Precious Moments

Moments like these fills my heart with so many emotions but words can't describe a single one.  That could be due mostly to not being able to see the keyboard thru the tears.  I'd like to say that this precious moment in time was not prompted by me.  Bree of her own accord picked up her photo album of Papa up in heaven and chose to share it with Jacob.  What a wonderful big sister is she. 

Preschool Bound

Last week held a couple milestone, turning points in our home.

First, I turned the big 3-0!!  Yikes!!

And second, we found out Bree was accepted to St. John's Lutheran Preschool!  Yay!!

Two weeks from today, Bree will be heading to her first day of preschool.  I'm so glad we've been prepping for this all summer.  Check it out:

Practicing using her scissors.

Practicing her drawing skills.  And I must say I'm quite proud of her.

Let me introduce you to Grandma:

Which 'Grandma' this is I'm not sure but I was completely amazed when she brought this to me.  Do all 3 year olds draw hands, feet and hair?  And if you're curious as to the strategically placed red circle, well those are Grandmas panties!!!

Our cats Yoshi (on the green) and Willis (on the red).

Practicing using real glue versus just glue sticks.  Okay, okay we used tacky glue.  I'm not sure we're ready for full on liquid glue.

And a little late night-you're supposed to be in bed sleeping but you suckered your dad into writing letters with you

practicing writing her letters.

The backpack has been purchased, new shoes are ready to be worn, special breakfast is in the planning process.  All we need is a Grandma Dominique here to do our hair that morning and we'll be off to school!

Greenfield Village

This is a continuation post from The Henry Ford.

After barely making a dent in The Henry Ford museum, we moseyed on over to the Greenfield Village. 

"Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine."

The Weiser Railroad:

A historic steam locomotive pulls a train on a three mile scenic route through Greenfield Village. 

Riding on the 1913 Herschell-Spillman Carousel

Grabbing some good old American food at the Taste of History restaurant.

Watching a baseball game played by the 1867 rules which includes playing with no gloves!

Inside the Detroit Toledo & Milwaukee Roundhouse.

A look from underneath of a locomotive. 

A cribbage board from Thomas Edison's employee housing.

Riding in a genuine Model T car.

Bree getting to work a printing press.

Watching a pottery maker at work.

Watching from start to finish, the wonderful art of glass blowing.

 

There was so much more there to see and do such as and I quote:

"It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The buildings and the things to see are only the beginning. There’s the fun stuff, too. In Greenfield Village, you can ride in a genuine Model T or “pull” glass with world-class artisans; you can watch 1867 baseball or ride a train with a 19th-century steam engine. It’s a place where you can choose your lunch from an 1850s menu or spend a quiet moment pondering the home and workshop where the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Greenfield Village is a celebration of people — people whose unbridled optimism came to define modern-day America."

I think he might...

Maybe, just maybe, Jacob might like applesauce.

The Henry Ford

For the second day of our 2nd annual Fathers Day Trip we traveled up to Dearborn Michigan to visit

The Henry Ford.

The Henry Ford is the largest and outdoor history museum in the nation!!  There are three parts to see when visiting The Henry Ford - 1. the museum 2. Greenfield Village 3. Ford Rouge Factory Tour.  When planning your visit, the general consensus says to allow at least a day and a half time at each attraction.  And they aren't kidding!!  We were there for only one day and spent maybe 3 hours in the museum and if we saw a quarter of it, we'd be lucky.

Although its named after its founder, Henry Ford, that does not mean that the entire museum is nothing but cars.   Oddly enough that is mostly what I took pictures of. 

Just one of many fancy fireplaces the rich folks used long, long ago.

Its kind of hard to see but this is a round house built entirely out of aluminum called a Dymaxion House

Forget TV/DVD player combos - bring back the TV/radio set.

A band saw and a sander.

A planer

The, yes THE, actual Rosa Parks bus.

She sat here in the second seat.

Once on the bus they start up an audio recording of Rosa Parks talking about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For someone like me who didn't live in this era its hard to fathom what African Americans were put through just because of the color of their skin. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed, practically to tears, to see her seat and to hear her voice, to almost be reliving the event in the bus that it happened in. History brought to life, its what my dad loved.

The seat that President Abraham Lincoln was shot in.

The car JFK was assassinated in.

I believe this was President Taft's stagecoach.

The largest steam locomotive in the world.  Never did I expect to see an entire train inside the museum.  I told you this place was huge.

I don't remember which plane this is, there was three full sized, real life planes inside the museum.

Just looking back through these pictures leaves me with a great desire to go back again, but this time without little Miss Bree to keep track of.  If you haven't been to The Henry Ford, I highly recommend it.  Not only is the museum alone worth it but they have special attractions throughout the year.  Right now its the Civil War but due to having Bree with us we weren't able to look at anything.  This spring the Titanic exhibit is coming and I will be going back.