Author: Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life

I try to create a culture of celebration in our home. For life, for the little things, for wonder and for whimsy. I try to find the beauty around us and teach my son Wyatt to find it, and appreciate it and love it as well. We are a homeschool family, and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us to explore a topic or idea more deeply, and I like that I can adjust our schedule around Wyatt’s other needs. Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his week often has therapy, doctor’s appointments, naps peppered throughout which would make a traditional school schedule difficult. He is also an asynchronous learner, and I love that I can tailor learning to where Wyatt is at that moment. We have a house full of animals and will probably add more because we like a zoo. We have one cat, Miso, who is a rescue. She is 14 years old and my little floofy girl. We also have one leopard gecko, Luna, a pictus gecko named Harlow, a pacman frog named Freddy, and two crested geckos, Applejack and Oliver. We love all of our little friends! My husband Billy, Wyatt, and I are all curious, creative, stubborn humans which makes for some fun times around here. We love the outdoors, except we are not made for high temps so we retreat inside when the temps start to soar. We are nature lovers through and through. We are trying to downsize our lives too, to live more simply, to buy things that last and eat real food from small local farmers. (and of course Goldfish crackers) We live seasonally and are always up for adventure. We love books and reading, and can be found at the library at least once a week!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hi everyone! I had a pretty blah week last week, just sort of getting along everyday. It was just a week, I guess. I did babysit my SIL’s caterpillars and chrysalids and released a ton of butterflies, which was neat. I am planning on a butterfly post this week so I will tell you all about it then. Otherwise, nothing real exciting to report over here.

Read Last Week:

I finished up Harvesting Hope and I loved it! The characters are so real and believable, like real people you would know in your own community. I think Lisa has a real gift for creating characters, for dialogue, and for humor. This book is just what I needed last week. I plan on writing book reviews this week and this one is on the list!

Reading This Week:

I had planned on reading a different book this week, but these two called to me louder. I am a huge John Lewis-Stempel fan and Billy got me The Running Hare for Mother’s Day, but wanted to wait until the right time to read it. And that is apparently now. The Family Plot looks so good! My mom just finished it and loved it so I am looking forward to it too.

Watching:

Since finishing up Sweet Tooth and Virgin River, we went back to Death in Paradise for a bit. We are also watching McDonald and Dodds on BritBox , and I started a rewatch of Schitt’s Creek because I love it. We had a special Saturday night movie night where we watched Jungle Cruise and ate lots of snacks. And I seriously loved the movie. It had that campy Disney feel, had action, adventure, and reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones, a series that I loved and still do. As a kid, I wanted to be Indiana Jones when I grew up. If I had been a kid today watching The Jungle Cruise, I would want to be Dr. Lily Houghton.

Posted Last Week:

Homeschooling: A Look Back as We Move Forward

A Sweet Summer Tradition

Our Butterfly Project – Update #7

And that is about it from our little refuge! What has been going on in your world?

Homeschooling: A Look Back As We Move Forward

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling11 Comments

In just two weeks we will be starting our second year of homeschooling. I can hardly believe it. We started as emergency homeschoolers with COVID, but to be honest, I always wanted to homeschool. The pandemic just gave me a good excuse to do it.

It was definitely a year of learning, for both of us. I had made the decision early on that I was going to homeschool – probably in April of 2020 I decided I needed to make a decision for fall, since I wanted to be ready if I was going to choose to go it alone. Except, I had no idea at all about where to begin. I talked to a few people online, attended a few online conferences, and read a few books. I had belonged to a couple of different groups on Facebook as well, so I felt like I was pulling information from all over. I had also worked as a para in the public schools for like 15 years and while that did not prepare me to be a teacher, I was at least somewhat familiar with what was being taught.

So I made my choices for our curriculum, got it all ready, and it was go time. I had to acquire supplies and manipulatives, books, games, you name it, I felt like I needed to buy it. And most of the time, it was a gamble. I didn’t know what would work best for Wyatt, what would click most for my kiddo. The fact that he has additional challenges caused me to stress a little more as well; I didn’t want to fail him. However, I began to feel more confident in my choices the longer we homeschooled. I learned how he learned; I saw him making progress in areas I had always been made to feel he may never achieve. I feel like Wyatt really benefited from the one on one teaching; unlike a classroom, my attention was all on him. We worked at his pace, and if something wasn’t working we changed it or moved on, in the case of place value. He just wasn’t ready for that last year, so we will try again this year.

I’m not going to kid anyone, it was a lot of work. For him and me both. It was not just read a little bit in the morning do an art project and then call it quits. Although that would be fun, and some days we actually did do just that. But most of the time we had our plans and while I did not have a set schedule or routine, we had a rhythm to our days and our weeks.

So what worked and what didn’t for us?

I’ll start with what did work. Books for one. Wyatt responded really well to learning through books and stories. However, he really remembered lessons best where he could use his hands or his body, like incorporating little body movements like we did when we learned the life cycle of a butterfly, or when we use all his math manipulatives. Songs work really well for Wyatt too – especially Jack Hartman videos on YouTube. I put Jack on while I am making lunch and it is a good transition from “school” to lunch.

What didn’t work is a bit more hard to express. I had a lot of trial and error on teaching certain topics. As I mentioned before place value was tough for him and for me. I bought a million different things to teach this, and I think that he just wasn’t ready for this concept yet. Going into this year, I also am realizing I don’t need to buy all the things. Last year I felt like I had to purchase everything. This was partially due to our library being sort of inaccessible for a lot of the year, and also because I didn’t have a clear idea of what was going to work. I already have the books checked out from the library that we need for the first few weeks of school for reading/history/science that are not part of the “spine” we are working from. For instance we are going to use Julia Rothman’s Nature Anatomy book all year long, so I bought it, but books we are reading once or twice I am utilizing the library. Which I love to do anyway so it works.

While I bought a bunch of unnecessary stuff last year, there were a few purchases that worked really well for us! (the following do contain affiliate links. I never share anything here that i don’t love and believe in though!)

This math board was a hit with Wyatt. I found it very helpful in teaching him addition and subtraction, and being able to have something tangible resonated with him during the process. I think math can seem so abstract at times unless kids can see it and this really aids in allowing kids to “see” math. Wyatt likes this so much, that he will take it out of his math basket and make equations just whenever. We were on a zoom with my mom last night, and he pulled it out and was making math problems and showing her. I found a board for reading and spelling and I plan on buying it before the beginning of the year since this math board worked so well.

I had also struggled with finding the right set up for our morning time, going over the calendar, time, etc and I struck gold with this one. It is cute and nature themed so a perfect fit for our family, it doesn’t have a bunch of pieces I have to worry about losing, and it is easy to use. Another thing that Wyatt likes to get out and play with, and it totally helped teach him how to read the days of the week.

This ABC picture board from Melissa and Doug was also handy when we were learning letters! Wyatt loves anything hands on like this, and this made learning to recognize the letters a bit more fun for him.

I think one thing that has helped Wyatt a lot as well are flash cards. I know that seems odd, everyone seems to think ugh flash cards, but Wyatt at least loves to get them out of the basket and go through them himself. I don’t hold them up and have him tell me, he likes to get them out, and go through the stack naming everything. I think this was also very beneficial for his speech this year! I also am thinking about getting him something similar for sentence building. With Wyatt’s challenges in speech and fine motor skills, having words he can read and move around or point to help us both out. I can assess whether he knows something and he can communicate it to me in a way that is not frustrating. We work on saying the words and writing them, but being able to manipulate objects as well makes learning for Wyatt a bit easier at times. Two things on my “wish list” for this year are this sight words flash cards set that includes hand motions as part of the lesson, and this sentence building kit.

I have had to get creative at times. I have had to learn to be flexible. I have learned that sometimes it is ok to take a break and come back to something at a different time. I have learned that you run out of colored construction paper unevenly and that food coloring is hard to get at different times of the year. I have also learned that Dawn dish soap removes kinetic sand from a child’s hair and that there is such a thing as an electric hole punch. I have learned so much this year homeschooling Wyatt and I am really looking forward to our new school year – with my big time first grader!

What are some educational games, products, books that you have loved?

A Sweet Summer Tradition

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Or a sassy one, judging by Wyatt’s face in this photo. it cracks me up. He actually did have a good time despite this expression.

Every year we take a drive into the country to our favorite summertime orchard, Erie Orchards. When I was a kid, this was the orchard we used to get pumpkins and apples at, so we have been visiting and eating the fruit from these trees since I was Wyatt’s age, which is crazy to me!

Usually we are able to pick from the whole orchard. This year we were told to pick from only one row, so I am not sure if it was a rough growing season for them or what the deal was but we stuck to our row. Unfortunately, there were a few other families there and we were all picking from the one same row, so it was not quite as easy to find peaches. If you look at our bag though, we managed successfully, although it wasn’t quite as fun this time with all of us crammed in the same space.

We usually picnic as well too, but Wyatt requested a “car picnic” and since he is the prince of picnics in this house we decided a car picnic worked for us too. Especially since this time there were more people than usual around.

So we ate our cheese and bread and peaches hanging out in the back of the Subaru, and then wandered over to the “U-Pick” flowers. I can’t seem to pass that up this year. All the bright colors, I am like a magpie to the shiny things. And all the butterflies! I definitely need to plant zinnies next year! Remember that for me, ok? And sunflowers too, I am in love with their bright cheery faces this year.

Today my plans include making peach jam. I am going to try something different though. Instead of the traditional way of making jam, I am going to try Instant Pot jam. It will be freezer jam but that is ok. I love to grab a jar of summer preserves in the midst of winter and remember the days that i picked that fruit. I also love to put peach jam on my pancakes! Yum!

It was a quick little trip but a fun one!

Our Butterfly Project – Update #7

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn butterfly project6 Comments

Before we left for vacation, I had to line up a few caterpillar sitters! Luckily for me, my two besties also raise caterpillars and took mine in. One took my black swallowtails, the other my monarchs. I also had family coming in twice a day to feed my lizards and cats, and checking the butterfly enclosures for any butterflies that might eclose during our absence and release them.

And three monarchs were born while I was gone! I told my niece she had to name them all for me, so the three that eclosed under her watch (and her mom’s) are named Jack, Sarah, and… Ice Cream.

The rest of my caterpillars went into chrysalis for the most part while I was gone, so I ended up picking up tanks of chrysalis when we got back, except for a few that were younger and were still just little caterpillars. However, my SIL had a bunch of monarch caterpillars that she asked me to take. I now have about 11 caterpillars munching away in the tank!

Since the last update, I have had 11 total butterflies eclose – 8 monarchs and 3 black swallowtails. I named the monarchs (not including Jack, Sarah, and Ice Cream) Fitzgerald, Wilde, Leo, Cordelia, and Oberon. The black swallowtails I named Orion, Bellatrix, and Andromeda.

Cordelia was giving me great anxiety. When monarchs emerge, they generally hang from the chrysalis for an hour or more, to allow their wings to dry. For some reason though, Cordelia had itchy feet and wanted to rush the process. She kept walking across the top of the enclosure, hanging down of course, but since she was just new, she kept falling! Her wings were still wet and she couldn’t move once she fell and she would flail her little legs in the air. I freaked out because if she remained like that, in a crumpled heap, her wings would be malformed and she wouldn’t be able to fly. I would reach in, let her climb on my finger, and then help her back to the top. I did this eight times before she just went to sleep for the night. We made it, and she was able to fly free and high today when I released her.

There is something amazing about a butterfly, and I love when they seem to trust you enough to climb onto your hands and fingers. I know they just assume that my finger is a stick but, it feels like I am truly connected to them in some way, to nature, when they allow that to happen. There is a trick to it by the way – you want to put your finger near their head/front of their body, under their legs and they just latch on. Their little feet feel so sticky, and despite being fragile little things, they have a surprising weight to them, a featherweight, but you know they are there.

So my tally to date is: 14 male monarchs, 8 female monarchs, 6 male black swallowtails, and 4 female. The next wave is coming! Usually the giant monarchs, the ones strong enough to migrate to Texas and Mexico, are being growing right now, and will leave Michigan to head south the end of August and early September. I am looking forward to contributing to that migration and hopefully helping to boost the numbers of these magnificent creatures.

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized33 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello! Today is a bright sunshiney day, which is perfect since it is my niece Dino Girl’s birthday party today! It will be the first party we have gone too since the pandemic, and it is outside at a park so the kids can play. I have spent the past week getting ready for next school year – I decided we need a bigger space so I am in the process of rearranging and redoing Wyatt’s bedroom to accommodate this need. I mainly really need to shift things around and go through the six years of clothes and toys and books he has accumulated, and organize. We also took apart the little toddler bed, since he is a big kid now anyway which seemed to open the room up much more. I want to do our bedroom too, but.. I guess Wyatt’s room came first. And of course I decided he needs all new art work too, so I will slowly be adding that in as well, with his input. He said he wants animals and the moon. I guess I will see what I can do with that theme.

Read Last Week:

I finally finished Prodigal Summer, and it was an amazing read. I had read it before, but I feel like I had so much more understanding and more takeaways this time around. It was complex and rich, and made me think about our responsibility to nature and the world and our communities and how that all works together.

I also downloaded a new book, Harvesting Hope by Lisa Howeler, but I keep forgetting to charge my kindle! I should do that right after this so I can start it tonight.

I also am picking this book up from the library tomorrow, and hope to start it as well. I loved House of Salt and Sorrows so I am looking forward to reading this one.

Posted Last Week:

An Art Studio, a Lighthouse, and a Picnic

10 on the 10th – August

Hometown Views: Churches

Lakes and Trails – Up North #3

Watching:

We finished up Virgin River and Sweet Tooth. I loved them both although they were very different. Sweet Tooth I especially loved. We started watching McDonald and Dodds, a police procedural/mystery on BritBox, and we thought the first season was so-so, but loved the second season. We also started watching season two of Nancy Drew. I am getting ready for spooky season!!

And that is it from around here! Hope you are all doing well!

Lakes and Trails -Up North Post #3

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

In the spirit of trying new things and having different adventures, our plan for day number 3 up north was to explore two completely new to us places. First up, the Botanical Gardens at Barnes Park.

I picked this place because it seemed to have a lot of different areas for us to check out – stuff for Wyatt, and stuff for us too. We arrived bright and early, and I was happy we went in the morning as the day was already heating up. We pulled in, grabbed a map of the grounds, and started off. This caught our eye first..

This must have been some cow! Good for you Traverse Colantha Walker.

Our next stop was the big community garden! It was gorgeous and gave me some inspiration for next year as well! Then, despite having a map, we wandered around trying to find our next trail, the Fairy Trail! We had a strangely hard time finding it; were we deliberately led astray by the fairies?

This was a neat little stop and if you have kids and visit the area, this is a must do!

Once we found our way out of Faerie, we wandered into the next garden over, the pollinator garden.

By this point, we were getting weary of the sun and heat, and headed back to the car and our water, took a quick little break, and left for our next stop, an old growth cedar forest.

Now, this trail was truly magical. Just the feeling when you entered into the trees was something bordering a reverence. My loud boy, Wyatt Riot, even could tell, and whispered “Wow” as we stood the three of us, within this shelter of trees. It was our first time in such a forest and it was beautiful. We took our time making our way through, at time just standing still on the trail and listening to the Blue Jays shriek, catch them flying from tree to tree. Absorbing the stillness at other times, breathing in the cedar fragrance that just wafted with each of our footsteps. This was a short hike, but one of the best ones I have ever been on.

All too soon we were back in the hot, dusty parking lot, and decided it was time to head back to the cabin. We still had some swimming left to do, but not until we took a nap.. which we did after lunch. Then the guys headed down and into the lake. I did not get a swimsuit in time so I watched from the shore, but I was able to take in the sheer joy and excitement that Wyatt was radiating. His laughter echoed over the water as he played in the lake. My whole goal of this trip was to get Wyatt in the water, to be in a lake, to sit on a beach. And it was a resounding success.

We were all exhausted by the time evening rolled around. We had a quick dinner of hot dogs and macaroni, then just vegged until bed. The next day we had to leave so we took this last opportunity to really just relax.

And that my friends, was the end of our trip. Until next year, northern Michigan. We had a blast!

Hometown Views: Churches

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn hometown views12 Comments

Hi all! Recently,Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I started a new blog feature called Hometown Views, where we share different buildings, traditions, memories all from our hometowns. We started this because during our online friendship we have enjoyed comparing the areas we live – rural to suburban outside Detroit.

Where to start? Well, Wyandotte, my town, has 26 active churches, of all denominations. About ten years ago or so, there were more, but this the number we are at now. There used to be a joke that for every church there was a bar in our town, and honestly, I kind of think that was true! There is church or a bar on every corner it seems!

I am not going to talk about all 26 churches of course. That would be silly and I don’t know anything about most of them anyway. So I will start with the church I grew up going to, and was married at. The First United Presbyterian Church. My aunt and uncle were actually the first couple ever to be married there! My mom and dad were married there, my cousin. My grandparent’s funerals. So so many Christmas Eves, time in Sunday School and in the children’s little chapel and all my time in the children’s choir, which at times was only my cousin and me, with me half hidden behind her when we had to sing in front of the congregation. Unfortunately, this church did not survive. It lost members and never got any new ones to keep it going. However, the building is still there, and is a church according to the website, as it is now called Kinergy and I wasn’t sure what that was. I always thought this church was so pretty, and I loved being in there at night on Christmas Eve, with the candles and stained glass. I loved it so much that when we got married there, I had an evening wedding. There are stained glass windows both sides of sanctuary and I just thought they were beautiful.

There were churches however that almost everybody I knew went to – we had a multitude of Catholic churches at one time, and most of my friends were Catholic. Three or four of these churches had festivals every summer where we could eat pierogis that were handmade all year and frozen for the festival. They were so darn good. Now only one has a festival, Mount Carmel, and it is so packed that it is almost impossible to get a pierogi.

It stands at the end of a long boulevard, sort of majestic and tremendous in size for our city. There is a statue of the Pope, which I have heard was erected after the Pope’s visit to our area. I can’t find anything to substantiate that claim however. I can say that my best friend went to elementary school here, and also was married here. I stood up in her wedding and I remember her asking me to peek out over the balcony where we were waiting to make sure I could see her future husband down there. And of course I did, she was just a bundle of nerves!

The other “popular” Catholic church is St. Patrick, or St. Pats for short. I think this is another gorgeous building, inside and out.

If you stand on the middle of the boulevard where St. Pats is, you can see two other churches. One is the church where my brother and sister-in-law were married, The First Congregational Church of Wyandotte. It feels so old world, even on the inside and has a charming fellowship hall. For some reason it reminds me of a tiny castle. It is no longer open either, sadly.

The last church I am going to post about is also the third church you can see from the boulevard. St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. It is my current church, or would be if I were still going. It’s been about two years but as soon as I can go back I plan on it. This is the church that my son and my niece were christened at, on the same day. I hadn’t been to church for many years and was looking for the right fit – I felt comfortable right from the start here. If The First Congregational reminds me of a castle, this one makes me think of a little hobbit house.

Look at those little babies! And my straight hair!

For Lisa’s post on the churches in her area, just click here! I am looking forward to seeing what her churches are like!







10 on the 10th – August Edition!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

I am so excited to be linking up with Leslie’s 10 on the 10th again! This month our prompt is all about life-long learning, one of my favorite things!

And here are the prompts!

  1. How old were you when you started school? Did you attend pre-kinder and/or kinder or go straight into first grade?

I was four when I started kindergarten. I did not attend preschool, I just went straight into kindergarten. I have a late birthday and turned five a few months later.

2. Were you a good student? What was your favorite subject?

I was a good student! My favorite subjects were English, literature, history, geography, and all foreign languages. (I have taken Latin, French, and Russian)

3. As a child, did you take music lessons? Or play a sport? Do you still play an instrument now?

I played the flute in fifth grade. It was short lived. I didn’t really enjoy it. I wasn’t much for sports but I was on the swim team in middle school and high school.

4.Did you attend any kind of training or classes beyond high school? If so, what did you study?  Did you wind up working in a profession or job for which those classes or training prepared you?

I have a crazy college background. I have attended three Universities in my state. I do have a degree in History with a minor in literature. I was accepted to the Masters program for Historical Preservation, which I decided I didn’t like a few classes in. Then I was accepted to the Library Science Masters Program, and I ended up leaving that as well, due to some health reasons. A few years later I entered a program to get a second Bachelors in Journalism but ended up leaving that program because I was pregnant with Wyatt and I was a high risk pregnancy. I never worked a job in my degree field but I loved my job as a library paraprofessional in an elementary school. The librarian and I were kindred spirits – then the school district decided they didn’t need a librarian anymore and that they could just have me do all the library things (order books, process them, etc) for much less money. 😦 I was sad to see her leave!

5.Have you taken any personal growth or adult education classes for fun? During the year that was Covid, did you home school, learn a new app to work from home, teach yourself to do something you might have paid someone else to do for you?

After I had Wyatt, I took some classes online through our community college for fun, all anthropology related and I LOVED them so much. During the year that was COVID, I decided to homeschool Wyatt all on my own, without an online program or school. I had some help though, people I met online who were much more knowledgeable than me about the process and I also attended a few online conferences as well. I also learned how to make soap and shampoo bars, and we made butter once too.

6. What would you like to learn how to do that you don’t know how to do already?

Hmm. Lots of things!! Sew mainly. All fiber art is beyond me. My fingers can’t do it. I also wish I could draw.

7.Name something that you learned easily. Then name something that was a struggle for you to learn to do.

I learned to read very easily. I don’t remember a time I couldn’t read! Math was so hard though. I remember being the only student to show up for a tutoring session before the ACT just so I could get some last minute tips. It was very helpful honestly

8. What’s the last thing you remember learning? What kind of learner are you: visual, auditory, hands-on/kinesthetic, verbal, logical/mathematical?

I am a visual learner, no question about it. Wyatt is a kinesthetic learner so that has been a bit of a learning curve for me when teaching. Billy is both kinesthetic and auditory, so that helps. I am the worst at following verbal commands. I must be a terrible listener.

9. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks, school of hard knocks, pass with flying colors, learn by heart, burn the midnight oil, pull an all-nighter, play hooky – which of these expression best fits your life lately? Why?

For this month, play hooky! We are taking a break from homeschooling.

10.What is something you’ve learned from past mistakes?

I have learned… to trust myself and my instincts.

Bonus: Share your favorite learning/education quote.

” We all know that every child is unique and yet, we still assume this doesn’t apply to learning.” Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free. I love that book so much!

An art studio, a lighthouse, and a picnic

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Michigan9 Comments

Mornings come early when you have a six year old, even on vacation. At least, with our six year old they do. We woke up in Honor and an hour later we were on the road again. This time, our first stop was minutes away, at a place I have always always wanted to go. And finally, I made it!

Gwen Frostic was so many things in her life – an artist, an inspiration, a Rosie, a poet. I love her art, her vision, and the fact that I graduated from the same high school that she did. So when I learned that her studio was still around, open, and operating as a store and a letter press in the very area we usually vacation in, I wanted to go. But it never happened, for one reason or another. But this time around, I made space for it.

We arrived bright and early, just as the doors were opening. We were the only customers and it was nice to have the place to ourselves. It was so quiet, we could ask questions, and I could just soak it all in. While I wandered about, Billy and Wyatt talked to the employees about the press that operates there. Apparently you can watch it run, but we were there on the wrong day for that. Another time, because I will definitely be going back.

I poked about, bought a few things. Listened to Billy talk with the employees about how not as many people send cards or letters anymore, and I think I want to do that, send letters on beautiful stationery. Anyone want a pen pal?

I bought a few cards, a new journal, and Wyatt picked out a few stickers. I have my eye on a print though for our bedroom redo, and those wine glasses.. I need one.

We got back in the car, and headed to our cabin! I was excited to get there after all the chaos. We checked in, looked around, flopped a bit, then..set out again. This time to Mission Point.

First stop was the lighthouse. We walked around a bit, then I asked Wyatt what he wanted to do next. He requested a picnic, since this kid loves them. For real. We got back in the car and found a place that sold deli sandwiches to go, the Bad Dog Deli. I had also spotted a sign for a place called Old Mission Flowers, and when I looked it up, found that it was a U-Pick Flower stand. Right up my alley, and just about the perfect setting for a picnic! We ate our lunch swinging our feet from the back of the Subaru, looking out at the wonderful color of the flowers, the hummingbirds playing, butterflies floating from flower to flower. I thanked Wyatt for suggesting this idea, we would have probably missed all of this beauty without his picnic request.

It was pretty ingenious really. There was a clean, bright shed filled with clippers and vases of different sizes and sorts. The prices were based on which vase you chose, you pick the flowers, and then either deposit money into a tube, or PayPal Old Mission Flowers. A complete honor system. I loved this part of our day. So did Wyatt. I think this was our favorite stop. Although, we only had one more left, the Secret Garden at Brys Winery. I actually didn’t go to any wineries this time around, due to Covid, but I wanted to see the lavender at the Secret Garden. This was a fast stop, I took a few photos, and we left. We were ready to chill out at the cabin for the rest of the day by this point. So that is what we did!

Which brings us to the end of day two. Another perfect day.

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized22 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

We are back from vacation and we had the greatest time in northern Michigan! But, all vacations come to an end and we are back to business – almost at least.

I did manage to read some where we were there. Not as much as I had though but that is ok. I am almost done with Prodigal Summer, and wow is it a powerful book. I think I am taking in so much more of it on this reread that I missed in my previous reading – perhaps because I am now older? Whatever it is, this book is amazing. My sister-in-law is listening to it and she is having a little bit of a time with it; she has a huge heart and the most empathetic spirit, I once saw her move a slug off the edge of a step because she was worried about it. So when she texted me about the goats in this book, and how she was not sure she could go on not knowing how graphic the book was going to get, I understood. Unfortunately, I hadn’t made it that far either and I can’t remember! If someone who has read it and remembers wants to leave a trigger warning for sensitive souls in the comments that would be great!

I will finish this up this week as Wyatt and I are taking the rest of the month off of homeschooling, yay! When I finish, the next book I plan on starting is by my friend Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings. You may have visited her blog already or read about our Hometown Views post project on my blog. Anyway, she has a book coming out on the 12th! The second in the Spencer Valley Chronicles, and I am looking forward to it after reading the first one, The Farmer’s Daughter. And, Harvesting Hope is available for pre-order on Amazon for only 99 cents right now!

Speaking of Hometown Views, our next post goes up on Wednesday of this week, the 11th. We are sharing about churches in our town. Feel free to join in if you feel like it! I hope to have a linky on my post, if I can figure it out! (fingers crossed)

I only posted once last week, on Saturday when I shared about our first day of vacation. If you are interested you can read about it here. This week I hope to share more about our trip, homeschooling, maybe even a book review! I am so behind on them, it is is pitiful. And I need to update on our butterflies too!

The evenings were pretty quiet up north, and we would settle down in the evening after long days outside, Wyatt with his tablet until bedtime, then Billy and I would watch the newest season of Virgin River. We finished the whole thing and wow, what a roller coaster this time! I am anxiously awaiting the next season already!

And that is about it from our little corner of Michigan! I hope you are all doing well!