Michigan Highlights

When we returned from Michigan almost two weeks ago, we had my brother in tow.  (Actually, to be clear, my brother came to Montreal with us in tow, since he drove us back here in his car.)  We went to a few Montreal attractions (like the Botanical Gardens and Orange Julep), saw Batman (sans my girls), went to a Wordpress conference, and hung out.  I put him to work installing things and assembling things (and walking to the store to buy coffee, and so on) so much that I took to calling him Uncle Jeeves.  He left today, and I'm fairly certain he's ready for a big break from his tenure as Uncle Jeeves (UncJeeves for short...)

I don't think I took a single photo while he was here, but I want to do a little highlight post of our Michigan trip before autumn is upon us and I've moved on to other things.

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EPISODE ONE: MAKER FAIRE DETROIT

Have you ever been to a Maker Faire?  We went to the one in Detroit at the end of July.  That was one of my favorite parts of our trip.  I highly recommend going if you find one in your area.

.We played instruments made from recycling:

We saw things like the BBQ bike.  Yes, there is a coal barbecue attached to this guy's bike.  Yes, this guy is awesome:

Ninna did some old-timey chores like shucking and grinding corn--all while wearing my 1982 Little House on the Prairie-style dress:

My girls absolutely loved riding these clown bikes at the circus exhibit:

Ninna, ever the handcrafter, did small and large scale weaving, spun yarn, made buttons, and more.

We rode this crazy six person bike, and at the risk of sounding like an enormous dork, I'm going to tell you that it was so much fun:

The girls climbed up a few rungs of this 32 foot high climbing structure, complete with a net and pillows at the top for hanging out.  If you look closely, you can see a couple of adults sitting up in the net:

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EPISODE TWO: CIRCUS PARTY

Almost all of my high school best friends got together this summer (with the exception of one friend who was 39 weeks pregnant at the time of our gathering!)   We live in two countries, four states/provinces, and five cities, spanning a distance of thousands of miles.  This was the first time in ten years that this combination of us made it back to Michigan at the same time.  We decided to mark the occasion with a circus-themed party at the lake with our kids.

The hooper among us provided the entertainment.  Check out her site.  She's seriously amazing.  She performed her kid-focused comedy hoop routine:

Two hoops and juggling:

Thanks to pinterest, scrap wood from my parents' garage, scrap fabric from my mom's stash, and my dad (who did 90% of the work), we put together a portable photo booth for the party:

I love that Ninna wore this mask upside down, like a beard:

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EPISODE THREE:  A DAY IN DETROIT

We all know Detroit is a mess, but what a lot of people don't know is that there is still a ton of cool stuff to do in Detroit.  The chicks and I spent the day there with one of my brothers as a tour guide, but I could have easily returned for a couple more days; my to-see and do list is long.

We stopped in at the Guardian Building, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.  

We took the kids on the People Mover, Detroit's elevated train that, like many other Detroit projects, was left unfinished.  Still, it was an adventure for two girls who are accustomed to an underground train.  They thought we were going to fall off.

The highlight of the day, for me, was a visit to the Heidelberg Project.  There's a lot out there to read about this longstanding (and ongoing) project.  A quick explanation is that for almost thirty years, artist Tyree Guyton has been creating public art on and near Heidelberg Street in Detroit.  These outdoor art installations use both abandoned and inhabited homes and found objects and serve, in part, to draw attention to and transform urban blight.  Walking down Heidelberg Street is like entering a parallel universe.

Ninna signs her name to a house whose owner was offering its exterior as a temporary art project to earn money to have it painted and repaired:

Can you find my chickadees?

This was one of my favorite pieces:

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EPISODE FOUR: UP NORTH

"Up North," for the uninitiated, is where Michiganders go for fun in the summer.  It includes the upper half of the lower peninsula and the entire upper peninsula (or the U.P., as we call it.)  My previously mentioned hooper friend's parents moved up north a few years ago, and they very generously hosted everyone for three days of northern Michigan fun.

Bojey, after catching her first fish:

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EPISODE FIVE: THE LAST FEW DAYS

Ninna learned to play Sorry.  She was proud to get all of her guys home:

And look--she did this!  Even though she didn't make it to the top, I was very proud of her.  I know she had to leave her comfort zone to do this:

I believe I've now broken the rule on how many photos will actually be viewed in a blog post (by about 15), so I shall end.  

And you?  What were the highlights of your summer travels?