Travelers

In September, my kids got the gift of a lifetime from their Grandma. (I giggle every thing I look at that picture of my daughter. It is exactly the kind of photo you would expect her 12 year-old brother to take!) 

Those lucky-ducks spent ten days searching for

The Doctor,

and making a new friends.

All while mom had to go to school...

Of course, there were educational stops along the way, 

but mostly, they just had fun with their Grandma.

It's No Myth

As  we were watching old episodes of MythBusters recently, it reminded me of when Allen and I were lucky enough to get tickets to hear Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage speak in Traverse City. Back in 2004 the show had only been on for a season or two, but it was still super cool to get to chat with them... 

Printed

My husband has a 3D printer, and lots of people ask me, "What on Earth do you use it for?"

Most people perceive the printer as a big toy, which in some ways it is. But, to me, 3D printers are really more like the 1980s version of a cell phone; back in the day only a handful of people had them, and while lots of people thought they were cool, most folks agreed that they could live without one. Now, 30+ years later, most people consider a cell phone an important piece of technology they wouldn't willingly give up. I think something similar will happen with 3D printers...

So back to the question - what do we use it for? All sorts of things; this weekend my husband printed me a cookie cutter. This cookie cutter, to be specific. My son loves Dr. Who, (and has for a while now,)  and has asked for a Dr. Who themed birthday party. 

Sure, I could have ordered this set from amazon for $16.00, or  ordered a print right from Thingaverse for about the same price. But it was a whole lot more fun, and much quicker to just print one at home. Plus that way, I could scale the cookie cutter up or down to meet my specific size requirements. 

If you're curious about what people who have 3D printers are using them for, check out Thingaverse. Every day there's something new. Oh, and if you want to make your own Dalek cookies, here's the recipe I used...

Stamped Shortbread Cookies

Makes about two dozen cookies.

What you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 sticks  salted butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar + more for rolling out cookies & dusting cookie stamp

What to do:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Sir in flour. Blend with pastry blender until the dough comes together.
4. Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper and roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick. Use powdered sugar to roll out the dough. Don't use flour.
5. Dust cookie stamp with powdered sugar and press onto the dough. Remove cookie stamp.
6. Place cookie cutter over stamped dough and cut out the cookie.
7. Use a spatula to lift the cookie and move it to the baking sheet.
8. Chill the cookies for about 30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 350°F  for about 12 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

Delish

My husband and I had been wanting to try the island's newest restaurant, Sushi Grand, all summer. After our trip to Japan in back in 2000, we discovered we both really enjoy sashimi and sushi. Since good sashimi isn't exactly common place in Northern Michigan we were pretty happy to hear about a sushi place opening on Mackinac.

The kids, on the other hand, weren't so sure. "It's raw? Mom, are you sure it's safe to eat?" Except for the udon noodles, they both eyed the slices of sashimi with the, I'd-really-rather-not-put-that-in-my-mouth face.

Dutifully, the kids tried every dish we ordered. My daughter's assessment: "Crunching those little fish eggs was satisfying, but sushi's not my favorite." My son liked the cooked eel roll, but not the raw fish.

My  assessment: if you like sushi or are an adventurous eater you'll love Sushi Grand. The presentation was beautiful, the food was delicious and the service was wonderful. We'll definitely eat there again, though we'll probably only make it there once a summer as a special treat given the cost.

Raring to Go

I may have been too tired to post last night, but I am really excited about the start of the school year. The classroom is organized, 

the bulletin boards are up, 

and many of the kids are just as excited as I am for the new year to begin.  Now, I just need to work to keep that enthusiasm going. This year I have 22 4th & 5th graders and seven 6th graders. They're a great bunch and I can't wait to see what they'll accomplish!

Today

This video, starting at about 5:30 this morning, shows the traffic for the 59th Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. Rather than walk the five miles, this year I opted to stay home in my PJs and finish up a few last minute chores before school starts tomorrow...

Mar Chiquita Cave

Right across the street from the entrance to our Puerto Rican apartment, S noticed a cave. It was just an overhang cave, but it was still pretty big,

and it had some cool formations.

Despite the lack of tunnels and dark passages, S really wanted to spend some time exploring it. One interesting discovery we made had to do with the white blotches all over the walls... 

They were spider webs / egg sacks and  they were everywhere!

For the Kids

I swear, the homemade ice cream absolutely nothing
to do with the fact that I was nine thousand degrees 

after working outside all morning.

It was for the kids. 

They just had to share...

Thank you Ben & Jerry. 

Your Sweet Cream Base made my

the kids' afternoon!

Mar Chiquita Beach

As I'm sure you figured out from my last post, we loved Mar Chiquita beach. It was gorgeous, warm, and perfect for my beginning snorkelers. The beach is like a little cove or inlet, with only a small opening to the Atlantic Ocean, so it's much calmer than the areas around it. (Mar Chiquita means little sea in Spanish.)

I'm still not quite sure how that my daughter used a snorkel without a mask, but she was adamant that she preferred the goggles.

My daughter was all about getting as close to that opening as she could, with an escort from her father of course, but my son was more interested  in looking for critters.

He loved the fish, 

 the sea urchins,

and he even spotted a small octopus. Sadly it did not want to have its picture taken. (Possibly due to the fact that his sister accidentally stepped on its head.) However, once he discovered beach glass, S opted to stay closer to shore and started collecting.

I have to admit it, he and I had a blast hugging the shore and searching for it, too. And despite seeing it all over, we never saw a sharp piece in the water or on the beach. Just to be safe though, we never went out without our water shoes.

We swam every day - usually twice; once in the morning and again before dinner. 

We would've gone after dinner, but in Puerto Rico, the sun sets at about 7:00 pm. It was a good experience for two kids who have spent most of their lives in Michigan, where during the summer, it's still twilight at 10:00 pm.

Mar Chiquita is in the city of Manati, on Puerto Rico's northern shore. It's about a 45 drive from San Juan - most of that on the highway. If you happen to find yourself in Puerto Rico and you're looking to spend a glorious day at the beach,  Mar Chiquita is totally worth the drive!

Buenos Dias Mi Amigos!

Greetings from beautiful Manati, Puerto Rico! OK, to be honest, we've been home for a couple of weeks now. I didn't blog about it while we were there since Allen requested that I not advertise to the entire world  that we were hundreds of miles away from home. So now that we're safely back on Mackinac,  I can write all about it... 

Allen, my parents, the kids and I stayed at an amazing apartment right on the beach. We found the apartment on airbnb, but we found the location due to a small hitch in a school trip I chaperoned back in 2008. When we decided to take a family vacation to Puerto Rico and Allen requested  we stay as far away from San Juan as possible, I knew right where I wanted to be - Mar Chiquita beach. 

Neither of my children like that photo -  "Don't use that picture mom, it makes the house look so far away. It was only, like, a minute to the beach." (Photo by Clary Lopez.) It was really more like a three or four minute walk, but we were probably as close to Mar Chiquita as we could get.

The apartment was lovely, big enough to accommodate all six of us quite comfortably, and cost a lot less than a hotel. My daughter especially, loved the apartment's beach themed decorations.

Right out the front door was a neat little garden area between the building and the beach. It was perfect hermit crab habitat. You can imagine how much time the kids spent over there. (Don't worry, they let all the crabs go.)

(Don't they look like tourists?)

It was such an amazing place; In the morning we'd enjoy this view from the balcony while we listened to the waves and sipped our coffee. 

(The view from our balcony)

Then, after a busy day, we'd sit on the balcony and listen to the coqui frogs sing; we heard them every night. For as tiny as they are (if one sat on a quarter, you could still see the coin) they were loud. We just loved listening to them - it was such a pleasant way to end a long day...

If you happen to want to stay in the same apartment, you can, (and I highly recommend it!) It's now listed here on Evolve. I really can't say enough about how much we loved staying there.