October and Halloween fun!

 We got so caught up and busy with school and after-school sports that I was beginning to worry that we weren't going to get to do any "fun" holiday events for Halloween.  Luckily, we had one very fun fall weekend where we went to both Three Cedars Farm for a Cub Scout pack event and the Pumpkin Palooza in Downtown Plymouth in our Marvel-themed costumes.  

We went to Three Cedars Farm on a Saturday early evening before it got dark.  The popular Scout event where we get to take a hayride back to the corn maze and then make it back over to the bonfire pits for a big bonfire, s'mores, and campfire songs was one we were not going to miss!  The boys had a blast.  It was definitely cold so we only stayed about two hours, but it was the perfect amount of time to do it all.

On Sunday of that same weekend we decided to let Sean skip his flag football game so we could go to the Pumpkin Palooza.  Other than last year during the pandemic when it was a cancelled event, we haven't missed one of these since we moved to Plymouth.  And we certainly didn't want to miss it this year knowing that there's probably only a few years left of the boys wanting to participate in Halloween and costumes.  It was another chilly day so we stayed for about an hour and a half and we were able to make it to all/most of the booths participating in games and getting candy.  Janet came with us with Shelby.  It was a fun afternoon!

The boys were in the Halloween spirit and insisted we carve our pumpkins (a week early) and we didn't have the heart to tell them no.  So, after the Palooza we carved pumpkins, made pumpkin seeds, watched Hocus Pocus (in between NFL games on TV, of course), and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon.

My mom and I also enjoyed a Halloween event at St. Anne's Church in Southwest Detroit.  I usually go there every Day of the Dead on a field trip with my Spanish 3 students because they do mass in Spanish and put up a beautiful "ofrenda" every year.  But, we didn't take the field trip.  When I saw a candlelight string quartet concert being advertised at the church, I knew I needed to go.  We grabbed dinner at Los Galanes and made our way over to the church.  They did a nice program with a mix of classical Halloween pieces like Danse Macabre and songs from popular movies and TV shows.  We had a great time!

Now it felt like Halloween!  

Jana's fall visit to Michigan

Earlier in October, my good friend Jana came to visit for a long weekend from Oklahoma.  She had never been to Michigan and picked a good time of year to come with the fall colors peaking up north.  We had figured out a plan that would include some time in Plymouth at my house, a stop in Frankenmuth, and the rest of the time up north in Gladwin at my in-law's house.  She flew in Thursday night, arriving late because one of her flights took off late.  I picked her up at the airport in the rain and we came back to my house for drinks and to hang out for the rest of the evening.

Friday morning we woke up, got ready, and hit the road to Frankenmuth.  It was an hour and a half drive and we arrived in time for our lunch reservation at Zehnder's.  We enjoyed a huge chicken lunch that was delicious!  We shopped in Frankenmuth at the plaza with all the stores and then drove over to Bronner's.  I forgot how big the store is and how much time it takes to see it all, but we found some great ornaments and enjoyed our stop.  Then it was on to Gladwin in the pouring rain!  The drive was a bit dicey at one point, but we made it!

 We stopped at The Hearth, the restaurant on the lake, for dinner knowing we wouldn't want to get back in the car to go out for food.  I had a salad and Jana had some yummy looking nachos.  Then, we arrived at the lake house where Mark and Janet had already arrived.  They were staying one night before going on to a golf weekend, so we all hung out together and had some drinks, a mini-beer, and watched some playoff baseball.  It was a low-key evening.

Saturday, Mark and Janet left the house early.  Jana and I both slept in and enjoyed a lazy start to our day with hot tea, breakfast, and some time to read.  We got put together and headed out to Gladwin to go to the cider mill for donuts, cider, and some hard cider flights.  It was a cool fall day and it just seemed like a perfect day for the cider mill.  We enjoyed some hard cider and watched people go on the hayrides.  We decided we needed to move our bodies, so we went to the riverwalk in Gladwin and walked a part of it to admire the fall colors.  

We decided to head back to the house and pick up some pizza and salad for dinner from The Hearth.  We had a drink at the bar while they made our pizza to-go.  Unfortunately, the waitress completely screwed up our pizza order and we didn't realize it until we got back to the house, but we made it work.  We ate pizza, watched a Britney Spears documentary on Netflix, and then worked on a Halloween puzzle.  We decided to watch a movie later in the evening and it ended up being really good.  Before it got dark though we took another walk in the neighborhood to see the lake and the colors.

Sunday morning was another low-key start to our day.  We had leftover cider and donuts with hot tea and worked on our puzzle.  We actually finished it!  500 pieces in less than 24 hours.  I'm impressed.  We did some reading, took another walk, and got put together.  It was time to head back to Plymouth and time to take Jana to the airport.  I was sad to see our time ending, but I'm so glad Jana was able to come and visit me.  She had a flight cancellation as we were driving to the airport because of tornados in Oklahoma and Texas, so she ended up getting to stay Sunday night at my house.  We grabbed dinner at Los Tres Amigos with my boys and watched some movies Sunday night.  Monday she took an Uber to the airport and dealt with more delays, but she finally made it home!