I got the opportunity to see my Great Aunt Margaret and 2nd cousins Alan and Linda along with 3rd cousin Allison. I would typically see them at Christmas and Easter as well as maybe one other time during the year but it's been since last summer since I've seen them. Aunt Margaret is looking very good despite her age and health concerns. We had a very nice visit.
After spending a few hours with Aunt Margaret we (Mom, Dad, Amy, and I) went on to Grand Blanc to visit with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Emma. We had a very nice visit followed by a nice dinner at Brick Street where I had some wonderful pecan encrusted salmon and smashed potatoes (I love smashed potatoes, not mashed potatoes:). On the ride to dinner I went with Aunt Emma in their 1995 Corvette. It was a nice ride, but unfortunately she couldn't gun it and show me the power it has due to the fact that Grand Blanc police have been out lately catching speeders. Oh well. Maybe next time. After dinner I got behind the wheel! I must admit I look pretty good behind the wheel of the Corvette! You can't tell, but I'm not all that comfortable. My legs are folded underneath the steering wheel. Oh yeah and my head is touching the top, now that wouldn't have been a problem if the top was down. There would be no possible way that I could drive this! Although I did enjoy pretending!In addition to spending time with my extended family I have been totally enjoying the time spent with my niece and nephew. Amy and I took Alexa and Mason to Zehnder's Splash Village for an overnight stay followed by a day at the Detroit Zoo.
Splash Village was tons of fun! Alexa loved the slides and Mason had a blast splashing, falling off the tube (no worries either Amy or I always caught him), and playing basketball in the pool. I was very proud of Alexa. She did a great job with the slides, even the big ones that were enclosed, dark, and twisty. She loved them and she loved splashing in the pool and going under when we (she couldn't go down by herself so I went with her) burst out of the tube! She did go down a few by herself, but they were kiddie slides. I did have to help her with the "yellow slide" because of the ending, for some reason she didn't like going underwater at the end of the "yellow slide" but it was ok if I was with her. Whatever. She had a blast! After splashing for a bit we went to Zehnder's for our chicken dinner. I love the chicken. It is so moist, juicy, and seasoned to perfection. The butter noodles and coleslaw are pretty good too. We survived the dinner and went for a nice relaxing carriage ride around Frankenmuth. Mason and Alexa were pretty social saying their common response ("I'm Alexa and I'm 5" "I Mason - sounds like Meson- I 2") when they were asked anything. They weren't all that interested in the ride, but they loved the horse behind us. Why you ask? The horse was white and his name was Mason! Coincidence? Unfortunately that wasn't our horse, but the kids loved looking back at him and talking to him! Our carriage ride finished and we walked to the Cheese Haus so we could get some squeaky cheese - cheese curds - for mom. Then it was time to head back to Zehnder's so we could catch the bus back to the hotel. We were all exhausted!
We woke up bright and early the following morning so we could enjoy the breakfast buffet and some more splashing! Well, we could have slept in longer, but those of you with kids know that is kind of impossible!! The 2nd day of splashing was a bit more terrifying for Mason. The Zehnder's Chicken was parading around the room and Mason didn't like him one bit. From what I understand Amy and Mason spent a lot of time trying to avoid any contact with the chicken. They eventually went up to the room (to avoid the chicken) while Alexa and I continued to enjoy the water slides.
We decided to extend our checkout time so we could get cleaned up and sort of relax before heading to Grandpa Tiny's Farm and then home. I think it was worth the extra money. It just made checkout a lot more relaxing and less stressful.
Grandpa Tiny's Farm was a waste. Alexa was bored during the guided tour and Mason just wanted to play in the sand. Alexa did get to milk a cow! I suppose the wagon ride was kind of neat, but we could have skipped the guided tour. Thing is they don't like you to just walk around the farm. Mayberry and Kensington are much better.
We took Alexa and Mason back to Grandma and Poppy's so we could go to the zoo the following day. I am pretty sure I have decided that I only want to go to the zoo on cloudy, rainy, overcast days. It was wonderful! It wasn't too hot and there were no crowds to fight. The kids could walk right up to the enclosure without having to push and shove to get a good view of the animals. The kids could run around without us having to worry about them getting in the way of the other people. It was nice! Yes, it rained for a bit, and that was nice too! But nothing too much other than when we were eating and we were undercover then so it didn't really matter. The big attraction of the day was feeding the giraffe. Both Alexa and Mason got the feed the giraffe 2 leaves. I was quite disappointed, and Alexa was too, by the fact that they only got 2 leaves each. I paid $10 for each of them to feed the giraffe and it lasted about 2 seconds. I guess it's making memories, but still. The 5 year old was disappointed and wanted more leaves. I had to buy the pictures that the guy at the zoo took because it happened so fast that I couldn't get a good picture of either of them feeding the giraffe. Not sure it will happen again, but at least I got the picture of it happening once! Exhausted again we left the zoo around 3:30 and took the kids home.
It was an exhausting, but memorable 3 days with my sister and niece and nephew. I am thankful that I was able to "borrow" them for a few days and that Amy was able to go with me.
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