Category: mom life

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn mom life19 Comments

Hello everyone! I recently took a short break from here, and from a lot of things actually, for a little self care. The last year was pretty crazy, and I had put off some important things for myself and it sort of reached a head, forcing me to take care of it. I struggle with anxiety, a lot, and the last year I had tried different medications, none of which worked, and I sort of gave up. Unfortunately, my body and mental health still needed something, and therapy only was not working. It reached a point where I was constantly in a state of anxiety or panic; and I finally approached my doctor about trying something different, again. After two weeks of adjusting to this new medicine, I am feeling a bit better. I still have a ways to go, but everyday I see a little more progress in the right direction.

I feel it is important to talk about these things. Mental health gets swept under the rug, or dismissed by others as you should just be able to suck it up and move on, and sometimes that really is not possible and you need help. My husband read this and told me about it when I was feeling bad about having to take medication – “Sometimes you need a crutch to hold you up so you can walk”. And that is so true. I always feel slightly like I have failed when I can’t control my intrusive thoughts or panic, and I have to give myself some more grace.

I have spent the last two weeks doing a lot of thinking. I didn’t do much on Instagram, I didn’t read, I wasn’t blogging. I kept the amount of input to a minimum – and wow, do I consume a lot of other input normally. When did I have time to slow down and think, between all I was taking in and also what I do daily in my home, in terms of care for Wyatt, etc. I really didn’t. So that is one thing I am going to change – taking more time for me. I sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Even with blogging, I hurry through my posts in the morning while Wyatt is eating breakfast, trying to carve out a small bit of time for me. I am doing that right now, but I am trying not to hurry through today. I don’t need to. We homeschool, our schedule is controlled by me and if we start later, we start later. Nothing bad will happen.

The last two weeks, we also spent around the house. The first week of my new meds, I was so tired. Like for two days all I did was sleep. Thank goodness I started on a weekend! Then, the following Monday, Billy’s dad was rushed to the hospital for a stroke. It turned out much better than it could have, and it was a TIA but it was a very scary week as they put out different health issues that kept popping up while he was in the hospital. He is out and doing well now.

So we have been taking it slow.

Playing with all of our little animals, including checking on our new fish, Spot. (We started with two, sadly one did not make it)

We had a few warm sunny days, and by then, I was feeling well enough to get out more with kiddo.

Sunday, we decorated for Valentine’s Day, and Billy made us a wonderful dinner (inspired by one of my favorite movies, Amelie, which I am talking about here on Thursday)

It has been a two weeks of healing and I am hoping to keep this feeling of slowing down and letting go and soaking up more moments.

I hope wherever you are that you are doing well. Take care my friends. Be gentle with yourselves. And thank you to everyone who commented, messaged, and emailed me that you were thinking about me, praying for me, and were checking on me. I appreciated all of your kind words.

Up North Trip – Part 2

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, Michigan, mom life12 Comments

Days 2 and 3 were filled with perfect weather. Sunny, warm but not too warm, the kind of weather you want on your vacation, you know? I loved sitting outside in the morning, drinking my coffee and listening to the birds. I have another app – the Merlin app. My little family of three gets up hours before every else, so the first two days we would get our breakfast and head outside. I would put on the Merlin app and watch it light up with all the bird names that were in the area. It picks up and identifies the bird calls and if you pay attention, it helps you learn the different calls yourself. It is really neat. I think we wound up with 19 different species of bird?

Being early birds worked out well! By the time we had our breakfast and had hung out, everyone else was tumbling out of bed and getting their coffee and food. So of course to be helpful, Billy and I volunteered to hold the Peanut so that her parents could eat more easily. Such a hardship I know, right? She is the happiest little morning baby! All smiles and giggles. We also had a morning of painting in pajamas, which was super fun too. I had Peanut “hold” a crayon and scribble so her art could be displayed as well.

Once we were all ready, we would head out for our daily excursions! The first full day we opted for nearby Petosky, which was a lot of fun, and the second day we explored Indian River itself (that was painting day, so we had less time).

However, Indian River has another attraction I have always seen advertised, but never actually had visited, called The Cross in the Woods. We spent a lot of time wandering the grounds, which were beautiful. I can’t imagine attending church there, it would be amazing honestly, out in the woods like that. Very different from the small Chapel in the Pines, but just as lovely. The Peanut slept very peacefully while we were there.

While we were there we saw this statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native American from the Algonquin-Mohawk nation, who was known as the Lily of the Mohawks. She became a Catholic saint. I am not Catholic but I did find her story very interesting. St. Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Her statue was lovely and the base was covered in turtles, which I found to be such a wonderful recognition of her native heritage of Haudenosaunee.

After visiting The Cross in the Woods, we just putzed around some more in town and at the cabin. I always liked winding down in the evening too, with this crew. We actually didn’t get to have many fires, thanks to the weather that developed, but we did have one, and it was pretty awesome.

The next three days though all, were cold and rainy. It did interrupt some of our plans but we let those plans go and just had fun together however we could. We explored nearby small towns, Wyatt got his beautiful hair cut because no one liked not being able to see his eyes (which I will admit, his bangs were way too long) by a barber in Cheboygan. This barber was so nice guys, his name is Brad and his shop is right there on the main street. He cut Wyatt’s hair for free because we didn’t have cash, and he knew that up front. We did discover my brother had cash though and ran it in after, so we did pay him. We visited Mackinaw City, which to my dismay is very different than I remember. A lot of the stores, like the Island Bookstore which I loved, are gone, replaced by souvenir t-shirt shops. Like most of Mackinaw City is t-shirt shops. I am guessing the economy and the pandemic hit the area hard, or maybe just tourism sunk its teeth in years ago. It’s been a long time since I was up there so I am not sure. I was also disappointed to read that the Forts in both the City and on the Island were not super accessible for wheelchairs. I mean, I understand on some level as they are historical buildings, but the one in town is not super accessible because you have to cross 500 feet of sand to get to it – that can be changed somehow, I would think. Wheelchairs and sand just doesn’t happen. It was pretty cold and foggy and we opted to skip the island, at least during those days. My brother was considering it for Friday, when we were all sort of splitting up for the day. The kids did go to the local Build Your Bear (like Build a Bear) and each got a stuffie. Wyatt got a wolf, and Mermaid Girl picked a cat. They were both enamored with their choices. We also spent a quick chilly hour at the beach gathering rocks, and stopped in at Chillermania where the kids got tons of books and met the author Jonathan Rand, who signed their books. So the days were not a total loss. We also had our best meal during those days, at the Noggin Room in Petosky. Delicious!

And while we had some gray skies and rainy days, our friends and family back home were going through the worst weather – those tornadoes that hit. Five of seven of the tornadoes were within 10-20 miles of our home. My brother and I were watching the weather and texting friends to see if we needed to alert our mother. No tornadoes hit our actual city, but everyone says it was the scariest round of storms they have ever been through, even family and friends who are not normally afraid of storms.

The most important thing was that we were together, just hanging out with no agenda or schedule or somewhere we needed to rush off too. We made memories that these kids will remember forever, being with family, especially grandpa.

I have one more day to cover guys, and that is it. I promise! But it was a really good one, so it gets its own post.

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, day in the life, family friendly, mom life, nature12 Comments

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great holiday weekend if you are in the U.S., or just a great past few days if not! We had a pretty relaxed few days, with the exception of our July 4th celebration with my family. We actually celebrated on the Monday instead of yesterday and it was nice to have yesterday as a rest day. Because we needed it!

I have not seen a few of my cousins or their families since the fourth of July party last year! My cousin has been hosting and his house is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for parties, and the day is just so perfect and filled with laughter. Wyatt (and by default Billy) spent hours in the pool, where the kids just swam and splashed and used squirt guns, while the rest of us adults caught up with each other in the shade. Other dads did duck in and out of the pool, as well as a few moms. I loved being able to hang out with my brother and cousins – we had an hour or so where it was just the five of us sitting around the table, chatting and laughing and remembering. And all the food!! So much food. Everything was delicious but my sister-in-law made some sort of ooey gooey peanut buttery thing and oh my gosh, it was amazing.

The weather was a bit unpredictable – we would have a few hours of straight sun, then a stray rain downpour would unleash itself on us all. The first few the kids just kept on playing in the pool, and the last one was just crazy and we all ran off for the various areas of cover. Billy and Wyatt and I ended up in the best spot – we headed for high ground and the pergola covered patio – also where all the food was.

Tiny Bebe girl met the next youngest little, my cousin Mike’s youngest son. Little kiddo was slightly alarmed to see his mom holding a different baby. Lol.

By the time we left, full of sun, memories, food, and pool time, we were exhausted and ready to clean up and put on our pajamas. It had been a fantastic day though.

Saturday and Sunday were so rainy! We did do some fun stuff over the weekend leading up to the holiday though, despite the storms that kept rolling through. Between the rain and the air quality (again ugh) we were stuck inside but we made good use of it, playing board games and reading and completing our tiny art for our library’s tiny art show!

I am not an artist but I had fun anyway. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon, painting our “submissions” to the show. Billy and I have a few details to add to our paintings but I will be turning them in later this week and they will be displayed in the library the whole month of August, along with everyone else who registered. From left to right – Wyatt’s sun and moon, Billy’s Panda King isopod, and my little brown snail. Lol.

All this rain has been good for the garden and the plants though!

We managed to squeeze in one bike ride before the rain and air quality got bad this weekend. And we took lots of drives and ate lots of watermelon.

And that was that! How about you all? What have you been up to?

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, mom life20 Comments

I am soo tired this morning! I think it is all this rain! We need it though so I won’t complain. Everything has been so dry and parched that a few days of straight rain will do everything good – for the farmers, for the gardeners, all manner of flora and fauna.

I can say we have some very happy bees! I have no idea where these ladies live but they are loving our lavender. It’s amazing how alive a yard can be when you stop and look. Sadly Billy told me that if you pay attention to your car’s windshield, you can tell just how reduced insects are these days – remember road trips and having to wash the dead bugs off the window? Do you still need to? Anyway we try to do our part over here in helping the insect and animal populations – we have so much life out there in our yard. Sometimes too much, but that is a story for another time. But we have little baby praying mantids, katydids, grasshoppers, jumping spiders, a blue jay nest with blue jay fledglings, possums, and I am sure some other nighttime creatures I don’t know about. And of course, butterflies and caterpillars. I do give them a helping hand, we have established a pretty good food chain out there so I bring some in. Some for the predator insects, some to help grow and release.

Speaking of little creatures, my little tadpoles are all tiny tiny toads now! We only have two left, and I have named them Simon and Garfunkel. They are still way too tiny to release, so for now they live here. We are enchanted by them and how very wee they are. How do these things make it in the wild? I am sure that is why they have so many eggs and tadpoles, it is definitely a numbers game.

Last night I spent a rainy, relaxing evening with my friend Kelly. We talk everyday but don’t always get to get together in person and it was good to just hang out. I got to visit with her daughter Tadpole girl, who showed me some of her new cool things she made, and then Kelly and I got to just sit and chat. I also got to check out her tadpoles and toads and insects and plants. She has a bunch of cats but has a large house and you never even realize there are more than one or two or three most of the time. I only saw three last night, Cecil, the buff old guy in the first photo, Buddy on the chair by the window, and then Pal, who is still sort of new to the house. Buddy and Pal were stray cats until this winter when it got really cold and Kelly let them in to warm up. I said, well, they are yours now, they are going to get comfy and that’s it. And she was like “No, no, we have enough cats, these are my outdoors buddies I feed..” Mmm hmm. Looks like I was right, and these cats have landed in the lap of luxury. Buddy in particular looked super cozy. And those toads are both girls, nothing going on there in that photo!

This has started already – homeschool planning for next year. I have a pretty good idea of how our structure and routine is going to work. I have all of the curriculum bought, and I am busy reading through it and looking at what we can do to enrich our studies in the fall. We are going to start a small version of summer school July 10th and do that for about a few weeks or so, then take another small break before we start up again for good in September. We are not super hot day people and it keeps us busy inside during the hottest hours. We have zero shade in our yard and it feels like the surface of the sun in the summer! We won’t be going all out schooling but it’ll be good for both of us. And I love my new planner from Schoolnest, and I also very nerdily like that the tabs match so well.

Annnd my cup is empty! Time for a refill! So not too much exciting happening around here, just…life, I guess, and that is perfect honestly.

How are you all doing? What is going on in your world?

Strawberry Moon Party!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, mom life7 Comments

Saturday was the Full Strawberry Moon, and we finally revived our moon parties! We had missed a few due to illnesses and surgeries and babies being born, but now we are back on schedule! And the strawberry moon is one of my favorites in the whole year – it’s just such a fun theme.

The Strawberry Moon derives its name from Native Americans, as this is the time when wild strawberries would ripen and be ready to be picked – and eaten! My strawberries are just starting to ripen too, and honest to Pete, we had our first red ripe strawberry in the garden Saturday, just in time for the full moon that bears its name.

Anyway, I was super excited about this moon and celebrating with the kids. We always have such a good time, and this past party was no exception. I spent Saturday hitting up the dollar store, baking a cake, and decorating, and while I puttered about Wyatt and Billy headed out and bought the plants the kids were going to plant.

When Mermaid Girl arrived, I already had the Merry Magic Mac and Cheese (frozen Stouffers, the kids’ favroite) in the oven. While it was continuing to cook, we read the full moon story that is part of the Kids Moon Club, and the kids colored in their strawberry coloring pages. By the time we were done, it was time to eat!

The kids enjoyed the mac and cheese, and the cake especially. I enjoyed the cake too! (Duncan Hines for the win!) Oh, we also had strawberry watermelon juice which was also delicious. Billy and I felt like kids eating this obviously designed for children menu, but it was fun!

Next up – the main event- the craft! This is always the kids’ favorite part. This time I had them paint terra cotta pots to look like little strawberries, and once it dried, plant the plants inside. They turned out super cute! We played the game Pop the Pig while we waited, which is a super simple, fast game if you are looking for one, and kids crack up when the pig eats so much finally that his jacket pops open!

However, the fun did not end here! We still had our strawberry lantern sunset walk ahead of us! I had bought these battery operated lanterns from the dollar store, and drew little dots all over them to look like seeds. Then Billy took construction paper and made the top leaves and voila! Done! So simple and the kids loved them. Our walk was beautiful too – it was the perfect evening, cool and breezy but not too cool and breezy, you know what I mean? (also how did my kid get paint in his hair?)

By the time we got home, it was time for Mermaid Girl to go home and for the kids to get ready for bed. I was sure ready for bed! We did get to see this little peanut too, for a minute.. she was a little cranky but I did get some smiles out of her! She was tired too.

Tiny Bebe.

By the time Wyatt was all cleaned up and put in his jams, and happily sleeping and hopefully dreaming of strawberries and moons and playing with his cousin, the moon was up. My brother texted that it was huge and pink but I literally could not see it from my house! I did hang up the lantern though.

Next month is the Full Buck Moon, and you can bet I am already planning for this one! Then in August we are planning a big ol’ party, with all of his little cousins and his friend Tadpole Girl, at his grandma’s pool for the sturgeon moon, which I think I might just make more aquatic themed… I mean, sturgeon just aren’t that fun, are they?

Yoga, Cats, and Fancy Pants Plants

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn hygge, mom life17 Comments

It can be hard as a parent, whether you are a stay at home parent or a working one, to find time for your own pursuits and friendships. So yesterday when I had two opportunities (thanks Grandmas!) to take a little time away I took them.

My original plan was to go to a free yoga class in a nearby park. My mom lives fairly close, so I could drop Wyatt off, go to yoga, and even grab a coffee and read afterwards for a bit. However, I totally chickened out on the class part of that plan. It is has been so long since I have practiced yoga that I chose to skip the class and instead dropped Wyatt off, and went back home for yoga time in my den.

However, I soon remembered why practicing yoga at home is sometimes difficult too…

…Miso and Marlow like to join me. However, I prevailed and pushed on and Miso eventually lost interest and wandered off somewhere to dream in a pile of fluffy cuteness. Marlow stuck around though, and really liked it whenever I had a pose on the mat, like child’s pose. Stinker. Before the pandemic I was considering attending a goat yoga class – after this experience I think I will skip the goat yoga and just go to a goat happy hour instead.

A lot of people had recommended Yoga with Adriene to me and so I gave her channel a whirl. The video I chose was Morning Fresh Yoga and it was actually perfect for what I needed yesterday; it was just challenging enough, yet also familiar enough that I could relax as well. Lots of warrior, forward folds, downward dog, etc.

Afterward I enjoyed a nice cup of coffee at home, in the quiet, petting those cats who were so interested in yoga and doing a little reading before heading back to pick up the kiddo. He had been having his own fun playing with grandma and his cousin Mermaid Girl and was actually tired out! We both took a little rest when we got home (I listened to a podcast while he caught some z’ss) and then had a normal afternoon after he woke up.

It was going to be a special night though, because one of his other grandmas (Wyatt has 3) was coming over to hang out with him while I went to my friend Kelly’s house for a few hours. Billy had to work a little later so we had grandma to the rescue!

It was just Kelly and I last night, we were two buddies down as Jill’s bonus daughter starts college today and they had all sorts of things to finish up, and Chrissy has out of town family visiting. Kelly and I settled in on her deck, poured the wine, and started catching up. It’s been more than a month since I have seen her in person (we actually both had COVID at the same time but we hadn’t seen each other so it wasn’t like one of us got the other sick, just a weird coincidence) Her oldest daughter starts high school this year, which is unbelievable to me. I remember when she was little and would show me all of her dolls when I went over to visit. We talked about the upcoming school year, laughed about some crazy stuff that has happened to us lately, and then went on the plant tour of Kelly’s house. High School Daughter was all Mom, don’t take her on a plant tour! and warned me not to start a plant journey ~ Kelly had to break the news that I have already started one. In fact, the tour had a purpose. We were gathering cuttings so I could take them home to propagate! If you are a plant person, you know how exciting this is!

Kelly has a beautiful home and I couldn’t resist taking some photos of it while we were getting the cuttings. We actually decided I am going to come over and take photos for a blog post one day – she is proud of her house and she should be!

So, the plant cuttings I took home included a Silver Sword, A Baltic Blue Pothos, a Global Green, a Cebu Blue, a Golden Pothos, and a Horse Head Philodendron. The Silver Sword is one I am super excited about, it is beautiful and hard to find. They are all now currently hanging out in my baby plant/ propagation area. I also included a photo of my baby Brasil I picked up for $4.00.

The cutest thing though. When Kelly’s youngest saw that Kelly had given me cuttings, she gathered some marigold seeds from her garden and gave them to me in a little baggie, which was adorable. Kids are always watching and listening and learning. I love it.

Today I feel more refreshed and very grateful for having had that time yesterday! I think I am going to drop Wyatt off at my mom’s once a week so I can go to yoga, whether it is at home or in class, and let her teach Wyatt geography. I think it will be good for all us!

Amazon Prime Day Deals I Love!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn mom life, product review3 Comments

Prime Day is here! I have already been online shopping, looking for deals for our family and I wanted to share some of the cool things I have found, as well as sharing some of the things we already own and love! With the cost of living right now, I thought this would be a good time to purchase homeschool items and things we might need, because, sale!! **UPDATE: These sales are now over**

**This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. If you were to purchase an item from one of these links I would make a small commission at no extra cost to you! But please, do not feel like you need to even look at them or make a purchase! Also Amazon changes deals often – I will try to keep these updated**

This is sort of a hodgepodge of things, with more of an emphasis on stuff for kids, but I do have some of my favorite things at the end!

Guess in 10 – Animal Planet: We love playing this game together. Sometimes we play it as a game, other times we just use the cards as reference for different animal studies.

Guess in 10 – States of America: This is in my cart! We love the animal version so much that I am getting this United States version since we will be starting to study the states this upcoming school year.

Dauber Dawgs – Oh my gosh does Wyatt love dot markers. We have been using them forever and ever, like since he was 2 or 3 and he still loves them. You can use them for creating artistic masterpieces, building fine motor skills, and learning activities. They are so cool and easy for kids to use!

National Geographic Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Kit: I bought this for Wyatt at the beginning of last year and we are still exploring it! It’s really neat and has inspired us to become rock hounds and hopefully get a rock tumbler this fall.

National Geographic Activity Journal Set: This is another thing in my cart. It is half off and would be a great stocking stuffer. (yep, I start early)

The Julia Rothman Collection: We LOVE these books and use them all the time. I even enjoy using them as a resource for my own knowledge – and the illustrations are wonderful. This is an amazing deal!

Sum Swamp: We are big game players over here and this is another thing in my cart. Anything to make Wyatt like math a bit more! I don’t think this is even a prime day deal, but it was on sale and looked cool. Ooops.

Sight Word Game: We have a slightly different version but it is in essence the same. Wyatt loves this and makes learning sight words a bit more exciting.

Life Cycle Kit Toy: We are all about life cycles over here. Both Wyatt and my niece love learning about them and this kit contains the life cycles of six different animals.

Butterfly Garden: This is the item that got us started on raising butterflies and learning life cycles.

Ok – now for some of my faves!

Overalls: I have a confession – I could live in overalls. I have these in this army green color and in black and I love them!

Woodland wooden measuring spoons: Wyatt always steals my measuring spoons for play, and I got tired of not being able to find them when I needed them. So, I bought these super cute ones and keep them in a jar on my counter and get him plastic dollar store versions. Win-win for everyone! I’ve had them at least a year and they have kept their designs even after going through the dishwasher.

Echo Dot: Ok – so I have a small house, like under 1000 feet. And we have four of these. One in the den, one in our room, one in my office, and one in the basement office. I love being able to just say, “Echo, play (insert musician of choice here) everywhere” and music fills our house. I also love being able to drop in and make announcements to Billy when he is in the office. We use them constantly, to ask questions, to get the weather, the time, to set alarms – they are super useful. And right now $20 bucks each when they are usually $50! I pair mine with an Amazon Music Unlimited membership.

Star Tea Strainer: This is in my cart. For me. Because I want to feel magical when I am making tea.

And phew! We made it to the end!! What are some of your favorite purchases from Amazon?

Late Summer at the Village

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, mom life7 Comments

Last Friday I met my sister-in-law and niece at Greenfield Village for an early morning visit. I love it there so much, and as Wyatt and I ease into school, I hope to work some mornings there in to our schedule more often. But, this visit was just for fun, a last little vestige of summer before Dino Girl started school.

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning either – not too hot or chilly, and the sun was shining and the sky was so blue. Perfect really. I had my wagon for Wyatt, and my niece wanted to ride in there with him too, so my SIL and I took turns pulling it around while we walked and chatted. And admired all of the gardens!

We made sure to stop and visit at our favorite houses, the Cotswold Cottage and the Dagget Farmhouse. I always joke if the world went sideways for real I would move in to the Cottage at the Village. It’s a real cottage too, moved here stone by stone from England.

And this farmhouse, I love everything about it. When we were there they had the interpreters inside making dye from flowers and spinning wool. The kids were enthralled with the spinning wheel; Wyatt kept asking to do it, while Dino Girl had lots of good questions about the process.

From here we wandered into the last, big garden. The kids were good sports but were starting to fade a bit by this time. And they were ready for the ice cream we promised them. We still had about twenty minutes before the frozen custard opened though, since it wasn’t even 11 am yet, so we rolled up into the garden. I love a late summer garden. I feel like the flowers are throwing all their colors at us, their last final hurrah before they completely fade away in the fall. Like look at me, look at me! So we did.

Finally, finally, it was time for frozen custard!

This little building is so sweet, isn’t it?

We got our treats, ate them up, and by this time, it was time to head home. I had my eye doctor appointment that afternoon so I needed to get back and get ready, yuck. It was a very relaxing way to end the week though, and we had the best time.

First Day of School, Flowers, and a Frog

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn mom life, reptiles10 Comments

Last week we started homeschooling again – I can’t believe this kid is in first grade! Where does time go? I am pretty sure he was just a tiny baby like yesterday. Here we go again, barefoot and crazy hair and all!

We are still finding our rhythm, the pace of our day. First grade is a little more demanding but I still want it to be enjoyable and not a chore. I want Wyatt to look forward to our learning time everyday, and with only week one under our belts, we are still muddling through. We will get it though. I am hoping to do a homeschooling curriculum post this Friday; I am so excited about what we are doing this year and want to share!

We visited Belle Isle and the new garden installation, the Oudolf Garden. It was so beautiful! This garden was designed by Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, after he received a “love letter from Detroit” written by the volunteers of the Garden Club of Michigan. Apparently he was impressed by the energy of our city. Oudolf has designed places like the High Line in New York, as well as the Toronto Botanical Garden to name a few. It was pretty neat to see this four season garden and know that a famous garden designer was behind it all.

I enjoyed walking around the gardens with my family, but I was also really excited to move on to the next part of our day – adopting a Pacman Frog. As you all know, I am a lover of all creatures and my sweet little Dash passed away recently. My butterfly project will be finished soon, and I feel like our house will feel sort of empty, or as empty as it can feel with three people, three senior cats, two leopard geckos, and a ghost mantis sharing 900 square feet can feel. But there is always room for a few more, right? Especially a Pacman frog. These frogs are not really a pet you can interact with physically. In fact, handling them is not good for them. And sort of not good for you, as they have teeth and can bite as they are aggressive eaters. They also spend a lot time just sitting in one place burrowed down. Am I selling this frog or what? Lol. However, they are super cute and easy to care for and kind of just what I was looking for. They can live in a smaller tank, and don’t require too much. Plus, cute, again. I think she might be a chocolate mint pacman, but she could just be the “normal” version. Either way, we loves her already. So without further ado, meet Freddie the Frog!

Now you see her, now you don’t! I am seriously considering making some videos or designing an Outschool class with all of my creatures – I would love to share them and their care with elementary students somehow. One day it might be neat as well to share them in person with elementary schools as well!

I have a whole “wish list” of reptiles I would love too add to our home wildlife classroom – a Russian tortoise (a rescue one), a crested gecko, mourning geckos and dart frogs… they bring joy to our whole house, honestly. Even little crazy frogs like Freddie here. And eventually we will! For now we are very happy with all of our menagerie as it stands though.

Up North Michigan

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Michigan, mom life8 Comments

We are home! We had so much fun all. So relaxing and full of new outdoor adventures, but with just enough down time to fully chill out and just be.

At the last minute though, it looked like this trip may not happen. At 10 pm Saturday night, I got a text from the rental property manager saying that the cabin may not be ready to be checked in to on Sunday, the day we were supposed to arrive. We were only going for three nights, and it is a four hour drive so we of course did not want to miss any time! I went to bed anxious and when I woke up the news wasn’t any better. There was a plumbing issue, and the plumber said it might take some time. After some texting back and forth, and some quick googling on my end, I was able to secure a night at a motel nearby (at a motel our family has stayed at before and I know and like even!), had that night at the cabin refunded, plus extra for the inconvenience. I didn’t ask for that part, but they offered which I thought was really nice. However, all this kerfuffle put us way behind schedule. And on top of all that, another disappointment! We we planning on meeting up with Jeanie from Marmalade Gypsy at her summer house on our way up, for lunch and a chat. With all of the confusion and uncertainty we agreed to meet this fall instead, since Jeanie doesn’t live too far away from us during the year. So that was a bummer but another meeting is in the works! I am looking forward to it!

Once everything was settled, we finally hit the road, Billy declaring “Let’s go to Traverse City” as we pulled out of the driveway, just like my dad used to when I was a kid. (Except he said, “Let’s go to Florida!”, his favorite vacation spot)

The drive wasn’t too bad. We stopped about halfway there to stretch our legs and get some snacks, and I couldn’t resist a photo with this big guy!

I actually have my Smokey the Bear t-shirt on, although you can’t see it here. He was telling us that the potential for fire was low that day. Good news!

We got back in and Wyatt and I began to get restless. He fell asleep and I checked the miles left to go about every five minutes until we got there. Finally we pulled into the familiar little town of Honor, Michigan. My stepmom’s family rents a cabin in this area every year for the last thirty years, and our family was introduced into this tradition about fifteen years ago, staying a night or two with them occasionally. The town feels like home after so many visits there, and while this was an unexpected detour, it wasn’t a bad one. We checked in to the Honor Motel, which is bright and cheery and airy and clean, dumped our stuff, flopped on the beds for half an hour, and when Wyatt told us he was hungry, decided we had probably better think about dinner.

We ordered take out from The Cherry Hut, ate it in our room, then ventured out, again, but this time to see the beach. We had considered going to the Cherry Bowl Drive-In theater, a family favorite, but want to wait until we can come up here with my brother and his family for Wyatt’s first visit. The kids will have a blast there. So, we opted for the beach. Every other year Wyatt has hated sand and the lake with a virulent passion. That was actually the impetus for my even booking this trip! I found a cabin that had a shallow lake and a small beach so Wyatt could give it a whirl. So when we took him to Beulah Beach we thought we would just sit up on the sand and look at the water as the sun set. However, as soon as Wyatt spotted the lake he had different plans.

He scoots when not using his walker, and he does this thing Billy and I call his superscoot when he is excited and going fast, his version of a run. He superscooted as fast as he possibly could to the water, and got right in! He was having a blast, and we had to stop him a few times from scooting in over his head! Mr. Fearless all of a sudden I guess. (which on some level makes me both excited and nervous!) After a bit of playing, in his clothes I might add, the sun was fading fast, and the water feeling colder. Good parents that we are, we hadn’t anticipated this and while we had a towel, we didn’t have a change of clothes. So we dried him off, and buckled him into his seat in just his skivvies. It’s just a five minute drive thank goodness, but he thought it was hilarious to not have on shorts or a shirt.

And by this point, we were all ready to just veg out for the rest of the night. We got Wyatt showered and in his jams, let him play with his tablet before he zonked out half an hour later, and we binged a few episodes of Virgin River on Netflix.

And, day one was done. A mixed up and muddled beginning, but it turned out just fine.