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| October 12, 2015 |
We didn't waste much time getting to know our new city and the surrounding areas. We introduced the boys to Detroit style square pizza, and now we make it a habit to take visitors for some yummy pizza at Buddy's. The boys started school and quickly assimilated, though the change from FEMA trailers and going from one building to another for class, lunch, gym, etc in North Dakota to having it all in in one "giant" brick building was a bit overwhelming for Tucker.
We LOVE going to cider mills of which there are plenty of options here! The boys really love Yates because it's mill is powered with water from the Clinton River and there's a lovely trail to walk. Once you've tasted freshly pressed cider with absolutely zero preservatives, you'll never be satisfied with the stuff from the store!
Autumn in Michigan is fabulous. My heart would be happy if it was perpetually fall.
We also learned about Paczki Day in February, which are pastries traditional to Polish cuisine. They are basically filled donuts in delicious flavors like chocolate cream, cannoli cream, lemon, prune, apple, etc. People line up early for these at various bakeries all over metro Detroit and now that I know what the hype is about, I'll be joining them next year!
There are parks in abundance here! We love going to the park and walking around, playing Frisbee, kicking the soccer ball around, and just letting the boys play. There are two parks right near our neighborhood and the boys' favorite is Dodge Park which has miles of wooded trails and the river.
A goal of ours while we live here is to see all the Great Lakes. We took my parents to Lake Huron when they visited us in April, the boys have camped on Lake Huron twice, and we managed to stop and see Lake Michigan on our trip to Utah over the summer, and swing by Lake Erie on our way back from Utah. Three down, two to go!
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| Lake Huron at the outlet of the St. Clair River in Port Huron, Michigan |
Father/Son campout at Lakeport State Park on the shores of Lake Huron. Boys had a ball and Kev managed to snap a photo before the rain started that soaked them all, plus every single item they brought with them. Ward campout was better, no rain, plus I got to attend as well!
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| Lake Huron at Lakeport State Park |
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| Lake Michigan at New Buffalo, Michigan |
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| Lake Erie at Luna Pier |
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| Lake Huron at Lakeport State Park |
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| Lake Huron at Lakeport State Park |
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| Lake Huron at Lakeport State Park |
Of course we hit Yates again for the spring pressing. Cider mill donuts are the bomb!
Spring soccer included delightful scenery. Loving all the trees here after almost three years without much of them in ND!
After living in rural Williston, the choices of eating/shopping here were overwhelmingly enormous at first, and now we probably just take it all for granted. Dunkin Donuts before cleaning the church..
....an ice cream shop right across the street from the house (also 7-11, a Subway, a nail salon, hair salon, and a pizza joint)...it's practically a first-world heaven!
Orchards galore are just a short drive away! U-pick almost anything according to season,,,cherries, strawberries, peaches, and of course, apples!
We get a lot of rain here, and the day we got caught in a massive downpour while walking home from 7-11 made a great memory.
We love it here in Michigan. It's twice as far from family as when we lived in North Dakota, but once again, we've managed to turn it into home. We've made some really great friends. Kevin teaches the 14 year old Sunday school class at church, and I'm a nursery leader. Kyan just turned 10 and moved up to Webelos in the Cub Scouts. Tucker is 7 and losing teeth left and right, resulting in the cutest toothless smile ever. Jaxon is 5 and loving preschool and bumming around with mom on his days off. We have big plans to see the Upper Peninsula, Niagara Falls, the LDS Church history sites, and some of Canada in the next year. We've had some tough times in the past year, but also some really fantastic ones. Continuing to rely on one another has, without fail, brought us closer together as a family. Here's to the next year in Michigan!
