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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Howell Grandparents Visit Pt. 2

Alright! Part two. We had such a wonderful time, did I mention that? We did something just about every day of our visit and the weather was beautiful. Perfect Michigan summer days, which might be some of the best summer days ever. Seriously people, you need to come see Michigan, but only in the next two years. After that I am sure it will cease to be awesome. But back to the visit.

My dad and Eleanor outside getting ready to go to Hawk Island Park.
Eleanor thinks she is cool beans when she wears sunglasses. She will walk up to whoever is around to make sure they notice and tell her so.
"Baby Benny, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm kind of a big deal."
It doesn't always have to be sunglasses.
Happy campers on their way to the splash pad.
1, 2, 3... wheeeee. Guess who never wants to walk normal again? Sometimes when it's just me holding her hand she starts counting. Sorry little one, no dislocated shoulders.
The splash pad was a touch windy and cold.
So she decided to lie down and soak up some sun.
Tanning is hard.
We decided to take out a paddle boat. It was delightful. A bit of a workout, but really neat.
After a few minutes Eleanor lost interest in being stuck on a tiny boat. She then had to be passed back and forth between the three of us. After the boat ride we let her swim in the lake. She loooooved that. I had to trick her to get her out of the water.
Back to the car.
On our last day together we went to Detroit and visited the Henry Ford Museum. It was so cool. There are a ton of things to see there besides cars. My dad is a true Ford-Man and probably knows more about cars than anything else, and he knows a lot of stuff. And he probably knows more about cars than anyone else.
He is definitely the person you want to go to this museum with.
Eleanor quickly found which buttons did things. Like this one.
It makes a train whistle sound. Eleanor remembered her "choo-choo" motions from her train ride back in Utah.
Rally round the mustangs.
There is quite a large aviation section. Here is a display that tells about the first flight attendants. It's hilarious what their job entailed. I suppose it's hilarious what it still entails. Asking and thanking people for trash, cleaning up "turbulence results" and unlocking people out of the bathroom to name a few.
I had to show that I still got the skills. Look, I still know how to hand someone a drink!
We were surprisingly successful at keeping Eleanor off of the priceless exhibits.
It was funny to have my dad start talking about each car that we saw. He would tell me something and then as we reach the car you see the sign and it says exactly what he just told me. I guess he could always get a job giving tours.
Ah. Now there is a family portrait.
Hello. This is the chair that Lincoln was shot in. Yes, the chair. And yes, that is the stain. Bizarro, no? The museum also has the car that JFK was shot in, so if morbid is your thing, stop on by!
Here is something more impressive, Rosa Park's bus. The brighter light on the left side of the shot is over the seat where she sat.
In the bus they play some really cool narratives and stories about the civil rights movement. The light above her seat shines brighter when her recording plays.
I have to say, you feel a little awkward sitting there. Like a little too privileged or white or something. I can't quite express it.
I can only appreciate that we live in the day and age that we do.
After the museum we went to Pei Wei's for lunch and then dropped my parents off at the airport. It was fun to have such a great last day together.

I am almost caught up! Can you believe it? Up next? Not much. We are back to the mundane day to day of Clayton being back in school and me puttering around the house with projects. I hope to post some "after" shots of our house so you can see what I've been obsessing about. Hint: Peacock blue.

2 comments:

Jade said...

Oh my, both yours and Eleanor's hair has grown so much I can't recognize you! Also, yes I have dislocated my kids elbow from holding him by his arm. It's really fun explaining that to the ER doc. I miss you!

Charlotte said...

Wow, two years in MI, and I never went to that museum. I'm ashamed. Never knew what I missed until now.

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