Henry Ford and Greenfield

One of our top items on our summer to do list was visit the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village.

We were able to share this trip with the Romans.

Nathan and I both have visited the museum and village as kids, and once for our anniversary.

Jane took a quiz what kind of car are you?

She came up with the the Commuta:

This was built as a result of the 70's oil crisis.

Elliot liked making paper airplanes at the Wright Brother's section. They have some of the original material used from the first plane in flight along with the recreation of the plane.

The collection at the Henry Ford is extensive, including the chair Lincoln was shot in, Rosa Park's bus, and Presidential cars.  It could also be called the Thomas Edison museum with all of the information and artifacts it contains of the inventor. We didn't get a chance to see it, but they even have Edison's last breath. 

Dad and Elliot constructing their car ideas.
I didn't quite get Nathan in the shot, photography 101, don't cut-off people's heads.

 The Dymaxian house.  The link gives all the information about it. A round shaped home that uses, what at the time were considered modern innovations. A family did live in the house for 20 years, adding onto it over the years.

This section of the museum had scenes from different eras. Jane and Elliot sitting in front of the radio, like kids in the 1940's might have done.

The kids got their own models made of the Wienermobile.

Greenfield Village

The highlights for the girls was going to school.

We experienced what school life was like in 1867. 
Boys and girls sat on separate sides of the room. 
 The teacher asked real questions and you had to stand up and give your name.  The Roman girls and Jane answered everything right.  She prodded answers from the adults and I gave the capital of Pennsylvania and then I was asked to spell it,  I didn't think that was quite fair, but thankfully I got it right.

Laura Ingalls Wilder told about her life on the prairie right before she became a teacher.

Old fashion games

Emma was quite good at the stilts

There was a baseball game that was played according to the rules in the 1800's.

I don't think Addidas was standard issue in the 1800's.

Events were being held to commemorate the 200 anniversary of the war of 1812.  

The kids joined the army. They first had to enlist, then go see the doctor. One of his questions was if you ever had small-pox. 
Then they marched, it was quite warm that day and it was a bit of work for the kids to learn how to hold their weapons and march.

Jane's occupation-actress,
Moriah's-artist

We got a visit from the Krohns.  They then joined us on Sunday afternoon at the village.

 I am glad we were able to share this  special trip,with great family and friends.

Rasberry Picking

Our successful blueberry -picking trip encouraged us to go out once more and pick some local produce.

This time it was raspberries.

We brought along our berry picking partner, Benjamin.

I  liked when he spotted Nathan across the row of berries he was picking and said:

"Oh there is uncle Nathan" the kid is super cute and how he expresses himself is too adorable.

 There were a lot of bees, but they seemed quite content to just buzz around the plants and leave us alone the entire time. We managed to gather around  six pounds. I also bought some rhubarb in the store at the front of the farm.

This isn't going to win any food photo contest, but it did taste pretty good.  Not only did it include the raspberries but also some of the blueberries from our last trip and the rhubarb I bought at the farm.  

Camping with Friends

In both our busy summer schedules we managed to find an opening for a camping trip with our friends, the Potrafka's.  Nichols Lake is located near Baldwin. Nathan had discovered it on one of his overnight biking/ camp trips.
It has been an unusually warm summer here in Michigan with temperatures in high 90's and even 100's. This has meant for warmer nights.  The forecast had called for  an overnight low in the 50's on the day we headed out. I am preparing myself for the cold temperatures yet to come, so although I was glad the forecast wasn't going to be scorching hot, I was apprehensive about that cold night.

This was our first official overnight camping trip as a family. Our tent and air mattresses were fresh out of the box. We own a Coleman instant tent and it really took Nathan only about two minutes to put it  up.

The Potrafkas live in Traverse City so we don't get to see them very often. Terrie-who is not pictured at her request of it being her second day of "roughing" it.  Went to High School with my brother-n-law Shane. She was explaining how she has been friends with all the Sweeneys at some point. First Shane, then the girls (my two sister-n-laws) and now she sees me and Nathan the most.
When I first met Josh and Terrie at church, they were just engaged to be married.

One of Terrie's funny stories was about her dentist trying to convince of teeth whitening.
He was explaining all the benefits and what a difference it makes. He even said - well if you were my wife. I would want it done.  Her reply- my husband is a plumber.
Then the dentist proceeded to say he likes showing everyone the difference. He had whitened the top teeth and not the bottom.

Their first born is Aaron he is 10. Elliot likes hanging out with older boys, so it was really nice Aaron included him in all his critter and bug finding excursions.
Elaina was born in October 2009 so she is just shy of one month younger than Jane.  They were like peas in a pod.

The girls were so proud of their new found frog. They were telling us how it didn't jump off the bike as they rode around the campground.  Nathan witnessed it falling off and lying flat on its back motionless.  The kids called it Likesee the parents nicknamed it deadsee.
It was eventually released back into the wild, we hope it revived.

Lots of toads were found during the trip, so were salamanders, a  praying mantis and its lunch a dead spider.

The lake was pretty and quiet. It would have been fun to take a kayak or a boat out.

What did I learn from my first camping trip?  Nathan's sleeping bag is really warm, that 50 degree weather didn't even bother me.  The downside was that it was so warm, I didn't want to crawl out of it in the morning.

What to bring was my biggest issue.  According to Nathan I must not have stressed out, because I packed everything.
We had three backpacks, I hardly call that everything.
I did however over pack food. Terrie ended up cooking a great dinner and breakfast so we didn't need as much, but I think next time even if we go by ourselves I will keep it simpler.

Camping might be more fun with other people around. I don't think the kids would have enjoyed themselves as much with just mom and dad.

The experience was pleasant enough for me to honestly say I look forward to doing it again next summer.