Cirkus Frikke camping edition

We have gone north (or actually north-west) to one of our favorite camp sites here in Michigan: Interlochen state park. It is close to Traverse City, sleeping bear dunes, and Lake Michigan.

Our first day was spent in Traverse City visiting the giant Cherry Republic store (warning: cherry puns galore)

We also found an awesome candle store:

And had lunch at the brewery:

Before heading up to a scenic winery on the peninsula. Cherries and grapes and lake views in all directions.

Yesterday we went to Glen Arbor (more cherry republic and more wine tasting)

And after that we had the greatest surprise of all! We went swimming in Lake Michigan and gave it just one more try persuading the dog to get in as well. And he did😱 Without looking like we tried to kill him!

He was exhausted after being so brave and spent the evening in a coma.......

We also managed to visit the dune climb:

Before putting this young lady behind the wheel to go grocery shopping for the night!

Things that make you go "hmmmmmm"

- when you walk the dog and he disappears into some bushes, won't come out for 15 minutes, and starts looking very inflated and poop bonemeal the next day

- when there is a mouse sized slow animal roaming around on the floor in the middle of the day. Not very mouse like behavior! (Turns out it was a blind mole)

- when Luca shows interest in baking

- when you pack to go camping in august and make sure to bring a fleece pajamas (#michigansummer)

- when you have spent a whole week in the company of Luca and his monkeys and you get your picture taken😳

Lazy summer days

My sister is in town for two whole weeks but we are not going camping until next week, where Kristian has the week off. In the meantime we get up every day at 7AM where I have an extensive program planned for us all day.......... or maybe not!

Monday we did manage to get into town for a bit, touring all the quirky little stores. Luca brought his allowance money and spent quite a chunk on tea! Mainly because there was bubblegum tea tugged in between all the fancy oolongs and green teas:

The guy in the store was really nice and made sure to scoop extra gum balls into Luca's bag since it was quite obvious that he was spending his own allowance money AKA paying with handfuls of greasy dimes.

We also had lunch in the courtyard in Kerrytown where I was more busy taking pictures of my own fancy legs than the food (being 40, doesn't mean you have to act like a grown up, right?)

We have prepared for watching Despicable Me sometimes later this week:

And we have tubed down the Argo cascades:

Oh, I almost forgot about the personal record I broke Tuesday! 66 miles of driving kids to and from activities in a single day. That's hopefully a record that will not be broken for quite some time. Especially since we now have two teens who are just one Secretary of State visit away from getting their learners permit. Yay

Flying fifteen

Last week it was Teresa's (and Bailey's) birthday. As always we try to surprise her - albeit I had to promise Kristian not to overdo it and get her so excited that she cannot sleep for days on end. Ahem😬

A while ago we talked about future plans. Sort of a brainstorm of professions. And she mentioned pilot. And the more we talked about it the more appealing it became, making me wonder if it would be feasible to get her a birthday present that would give her a taste of pilot life. Turns out that was quite easy! Right across the freeway from where we live is a little airport and we often see the planes circling above on sunny summer days. I found their website and contacted Michigan Flyers, who turned out to be the nicest, friendliest down-to-earth people imaginable. Even better was that an introductory flying lesson was only 99$ and could easily be planned for 15 year old👍🏻

Here she is. Having only been 15 for a few hours and having just found out what she will be getting:

Yesterday was the big day, and I would totally be lying if I pretended that I was not a bit nervous too. But then we got out there and met with the nicest flight instructor, who gave her a thorough tour of "this is how the airplane works and this is what you need to check before taking off":

And off she went:

She had a blast. They even helped her fly above her high school so she could see it from above.

It was indeed a very happy Teresa we got to get back on the ground. As we went in to pay they told us that when (not if.....) she wants to start taking her license we will have the introductory flight payment reimbursed. A license is about 8000$, and she will have to get a job to pay for it herself. But based on the look on her face I think she might start looking jobs before we know it

to couch or not to couch

It is no secret that moving to the US took a big toll on our finances. Consequently most of our belongings are secondhand (except the beds - I am NOT sleeping on someone else's used mattress!). Quite a while ago we went looking for a couch, which is not an easy task in the Midwest unless you really dig floral prints......😖

And one day we stumbled upon this - ehm - beaut (behind the dog)

It was big, it was green, and it was one of the best couches I have ever been sitting in. So we bought for 35$.

And then I started looking for fabrics thinking that maybe some day I would reupholster it.

It ended up being zebra:

And the fabric sat around for some days, that turned in to weeks and then months.But a few weeks ago I finally got started sewing the cushions and the mattress:

And then I waited a few more weeks, and at last I started tearing the old fabric off.Yikes. A thousand staples to be removed one at a time by hand and having our living room look like a nuclear war zone:

I am sure this couch was built by dwarfs deep within a mountain using iron wood and mithril staples and covered in fabric weaved by titanium thread.

But - one staple at a time - I got it done. And now it looks like this:

And I am super proud and brag about it to everyone I might bump into. And slowly even my hands have forgiven me and have started to be able to do regular tasks again without hurting......