The Morning Commute

  It's been raining on Mackinac Island for the past four days. We've had light rain, heavy downpours, and  rains that have lasted all day and all night.

This morning I rode to work in a light rain; more than a sprinkle but not much. As I rode I noticed what looked like small twigs all over the road. Lots and lots of little twigs. It must have rained pretty hard, I thought. But then I looked closer. They weren't twigs.

My entire one mile bike ride to work was like that - worms everywhere: long ones, short ones, skinny ones, fat ones, and squished ones - lots and lots of squished ones. And riding around them wasn't really an option.

By the time I left school at about 4:00, they were gone. We must have some of the best fed birds in the entire state of Michigan...

Mother's Day

 We had a lovely lunch today for Mother's Day

Can you tell where we went?

Grandpa took us all out to Grand Hotel for a lovely lunch. Outside the dining room all the diners were greeted with glasses of  champagne, and then as Grandpa went up to the desk to pay, the hostess asked, "Do you have any mothers with you today?"

"Yes. We have two;" he gestured to my mom and I.

"There is no charge for them today," said the hostess, "Happy Mother's Day from Grand Hotel." Such an unexpected surprise...

Of course the food was wonderful (as was the spending the afternoon with my parents.) And while they never have pecan balls on the lunch buffet, the desert table was fully stocked with all my other favorites: cheesecake, pecan pie, and gigantic super-sweet chocolate-covered strawberries. My mom says she thinks we should make this a family tradition, and I must say - I have to agree.

Does your family have any Mother's Day traditions?

Spring Break: River Tubing, Falmouth, Jamaica

Our third and final stop on the cruise was Falmouth, Jamaica. We spent the day with the good folks at Chukka on the old Good Hope sugar plantation.

Many visitors chose to see the grounds of the plantation by horse drawn carriage, but we had something else in mind.

 

We spent the morning tubing

down the Martha Brae River.

 

It was just the lazy day we needed.

We didn't know it, but spring is the dry season in Jamaica, so the often fast-flowing river was very quiet. So quiet that our tubes were tied together and the guide had to paddle us down the river. At several of the shallower parts of the river our guide yelled, "Butts up!" We'd lift our hind ends so the tubes could more easily scrape across the rocks on the bottom of the river.

When we arrived we were expecting a faster river and individual tubes, but we still had a great day.

My daughter wasn't feeling well and a lazy float down the river was just the thing she needed after several very busy days.

And, there was room in the schedule for lizard hunting, which was just what my son needed. After watching these little guys running around, my son would have been furious if we hadn't had enough time for him to try and catch a few.