A busy week!

Last weekend was the 40th annual Women Today Retreat.
Our mini sessions enacting the Book of Ruth went well. We've been working on it for months, and it was good to finally do it!

This is fun- look where everyone had come from! There were hundreds of women.



The day after the conference, we celebrated my firstborn's birthday! It was a Justice League / Jellyfish party (bet that's the only time I'll experience that combo!)
The birthday girl!


Phil found decorate-able masks:


Little sister enjoyed it:


So did her cousin:


While we were at the conference, the girls made jellyfish decorations:


Grandma made the jellyfish cake!


Daddy found the marshmallow "tentacles":


We looked ALL over for Justice League toys. Wonder Woman is her favorite. Phil finally found an adult snuggie-type blanket featuring the heroine:





All I found was a Superman sticker book that included Wonder Woman a little.



There is so little available for girls who like superheroes. Disappointing. You know, if a boy liked Barbies, he could find a Ken doll. We noticed the gender disparity while Christmas shopping. She is also a Power Ranger fan- stores carried masks for the boys, but none of the girls! Grrrr!

She was looking forward to receiving a birthday crown at school on her birthday- here it is! Little things make such a big difference- thank you, thoughtful teachers!


This week, we tested her bubble gun (batteries not included!) It was super cool!








We got snow on multiple occasions. This is the last full week of April. Brrrr! These are shots of snowy bikes at the school in the morning:






Downtown is getting busier. Signs and awnings are going up:


There was an earth day concert at the school. The kindergarten and first graders did great- it was cute! (My girl is on the left with the pink headband):


It was a full week! I'm tired!

Positive and Negative

Today was a little nutty. There were positive aspects and negative, too.

Positive: the orange fencing is coming down around Mission Point property! I realize it serves a purpose (protecting the miniature golf course and flowers from snowmobiles), but it doesn't look as pretty in pictures. I am happy to see them put away! Another sign of spring!



Positive: Martha's Sweet Shop's sign went up! The return of signs is wonderful downtown!



Negative: It snowed. And it was the tiny hail-like snow. Which really hurts when blown into your face at 30mph. I missed my snowmobile helmet.



Negative: The wind blew in ice. I'm not sure whose ice it was, but it wasn't ours yesterday. It looks like we've lost progress on spring.



Negative: Today's ferry was packed, and the straits were wavier than normal. The boat did a lot of rocking back and forth. A toddler in front of us threw up on his dad. Poor kid. (I don't blame him, I was feeling nauseated myself.)



Positive: I got to attend the Women Today Retreat in Sault Ste. Marie. It's the 40th anniversary, and over 500 women are participating. This is LSSU's Anchor Room where Phil and I get to lead a breakout session tomorrow. (We've spent this winter memorizing the book of Ruth, and I'm looking forward to sharing it... I'm simultaneously nervous.)



Negative: The high winds knocked out trees. One of which landed on the swing set. We go to Phil's folks almost every weekend, so the girls play here regularly.


Positive: Phil's dad thinks it can be fixed.

Negative: Driving back from the Soo was crazy. The combination of wind and snow led to white out conditions. I wanted to take a picture, but I was alone and driving. I played it safe.
This tree fell down on the road. and Phil and his folks had to move it off the road earlier tonight.


Positive: God is good and kept us safe!

Passing Freighters

Today was rainy. My take on that is, "At least it wasn't snow!"

This post is titled "Passing Freighters" because that's what I took pictures of today. I don't take a ton of pictures in the rain.



We got to school a little ahead of schedule, and the rain had paused. So my little one climbed the boardwalk railing and watched the straits. (She really enjoys that.)





This freighter was passing in front of the school shortly after 3pm this afternoon.





There is the 3:00pm ferry!











The preschool had a family day and fundraiser for a field trip. They want to go to the Gaylord Discovery Center. It had a nice turnout! We also watched the movie The Lorax, which the kids have been reading in class. I had fun, and the kids certainly seemed to as well!


Foghorns keep sounding tonight; it's foggy out. It is a lovely sound!

Cold April

The wind chill was 25 degrees this morning. I am still wearing my winter coat, mittens, and hat. (Snowpants would have been fine too.)
My youngest loves to climb on the boardwalk railing and look. Today, she said she wanted to watch the ice. And the ducks. She often prefers this to the school playground.


The Grand Hotel got new mattresses, and I believe the former ones are heading to the Hope Chest in St. Ignace:


It's a lot of mattresses!


There are still snow banks downtown:


The fire department was busy this afternoon:


No emergency! Must be a drill of some sort, this happens every once in a while. Look at the beautiful older engine on the right!


Cool, right?


The girls played on the school playground for about an hour after school (little sister taking a couple of breaks to look at the straits)


There are flowers coming along at Mission Point Resort!


What a welcome sight!


Even though it's chilly, spring prevails!

Playing at Marquette Park

It's the middle of April and the ice on the shoreline is finally melting away!


Blue skies!


My kindergartener wanted to play at Marquette Park today. We haven't been there for months. It was cold, but the girls had fun!


She cracks me up sometimes!


This was big sister 's idea. She had an idea for a good picture and little sister was happy to follow her instructions!


A freighter passes as the last ferry of the day was loading (I could actually hear the beep of the scanner!)



Not long after, this interesting boat passed too:


Beneath the fort:


View from the Father Marquette Memorial:


View of the statue of Father Marquette:


The girls have as much fun circling the statue as they do on the playground:


Seriously, these two are so much fun! (I also earn my sleep!)


Buds with the art museum in the background! I'm ready to experience spring!