Friday, September 25, 2020

Dare to Share #436


It is Friday night, and you know what that means..
It is time to Dare to Share 

Happy Fall Y'all!  I am not actually southern, but I have seen that statement everywhere on fall decor.  It is definitely starting to feel like fall where I live.  We have a few more warm days, but next week it will be boots and sweater weather.  I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer, but I do live wearing cute boots. :) 


Now that my computer is up and running again, I was able to post two posts this week.  I posted a new post from our summer vacation, Our visit to Grand Haven, Ludington and Manistee



I also shared my favorite Dollar Tree Halloween Finds. I am very excited about all the cute things that the Dollar Tree has out this year for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  So many cute things for crafting, decorating, and even parties. 

Well it looks like it is about time to get this party started.  So link up and HAVE FUN!! 


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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

My Favorite Dollar Tree Halloween Finds




If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I am a huge fan of the Dollar Tree.  Every year they seem to step up their game, and offer some amazing things. I was so excited for many of their Halloween options.  Here are some of my favorites.  There were so many things that I broke it up into a couple of posts.  While the stores are starting to bring out Christmas items now, you can still find many of these items in your local store. 



 

These light up boxes were such a fun find. Each box has a lot of fine details and a color changing tea light inside. 





Their line of cardboard storage boxes come in multiple sizes and designs.  I chose the mummy to use as a small  candy container.  The coffins have a fun surprise in each box.





I have not seen the Halloween storage boxes before.  I am posting both the front covers and side view.  They come in two different sizes.  To covers open up to a hollow inside where you can hide or store things. 





These ice cube trays/molds can be used to add a special touch to your next Halloween party. 


The table top wooden signs are a sturdy and cute.  I can't decide which one is my favorite. 


This book is technically not a Halloween book, but the names of the recipes are perfect for a party.  All of the recipes have a zombie theme. 


There are so many amazing Halloween signs this year. This welcome sign with spell bottles is definitely my favorite. 


Another great find for a Halloween party are these wall murals/photo backdrops that are a great deal for only $1.  There a few other designs available in addition to these


If you have younger kids, these ghost signs are definitely  more sweet than scary. 


How cute are their Halloween garlands?! There were several options to choose from.  The skeletons and black cats are my favorites.  They would be cute in a classroom, are at a kids party. 


These LED projection lights work really well, and would be great to use if we are able to have Trick or Treat this year. 




Being a crafter, I have been blown away by all the Halloween craft supplies that are available this year.  The customizable  words are a really good quality.  I am not sure how I am going to decorate them, but I am happy to have them in my craft stash. 

I hope you like what Halloween items you have seen so far, there is definitely more to come.  I have been keeping an eye on the upcoming Christmas items, and I can tell you right now, I am going to be in trouble!  

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Sunday, September 20, 2020

Our visit to Lake Michigan - Grand Haven, Ludington, Manistee



After a couple week delay (because of a broken computer) I am finally back to post about our vacation all around the state of Michigan.  If you missed the first post, click the link to see Our visit to Holland


Grand Haven


Our first stop in Grand Haven, which is just north of Holland, was the state park. There you could see the harbor and lighthouse.   On top of big hill over looking the harbor there is a large anchor in honor of the Coast Guard.  Grand Haven is called Coast Guard City USA 





One thing interesting about the lighthouse in Grand Haven, you get two for one.  The Inner and Outer Pierhead.  The inner tower was built in 1905.  The outer building was built in 1875 and originally in a different location. In 1922 the pier was rebuild with a concrete pierhead, and the outer building moved to that location. At the time it contained a state of the art foghorn.



A closer view of the inner light, and the bridge connecting the two buildings.


Near downtown Grand Haven we stopped to see the Pere Marquette 1223.  It is one of only two surviving 1223 2-8-4 Berkshires.  I don't know a lot about trains, but my travel companion did. It was constructed in 1941 and used to move heavy war equipment. 

Another great place to visit in Grand Haven that we did not get to see this year, because it was shut down for Covid, is the Grand Haven Musical Fountain.  We used to bring my kids there when they were young and watch synchronized music and light shows. (maybe next year!)


Ludington



If you like lighthouses, you need to stop in Ludington.  There we saw two of my favorites of the entire trip, and we saw A LOT of them.  The first stop was the Breakwater.  To get to the lighthouse, you have to walk out on a concrete pier over the water.  This sign is at the start of the walkway. 



You can see the lighthouse, the walkway and lighthouse through the fog in this picture.  I was definitely nervous walking out on the pier.  It was a windy day, and water goes over of the walkway.  On extremely windy days there is a risk that you can be washed off the pier if the waves are big enough. I saw several families with kids walking out there too, so I put on a brave face and did it. 




                                                   

When we were almost there, the waves got a bit bigger.  I moved very fast at that point. The water was about ankle deep and very cold. 




Up close the lighthouse was cool to see. It reminded me of a big ship. The current version was built in 1924.  A car ferry called the S.S. Badger that takes cars from Ludington to Manitowac, Wi, passes by the lighthouse a few times a day. 



Once we were done looking at the lighthouse, I remembered we had to walk back. It seemed a little less scary, but the waves had died down a bit. 


We made a few friends on our way back to the beach.  Even though the walk to and from the lighthouse was nerve wracking, I am so glad that I did it. 


After leaving the Breakwater on the way to the Ludington State Park, we stopped on the side of the road at a lookout spot.  There we saw some interesting small piers with places to tie your boat. Every single one had a seagull on the end. I am not really sure what they are for, but I am guess you can come in and tie you boat in case of bad weather. 


Going to see Big Sable Pointe Lighthouse was also an adventure.  At the start of the walk you see this sign. To get to there you have to hike 1.5 miles along a path that is sometimes paved and sometimes sandy. It does not sound like it would be that far, until you are actually walking it.   A lot of people rode their bikes on the path. 


The long walk was well worth it. It was beautiful. The building and tower were built in 1867.  The constriction materials were delivered to the site by ship, because there was not a road until 1933.  It was the last Great Lake lighthouse to get electricity and plumbing which was not until the late 1940s! 



The tower is 112 feet tall. It was not open to the public this year, but the platform that you normally can walk up to see is 106 feet.  

We spent some time on the beach at Big Sable Point, because we had to rest before our long walk back to our car.  We definitely got our exercise that afternoon. 



After leaving Ludington, we headed just a little bit more north to Manistee. The weather was starting to look a bit dark, because there was a storm heading our way.  



I just learned some interesting facts about the Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse. It was originally built in 1869. In October 1871, on the same day as the great Chicago fire, storms caused fires in many other cities.  Most of Manistee also burned down including the lighthouse.  A new one was built in 1872. The wooden walkway added in 1879, was a safer way for the lighthouse keepers to access the light so they could maintain it. 


As we were driving out of town, I noticed an unusual sight.  Two ships were docked right next to a condominium complex that was being built. We did take a closer look and were surprised to see there were only about 20 feet between them.  




We made it out of the path of the storm in time,  and arrived safely to Traverse City for the night.  There we saw probably the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  It was so vivid and colorful. It changed from purple, pink, red and orange. I hope I am lucky enough to see one like that again.  

There are several more locations I will be posting about so stayed tuned!..  

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Saturday, September 19, 2020

Dare to Share #435



It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share 

My computer is finally fixed! I just got it back tonight. I am so happy to be able to use it again. This week we finished our second week of school.  I am back to being a regular teacher and not a Spanish teacher.  Our new Spanish teacher speaks fluent Spanish and started this week.    We are starting to get used to being back to school and all the new rules. One positive thing to wearing masks all day is the kids are so much quieter than they used to be.  I don't know if it will stay that way as the year goes on, but we are enjoying it for now.  

Now that I have my computer back, I hope to get a few posts up this week.  

But since it is already after midnight, I better get the party started.. 

Link up and HAVE FUN!! 



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Click here to enter
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Saturday, September 12, 2020

Dare to Share #434

 

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share!

Sorry I am a little late to post the party tonight.  I am having some computer problems this week. I had two posts planned that I had hoped to post but my computer has been stuck in a boot loop since Tuesday.  I am borrowing a computer to post the party tonight. Hopefully everything will be up and running soon on my computer so I can start posting again! 

In personal news, I had my first week back to school this week. It went pretty well. It was so nice seeing the kids again. We had half days to help with the adjustment back to school which was great for both the students and the teachers.  I did teach Spanish, and that also went pretty well. I taught them some basic words, numbers and colors. I was surprised that it came back a bit after so many years after learning it. The district did find someone who speaks fluent Spanish this week, and I met her today. She is supposed to start next week. She seems really nice, and I think the kids will like her. Since she is new to our school and district, I will assist her for the first day or two since she has quite a bit of information she needs to learn all at once.  

If you have been following me on Instagram, you saw I visited a few more places in Michigan this past week.  We went to the Tawas/Bay City area last weekend, and a sunflower/wild flower farm on Labor Day. Both places I can recommend if you are in the area.  

Well let's get this party started.  Link up and HAVE FUN!!  


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Saturday, September 5, 2020

Dare to Share #433


It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy Labor Day Weekend! 

How is it September already?! I know I say that a lot, but this summer really did seem to fly by.  My school is starting in a few days, and as usual there is a new development.  It is not set in stone yet, but it looks like I might be filling in for a class that does not have a teacher yet.  The teacher who normally teaches this subject retired late in the game, and they have not found a replacement. I do know a little bit about this subject but took it years ago (Spanish), so there will definitely be a learning curve until they do find a permanent teacher for the job. Good thing I am up for a challenge and like to learn, because I will be relearning with the kids. 

Have you ever accepted a challenge that is way bigger than what you are ready for, but it turned out to be a really good thing in the end? 


Did you see my post about Our visit to Holland? It was the first stop on our amazing vacation all around Michigan. We hope to see a few more lighthouses this weekend.  Do you have anything fun for your holiday weekend? 

Well it looks like it is time to get this party started.  Link up and HAVE FUN! 



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Thursday, September 3, 2020

Our Visit to Holland Michigan


    As you may know, I recently got back from a vacation where we drove around the state of Michigan.  Our starting point for this wonderful trip was Holland, Michigan.  I was lucky enough to live in Holland 20 years ago.  Two of my kids were born there and we lived there for a few years. I have always had a soft spot for that area, and love to go back to visit when I can.  





We arrived in late afternoon, and our first stop was the Veldeer Tulip Farm.  The best time to see the farm is in the spring when they have millions of tulips in bloom. It was a favorite place to take pictures with my kids when they were young.  Even when it is not tulip time, it is still a fun place to visit.  They have a garden center where you can buy many kinds of bulbs, and other fun things for your garden.




Right next to the garden center is the De Klomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory.  There you can see wooden shoes being made and the beautiful Dutch pottery (Delftware)  being painted. It is the only production location for Delftware in North America  (hours have been adjusted for Covid, so they were not making anything at the time of this visit) 


After the farm we decided to walk around downtown before meeting friends for dinner.  We stopped in a quaint little clock shop that was full of cuckoo clocks. 


The clocks were all kinds of shapes and sizes, and from many parts of Germany. 

I wish I took more pictures of downtown.  It is such a pretty downtown, with many stores and restaurants to visit. In many ways it has changed since I lived there, but it also still felt familiar.




We ate dinner at Hops on 84 East. It was recommended by a good friend, and was not there when I used to live there.  She told me about their dill pickle pizza and it did not disappoint. It was really delicious! 

Because we did not plan on where we were going to stay for the night ahead of time, we did have some trouble finding a hotel room. (it was a Saturday night, during the busy season)  Its okay though, we traveled just a few miles down the road and found an nice, less expensive hotel in Grandville.   Grandville also had  very nice Dollar Tree where I found some of the items I will be sharing in another post. 


The next morning we went back to visit Holland State Park. It has a beautiful beach right on Lake Michigan.  I have many fond memories spending time here with my kids playing in the sand and the water. It was a red flag day (very windy), but that was okay because we did not plan on swimming.  We wanted to see the lighthouse and boats. 




Holland Harbor Lighthouse, AKA as Big Red is one of the most well known lighthouses in all of Michigan. It is also one of the most photographed.  One of my favorite things to do with my kids in the summer when we lived there was to pick up some food, and have a picnic at the lake watching the boats in the canal.  It was a beautiful warm day on this day so we sat for awhile and enjoyed the parade of boats. 


Our last stop on this trip was a visit to Captain Sundae. It has been my favorite ice cream place since we lived there.  I always get a buried treasure sundae. The treasure is finding all the cherries, buried in chocolate.  


They have a pirate ship at both locations were you can sit and eat your ice cream. 


Bye captain, we will be back to see you soon!  We have a lot more of Michigan to see.  Next stop Grand Haven! 
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