More Late Night Visitors

Lately, we've had some very vocal visitors hanging out in the neighborhood. We live right on the edge of Mackinac Island State Park, so we're lucky to have acres of woods right out our back door. Plus, the lots to us on one side, and many of the lots across the street remain undeveloped as well. So, basically, we've got woods almost all the way around the house. I wonder if the owls like to hang out in the tree line and hunt in our yard - like how hawks like to hunt along the sides of the highway...

Regardless of why they're here, it's been wonderful. I'm not sure what time they get started at night, but we hear them at about ten, when we head up to bed. They'll "talk," back and forth, for an hour or so and then all is quiet. We're not sure if they are moving to another area, or just quieting down. Last night we think there were at least three or four of them. Hopefully they'll be back again tonight; it's a nice way to fall asleep...

Credits:

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Second photo

Midnight Visitor

A certain little boy in my house lost his very first tooth recently - just days before his seventh birthday. Thank goodness I could find this when I needed it! That poor bunny may have sat in my sewing room cupboard for nearly three years, but it was perfect. The tooth didn't get lost, and the tooth fairy told my son (in her note) that she loved it. She told him that she doesn't like it when she has to fly under the bed to find teeth that fall on the floor, and that she appreciated knowing she wouldn't never have to go searching for his.

At first a few of my son's friends were jealous that got a teeny tiny note from the tooth fairy in addition to the three dollars she left him. But as soon as he explained that he had left a note for her first, and she was just answering him, no one was too upset. In a town as small as ours, you've got to be careful about these things. Years ago one of the island kids found a $100 bill under her pillow after a visit from the tooth fairy. Needless to say, all the other island kids were really upset when the tooth fairy didn't leave hundreds for them too! As I remember, she got a large number of angry letters that year. I was sure glad I didn't have little ones then...

Do you have any interesting toothy traditions in your house?

Our Very Own Font

Do you remember when a rock on Mars was named after Mackinac Island? This week we got a font. How fun is that!

I especially liked how the designers used words like "span" and "bridging the Old World with the New" in their description; very clever I must say.

Then, I discovered it would cost me $239.95 to download it. Well, to be fair, it's on sale for only $191.96 until September 30th.

Such a bargain.

Guess I'll have to do without...

Kindergarten

Last week school started here on Mackinac Island. My daughter is thrilled to be in Kindergarten this year, and she came home after her second day going on and on about how much she loves kindergarten. When I asked her why kindergarten was so wonderful, she gave me one of those how-can-you-not-know-this looks and said, "The snacks in kindergarten are so much better than in preschool. Mama, Mrs. W's fruit snacks are awesome!"

Thank goodness she got off to such a good start, because her teacher had to keep her after school for about 40 minutes the very next day. Little Miss K didn't want to write her name on her paper, so she snuck over to her brother's desk (on Mackinac, the kindergarten and first graders are in a classroom together) and asked him to write it, which he did. Mrs. W erased the name, after explaining the importance of completing one's own work, and asked K to write it for her self.

Well, K dug in her heels and flat out refused. Plus, she yelled at Mrs. W, insisting, "You're my teacher! You're supposed to help me. It looked nice and now my paper looks yucky." It took her about 30 minutes of sitting in the classroom, by herself, before she was finally willing to write. Then it took another 10 minutes before she would put up the chair so the custodian could sweep.

Sigh

I keep reminding myself how pleased I'll be with that strong will when she's dating, but there are days right now when it's quite challenging...

Monday Morning

Monday morning the kids and I walked across the Mackinac Bridge in the 54th Annual Bridge Walk. We had a great time! We walked, stopped for snacks in the middle, and had a blast visiting with our friends up from out of town.

We knew it would be a long day, but we were beat by the time we got home. It wasn't just a five mile walk for us; we had to walk a mile to get to the boat, a 1/2 mile from where the shuttle left us off to get to the bridge, a mile from the end of the bridge to the boat dock in Mackinaw City, and then another mile back home from the dock on the island. It ended up being more like a nine mile walk for us. Well, for the adults anyway; the little ones were able to take breaks in the stroller. Except for my daughter - hers wasn't really a break - she fell asleep by the time we were half way across and rode the rest of the way. Let me tell you, my hips hurt Tuesday morning. But it was so worth it.

How about you, what did you do over the long weekend?

Mackinac Moments

The kids and I were lucky enough to get to enjoy this lovely evening with some good friends. Oh yes, and ice cream; my daughter insists that I include the part about the ice cream.

On nights like this one - with friends, a cool breeze coming off the lake, and a beautiful sky, I just can't imagine being anywhere else...