This
week we stayed at Brighton Recreation Area in Howell, Michigan and we
had a blast. The park was very pretty and Explorer Bob, that led the
activities, was great with the kids.
We
visited the beach and played in the sand. The kids and Greg went
into the water a little but it was a little too chilly to stay in for
long.
The kids
went to programs on owls, bugs, dinosaurs and turkeys. They also
went on a night walk and Jacob went to a fishing class.
Here,
the kids are digging for bones in an owl pellet.
And
Jacob is catching bugs.
Jordan
spent some time playing with Amelia and Ally from nearby Pinckney.
They loved playing My Little Pony and riding bikes together.
The town
of Brighton was nearby. Here, I discovered Meijer's and fell in
love. After months of Walmart shopping, this place was wonderful.
It's like a classier, more relaxed Walmart. There weren't masses of
people there shopping, there was a great selection, good prices and
they had the non-food items that I needed to shop for too. And
Jordan finally got to ride a grocery store horse since it was only 1
cent!
Downtown
Brighton was a cute area. They had a great wooden playscape for the
kids and a pond next to it. There were many little shops.
There
were several little shops around and we ventured into Oh My Lolli! They make all natural lollipops by hand in many, many flavors and the
awesome part was that we got there just in time to see them make
some. It was really interesting and the woman working there did a gr
eat job of explaining the process. We took a few lollipops home with
us and they were VERY good.
And
since it was the Fourth of July week, we went to Hudson Mills Park to
watch fireworks. Just by luck, we had the best seats! That was
confirmed by the flock of people who came to where we were when the
show began. The fireworks were great and it may have been the best
grand finale I have ever seen.
So on
the Fourth, we decided to stroll through the downtown area of
Brighton. The kids took Greg to see the lollipop store and the pond.
We did a little window browsing but that's all we could do because
nearly every place was CLOSED! Oh well, we didn't need buy anything
anyways.
There were a couple of restaurants open so we had lunch at
Holy Crepe! A new experience for all of us and we were able to watch
the owner make them for us.
Then we headed back to the campground.
Around
the campground, which is quite big and has several divisions, there
are a number of beautiful wood carvings like this one:
It was a
treat to learn that the chainsaw carver who made them, would be doing
a demonstration in the park. Beginning at 9:00 in the morning, he
took this piece of wood:
And
worked on it until a little after lunch and turned in into this
I just
love it! It is so cute!
I looked
through his portfolio and he has done some really great pieces. He
was first contacted by the park a number of years ago when one of
their historic willow trees died. To keep the “tree” in the
park, he was able to carve it into a turtle. For years, children
came and stood by the turtle to have their picture taken. And some
came year after year marking their growth. Unfortunately, the turtle
was stolen. By some weird coincidence, it ended up in the yard of a
man who had worked for the park 20 years prior. The turtle had a tag
and he contacted the park so they could retrieve it. The other
unfortunate part though is that whoever stole it also broke it apart.
It was joined back together with rods and glue and held for a couple
years before succumbing to the harsh weather. I believe this bear is
to be the replacement. Hopefully, it will not suffer the same fate.
And
FINALLY, Jacob was able to do some real fishing. He caught 25-30
fish and enjoyed himself thoroughly. I loved seeing the smile on his
face! Jordan, being younger, still doesn't quite have the patience,
but she did catch a couple.
And the
kids and Greg went kayaking. Jacob and Greg stayed out for a good
while. And Jacob loved it so much that he is already talking about
plans to meet the Brass family in Tennessee to go on a kayak and
camping trip with them after our “big trip” is over. :)
Next stop is Holland, Michigan.
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