Exploring Cranbrook Science Center

Jessica and Alex are especially scared of the T-Rex behind them

Logan is looking at a model of a T-Rex

Making dinosaur tracks in a dino maze

Jessica's putting on a dinosaur play for the kids

Dino-Races!

We saw a Mastadon. Jessica is in shock!

But she likes the softness of it's hair

Spencer liked to "Heely" around the museum, especially down the ramps.

Alex the Tortoise

Chief Jessica

The kids were in awe of this gigantic mineral rock

Spencer took a picture of the Moms

Our group with a Stegosaurus statue outside the museum.
We had a fun day!

A Visit to Greenfield Village

We've been to Greenfield Village at least 5 or 6 different times since we moved to Michigan a little over seven years ago but it's been some time since we last visited. In fact, when I told the kids we were going, they said they had never heard of "Greenfield Village". Spencer and Jessica don't remember any of our previous visits. I believe the last time we went was when I was pregnant with Logan. So, when my friend Laurel said she had a membership to Greenfield Village and could get us in for free, we thought it would be a fun adventure and decided to take her up on the offer. We went last Friday---It was a beautiful day and we had tons of fun. It was like a new experience for the kids.

Greenfield Village is directly next to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and both are some of the most popular tourist attractions in Michigan. Actually, it is said to be the largest indoor/outdoor history museum complex in the United States. Henry Ford founded these museums because of his desire to preserve items of historical significance. There are a vast array of famous homes, machinery, exhibits, and different types of Americana. The collection contains many rare exhibits including John F. Kennedy's limousine, Abraham Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theater where he was assassinated, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brother's bicycle shop, and the Rosa Parks bus.

At Greenfield Village there are nearly one hundred historical buildings that were moved from their original locations and placed in a "village" setting. The museum's intent is to show how Americans lived and worked since the founding of our country. The Village includes buildings from the 17th century to the present, many of which have costumed staff members inside who conduct period tasks like farming, sewing and cooking.

Greenfield Village also provides it's visitors with different historic rides and transporation to experience. We rode in a horse-drawn omnibus, a steam-engine locomotive, an authentic Ford Model T car, and a 1913 carousel. I think the kids really enjoyed these!

Before leaving for the day, we had some slushies and frozen custard. Spencer stayed longer with John and James to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in 3-D at the IMAX Theather there in the complex. Going to an IMAX Theater is another thing he hadn't ever remembered doing. I've taken him and Jessica (and maybe even Alex once) to several IMAX movies when they were younger. It's sad that they don't remember the fun things I've done with them while they are young. When we first moved here, we toured all over the state seeing and doing lots of fun things they'll never remember. I guess we'll just have to do all these things again! We started with Greenfield Village--Next stop, Mackinac Island ...

Here are some pictures of our visit ---

Alex and Spencer sitting on the front porch of the Harvey Firestone Family Farm. It is a working farm -- We watched as ladies cooked in the kitchen and men worked on the farm and in the fields.

Inside the Firestone Family Farmhouse

Logan in an outhouse. Glad we don't have to use these anymore!

An old wagon in the Firestone barn

Spencer, Jessica, James and Emma learning about weaving

Our group at Greenfield Village, in front of a Mill.

Alex on the Carousel

The kids picked a hat to wear in the Hat Shop.
I love Logan's face in this picture!

We fit as many people we could on this old-fashioned car ride. Alex, Logan and I took the next one---It was an actual Model T car.

Listening to street performers

Petting the horse that drove the Omnibus we rode in

Jessica was teaching us in the one-room schoolhouse

The girls on the steam-engine train

The boys on the train -- and another crazy Logan face!! Do you think he's getting tired of smiling for pictures?
(And a crazy James as well! He's doing the "Nixon" pose.)

My Little Swimmers

The kids just completed a two week swimming class at Lower Huron Metropark. They loved spending so much time at the swimming pool and as much as I loved it too, by the end of the second week I was ready to be done! We were there between 5 and 6 hours each day! Alex's swimming class was at 9:30, Spencer and Jessica's started at 10:30 and Logan's was last at 11:30. Nice to have them all in a row -- boom, boom, boom! There were several families from our ward who also took swim classes at the same time. The kids liked swimming with their friends. It made it much more fun to hang out at the pool for two whole weeks!

I packed and brought a picnic lunch every day. When swimming classes were over, we ate our lunch at a picnic table just outside the pool with our friends, the Larsens. Afterwards, we let the kids go back and swim some more. It didn't cost anything since they already had wristbands from swim class. We stayed until either the kids or I got really tired -- whichever came first. Free swim at the pool started at 12:00 and the waterslide opened at 12:30 which the kids loved, especially Alex. He went on the waterslide over and over. Logan wanted to go too but wasn't tall enough. He was thrilled to able to go on the last day though. It was the swim lesson "party day". Each swim class played games, had treats and were able to go down the waterslide. Logan's level 1 class (all between the ages of 2 - 4) went down the slide and their teacher caught them at the bottom. Logan thought that was the best thing ever! I think he also had a crush on his teacher, Lauren. He talked about her all the time and still does. He told me yesterday that he wants to give her a birthday present on her birthday. What a cutie!

We are so very tan now after two weeks at the pool, especially Jessica, except for me. Well, actually my arms and back are pretty tan but my legs are still white. They never tan very well. Oh well... I'm just glad that Spencer and Jessica have become really good swimmers. Jessica is not completely confident in her diving yet, but besides that, she is really good in all her different strokes, as is Spencer. Alex and Logan are fearless of the water. A little scary but also very relieving. I had to make sure and keep an eye on them at all times!

Right before swim lessons were over, we were told the pool would be closing for good at the end of the summer. It wasn't too surprising since it was an older pool, opening in 1958. We've come here the past two summers for swim lessons so it was a bit sad to hear but we were excited when we learned that construction had already started on a waterpark just down the road in the same park to open next summer. It'll be called "Turtle Cove" waterpark. It covers about 5-acres and will feature two waterslides, an activity pool, a lazy river, waterspray area with a water bucket being the focal point, and snack bar. I'm sure it'll cost more for swim lessons than the very affordable $20 a child at the older pool, but it'll be nice having a new and updated place to swim next summer.

Here is a photo montage of our two weeks of swim lessons --

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Weekend Trip

Joshua had meetings in South Bend, Indiana last weekend so the kids and I decided to tag along. It was only a 3 hour drive and since the hotel, gas and Joshua's meals were expensed to the company, it was a cheap trip. We left Thursday after Joshua got off work and arrived around 8:30 pm. We stayed at the "Marriot Riverfront Hotel" in the middle of downtown South Bend and right next to the St. Joseph River. Our room had a beautiful view of the river. When we arrived, it was still light outside so after checking into the hotel, we walked across the street to a nearby park and boardwalk beside the river. The kids had fun running around. The next day, Josh had meetings all morning so I took the kids to the hotel's indoor swimming pool while we waited for him to get done. We spent the rest of the day looking around South Bend.

First, we took a trolley ride to take a look at the downtown area and had lunch at one of our favorite sandwich places---"Jimmy Johns". Then we went to the Potawatomi Zoo. It was a small zoo but super cute. We loved that it allowed us to get up close and personal with a lot of the animals. The cages were right in front of us, like the lions, tigers and leopards. We've never seen them so close before in any other zoo. Some didn't even have a cage like the great grey kangaroos, emu and wallaby on the "Australian Walkabout" portion of the zoo. We were able to walk on a path right next to them, but weren't allowed to leave the path. The kangaroos stayed probably 20 feet away from us but it was still really cool to be so close with no fence between us. The hard part was keeping Logan at bay. I held his hand most of the time because you never know with my little Loggie. He is sometimes unpredictable. He wasn't happy when I told him he'd be holding my hand while on the path. He tried reasoning with me saying, "I won't go talk to the kangaroos, Mommy - I'll stay with you." I wasn't sure I wanted to make that bet!

Our favorite was the Red Panda. There were two of them climbing a tree right in front of us. We got one's attention by making silly noises and he came right up to the 4 ft. glass between us. Joshua put a long stick over the edge and he grabbed it and gnawed for a while. The kids loved it! We could've watched the pandas all day. They were fun!

On Saturday, we checked out of our hotel and went to St. Joseph, Michigan. It's a really cute, touristy town with one of Michigan's oldest lighthouses on the lakeshore. We've heard from friends that the town and beach were really fun so we thought we'd check it out on the way home. We spent several hours on the beach and took a walk out to the pier to look at the old lighthouse.

Overall, we had a fun weekend. Check out our pictures below ---

Tennis Camp

Jessica and her friend Moira Barron on the first day of tennis camp

Spencer and his friend Chandler Barron

Swing Away!

Spencer liked to show off with his tennis ball and racquet

Jessica really likes tennis

They had barbecued hot dogs on the last day of camp

Eating lunch on the lawn after camp was over

Ann Arbor Children's Hands-On Museum

The kids and I went to a children's hands-on museum in Ann Arbor last week. We had a great time together exploring the science center which was located in an old building right in the middle of the downtown. The big hit of the day was the life-sized ambulance that the kids loved to explore. They spent at least 45 minutes playing around in it. I brought a picnic lunch with us that we ate on some picnic tables outside. Afterwards, we went to a $1 movie - "Meet the Robinsons". We saw it in the spring but it was fun to see it again. Here are some pictures of our day ---

Logan liked being a fireman in the play area

Firemen in training!

Spencer and Jessica put puzzles together while Alex and Logan were putting fires out

Logan inside the ambulance

They pretended to be paramedics for a very long time. I had to drag them away!

Jessica played inside the ambulance too

A wild driver!

What a smile---He must be having fun!

Logan needs to get to the hospital quick!

Spencer on a bicycle beside a mirror showing him how his skeleton works while riding a bike.

Harry Potter Mania

Most people know we are HUGE Harry Potter fans, so with the movie and book coming out this last month, you may guess that it's been Harry Potter mania around here. The movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was rated PG13 so Joshua and I went to see it on opening night without the kids. It had a modest amount of tense and scary moments, but Spencer and Jessica were eager to see the movie too, so we took them a few days later since we figured they could probably handle it. Alex and Logan don't mind waiting until we buy it on DVD. They've done that with all the other Harry Potter movies and don't know any different. Most of the information goes over their heads anyway, but they enjoy sitting and watching the movies with us here at home. They consider themselves big Harry Potter fans too.

Spencer has read all the books, finishing the sixth one, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" last week and just in time for the weekend release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Josh has read all the books around 4 or 5 times, with the exception of the most recent one of course. Because he read the books so many times, I believe he sparked Spencer's interest in reading them too. They each have their own set of books. Don't know why we must have two sets, but we do. Spencer has been nice enough to let Jessica borrow his books. She just started reading the second one, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

Okay, Yes---We admit to being in line on Friday night at midnight to buy "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Our "Meijer" store had a good promotion on the book -- It was on sale for $19.99 but if you bought an extra $30 worth of merchandise between midnight and 6 am, they would take $7 off the book, making it only $12.99! I called around to other stores and most were selling it for around $26.99. So, Joshua and I came up with a plan. We got to Meijer at 10:45, and while Joshua, Spencer and his friend Chandler (who was spending the night with us) stood in line for the book, I did some grocery shopping. They were actually pretty close to the front of the line. But as I did my shopping, the line grew very quickly. By midnight, there were people wrapped around the store! Meijer was crawling with more people than I had ever seen there before. It was definitely a party atmosphere---Meijer was handing out prizes, refreshments and had games for the kids. They even had a costume contest. I tried to get Spencer to dress up in his Harry Potter costume from Halloween last year, but he was too embarrassed. I think someone dressed as Hagrid won "best costume".

When I was done with my shopping, I met them back in line and we split the groceries in two baskets, with at least $30 worth in each basket. At 12:01, the line started moving as the employees began passing the new Harry Potter books out. Both Spencer and Joshua picked up a book at the front of the line. Then Joshua took his basket and I took mine and we went to the front of the store to buy our merchandise. We thought we were pretty clever getting $7 off each book, as did other people who watched us split our groceries. One person told me they wished they would've thought of doing that.

Joshua started reading as soon as we got home and read until 4:00 am. He continued to read all day Saturday and was done by Saturday night---with all 37 chapters, 759 pages! He is a speed reader! He said it was really good book. I'll probably read it someday too but I don't read as fast as Joshua. I'm a slow reader. Spencer is already on chapter 9 and loves it already. He'll read about 2 or 3 hours a day. At this rate, I'm sure he'll finish in a few weeks.

My Healing Foot

My foot looks much better, the bruising is almost gone and the swelling has subsided, but my toes can't bend very far without a lot of pain. The doctor told me the muscles and tendons in my foot would take a while to heal. I banged it up pretty good when I fell on it. I think of myself as excessively clumsy. If you've seen the movie "Ratatouille", I think I'm very similar to Remy's wanna-be chef friend, Linguini. Our family went to see it on July 4th, and while watching it, I leaned over to Joshua and said, "That is totally me!" Joshua says "no way" but I think I am. I've fallen down the stairs before but somehow managed not to hurt myself until my birthday. I'm just lucky it wasn't broken. (KNOCK ON WOOD!)

Like several times the last few weeks, this morning I tried again to take a jog around the neighborhood. At least I could actually run this time but I didn't go as far as I had hoped. It's been difficult not being able to exercise. Before my fall, I was in a good habit of running 4 - 5 times a week for thirty minutes a day. Most of this last year, I've been enjoying running on my treadmill downstairs or if the weather is nice, running outside around the neighborhood. Hopefully soon I'll be able to run more and farther. I'll try a little more each day. I think it's the best way to rehabilitate my foot.

Favorite Summer Activity

Here's a short video clip (with no sound) of the Dyal children's favorite summer activity. Whenever they get a chance, they'll beg to go outside to jump on the trampoline. You'd think it was new by how much they love it but it's actually the third summer that we've had this trampoline. They never get tired of jumping! On a really hot day the kids will put on their swimsuits and jump with a sprinkler underneath. They've been known to jump in the water for hours. They literally have dozens of trampoline games they've either learned from their friends or have invented on their own. They especially love to jump around with as many bouncing balls as they can find. It's a great way for them to get thier exercise and get some much needed energy out. I love it! I'm a big fan of the trampoline! Every once in a while the kids will find me jumping on it too. I say---jump on kids, jump on!!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Here is Spencer doing flips!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

A Visit to the Museum

A few pictures from our trip to a children's hands-on museum in Toledo, Ohio. We went down with our friends, the Selthofers. It was a fun day!

My Attempt to Tame Monsters, Brawls & Bugs

It's been a very relaxing summer so far. Just what we needed after going non-stop all school year. I've noticed the children needed it as much as I did. We don't have any huge vacation plans this summer---the first summer that's happened in a while. We actually used all our vacation time during the children's breaks during the school year. But, we've made a special effort to go on occasional outings and day-trips around the area to see and experience new things. We also have a weekly library day, park day, and Friday is our adventure day. We usually invite friends with us on our adventure day.

Anyway, it's been nice to see everyone, especially Spencer and Jessica, more laid-back and at ease this summer, although we still get the very common sibling BRAWL. Those never take a vacation. But I had an idea a few weeks before school got out for the summer. I decided to make an attempt, or some may say bribe, to get these battles to lessen. So far, it has helped. I made a "Star Chart" that I introduced at FHE the Monday night before school was over. The chart is on a dry-erase board that has each one of my children's names on it. It's posted it in the kitchen where everyone would see it frequently throughout the day. I told them I would watch them all week and if I saw or heard them do something kind, thoughtful or respectful to one another (including their parents), they would get a star by their name. But, if they did something rude, disrespectful or unkind, one of their stars would be wiped away. If by the next FHE they were able to make it to their minimum requirement (each one is different because of their age), they would get to do something fun of their choice, within reason of course. Some of their individual rewards have been sleepover parties, a trip to the movies with Mom or Dad, a game night with Mom & Dad, etc. They have loved it, especially the individual attention they have received, and it's been a great motivator! Every once in a while someone hasn't reached their star limit by the end of the week but usually, it encourages them to do better next time. This has been a life-saver for me this summer. A complete turn-about from the last year!

The Star Chart

So, because we've been doing so many fun things this summer, the house chores have become one of the lower priorities on my list. Anyone who knows me very well knows I'm a clean freak! Especially about tidiness. When my house is cluttery, I can feel myself become unhinged. My whole person becomes deranged and crazy. Josh would probably tell you I turn from "Jekyll" to "Hyde". But, I've resolved myself not to let it become a huge issue this summer. I've suppressed my feelings of insanity. Hopefully that doesn't come back and bite me in the rear end. But, to make sure things don't get too out of control around here, I've been trying to do a chore each evening, usually after the kids go to bed. My biggest and worst "MONSTER" chore is, has and probably always will be THE LAUNDRY! I absolutely detest doing laundry, yet, it is never-ending!! I've tried to have a good attitude about it but how? What can I say good about spending a whole day doing laundry? Normally, because I'm doing SIX people's week-long laundry, it takes me an entire day. During the school year I perfer to get it done on Monday so it'll be quickly behind me. But this summer, it takes me several evenings to accomplish. The only thing good about laundry is the tremendous load off my shoulders once it's done! I have disliked laundry ever since Joshua and I first got married. Josh's least favorite chore is doing the dishes, so after we made this discovery, he decided to make laundry his weekly chore and I always did the dishes---until Spencer was born. Then I had to stop working and Josh took on a full-time job while also going to school full-time. So, ever since then, it's pretty much been up to me. Sometimes Joshua will help me fold the laundry in the evening after the kids go to bed but I've become pretty particular about the way I fold laundry too. Joshua thinks I'm crazy. He thinks since I hate laundry, I shouldn't be so particular when someone offers to help. He has a point. I guess I'm a little obsessive-compulsive about it.... Me? You think?

My "MONSTER" chore!!

As I was making dinner in the kitchen the other day, I listened to my boys play downstairs in the basement. I suddenly heard all of them running around saying:

"I'll get it!"
"No, I can get it."
"You got it last time. It's my turn."
"But I saw it first!"
"Wait, let me go get my shoe."

I didn't know what they were talking about until Spencer appeared from the basement to get a kleenex from the bathroom. He said that Alex had killed a big spider in the basement and he needed a tissue to clean it up. For some reason, this struck me funny. I suddenly had a flood of memories from when I was a child. I grew up in a family of mostly girls, so whenever we saw a spider or any kind of bug, we would scream and hide! I'd run and tell my Dad to come kill it. He was our hero, our exterminator!

A particular memory sticks out in my mind when I was 5 or 6. We were living in Annandale, Virginia and I was in my bedroom upstairs. I don't remember what I was doing, I just remember seeing a wasp flying around the room. I guess the first thing I thought of was hiding in my closet because that's what I did. After I closed the door I started screaming and hollering for someone to come help me for who knows how long, but as a young girl, it seemed to be forever. No one was coming and it started getting really hot in the closet. I decided to peek out to see where in the room the wasp was. I couldn't see it but was really tired of being in the closet. I sank to the floor and crawled my way to the bedroom door for my escape. I quickly closed the door behind me and waited until my dad got home from work. He inspected my room from top to bottom and somehow found and killed the wasp. My hero!

A little more dramatic than the spider situation with my boys, don't ya think? It's been fun learning about boys! I'm glad I have 4 of them to kill the BUGS that get in my house!

Warren Sand Dunes

Joshua took the day off work yesterday so we could made a trip out to Warren Sand Dunes State Park with our friends, the Larsen family. The Warren Sand Dunes are located in southwest Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline. It took us about 2 ½ hours to get there. Several families in our ward recommended this destination, especially for the nice sandy beaches, so we decided to check it out. We had such a great time playing on the beach and climbing the dunes. I was disappointed my foot wasn't healed enough to climb the dunes, but Joshua took the kids up and even Logan climbed the steepest dune all by himself, but with a lot of effort! Most everyone crawled the last few feet before reaching the top. They told me it was quite steep! Before we went home I tried to climb the sand dunes but didn't even reach the middle. You can see me, a little tiny speck of a person, in a couple pictures on the sand dunes below. See how tall they are? I can't wait to come back and climb them next time. I've heard that on a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline on top (most likely with binoculars). We also want to hike the trails around the parks. Joshua and I love to hike.

It was so relaxing just laying around on the beach, talking to friends and watching the kids play in the sand all day. The water was very cold so the children spent the majority of the time playing in the sand. We were there from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm. The weather was great! It wasn't too hot - the high was only in the mid-80's.

After shaking all the sand off, as much as we could anyway, we went to dinner and then to "Culver's" for ice-cream before heading home. The Larsens reserved a hotel room and stayed an extra day because John had a "mandatory" week off work. They are still playing and sight-seeing around the area today. But Joshua needed to be back to work today so we went home on Monday night, getting home by 10:00 pm. I thought I did a good job putting sunblock on the kids and myself but everyone has a sunburn somewhere on their body today. We've been smothering aloe on ourselves all day. Hopefully it'll fade in a few days.

Here are some of the pictures we took ---