Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The Detroit Zoo
We loved the Houston Zoo and visited it many times over our stay in Houston. It always guaranteed a fun time and was a favorite spring and fall outing with friends. Last week we were excited to take a day to visit the Detroit Zoo. We looked forward to a new adventure and exploring the park. It was a beautiful day and we spent the better part of it enjoying all the exhibits. The Detriot Zoo was not as large as Houston, but it was just the right size to get out and enjoy a few hours of outdoor fun. We also visited their education center where we watched the 4-D Rio experience and also the Journey to the Center of the Earth simulator. The simulator was a first for Brenna. The main event was a heated chased onboard a giant bumble bee. She was a little scared and hid underneath her jacket for the first few moments before her curiosity got the better of her and she joined in the chase. It was a great day and only made me appreciate more the wonderful weather here for this season. Here's some pictures from our day.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Bluewater Bridge
My Mom and Dad came up for their first visit to Canada over Brenna's birthday. We didn't get to do anything big, but we all enjoyed seeing some of the sights in our fair town of Sarnia. We took a scenic drive through downtown Sarnia on the waterfront of the St. Clair River. We stopped off at a few of the beaches of Lake Huron, and we visited the Bluewater Bridge.
The Bluewater Bridge is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada. The first bridge was originally built in 1938, with the second twin bridge following in 1997 after it was determined that crossing had become so busy that it surpassed its capacity. The sight from the peak of the bridge is beautiful. From that high of a vantage point you get a clear view of Lake Huron opening into the mouth of the St. Clair River. On our first visit to Sarnia, Lake Huron was a complete frozen plain of ice and I watched as chunks of the ice would break away and float down the winding river. Ice breakers are frequent to clear the path for freight ships making their way across Lake Huron and down the river. During the summer the water is a beautiful blue in both the lake and river. A far cry from the muddy Mississippi River that I'm so familiar with. You can see the lighthouse on the Michigan side and sandy beaches that stretch up the Canadian side. If you travel the bridge often enough, you're sure to get a lengthy look, as its a common occurrence for the border crossing to get backed up and cars get stuck on the bridge.
Beneath the bridge on the Canadian side is a park that hosts a french fry truck. It's a popular tourist attraction to walk under the Bluewater Bridge enjoying the best french fries in town. And yes, they come with gravy, although I still prefer my fries without it!
We walked the park trail beside the bridge and eventually made our way down the river bank. We watched boats, freight ships, jet skies, and even people in tubes float by beneath the bridge. We also watched daredevil teenagers cross the railing of the observation deck at the base of the bridge and make the 20 foot drop into the freezing river water.
The Bluewater Bridge is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada. The first bridge was originally built in 1938, with the second twin bridge following in 1997 after it was determined that crossing had become so busy that it surpassed its capacity. The sight from the peak of the bridge is beautiful. From that high of a vantage point you get a clear view of Lake Huron opening into the mouth of the St. Clair River. On our first visit to Sarnia, Lake Huron was a complete frozen plain of ice and I watched as chunks of the ice would break away and float down the winding river. Ice breakers are frequent to clear the path for freight ships making their way across Lake Huron and down the river. During the summer the water is a beautiful blue in both the lake and river. A far cry from the muddy Mississippi River that I'm so familiar with. You can see the lighthouse on the Michigan side and sandy beaches that stretch up the Canadian side. If you travel the bridge often enough, you're sure to get a lengthy look, as its a common occurrence for the border crossing to get backed up and cars get stuck on the bridge.
Beneath the bridge on the Canadian side is a park that hosts a french fry truck. It's a popular tourist attraction to walk under the Bluewater Bridge enjoying the best french fries in town. And yes, they come with gravy, although I still prefer my fries without it!
We walked the park trail beside the bridge and eventually made our way down the river bank. We watched boats, freight ships, jet skies, and even people in tubes float by beneath the bridge. We also watched daredevil teenagers cross the railing of the observation deck at the base of the bridge and make the 20 foot drop into the freezing river water.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Brenna's 7th Birthday
Time goes by so quickly. Especially now that Brenna is in school and a part of so many activities. It feels like the years are zooming by as we move from one season's activities to the next. This year it was hard to believe that it was already time for another birthday. The year has been a whirl wind of experiences that have blessed, enhanced, and changed her life!
At 7 years old Brenna has a sweet nature and is very outgoing. She's not shy and I would say she handled the adjustment to our new home and surroundings better than any of us. She loves making friends! She's smart and sharp and excels at school! Sometimes I worry that her need to build things from scraps of paper and cardboard, combined with her knack for mathematics (which she proclaims as her favorite subject) will lead her to be an engineer. I have mixed feelings about that! She's stubborn and strong willed which will serve her well in some aspects of life but it has already lead to frustrations in others. She can't be still or quiet for more than 3 minutes. It's simply impossible! The energy just bursts out of her. She's managed to harness some of this energy through sports. She loves soccer, basketball, and tennis. She's proven herself to be a strong athlete and competitor! She's amazingly beautiful with a perfect complexion, dark brown eyes, and an infectious smile. She has gorgeous thick dark brown hair which is always in tangles and pulled back in a pony tail, because she refuses to waste any time fixing it. She never worries about what to wear and only ever grabs the shorts and t-shirt at the top of the stack. Watching her grow and develop physically, emotionally, and spiritually has been a blessed journey! Another year rolls by and I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.
This year there was no hesitation in the selection of her theme. She was set on a Frozen birthday. That was a relief for me, since I knew I could purchase most of the decorations, rather than make them. One exception is the invitations. Every year I've made Brenna's birthday invitations. As she got older, she enjoyed picking out her background. This year was no different. After lots of looking, this was what she picked and I added the details.
At 7 years old Brenna has a sweet nature and is very outgoing. She's not shy and I would say she handled the adjustment to our new home and surroundings better than any of us. She loves making friends! She's smart and sharp and excels at school! Sometimes I worry that her need to build things from scraps of paper and cardboard, combined with her knack for mathematics (which she proclaims as her favorite subject) will lead her to be an engineer. I have mixed feelings about that! She's stubborn and strong willed which will serve her well in some aspects of life but it has already lead to frustrations in others. She can't be still or quiet for more than 3 minutes. It's simply impossible! The energy just bursts out of her. She's managed to harness some of this energy through sports. She loves soccer, basketball, and tennis. She's proven herself to be a strong athlete and competitor! She's amazingly beautiful with a perfect complexion, dark brown eyes, and an infectious smile. She has gorgeous thick dark brown hair which is always in tangles and pulled back in a pony tail, because she refuses to waste any time fixing it. She never worries about what to wear and only ever grabs the shorts and t-shirt at the top of the stack. Watching her grow and develop physically, emotionally, and spiritually has been a blessed journey! Another year rolls by and I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.
This year there was no hesitation in the selection of her theme. She was set on a Frozen birthday. That was a relief for me, since I knew I could purchase most of the decorations, rather than make them. One exception is the invitations. Every year I've made Brenna's birthday invitations. As she got older, she enjoyed picking out her background. This year was no different. After lots of looking, this was what she picked and I added the details.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Mom and Me Day at Lake Huron
Last year we had our first official Mom and Me Day. You can check it out here Mom and Me Day 2013. We had so much fun that I decided to make it a tradition each year just before Brenna's birthday.
This year, what better way to spend it than at Brenna's favorite place; the beach! So we packed a beach blanket and picnic basket and headed out to Lake Huron that morning. This was our first real visit to the beach since we moved to Canada. We've stopped by several times for a quick walk through the waters but never for a full day of fun in the sun. It was a perfect day with the sun shining bright and clear skies, but a bit cool for us. That didn't stop us! We just put jackets on over our swimsuits! Once we got there and got everything situated, it quickly warmed up to about 72 degrees, which still isn't exactly our typical beach weather but it was warm enough to shed our jackets.
We had the whole beach to ourselves! It was just us and a goose who stuck with us the entire day! The lake is gorgeous in the summer with beautiful sparkling blue green water against vibrant clear blue skies. The shore is lined with lush green trees and grass. It was beautiful when I saw it for the first time in early March frozen over and completely covered in snow like a massive plain of white for as far as I could see. I never could have imagined then that it would become so alive and beautiful in a totally different way just a few short months later.
This year, what better way to spend it than at Brenna's favorite place; the beach! So we packed a beach blanket and picnic basket and headed out to Lake Huron that morning. This was our first real visit to the beach since we moved to Canada. We've stopped by several times for a quick walk through the waters but never for a full day of fun in the sun. It was a perfect day with the sun shining bright and clear skies, but a bit cool for us. That didn't stop us! We just put jackets on over our swimsuits! Once we got there and got everything situated, it quickly warmed up to about 72 degrees, which still isn't exactly our typical beach weather but it was warm enough to shed our jackets.
We had the whole beach to ourselves! It was just us and a goose who stuck with us the entire day! The lake is gorgeous in the summer with beautiful sparkling blue green water against vibrant clear blue skies. The shore is lined with lush green trees and grass. It was beautiful when I saw it for the first time in early March frozen over and completely covered in snow like a massive plain of white for as far as I could see. I never could have imagined then that it would become so alive and beautiful in a totally different way just a few short months later.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Bahamas Cruise Vacation
Each year following our vacation, I almost immediately start scouting/planning/anticipating the next one. Planning a vacation is one of my most favorite things to do. I love to travel! There has been one particular vacation that I've had on the horizon for the last several years, a Bahamas cruise. I've cruised the Bahamas before, as a kid, but its was years ago and long before Atlantis was built. Since Jacob and I have been married I've always wanted to go back, especially to see Atlantis. But for one reason or another, that particular trip always lost out to others through the years.
Last year our last-minute whirl-wind cruise to Bermuda was the first time we had ever departed from New York. After getting back I immediately began scouting itineraries and started to consider the possibility of a Bahamas cruise from New York. The idea was quickly dismissed after bringing it up to Jacob and he adamantly said he did not want to repeat another weary travel day to New York. The journey to New York was cumbersome to say the least. It was probably one of the worst travel days we've experienced as a family. The day went something like this. Get up at the crack of dawn, drive to the airport. Park offsite and wait for a shuttle bus to drive you to the terminal. Then face the usual joys of check-in and security and wait to board the plane for the nearly 4-hour flight from Houston to New York. After arriving in New York we had to catch a air train to baggage claim to wait for our luggage, then catch another air train to the transportation hub where we had to wait for our hotel's shuttle bus. Once the shuttled arrived, we had to wait for it to fill before it departed. A half hour later the shuttle bus dumped us off at the hotel. By the time we made it to our room (nearly 10 hours after we started our journey) we were tired, dirty, and not in a "vacation" kinda mood! The next morning we where up early to pack up again and wait for the car service I had arranged to take of to the cruise terminal. Just to recap….catch a bus, to catch a plane, to catch a train, to catch a bus, to catch a car, to catch a boat! Even I had to admit it wasn't something I wanted to do again and despite the best of plans there was no way to improve the journey. So we scrapped the idea.
Fast-forward six months later and we got the word that a move was in our future, so we put a pin in vacation planning. Fast forward three more months and we were on our way to Canada……very, very cold Canada! After only a week in Canada I thought it was necessary to know positively that warmth and sunshine was waiting for me somewhere, so we again began to plan our summer vacation. And suddenly, guess what the closest cruise port to us was now! New York! Bahamas, here we come! We booked a 7-day cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Gem.
With last years weary journey still on my mind, we made the decision to fly into NY the day of our cruise departure rather than a day early, like we usually do. This is always a risk, since so many things can go wrong when you think about border crossings, air travel, and NY traffic. In an effort to try and build in a back-up plan, we booked an early morning flight out of Detroit to NY with the hopes that if we were delayed there were a number of other flight departures that would still get us there in time. As the vacation approached I decided rather than another early morning wake-up to leave for the airport (which is only about an hour away, not much different than our drive across Houston to get to Bush), we would start the vacation a day early and travel to Detroit to spend the night at the Westin located in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. This turned out to be a fantastic idea for a number of reasons. 1. This eliminated the pressure and rush of early morning travel that first day. Last years experience told me not to start my vacation off tired and stressed out. 2. That Friday was July 4th! While I am enjoying living in Canada, at times I also feel very aware of the fact that I am an immigrant in a foreign land. Something about the idea of being in the United States for Independence Day made me happy! 3. The hotel was fantastic, beautiful, and convenient. This is not our first stay at an airport hotel, but it is the first hotel that was actually inside the airport. I had my concerns initially, but being a Westin Hotel, it lived up to its name.
When we moved, one perk was the idea that I wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes in Ontario, Canada. How wrong I was when Hurricane Arthur made an early season appearance the week ahead of vacation, traveling up the east coast and ruining the cruise ahead of ours. The ship was forced to skip a port and leave the Bahamas a day early in an attempt to out run the storm. We tracked the storm closely with concerns that it could possibly cause a change in travel plans or at the least some rough seas for departure. This all made for a tense week, but fortunate for us, he moved quickly up the coast and through northeast Canada before we ever left for Detroit.
So, Jacob took a half day of vacation that Friday and by the time he got home, Brenna and I had everything packed up and ready to go! It was a quick and easy drive to Detroit without any issues at the border. After picking up some much desired Popeyes for Brenna we pulled up to the curbside hotel valet who quickly unloaded all our luggage. The hotel offers a special to Canadian residents that allows valet airport parking for the duration of your travel. So no worries of parking spaces or shuttle buses! We walked into the beautiful atrium and Jacob checked us in as Brenna and I admired the fountains and 30 foot bamboo garden.
We had a wonderful time during our short stay at the hotel. Brenna chatted with the lady at the front desk and she assured Brenna that she a had special room for her. We were on the top floor and center of the building. Upon entering the room, I understood what the desk woman had meant. While the room was nice and clean, the stunning thing was the view. We had panoramic view of the McNamara Terminal. I'm not much of a plane enthusiastic, other than the desire the fly verses car travel for anything more than a 3 hour drive, but even I found it very interesting to have a birds eye view of the workings of the airport. When the closest 757 backed out for departure we were so close that we could see the pilot and co-pilot inside the cockpit.
Last year our last-minute whirl-wind cruise to Bermuda was the first time we had ever departed from New York. After getting back I immediately began scouting itineraries and started to consider the possibility of a Bahamas cruise from New York. The idea was quickly dismissed after bringing it up to Jacob and he adamantly said he did not want to repeat another weary travel day to New York. The journey to New York was cumbersome to say the least. It was probably one of the worst travel days we've experienced as a family. The day went something like this. Get up at the crack of dawn, drive to the airport. Park offsite and wait for a shuttle bus to drive you to the terminal. Then face the usual joys of check-in and security and wait to board the plane for the nearly 4-hour flight from Houston to New York. After arriving in New York we had to catch a air train to baggage claim to wait for our luggage, then catch another air train to the transportation hub where we had to wait for our hotel's shuttle bus. Once the shuttled arrived, we had to wait for it to fill before it departed. A half hour later the shuttle bus dumped us off at the hotel. By the time we made it to our room (nearly 10 hours after we started our journey) we were tired, dirty, and not in a "vacation" kinda mood! The next morning we where up early to pack up again and wait for the car service I had arranged to take of to the cruise terminal. Just to recap….catch a bus, to catch a plane, to catch a train, to catch a bus, to catch a car, to catch a boat! Even I had to admit it wasn't something I wanted to do again and despite the best of plans there was no way to improve the journey. So we scrapped the idea.
Fast-forward six months later and we got the word that a move was in our future, so we put a pin in vacation planning. Fast forward three more months and we were on our way to Canada……very, very cold Canada! After only a week in Canada I thought it was necessary to know positively that warmth and sunshine was waiting for me somewhere, so we again began to plan our summer vacation. And suddenly, guess what the closest cruise port to us was now! New York! Bahamas, here we come! We booked a 7-day cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Gem.
With last years weary journey still on my mind, we made the decision to fly into NY the day of our cruise departure rather than a day early, like we usually do. This is always a risk, since so many things can go wrong when you think about border crossings, air travel, and NY traffic. In an effort to try and build in a back-up plan, we booked an early morning flight out of Detroit to NY with the hopes that if we were delayed there were a number of other flight departures that would still get us there in time. As the vacation approached I decided rather than another early morning wake-up to leave for the airport (which is only about an hour away, not much different than our drive across Houston to get to Bush), we would start the vacation a day early and travel to Detroit to spend the night at the Westin located in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. This turned out to be a fantastic idea for a number of reasons. 1. This eliminated the pressure and rush of early morning travel that first day. Last years experience told me not to start my vacation off tired and stressed out. 2. That Friday was July 4th! While I am enjoying living in Canada, at times I also feel very aware of the fact that I am an immigrant in a foreign land. Something about the idea of being in the United States for Independence Day made me happy! 3. The hotel was fantastic, beautiful, and convenient. This is not our first stay at an airport hotel, but it is the first hotel that was actually inside the airport. I had my concerns initially, but being a Westin Hotel, it lived up to its name.
When we moved, one perk was the idea that I wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes in Ontario, Canada. How wrong I was when Hurricane Arthur made an early season appearance the week ahead of vacation, traveling up the east coast and ruining the cruise ahead of ours. The ship was forced to skip a port and leave the Bahamas a day early in an attempt to out run the storm. We tracked the storm closely with concerns that it could possibly cause a change in travel plans or at the least some rough seas for departure. This all made for a tense week, but fortunate for us, he moved quickly up the coast and through northeast Canada before we ever left for Detroit.
So, Jacob took a half day of vacation that Friday and by the time he got home, Brenna and I had everything packed up and ready to go! It was a quick and easy drive to Detroit without any issues at the border. After picking up some much desired Popeyes for Brenna we pulled up to the curbside hotel valet who quickly unloaded all our luggage. The hotel offers a special to Canadian residents that allows valet airport parking for the duration of your travel. So no worries of parking spaces or shuttle buses! We walked into the beautiful atrium and Jacob checked us in as Brenna and I admired the fountains and 30 foot bamboo garden.
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