The Smiths: Weekend Visitors!

Last weekend we had two, not one, but TWO visitors! My friends Morgan and Wong both came up for the weekend. Morgan and I met in NJ while I was doing my internship for AT&T and she was nannying. She lives in Muncie, IN now and is in grad school. Wong recently finished dental hygenist school in Pittsburgh. So both are about 4 1/2 hours from us, making for pefect weekend visiting. And it just so happens they could both come at the same time! Twice the fun!

Happily, the weather cooperated and we were able to get out and see some sites! I couldn't decide exactly what I wanted to do, but knew that 1) I didn't want to spend a lot of money and 2) I wanted to see something of downtown Detroit. Andrew doesn't really care about it, but I want to see something of each of the major cities we live by! I worked in both downtown San Antonio and downtown Dallas, so was able to see a lot just walking around during lunch. But I work in a suburb here in MI (thankfully!!) so besides driving to the airport, we haven't really seen much, or anything, of downtown Detroit.

So, with that in mind, I went online (plug for Bing!) and found out about Belle Isle, an island right in the middle of the Detroit River between Detroit and Canada. It's a public park and is free! (As compared to our rather pricey trip to Mackinac Island a few weeks ago....) On the website, it sounded like there were lots of fun things to do there, so we figured we'd give it a shot!

On the way, we stopped at a scout shop downtown to get Andrew a full scout uniform. He is now the Webelos leader in our ward and we decided it was time to get him an adult uniform/badges/knots/etc. I don't know all the technical names, but we've figured out that sewing all those badges on the shirt is a lot of work! And yes, we already know about the sticky stuff you can use instead, but it doesn't come off easily and with all the ward-hoping we do, some badges will have to be swapped out frequenty.

Anyway (I think this is the longest I've ever gone without a picture), after that quick stop while Eve napped in the car under the watchful care of Morgan and Wong, we drove out to Belle Isle. I wish you could here Wong pronounce it correctly with the French accent. Very beautiful :).

It being the end of October and a little chilly outside (but sunny!), there weren't many people on the island and surprisingly little to do. Let's just say it was a tad underwhelming....but we had a good time nonetheless!

Our first stop was a "nature zoo" at the far end of the island. As Morgan put it, I think they just put in a cage anything they could catch themselves on the island. We had a good laugh about it, but Eve thoroughly enjoyed herself, so what else matters?

We were greated at the entrance by a big frog!

Oh, the anticipation.....!

More frogs! But this time Eve got to touch!

Next came the bees. Now normally I am not such a fan of bees (and/or, they terrify me!). But once you got used to the idea of swarms of them, it was kind of cool to look at. Behind glass. Just as they should bee :).

I didn't take pictures of the other "exhibits" but the consisted mostly of snakes, spiders, small lizards, and slugs.

Next we were off to the park! Definitely the highlight of our time on Belle Isle!

The park was large, and spirits were high, so Wong and Morgan agreed to pose with our reptilian friends.

So maybe frogs aren't reptiles, but you get the idea.

Eve got the dinosaur by default because no one else wanted their picture on it. She didn't seem to mind! She got a little too close to it.....

And because parks are for learning and not just playing, we had a quick geography lesson. Wong showed us Canada and Eve represented Detroit. Kind of.

Eve had the time of her life at this park! Tons to play on, she got to be out of her stroller, AND she had two fun friends to play with!

The first tunnel we tried to get Eve to go through made her cry, but the second time around she got the hang of it. This is the "tunnel to Canada". Ok, not the real one, but the closest we got. We have got to get our passports!

Wong emerges! She has a passport....

And the "bridge to Canada" - making the crossing!

The slides seemed a bit long for Eve to master alone, but with help they were conquerable!

Not until we got to the end of our time at the park did I see this sign....5 years, 10 months, it's all the same....

Our final stop on the island was a quick photo shoot at the southern tip. By this time, Eve was sleeping again; or maybe we just didn't want to get her out again? I can't remember, but either way, she and I waited in the car while Andrew, Morgan, and Wong went a shootin'!

What a view! Right side = Detroit, USA; left = Windsor, Canada.

Each representing her country of birth:

On our way off the island and on to lunch, we passed downtown Detroit and I snapped this quick picture. Cool buildings!

Don't ask me why (I may have mentioned this before), but Detroit-ers have some strange fascination with Coney Island. There are Coney Island restaurants EVERYWHERE! You can hardly spit without hitting one. I think I have mentioned it because we went to one with Eric and Stuart when they were in town. We decided that would be an appropriate "Detroit" thing to do for lunch.

The food was delicious! Morgan and I both had a "coney taco" - basically a taco with chili in a hot dog bun. Who knew? I was a big fan.

Since the day was only half over (we spent less time on Belle Isle than we anticipated), we had time for something I've been wanting to do this fall: a cider mill! Or as Wong kept calling it, a "cedar mill".

There's a large and old cider mill only about 10 minutes from our house, so we settled on that one as our destination and started out on phase two of our Saturday. On the way, we passed this house. I pass this every morning on my way to work and think it is just adorable! It's been for sale since we moved here and I just love looking at it every day. I'd never actually want to live there because it's right on a busy road, but still, a treat for the eyes!

I knew cider mills were popular in Michigan, but I think we were all shocked at just how busy it was when we arrived! Parking was crazy! Tons and tons of cars and a full parking lot. But we got lucky and snagged a spot towards the front just as someone was pulling out.

So not being from this area and having never heard of a cider mill before, I'll enlighten those who are thinking, like I did, "a what?". It's exactly as it sounds. They make and sell fresh apple cider and hot donuts (apparently the two MUST go together). There's a lot of other things you can buy too, but that's the gist of it. None of us wanted cider or donuts (still full from lunch!) but didn't want to miss the experience!

Eve was doing surprisingly well for such a busy day with little time for napping.

The best part about the cider mill? Eve got to "pick", with a little help, her pumpkin for Halloween!

Just the right size! And yes, it's technically a pie pumpkin, but we're not planning on carving it anyway, so it'll do.

Wong found a pumpkin just her size too!

Our other purchase at the mill? Some freshly roasted cinnamon almonds. Yum!

I don't know if you can read the sign in the picture, but it says "pumpkins for craving". Who knew that people craved pumkins?!

Eve got to play in the pumpkin patch and it was completely futile to get a picture of her looking at the camera. Between the pumpkins and other kids to look at and the sun in her eyes, she would not look at me. Too much else to do, Mom!

Wong, however, would nicely pose in the pumpkin patch!

Eve was the only one who didn't get to try the nuts, but she enjoyed holding them for us!

Our final stop of the day was the Detroit Temple on the way home. It was erected in 1999 and is only about 10 minutes from our house.

This is not the best picture of us (with me peaking over Andrew's arm and Eve leaning backwards) but is the only one I got. Sorry.

This tree on temple grounds I promptly named the "Wong tree" because, like her, it reached a certain height (not very tall) and just stopped growing!

Another unsuccessful Eve picture. Again, the combo of sun and distractions. Don't pick the temple flowers, Eve!

Since we never ate together many times, Morgan and I didn't really have any food traditions, but Wong was happy to make suggestions! What else for dinner on Saturday except breakfast burritos? A weekly tradition from our time in Provo.

We enjoyed our food, but it wasn't quite the same without Marinda, Brittania, and Renee!

Don't worry, I'm almost done. We went to church on Sunday morning, then Morgan had to head home shortly after lunch. Wong was able to stay until Monday morning, so we had a few more hours with her.

On Sunday evening, we indulged in a Canasian feast! If ever you have Wong over, you have to take advantage of her culinary abilities!