Emergency Vet Visit

My husband fled the island last night, on the 11:00 pm boat, hoping to get our dog to the vet in time...

He'd already consulted with the summer island vet about Bailey's swelling, distended abdomen, odd behavior, bloating, and possible intestinal torsion. Without emergency equipment, the vet could do nothing, so Allen headed to a vet in Harbor Springs - a 20 minute wait for the boat, a 15 minute ride, and a one hour drive away. I hoped they'd make it - we'd had Bailey since she was a puppy and I knew Allen wasn't ready to say goodbye to her, nor were the kids.

At 1:30 am the phone rang. After X-rays the vet said neither her intestines or her stomach was twisted (a good sign) yet she was quite bloated. Under general anesthetic he used a needle to drain off the fluid and wanted her to stay the night. It was looking good, but she wasn't out of the woods yet.

At 8:30 am my husband called again to say she was doing well. She needs antibiotics, but should be OK and he was going to bring her home later today. Though, since the vet can't determine why this happened, he warned my husband that it could happen again...

Our cat, Sushi -
all 18 pounds of her.

Owning a pet on Mackinac Island is like owning a pet way out in the country. If there is a problem, you aren't very close to emergency care. Several years ago, Bailey found and ate an entire bottle of Advil. I remember my husband feeding her activated charcoal, putting her in the snowmobile cutter and racing across the ice to get her to the vet. She dodged the bullet that time too, but not all our pets have been so lucky.

About twelve years ago my cat, Chelsea, died from an acute asthma attack. She took medication to help her breathing on a daily basis, but when that first severe attack came there was nothing we could do. It was late at night, after the boats had stopped running, at a time of the year where no vet was available, and even if one was here, what could he have done? We probably only had ten minutes between when the attack started and when sweet little Chelsea died in my arms. We wrapped her in a small quilt and buried her later that night. She was such a good little kitty...

Bailey is about 10 - old for a large dog. And I can't help but wonder if she is nearing the end of her life. I can't bear the thought of her, or my husband, going through another episode like this one again.

I Love

Flowers:

August is beautiful on Mackinac Island.

My lilies and daisies have exploded,

as have the roses in the Grand Hotel Tea Garden.
Summer on Mackinac may be short,
but it's beautiful.

Disney on a Dime #4

#4: Personalized Autographed Photos

In one of my mother-in-law's Disney travel books, I found the address where you could write in and request autographed photographs from Disney characters. So, on a whim, I sent in requests for photos of all the characters I knew my kids would love. In addition to the photo above we also have: Tinkerbelle, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella. (As I look back, I should have asked for Ariel and Pocahontis, too, but oh well.) As we toured the parks it was nice to know that I had those photos tucked away back at the room. That way if we missed a character, or if the line had been closed, (or in the case of Tinkerbelle the line was an hour and a half long!) the kids would still have an autograph.

I was glad I had given myself a lot of lead time because it did take four of five weeks for the photos to come back in the mail. If you decide to send away for a few yourself, make sure that each request is sent in a separate envelope. (I just typed up a general letter and then went back in and changed the character's name each time I printed it.) And don't worry that the signatures won't match! The staff must get some kind of training because the autographs we got at Walt Disney World were pretty darn close to the ones on the pictures that came through the mail. Close enough where I was quite impressed. My son likes them so much, he has decided he wants a few of them framed to put up in his bedroom. So, for us, the pictures were well worth the cost of the stamps...

Send your requests to:

Walt Disney Company
Attn: Fan Mail Department
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Disney on a Dime #3

#3: Autograph Books

I knew I wanted to have autograph books for the kids to use at Disney, but I wanted them to be special. Certainly not the mass produced ones they sell at the parks for an arm and a leg. So I stalked Etsy and found this lovely little shop.

Jodi takes old Little Golden Books and rebinds them along with either blank or lined pages. They were prefect autograph books for the trip, and at only $12.00 each they were a bargain. Plus, we had stories to read when the lines in the parks were long, and pages to color when we were waiting for our meals. (Luckily, our longest wait for a ride was about 15 minutes.) We chose Disney books, but she has lots of other options. I bet she'd even be willing to use a book that you sent to her.


If you are planning to collect autographs while visiting Disney I highly recommend these books! Prince Naveen even commented on them. "These are really cool," he said in that delicious accent, "Did you make them? I've never seen anything like this before." It made my day people. Made my day...

I was not compensated for this post in any way.
I really do loves these books.

Disney on a Dime #2

#2: New Hats

Everyone who knows us, knows we are a hat wearing family. My children and I are all quite fair so we wear hats outside 99% of the time. I thought new hats for Disney would be appropriate.

As it turned out, I got one too. Accidentally I made the first hat way too big. I mean huge - much too large for one of the kids. So it ended up being for me - and it's still on the big side. I was really bummed because I measured the kids' heads and made the appropriate size as dictated by the pattern. (The directions on a pattern I've made many times before - grumble grumble.) But somewhere I made a mistake because hats number two and three were also big. Not gigantically big, but big enough where the kids chose not to wear them. (Hat pattern is Simplicity 5581. I altered the original pattern and made the brim one inch wider to give the kids more coverage.)

I was glad I threw other hats into my backpack as we walked out the door - just to be safe. These will undoubtedly fit next summer, so I've packed them away in a safe place so they'll be clean and ready to go next year.

Now I'll just have to make sure I remember where I put them!

Disney on a Dime #1

OK, I'll admit it, I'm cheap. Well, maybe not cheap - frugal would be a better word. Yes, that's it, I'm frugal. I hate spending money on crap, I mean stuff, that won't really get used. And I was pretty certain a whole lot of that was going to happen during our recent trip to Disney.

I wanted to have something new for the kids each day, but I didn't want to go broke doing it. Of course, we bought things there too, but I wanted to be able to say something like, "You already got a new ______ today," when the kids were pestering for expensive junk. So I got busy sewing before we left home:

# 1: Homemade Pajamas

They were quick and easy! I used my raw-edge applique technique for the shirts - using a Mickey instead of the number, and Butterick 5565 for the shorts. Those shorts are just two pieces, so I think I whipped out both pair in abut an hour and a half. The kids loved them, so I see more jammies like this in our future...

Today

Today I: cleaned the hallway carpet, washed the rug that stained the hallway carpet, scoured two bathrooms, cleaned out and organized four closets, one cedar chest and three toy boxes, tried on virtually every article of clothing I own - culling the collection as I went, and managed to get all this stuff ready to take to Goodwill. Thank goodness my husband decided to cook dinner - I'm pooped!

BFF

The hatch has begun.
My son is thrilled.
He's been patiently waiting
for their arrival.
What's not to love?
Their mouths don't work so they can't bite
and they only live for a day.

Fish flies are the perfect insect
for a play date.

The only problem is,
some years
we get something like this:

photo via

A little boy's dream,
not so much for adults.

I remember as a kid, growing up three blocks from Lake St. Clair, there were years that the fish flies were so thick that my dad would have to hose off the car in the morning. And then, as you were driving down the street, you'd hear this crunching noise as hundreds of them were getting squished. Luckily we've never had that many of them on the island - at least not in the years I've been here.

Independance Day

This year, for Fourth of July weekend, we camped with friends here. Well, technically since we were in a camper it was camping, but Sandy Pines really isn't camping in the true sense of the word. For me, it isn't about the camping part of the weekend - it's about seeing some really good friends.

The kids had a great time, too.
They loved sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa's A-Liner,
(it's like a sleepover for the whole family)

spending time with friends,

fishing,

toodling around in our super-cool ride,

catching fireflies,

blowing lots of bubbles,

and spending time at the beach and the pool.

There were some sad moments when the kids realized they were two inches
too short to try the the ropes course,

but fireworks made everything better.

Is it possible to be grouchy while watching fireworks?
I don't think so.
However, my daughter did fall asleep.
I guess all that fun caught up with her...

Stripes

When I noticed this shirt at the Goodwill I nearly did a little jig once I had my hands on it, it was that amazing. The best part was, the shirt had the correct barb for that week's 50% off sale. Final cost with tax: $2.08. When I bought it, it was a man's dress shirt, but now it is a shirt for my daughter. I made it tunic length, so right now she can wear it with leggings, but in a year or two it should still work with jeans. (It's quite roomy.)

She prefers the softer feel of a knit fabric so this shirt isn't one of her favorites, but when we're traveling (and there are fewer choices) it gets lots of use.