Hanging out on the porch with my sister and Nico, I heard the distant tinkling tune of the neighborhood ice-cream truck.
“Do you know what that is?” I asked my nephew.
“It’s a ice-cweam man,” Nico said.
Then Katy told me the poor kid had NEVER bought a treat from the ice-cream man! We had to remedy that.
We waited at the curb till the truck approached. Nico waved at the driver and jumped up and down with excitement. When the truck stopped, I realized the driver was talking on a cell phone and steering with a cigarette between his fingers. Nice.
Katy, Nico and I checked out the pictures on the side of the truck and debated which ones to buy. Nico and I both chose Bomb Pops, which were significantly bigger than those of my youth.
Prolonging Summer
After six wonderful weeks in our beautiful little house, we spent the last two days traveling back to Laos. Although we return to work on Wednesday, I have decided to remain in a state of denial. So I’ll just post a few more pics from our summer break.
On one of our last days at the lake, Nico played in the sprinkler while his little brother napped. The lure of the sprinkler was too great; he couldn’t be bothered with putting on a swimsuit, so he jumped and splashed in his Fruit ‘O’ the Looms.
Nico has very big muscles because he eats so much watermelon.
Road Trip!
My dad has been talking about this logging museum since we got back to the States, so Sunday we loaded up the car and headed north to Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling, MI.
The Visitor Center features an excellent display about the forest, local wildlife, logging and life in the logging camps of the 1930s.
Nico was interested in the animal pelts, including this bear.
We walked through the forest – mostly beech and maple trees – to get to the Logging Museum. Nico found a couple walking sticks, which were also handy for smacking trees and plants. Paul mostly just ran to keep up. We saw chipmunks, squirrels, lots of birds, moss, 100-year-old tree stumps and other cool stuff.
The Logging Museum comprises a collection of buildings that recreate a logging camp.
The boys did laundry 1930s-style, and then Nico found a checkers game in the bunkhouse.
My mom and I pretended we were working at the camp. We wouldn’t have lasted through the winter. The men slept three to a bunk, and the bunks were small. The snoring alone would have driven me stark raving mad. It would have been one of those urban legends about the crazy kitchen girl who murdered all the men in the middle of the night.
Mom didn’t take long to hook up with a logger.
The men used these huge wheels to transport logs to horse-drawn sleds or to the river.
It was a lot of time in the van for the boys (and the grown-ups), but we kept ourselves entertained.
Cluster … Map
I’m going to make a confession, and it won’t be the first time I’ve admitted this: I’m a ClustrMap whore. I get great pleasure from that little map with all those lovely red dots that represent places where people are checking out my blog. Last time I counted, I had visitors from 71 countries. I know many (most?) of them probably googled Laos or Vientiane or some other common topic and didn’t really intend to visit The Guide Hog. But I don’t care.
Recently I got an email from ClustrMap telling me they were going to archive my map and put a new one on my blog. They do this because some people’s maps turn in to one big red blob over time. Makes sense. Still … my new map looks so naked. Is my ClustrMap the blog equivalent of sitting at the cool kids’ lunch table at school or wearing the latest style of sneakers? Am I that desperate to be popular?
Unequivocally, yes.
So I’m posting my old map to prevent an inferiority complex. Isn’t it pretty?
Oh, and please refer your friends (especially those in South America, Africa and Russia) to my blog, and let’s all work together to make that map into one big red blob before ClustrMap strikes again!
A Day With the Hossacks
I can’t believe I didn’t post about our visit from the Hossacks! It was a highlight of the summer. Duh.
Scott, Amy and Blake drove from Canada to spend the day with us here at the lake. For some reason, I didn’t think to grab my camera till they were almost ready to leave, so I don’t have any shots of the grown-ups. Fortunately, Amy was not such a forgetful dork, so you can see more about their visit at her blog: Hossacks Three.
We worked with the Hossacks in China and became great friends. Seeing them felt totally comfy and normal with only a few differences:
(1) Scott used to chug gallons of Coca Cola every day, so I stocked up for him. Who knew he was on the wagon? Now he’s all Mr. Fitness Healthy Man. I guess Amy was his inspiration. And that brings me to …
(2) Amy has slimmed down and powered up. She participated in two triathlons this summer. I’m so proud of her!
(3) Blake is bigger, but just as cute and smiley as ever. I adore him!
Blake and my nephews had fun rolling around the tent and playing on the shore.
I miss these guys so much, but I am thrilled that we now have houses just across the border from each other. Another reason to look forward to summer!
Straight from Hitsville, USA!
“Do ya love me? Do ya love me? Do ya love me? Do ya love me? Do ya love me? Noooooowwww that I can dance?”
Tony, Jacquelyn and I sang that hit by The Contours under the echo chamber during our recent visit to the Motown Historical Museum. We definitely had that “famous Motown sound.”
Our guide, Aaron, brilliantly educated and entertained the crowd with anecdotes about Motown founder Berry Gordy and the company’s proteges, including Diana Ross & the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and the Jackson 5. We all got goosebumps looking at photos of those iconic artists recording in Studio A in the exact spots where we stood to hear Aaron’s stories.
I highly recommend a visit to this museum if you find yourself in the Motor City!
Jacqueline visited this week from Canada, so we took a little roadtrip to Detroit. She and Tony pose here in front of the museum.
This unassuming little house was home to Hitsville USA with a garage that was transformed into Studio A. All Motown stars recorded here until 1972. And that’s where we sang “My Girl” by the Temptations and tried to imitate their snazzy choreography.
Mall Rats
The play area at a nearby outlet mall has lots of huge “food” for kids to jump on and hide behind. It’s basically a germ-fest death trap. I often take on the unpopular role of Playground Nazi, confronting oversized kids who blatantly ignore the yardstick-holding cartoon character and bound from big banana to colossal cupcake to humongous hot dog, barreling over the toddlers. Despite my misgivings, the nephews do love this weird place. And so we keep going back.
Something’s Fishy at Lake Orion
The (Abridged) Wizard of Oz – According to Nico
My nephew, Nico, 3 1/2, tells the story of the Wizard of Oz … mostly through sound effects and gestures.
Mary Had a Little Lamb … or was it a mitchoo wah?
My 1 1/2-year-old nephew, Paul, is very musical. He picks up a tune easily, and then sings it for hours.
Here is his rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”