Time to Get Out and Enjoy the Early Spring!

The kids and Mom spent a good amount of time out of the house this week in the wild late winter/early spring weather. On Monday, they joined Sara and Chase for a trip to the play place at the local mall. They also took a ride on the train.

On Wednesday, they joined Chase in his backyard. 

Signs of spring are here after what has been an almost disturbingly mild winter. We took pictures of our crocuses on Wednesday afternoon, . . .

and by Sunday they were in full bloom being pollinated by the bees.

The grown-ups had their own fun this week, too. Thursday morning Mike was out in front with the kids as they rode around on their bikes, and our neighbor Don came down for a chat. Mike asked about the Friday fish fries down at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, and Don said they were a pretty big deal. In fact, a poll in the local internet newspaper rated it as one of the top three in the Pointes (we'll have to try Marge's Bar & Grill, which was ranked first). Friday afternoon, Hallie got a call from Laurie (Don’s wife) inviting us to this Friday’s party, and of course we said yes. St. Ambrose has a reception center with a full kitchen called the ARK. Appropriately enough, it has a Noah’s ark theme. Rather than build it above ground, the architect used innovative skylights to both light the gathering space and give it a view of the church above. Plus, the church was able to keep its parking lot.  

This beautiful Norman Gothic style church graces the end of our street.

We wished we could stay a little longer, but we had tickets for the program “One Voice: An Evening of Music & Testimony” by the Saints Unified Voices directed by Gladys Knight which took place at the Palmer Park building of our church, which used to be Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox cathedral. The chapel is amazing, both for its ornate interior details as well as the acoustics of the choir loft behind the podium. It was a perfect venue for the concert!

Thanks to pinehurst19475 for the photo.

Hallie and Sara scoped out a mom-to-mom sale for ideas for their own set-up for next week, then we went to music class. From the class, we headed up to the Yellow Door Art Market in Berkley (it’s like the Quilted Bear, but everything is hand made in Michigan). Hallie found the kids a couple of fun T-shirts, and we bought some delicious Love Bars from Kitchen with a Cause.

25% from the purchase of each bar benefits Stand Up to Cancer.  

We ended our afternoon excursion with a visit to Pewabic Pottery, which was having an open house in honor of Pewabic’s 109th birthday. The celebration included a tour of the studio. Landon got a front row view of how a clay vase is made.

  

Landon sometimes needs to get his wiggles out, so we are so glad it’s getting warmer out. This afternoon when he went out, Zöe, the little 10-year-old daughter of our new neighbors, was also outside. They played together in the backyard for a while before coming in to play in the toy room. As she got ready to leave for dinner, Landon told her, “OK, you have to go.” At least he walked her back to her dad’s house!

With temperatures in the 60s on Sunday, we could feel that spring is finally in the air for good. We may get some cool weather in the next few weeks, but we’re due for more delicious afternoons like we enjoyed today as we threw open the windows and let in the refreshing breeze.