An Autumn day out.................................

Laura had to work today, Saturday......so we had Raylene and Reina with us today. Company for Tristen but to be honest, him and Reina together are wowza....she teaches him all she knows. Sigh. So what to do...........it has been a beautiful sunny and warm day, and for October we are on borrowed time.So why not shut ourselves up in the car for a few hours, yeah that's the ticket.

Off we went to Gallaghers, its the closest we could think of. A farm market and has animals. So we let them loose out back to whoop and holla and that they did.
First off Tristen loves this little farm they have set up and always goes right to it. He dives right in and plays with who ever is there.

Raylene is looking a bit out of it and I am never sure what she is thinking.........she joins in but always seems on the outside somehow.

They have a childrens maze but the kids seem to enjoy jumping from bale to bale more than working the maze.

I felt sorry for this pig, there were two of them, the other was sleeping. This one was happy, she was frisky jumping and kicking in a happy little piggy dance. So sad really...........makes me want to cry knowing her end.

Walking in the pumpkin fields

We did try for a pose but it was not to be


I went inside and got some goodies. I bought apples, a cherry crumble pie, donuts, and some squash and bread.


I love this tree, its so big.......we had left the farm market and its critters and gone to Cedar for ice cream. Last weekend they will be open. Probably open today because it was such a lovely day. Anyway while they were getting and eating those I went to the meat shop for some Brats......Polish, Cherry pecan Brats and some hot dogs. Those too are home made there. Our area is fast becoming popular after being on the Today show and others. Our secrets are out. After that we went to the park to let the kids unwind again and for us to rest our ears.





They settled down and so back to the car, well, I say they settled down......Tristen decided to have a hissy fit and would not get in his seat. Gerry was outside the car patiently trying to coax him............nah that was not working so when his bottom appeared between the two front seats I grabbed the waistband of his pants and swatted his bum. Rather a shock I suppose because the volume went up quite a bit but he got in his seat right quick. So then we headed towards the beach. Were we crazy or what........of course all the parks are closed due to the shutdown. Did not matter to us, we were going to these beaches since before they were a park....its OUR beach, its our park and by golly we were going to enjoy it. So after plying them with donuts we went on to the beach. Lovely, no wind, and sunny.


What a beautiful day, especially for October.

We did stop at another playground before heading home but I stayed in the car............enough sun for one day. Then we headed home before Laura got out of work. We cooked steaks and had the spaghetti squash and zucchini with other fresh vegetables. It was sooooo good. She came to collect the girls and had supper with us. They took home Toffee apples and 1/2 the apples I bought. Tomorrow we will have the cherry crumble Yummy.

To Hot..............

Today we had made plans for a picnic lunch and day at the beach. Off we set around 10am. We got out to the Sleeping Bear at around 11.30 and decided lunch would be first. We stopped at the picnic area and ate. Laura made sandwiches and so did I, we brought fruit and crackers and left it at that. So Laura and Reina were discussing what was in the sandwiches and Reina was arguing..........so Laura said " I made the damn sandwiches I think I know whats in them." Tristen pipes up "Nanny made damn sandwiches too"






It was nice and breezy in the picnic area and no one else around. Nice................We could see the people at the dune climb, like ants.........must be crazy in that heat. There was a weather warning for extreme heat. The temperature 94 with heat index of 101

This is where we are going.

It was like crossing the Sahara. The water was nice, I dont swim and usually that's not a problem. I just wade and look for stones. It was so hot I could feel my skin crisping.......I thought I smelled pork chops.

Laura found a cold spot

time for a swim.



no matter where she was she had two little bodies right there with her, splashing and generally annoying hehe. I went in for a paddle and same thing. Why do kids have to be right on ya?????

Along the large puddle that always collects where the water from waves get trapped, there were some sand birds. Little piping plovers I think.






We decided to retreat. We left the beach and went into Cedar for an ice cream. Picked up some world famous Cherry Polish brats and hot dogs for supper and headed home.We saw a lady turkey


She was not very cooperative.


Then a special treat. A deer and two fawn crossed in front of us. We slowed to a crawl and I got the camera ready. They too did not seem willing to pose today.


We came home to the air conditioned house and collapsed. The kids were still wound up so after a but Laura and Reina went home...............we had the brats and hot dogs for supper

I am sharing this with The dedicated house, make it pretty Monday
I am also sharing with Our World Tuesday

I am back...............

Thank you for your patience. I got back Monday from my trip but have been exhausted. The good news was that I really didn't mind the flight. I don't believe I will ever "love" it but it may be more due to all the hassle of getting around, and waiting and waiting. We had an 8 hour lay over in Chicago on the way back. Why is it that the planes always sound like they are falling apart at the seams.? I had to think about what I wanted to do on my blogs and so I think I will divide up the 7 days on here and show some of the lovely places we went. I tried to find places I had not seen before but that would interest my son Jason. We sort of worked out the itinerary prior to arrival. My aunt Liz and Rodney put us up for 5 of the 7 days and the other two we spent with my cousin Mark. The best part of the trip was spending time with them. My son Jason bought the tickets and my family paid for most of the rest of the trip, the food and the lodgings. How fortunate we are to have such loving family. Liz and Rodney met us at Gatwick after an uneventful journey. Well, maybe not uneventful but not of interest here. We went to Maeka house first. Arrival at Marks....Beth,Jason and Me Liz, Beth,, Me, Mark, Binny and Rodney Then on to Liz and Rodney to freshen up before enjoying a walk on the beach and a drive around and Dinner at the Black Rabbit. It was great to once again see families who are able to include their dogs in their daily activities like eating in a pub or restaurant. I love that. My memory is beginning to fade and so I may not get things in order. That first day was a blur because we arrived around 1pm (close) We got the tour of the house because we have not seen their new house before. Its called "Dolphin Cottage" in Ferring in West Sussex. Last trip they were living in Wiltshire. Well ......Ferring is a small town and the houses look quite new. The beach could have held my attention for quite some time. So different from our Michigan beaches. It was all pebble but among the pebbles was wonderful sea weeds of many colours. This is a view of the path along the beach. Lots of people out walking.......Took me awhile to get this picture with no one in it. I just knew I could NOT take that stuff back so no point in too much investigation. There was a lovely place on the beach that we went to for breakfast. Everywhere we went to eat we saved any left overs for a fox that came to Liz house every evening. They have a special place for the food and its always gone next day. I had the fortune to have one visitor that made me feel I was home. Here he is.........