquitoes decided to join us so we came in to blog!

MIchigan Living: Summer Week 8

Two months! Can you believe we've made it two months? That'll show our many CA friends who said we wouldn't last a month! (Actually they said "You gonna freeze to death!" Ha-- not yet!)

Another great week in Michigan; except as I (Chris) type this I'm feeling super 'under the weather' so nothing seems great right now...

Speaking of weather, while Hurricane Irene is nowhere near MI, this is the closest we've ever lived to a hurricane. It is definitely strange seeing a hurricane just miss the area you live in by only 1 state. And while we're at it, we did live through our first Tornado Watch on Wednesday. (For all our CA friends, apparently a Watch is issued when the conditions are right and could produce something; a Warning is issued when something has actually been seen in the area; and when the tornado siren goes off all the laundromats are filled to capacity with folks trying to get out stains from soiled underpants... or something like that).












So here are some updates on our great adventure:






Area Update- we hung out in Downtown Lansing visiting a cool farmers market type thing (Lansing City Market), waked a few miles on the Riverwalk, ate at BackYard BBQ, and munched on some home made corn nuts. I also had another encounter with the underground steam mystery, and while this one was disguised as a volcano I did pay enough attention in 4th grade social studies to know there are no active volcanoes in Michigan (right?!?!). And we even got to see the car next to us get 'booted'-- go Parking Wars!












School Update- Danielle met her super cool 5th grade teachers this week. That's right, I said 'teachers'. While she has 1 primary teacher, throughout the day she will switch between 4 others classrooms and teachers. So far she's super excited.

Meanwhile...

Rebekah's school stuff has gotten all messed up. Maybe one of you can help us understand this better? Here's the situation: Rebekah got 1 elective she was super excited about (3-D Art) and 1 she was not even remotely on the same pl anent with (Choir). So we called the school to see if it could be changed... the 1 she was not interested in... the one we call Choir. The school counselor said there was "no guarantee" but she would look into it. Friday the solution was posted on Rebekah's school web portal: she was removed from the elective she liked (3-D Art) as that was replaced with some 'Extra Science Class With Lots of Homework for Kids Whose Parents Call to Request Electives Be Changed'... oh, and she's still in Choir (the elective we were asking be changed). Seem like a solution to you? Us neither! So we're still working on that!



Psychological Update- Emily bought her first, ever, clothing from a garage sale! You may not know this, but Emily isn't a big fan of used clothes (something about not what disease the previous owner need a strong ointment for...). But the therapy is working because she shelled out $2.50 for 2 shirts and a sweater.

Meanwhile...



Rebekah spent $4.50 on a cool Papasan chair and Danielle spent $2.50 on Harry Potter Scene-It DVD Game-- and the cards we're still wrapped in the original plastic! I love garage sales!


House Update- We've been having fun playing 'kill the mosquito' each evening, so far I hold the record with 12 in one night. But the good news is that they seem to be getting less and less... or are they rallying their forces for a massive assault? We've also had fun getting better acquainted with our backyard wildlife. Last night we saw a skunk, watched a deer feeding on plants about 3 feet from our window, were chased by the demonic Black Squirrel, and listened to a hawk squawk all night (well, technically we smelled the skunk and never actually saw it. But the intensity of the tears streaming down my face from the caustic odor assures us it was very close!).

Ministry Update- Summer is nearly over so most of the "gone all summer Michiganders" are back which has brought a good amount of growth to the Youth Group. I'm also feeling a little less like 'the new guy'-- which means I can now find my office using two different hallways, but have no idea where a vacuum is!



Relationship Update- I still am very much in love with my wife... and she hasn't gotten any better offers recently... so we went out on our first date in Michigan: burgers at The Draft House

MIchigan Living: Summer Week 7

Lots of stuff going on this week! Let's start with the girls...










Danielle and Rebekah both got haircuts in prep for school from a cute little salon called The Bridge Street Hair Co right in downtown DeWitt, and both absolutely loved it!








Both girls also got their school schedules... Danielle will have five teachers (one primary, but four other teachers and classes her whole class will switch to). Rebekah, on the other hand, has a whole new world to figure out. She has an "A-B" schedule, which means Day 1 is an "A" day (she goes to 4 of her 8 classes), and then Day 2 is a "B" day (she goes to the other 4 of her 8 classes). And it keeps going like that until her classes change at the semester break... at least that's how I think it works. We're glad Rebekah gets to figure it out because she's way smarter than I am!



This week we (the ladies) got to visit the Potter Park Zoo. Favorite animal for all three = meerkats!




We also visited Lake Michigan-- which is something you HAVE TO DO if you live anywhere near MI. So here's the deal: when we moved from CA we were all a little bummed about leaving the beach/ocean and while MI locals talk about how Lake Michigan is just like a beach, we thought "No way!". Well, the locals were wrong. Lake Michigan is way better than the beach. Here's our normal Pismo/Refugio Beach experience: arrive at 11:30 to fog, light drizzle, and 60 degrees. Set up beach stuff and snuggle into our sweaters and beach towels to attempt to stay warm. Somewhere around 2:00 when the fog lifts because the wind is picking up we decide to go home, but notice that we all have tar on our feet AFTER we get into the vehicle and stain it into the upholstery. And did I mention that we never got in the water because it was too cold?


Compare that to our Lake Michigan experience: arrived at 11:30 to bright sun, a very slight breeze, and 78 degrees. Set up beach stuff and eat a quick picnic lunch, after which we spend an hour in the water (which is awful warm). After we begin to 'prune up' we decide to walk the beach to the lighthouse out on the peer and out feet get slightly cooked from the heat reflecting off the sand (we walk back along the water to keep our feet cool!)


After a snooze on the beach we spend another 30 minutes in the water to cool down. Around 3:30 we decide to head home (because we're hungry again!) and stop at three local farms to snack on fresh made bread, freshly picked blueberries, and some sort of hand-rolled fruit thing that tastes exactly like apple pie. You decide which sounds like the better Beach day. Oh, and did I mention that nothing is all salty-crusty because Lake Michigan is "unsalted"?

And to finish it all off, today was the DeWitt (that's the town we live in) Ox Roast. Pretty much like what you would expect with any small town fair/festival (think Flower Festival for you Lompocians) , but possibly centered about the roasting of an Ox? The big food sellers are "Elephant Ears" and 'Ox Burgers". Couldn't figure out if Ox Burgers have any Ox in them, or simply roast beef, but the Elephant Ears have no trace of elephant in them-- but a whole lot of Churro style fried goodness covered by cinnamon sugar! The two things we enjoyed most had to be Hometown Idol (local version of American Idol) and the frog jumping competition (exactly what it sounds like!). Around 2:00 we had to head home because of the weekly thunder storm (at least it feels like it rains here at least once a week- which isn't a bad thing 'cause you never have to water your lawn and everything is so green!)

Michigan Living: Summer (?) Week 6

Weather Update:
So the weather took a massive change this week. What was is in the mid-90's dropped to the mid 70's seemingly overnight. What a great break from the heat! Half of the locals say this is normal August weather while the other half say this is 'cool' for this time of year. We're choosing to believe the 'normal' side of the debate. Right now we're sitting in the front room watching the rain and lightening out the big picture window-- lot's of rain in Michigan!



Food, Food, and More Food:
Tim Horton's-- I think I've mentioned this place before, but it's earned a second mention (at least). Friday morning began with a box of TimBit's for each of the family; 10 balls of delicious, doughy, sugary goodness. Weight Watchers here I come!



Hunting Season Opens:
Hunting is pretty big here in Michigan, so in order to engage the local culture we decided to participate. Part of the hunting culture is to wisely choose the prey, so we decided to choose the National Bird; partly out of self preservation, and partly in retribution for the pain they've inflicted on us. So far we learned that the best hunting equipment is simply an open palm swiftly smashed against a hard, flat surface. And the best hunting time is early evening. Danielle's even gotten into the action wielding a pillow and screaming, "Get away from me-- I have a legal weapon!" (We are pretty sure she means a lethal weapon, but it's hard to tell with her!!!)









Post Office Update:
A few posts ago we ranted on the USPS, so it's only fair that we also mention that they SEEM to have figured out how to get both letters and boxes into our over-sized mailbox. How nice!



Next Big Adventure:
School begins in less than a month... so that entailed Back-to-School shopping. Clothes, shoes, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, erasers, lunchboxes, backpack-- holy cow we needed a lot of stuff! But while at the Meridian Mall we did see Danielle's twin!







And for you fans of The Middle, saw this sign the other day...