Sault Ste Marie by Guest Blogger Ethan

Ethan will be dictating today’s post about his favorite part of vacation – Sault Ste Marie

We want on a trip & saw the biggest ship on the Great Lakes, the Paul R. Tregurtha.  It is 1013ft long & 105ft wide.  It’s self-unloading ship which means it has a crane that can load & unload cargo.

The Paul R Tregurtha passing a Soo Locks tour boat

The next ship I’m going to tell you about is the Pine Glen.  Also like the Paul R Tregurtha the Pine Glen is a self-unloader too.  The Pine Glen is ocean going because it has a hump in the front for pushing waves on the ocean.

I’m going to tell you about how a Lock works & what a Lock is.  A Lock is a something that helps ships avoid going down rapids or waterfalls.  There’s pumps or gravity that help the Lock fill up & empty.  The Soo Locks are 4 Locks helping boats go from Lake Superior to St. Mary’s river which leads to Lake Huron.  The boats cargo is usually grain or taconite or coal or coke (type of rock).  The Soo Locks work by a gate that opens under the Lock & water from Lake Superior rushes through to fill the Lock up.  And then when the boat needs to go the other way water from Lake Superior rushes back to the St Mary’s river & the boat can go through.

The Soo Locks. The Pine Glen is entering from St Mary's River on the left of the photo (K~)

The Pine Glen waiting to exit the lock.

Another thing I liked about Sault Ste Marie was learning about ship wrecks.  My favorite shipwreck is the Edmund Fitzgerald.  One thing I thought was really cool is that the Valley Camp Ship Museum had two of its (Edmund Fitzgerald’s)  life boats inside it.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was in a wreck on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.   It was coming from Duluth when it went down because of hail & high winds.  There were no survivors.  The Edmund Fitzgerald wasn’t alone though.  It was being followed by the Arthur M Anderson which was 17 miles away.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was split in 3 parts, the bow, the stern, & the middle part.  All of which are still at the bottom of the lake.  The middle part is scattered into small pieces.  One whole lifeboat & a half of another are the only things that survived.

by Ethan, age 8.

Who Wants to See Vacation Pictures?

My idea of a perfect vacation for this year was to sit on a warm beach somewhere, watch the kids build sandcastles, occasionally go for a swim, search for seashells, read a book, & relax.  That’s not at all what we did, but it was fun anyway.

The itinerary of our trip had us driving through Wisconsin on our way to the UP of Michigan where we would do a couple of boat tours, see some big boats & some big locks.  After that little stop, we were to drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes for a quick climb of the Dunes before we headed to a beach town in southern Michigan for the longed for beach time.  All in 8 days.  Sounds relaxing, doesn’t it?

Here’s the before shot with the rig we towed 1900 miles.

All Smiles at the start of vacation

Our first day was mainly driving.  Our first official stop was Lambeau Field.  Being staunchish Viking’s fans (the hubby & the kids, I couldn’t care less) this was the only decent picture we took of the place.

Boo Packers!

The next stop was Iron Mountain for a tour of an Iron Mine.  It was pretty neat.  It’s hard to fathom how big the mine really was.  At one point there is a 10ft statue & it looks maybe 3-4ft tall, that’s how big the cavern was.  I don’t have any good pictures because it was dark & we had 3 kids we were trying to keep from touching things they weren’t supposed to.

All Aboard! This is the train that takes you into the mine. No idea who the guy in the background is but it looks like he thinks he's part of our family.

I knew the UP was going to be chilly.  I didn’t really pack for it to be chilly the whole time we were in the UP though so you’ll see these outfits (minus the rain jackets) a lot.

After the Mine we drove to Munising MI for a sunset cruise of the Pictured Rocks, but there was no sunset – too cloudy.  The rocks were interesting.  But it was COLD.  And windy.  And that made for a queasy Kristen.  Plus the kids were bored & that meant we had to wrestle them into submission or subject the other tourists to Tova’s screaming & the boys whinning.  After the cruise, Jason & I were exhausted.

Pictured Rocks

More Pictured Rocks

Tomorrow I’ll try to post pictures from Ethan’s favorite part of the trip – Sault Ste Marie.

K~

We Survived 8 Days, 3 Kids, A Mid-size Truck, A Teeny Camper, Sand, & More Sand & Now I’m Going to Blog About It.

Well not a long blog post, but a post nonetheless.

I’m pooped.

It was a great trip & I only had the shakes of technology withdrawal for about half the trip.  We had one night of intermittent internet but nothing long lasting enough for a blog post.

Anyway.

We had fun.  We took lots of pictures.  We slept late.  We ate great.  We hiked.  We swam.  We biked.  We S’mored.  We read.  We boated.  We toured.  We drove.  And now we’re home & over the next few days I will force you to look at my vacation slide show.  Only it won’t be a slide show (because that application takes FOREVER to load) it’ll be post after post of pictures.

I can feel your excitement.

To wet your appetite, here’s an early vacation picture of the kiddos.

Don't they look clean? You won't see many more pictures like that...

K~

5 People, 1 Mid-sized Truck, The Smallest 5th Wheel Made, & 8 Days.

That’s right.  It’s time for VACATION!  For the first time as a family of 5 we will be hitting the open road & camping for a week.  We’re heading to Michigan – both upper & lower.  I’m excited to get away.  I’ve told Jason no work calls or his phone ends up in either Lake Superior, Lake Huron, or Lake Michigan, depending on which body of water we’re closest to when the offending call comes in

As always, our first line of defense is the attack cat.  Because it’s a new house, we had to get a whole new set of curses.  Just so you’re aware, the new curses came with an extra nasty set of consequences.

For your reading pleasure, I have written a rebuttal to my first nasty comment.

Enjoy!

~~~~~

While away for my sister’s wedding I had my first bad comment.  I was a little surprised it was on my post about Cartu$, as every other communication I’ve had with people about Cartu$ seem to agree that Cartu$ is a company staffed with people of nominal intelligence & run by people who are just plain evil.

The lone dissenter seems to have found their way to my blog.

The comment is such a gem, I feel the need to take it piece by piece.

First up, the email address & URL.  Can we please come up with something more original than slang for $ex & female body parts?  (I’m not spelling it correctly because I don’t want people who are looking for ’slang for $ex’ to find pics of  my kids).  It’s just so juvenile.  How about something more creative like IloveCartu$@needaspellcheck.com?  See?  That wasn’t so hard.

Onto the comment.

hmmm it seems like someone should learn how to tell a story or blog before they call someone else a moran…

Hmmm.  It seems someone should use a spellcheck before insinuating someone is a ‘moran’.

I checked into Blogging for Dummies & this is their definition of a blog.

Blogs (Web logs) are short, diary-like entries on a Web site that has a chronological, journal format. Fun or informative, but not formal, blogs are easy to set up, maintain, and update. You can share your personal, stream-of-consciousness musings or your expertise on any subject ranging from your family vacation to world peace.

So according to the “Dummies” people, I’m doing okay on my blogging.   But I understand if my blogging style is not for you.  Not everyone will appreciate my wit, humor, & candor.  But I would expect those people to stop reading instead of forcing themselves to do something so unpleasant & unnecessary.

This is the final portion.

what was the point of this story besides bashing a company for no clear cut reason…seems like someone is mad b/c they’re upside down on their mortgage

The point of my story was to give a snippet of info to my readers about what was going on with our relocation & how the misinformation we’d been given was wreaking havoc on us.  I have a clear cut reason for bashing the company.   They made more ‘mistakes’ than one would think would be possible by a company still in business.  As for being mad – you bet I’m mad.  Only not because of mortgage trouble  – & again, can we get a little more creative?  How about I’m mad because a family of rabid raccoons have made their home in the chimney & after smoking them out, we couldn’t get rid of the raccoon pee smell?  That’s much more interesting that being upside-down in a mortgage, don’t you think?

Anyway, yes, I’m mad;  but my reasons are valid.  Too bad you don’t have the password to read all about them!

I’ll tell you what you, Lone Dissenter, should do.  If you are really convinced Cartu$ is such an outstanding company why don’t you hire them to do your next move?  Then you can blog about it & we’ll all enjoy the experience together!  Let me know when you set up that blog, okay?

K~

Professional Wedding Pictures

Our goal is to leave the house Wednesday by noon.  I have tons of work ahead of me, but I thought I’d do one last picture post before I leave you for a week.  These pictures were taken by a coworker of the bride & groom – she was their photographer.

I saw that look from Jenny many times but I can't figure out why she's shooting it at the photographer.

Dad & Jenny heading down the aisle

The Bride

The Wedding Party

The Bridal Party

K~

Wedding Water Fight

The Over 60 Division

Shamelessly using human shields

The 3 & Under set.

Tova & Uncle J~ ganging up on Coley

Sometimes your partner in crime will turn on you. Never trust a 2yr old.

K~

Wedding Reception

The wedding reception was held at a park.  It was a great location.  There was playground equipment nearby.  There was a huge grassy area perfect for a rousing game of Kickball.

The Bride is good for a double!

Jenny on 3rd

It wasn’t just the adults having a good time.  The kids had fun too.

Ethan & cousin T~ with the turtle they found.

The kids playing Kickball.

The Bride's family.

K~

Wedding Weekend

My sister Jenny was married this past weekend.  I think she was the calmest bride ever.  The tardiness of her wedding party, the heat, the humidity, the rain threatening the outdoor reception, the puking bridesmaid (Becky, not me) – none of it seemed to bother her.  I suppose it was because she was marrying a great guy, Charlie, & what was important to her was not the trivial parts of the day, but the substance – family & friends gathering to see two people united in marriage & celebrating in their joy.  Congratulations Jenny & Charlie!

Now, I will enthrall you with my pictures.

What? You didn't traipse through a field for your wedding pictures?

A typical niece & nephew picture - no one is looking the same direction. Actually, the kids are looking in the same general direction - it's the adults messing up this shot!

A rarity! Me in front of the camera instead of behind it!

I have tons of pictures I want to share & only 48 hours before we leave for vacation & by the time we get back, they’ll be old news, so you may see multiple posts in the next few days while I pound out a few more picture posts.  Up next, the reception!

K~

Defending the Defenseless

Many states are facing a severe lack of cash.  All states are required to balance their budgets.  IL is proposing to  cut $460.4 million from the budget.  Guess which departments are facing the biggest cuts?

If you guessed:

• Dept of Human Service
• Dept of Children & Family Services
• Dept of Aging
• Dept of Public Health
• Student Assistance

You win!   And thousands of children, elderly, & disabled people lose.

All of these departments are vitally important.  My life has been most impacted by foster care so that is what I’d like to concentrate on today.  Jason & I have family & friends that have either made foster care their career or have dedicated their lives to fostering kids.  Foster parents are some of the most generous, giving, caring, & selfless people I know.  It is not easy to take in a hurting child.  Yet they do it with grace, because they see a need & know they can fill it.  Our friends & family take ‘the least of these’ & make them the most.

Isn’t that why we are here?  To defend the defenseless?  To protect the unprotected?  To support the unsupported?

This is what we need to defend IL foster kids from:

• Elimination of all counseling services and psychological assessments;
• Elimination of all Child Advocacy Centers
• Elimination of all after-school tutoring, job preparation and mentoring for youths
• Eventually, the child-to-caseworker ratio also would increase from 15:1 to a whopping 50:1 (violating federal mandates of a max of 25:1).
• Payments that foster parents receive to care for the children would be cut in half.
• Elimination of foster parent training (if they could get anyone who would still want to be a foster parent, knowing they will have to cover almost all of their foster child’s expenses, including daycare).

If you live in IL, will you please join me in contacting your state Legislators & the Governor?  Tell them they cannot balance the budget on the backs of these children.  Let them know that just because the children, elderly, & disabled don’t have a voice, doesn’t mean we won’t use ours!

You can find your Legislator here, as well as the governor.

You can find more info on the governor’s webpage & an op ed piece from the Chicago Tribune.

K~

*This  post is not open for debate about big gov’t & why should we be supporting kids from women who won’t take care of them.  These kids didn’t ask for this.  It stinks that we have to foot the bill; but I know I’d rather foot the bill for a 5year old’s counseling & monthly care than for his penal servitude.

Some Things Aren’t Meant to be Photographed

For instance, my feet.

But I had to share!  In honor of my sister’s upcoming nuptials, I had my very first pedicure.  It was amazingly relaxing & now my feet will be the hit of the wedding.

Because it sure won’t be my Matron of Honor speech…

K~