Another day @ FMG

Here's the latest addition to our FMG collection. We have basically the same pictures, every season of the year, for the past three years! Today was about as perfect a day as can be had in Michigan on November 1st. Jayden and I are making or 7th our 8th trip of the year to Frederick Meijer Gardens. We're getting the most out of our membership! Funny how certain little things become so important. Jayden now insists on eating lunch at the cafe. He always wants to take the tram ride around the park. We have to stop at the sandpit no matter what. Even when the butterflies are no longer present, we have to go to the "butterfly place" aka the conservatory.We were outside nearly all day.It felt good. Jayden and I both got our arobics in running up and down the stairs in the ampitheater. I swear that was an hour of our day! Not to mention, Jayden has quite the pumpkin obsession and this time of year there are many to be found on the grounds here.He always wants to get his picture made with each pumpkin he encounters! He also loves to come around Halloween because of the spooky decorations they put up in the garden. Now the Great Lakes model is all sealed up and the fountains are turned off. By a stroke of good fortune, there were still some toys, trucks and shovels to use at the sandpit and dishes for the tea table in "the jungle". Jayden got to see the fish he loves so much in the pond near the entry and the ducks in the lower pond. The water was still turned on in the "circle thing" so that provided at least one opportunity to get wet! At the end of the day, there's one more stop at the cafe to get an ice cream treat. A quick look in the gift shop. Off we go towards home, just before 5pm closing time. Home to eat dinner and play games, watch a movie, before bathtime, prayers, and naps.So many traditions!I know those are the things children remember most from childhood.Tomorrow morning will come early~6 am~and we will be off for another tradition...breakfast at the Windmill before heading to school.

Howdy, Pilgrim

No, not trying to imitate John Wayne~just showing a couple photos from work today. I decided to be a Pilgrim this year, inspired by my Pilgrimage last weekend...cleaver, huh?? Now I'm all set for Thanksgiving, too. Next year I can change it up a little and be a nun. Anybody know a handsome priest? Anyway, we had fun today and I'm sure you can view all the giddy-ups from Body Perfections on our facebook website. We had an angel/devil(Lisa), two cowgirls (Lindsey and Brooke), two faeries (Rae and Miranda)and a bathrobe beauty with curlers in her hair(Kari). Just thought I'd share... you're never too old to dress up for Halloween!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! HAVE FUN~BE SAFE!!

PILGRIMAGE

Getting there is half the fun??? By the time I left for my Pilgrimage, I felt like I had run a marathon!! Nothing went right~especially Mapquest~SHOCKER!!I was late for the rendezvous. The force was definitely not with me!I had a flashlight that didn't work, couldn't find the rain poncho, bedding was still damp because Tyler forgot to put it in the drier...I could go on and on! Whenever we make big commitments in our lives,it seems that big obstacles pop up to test our resolve! Such was the case with me and Pilgrimage.Still, I had the sense of being called and I knew deep down that it was meant to be for me to experience this thing called Pilgrimage. But what the world is Pilgrimage anyway??? Nobody was telling...Some sort of spiritual journey I was sure. But what were they going to do there? Especially without cellphones, laptops, and FACEBOOK!!! I wondered if it was an Amway ploy? A secret society like The Skulls? Worse yet..some kind of cult. Hmmmm. Hey, wait a minute, Kathy Bruins invited me. I'm sure she's not into anything weird.She looks innocent enough. Anyway, the Presbyterian church has some affiliation with this. When was the last time you ever heard of a bunch of Presbyterians running amuck, losing control, and going wild?? NEVER! Yeah, I'm sure it's probably ok. What's the worst thing that can happen? Go ahead, live dangerously, take a risk, right? So, I went.
You know me, I'm the one with the "I'm blogging this" T-shirt. It was my intention to write a tell-all, complete with pictures, describing in extensive detail everything I did and experienced on my Pilgrimage. In retrospect, I have decided not to do that. Why? Because Pilgrimage was a very unique, life-altering, God-finding, soul-searching event and, looking back, I understand why my friend did not want to tell me about Pilgrimage. She wanted me to have my own experience, uninfluenced by the input of others.There are people in my life that I hope will make this journey themselves and I do not wish to diminish the experiences of any future Pilgrims in any way. In fact, I believe that Pilgrimage should be on everyone's Bucket List~a once-in-a-lifetime must!
So, I apologize to those I promised to enlighten upon my return...
There are a few things I can say about Pilgrimage, however:

*Presbyterians are a lot more fun than I had ever imagined!
*The dining experience was very colorful, shall we say...roosters were crowing, hens clucking, chicks peeping!
*The first night I thought I had morphed into a nun.
*The second day I was channeling Picasso, Rembrandt,Leonardo Da Vinci, or maybe someone more on the order of Andy Warhol :)
*The third day I could have been mistaken for a cast member from Saturday Night Live!
*The fourth day everyone turned into a ROCK star!
*For some reason, the number 22 keeps popping into my head (inside joke!)

Lana Mae Baker gives Pilgrimage a 5-star rating and 2 thumbs waaaay UP!!

THE LORD IS MY ROCK! Psalms 18:2

Ponderings

This slideshow is basackwards because I couldn't figure how to re-order the pictures in the web album after it was uploaded.A Benjamin Button kinda concept! Please keep in mind that this pond is not finished...and probably will not be until the good weather comes again in Spring/Summer of 2010. Just consider this a work-in-process:

Granny's Groovewalk

Jayden and I have our own version of the Groovewalk and here it is:


After a frustrating attempt to attend the Kids Hope Prayer Walk...which turned out not to be a walk, which I was counting on to work the wiggles out of my little wiggle bug...Jayden isn't big on a lot of talking and no activity. So, Barb graciously excused us from the rest of the meeting and we spent a surprisingly entertaining afternoon walking downtown in Holland. Not very busy downtown this crisp Fall Sunday afternoon. Only a select few have acquired this taste...But we had fun noticing all the pumpkins downtown and drooling over the candy at the Peanut Store and Kilwins. We scoped out all the toys at the Sandcastle. We even peeked in the window at the Windmill where we will have breakfast in the morning before school. Most of the businesses were closed but we enjoyed the water fountains and all the sculptures that Jayden likes to pose with. We encountered a mix of Fall and harvest themed decorations and Halloween ones. We saw the occaisional dog out walking his owner. We shuffled our feet through several big piles of leaves. Stopped for a drink out of the drinking fountain at City Flats Hotel. Then made our way back to the water fountain where we parked our car. A quick trip to McDonald's for some Chicken Nuggets. Then home to check out the inside of the barn -just to make sure nothing has changed since last week! Jay taks a little sit on top of the hay bales in the pasture. We let Gunther and Patches run, before settling back inside for our usual viewing of Cars before bath and prayers and naps. We like our version of the Groovewalk just fine :)

Honey Crisp Express

Yet another trip to Crane's...Somehow this never gets old! We had a wonderful lunch at the Pie Pantry and then out into the orchard to pick our favorite apples...Honey Crisps, of course! So sweet and delish~Bombdiggity!



We picked up some apple cider doughnuts to go, along with an apple pie that was still warm from the oven and some apple butter and raspberry jam, along with a gallon of their apple cider. That should hold us for awhile...but not too long~it will soon be Halloween time and time to go through the Haunted Corn Maze! What would we do around here without Crane's?? It just would not be the same!

Labor Day 2009: All Play and No Work!

After extensive physical training, exhaustion, and near-fainting, I am proud to say that I made it ALL the way-all .19K- of the 11th Annual Blue Star Bridge Walk between Douglas and Saugatuck! Took all of about 5 minutes! The event began with the town crier announcing the bridge walk officially open. He was followed by a cadre that included the mayors of both Saugatuck and Douglas, two bagpipers, and congressman Pete Hoekstra. I would say there were at least 500 of us walking, double that if you count all the dogs! I had my reversible sign: Saugatuck or bust/Douglas or bust...there was one guy on a pogo stick...and then an entire line of people with toilet plungers(???).It was quite an experience! Of course, Kim and I just had to get the official T-shirts. We stopped at the doughnut and ice cream breakfast in the park afterwards as well. Next stop was Crane's Orchard. This marks the first weekend of apple picking. Since we were meeting Rachel and Carol for lunch at the Pie Pantry, then off to Detroit to the IKEA, we didn't want to pick a lot of apples~just enough to snack on during the trip. So, Gala's, Golden Supremes, and MacIntoshes were the ones ready now and we picked a few of each. We had lunch with Carol and Rachel Nykerk at noon and it was yummy as usual.Great conversation and wonderful to catch up again with both those gals~don't think I've seen Rach and Carol since our trip to Oregon in May/June. Our delicious lunch gave us the sustenance we needed for our roadtrip to Detroit Rock City IKEA. Kim had never been to an IKEA and I have only gone several times...with men..who have no patience for shopping, I might add! Never have I gone and been able to look at my leisure. So, we both shopped until our heart's content. We looked at EVERYTHING! There's enough stuff there to just make your head swim!We got a lot of great ideas and bought a few small kitchen gadgets and closet organizing supplies. Tired but happy, we stopped at Chili's for a very nice dinner and then home in the rainstorm. Our Labor Day was all play and no work~as it should be!Tomorrow is back to reality but, on the bright side,a short work week.