Fun Finds on the West Side of Town

After much deliberation, we decided to enroll Landon in the half-day kindergarten program offered at our school district for the coming fall. He’ll be an “early 5” with his birthday so late in the year, but we figure if he needs another year we can place him in the full-day program next year. We have given serious thought to options ranging from home school to virtual school to private school, and we’re still not settled on which direction we’ll finally take. It will all depend on what we feel is best for him and Eliza down the road.

On Wednesday, Hallie took the kids out to the TreeHouse in Chelsea.

Thursday brought a treat in the mail. Kira had gone to Europe and brought the kids a couple of T-shirts from her travels:  

French Kiss from Eliza

Our little Dutch Boy

On Friday, Hallie and Jen attended the Michigan International Women’s Show at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. She brought home lots of goodies. Meanwhile, Priscilia helped out around the house while Mike worked. When he came home for lunch, he, Landon, and Priscilia played Wii Bowling. In a nail-biter of a finish that came down to the very last frame, . . .

Landon won. Again. In fact, he now holds the high score in our home. Priscilia put it best when she reminded Mike that between adults and a four-year-old it should never have been close. However, he did set the record, and 180 is hard for even an adult to reach. Mike chalks it up to the child’s prodigious athletic skills.

The children put their skills on display earlier in the week when both showed the grown-ups how to do flips and cartwheels.

Like Landon, Eliza appears to have no fear of heights or movement. The two of them ride, slide, and swing like little monkeys at the local school’s playground.

Cinco de Mayo Saturday started early with Mariachi and Tejano music on the radio and a bit of LEGO tightrope walking courtesy of a book we received a little while back from Grandpa O.

We improvised with the materials we had on hand. If you look closely at the minifig, you may notice he looks like someone you might know.

Following our contraption adventure, we went to music class at the MSU Detroit Center. Here’s a taste of what goes on during our hour there:

"We are piRATES! We are piRATES! We are piRATES! ARR!"

Dancing a salsa for Cinco de Mayo

Waiting their turn to strum the guitar

We then headed out to Northville to the Guernsey Farms Dairy for some light lunch and homemade ice cream. Mom had a scoop of Mackinac peanut butter fudge, Landon and Eliza shared a dirt pile (chocolate ice cream, gummy worm, Oreo cookie crumbs, and crushed M&M's), and Dad indulged in some McGuire's Irish mint cream.

M'mm! Dirt!

We ended our day out with the coin operated oddities at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills.

The museum is listed in the World Almanac’s 100 most unusual museums in the US. To say the place is a trip would be putting it mildly.

The owner, Marvin Yagoda, cites P. T. Barnum and Walt Disney as sources of inspiration.

Landon has done a great job at therapy this week, so he earned himself a surprise:

In our house, the handsome princes work for a living. Time to slay dragons and rescue damsels!