April 27 Kaity and Kenzie

Thursday:   I got to spend a few short hours with Kaity and Kenzie this evening. The girls had fun together, and that's what is important. I did not have any 1-on-1 with my Kaity-Girl--but that's OK because at least she was HERE and I could enjoy watching her have fun.

Kenzie is super interested in my little "RAT" puppet and she operates him very nicely. Kaity, naturally, loves "CHARLIE" and the two girls and the two puppets ran around the house like crazy having fun with them.

We got on to my A-zon account and actually found "RAT" there priced at $18.99. I had purchased mine at a little store over at the Mall for $14.99--but whatever. Kenzie was glad to see that puppets just like this were available to purchase on-line.

For awhile, "Rat" was riding on "Charlie's" back ...

We made a little carousel out of them and watched them spin around for awhile ...

Kenzie thought this was hilarious!

Our time was short, but it was mostly sweet. We enjoyed lots of watermelon and cantaloupe (Kenzie's favorite), a hot dog, and some ice cream as well. All-and-all a good time!

April 21-22 Traverse City

Friday:  The small group I am a part of from MNBS went for a "retreat" Friday and Saturday to Margaret's condominium on Old Mission Pointe Peninsula. We had been there back in the fall, and now it was time to do it again! I rode up with Pam, Bethany, and Cindy. Margaret drove the other vehicle with Jen, Christy, Eva and Julie. At the last minute, Helen called and cancelled. She was stuck in a meeting and couldn't get away. We arrived at the condo at around 2:30 in the afternoon. A few of us decided to drive to the lighthouse park and walk around.

I love the surroundings of this little light. I love the woodsy pathways, the fences, the rocky shoreline.

It was a beautiful, but chilly, Friday afternoon. I was glad I bundled up. I had a scratchy throat Thursday night as well as a cough ... I didn't realize that all of that would worsen throughout the day Friday. However, while I was outside, my head and ears were covered, and I was layered up. It was difficult to take a bad picture with the sun shining so wonderfully.

There weren't many other people visiting the area while we were there--which made for nice pictures as well. There is nothing more annoying than having a bunch of strangers show up in an almost perfect picture.

Lake Michigan was pretty calm, and oh-so-BLUE.

The lighthouse doesn't officially open until May 1--so we could NOT shop at their museum gift shop, which was a little disappointing.

Had I been alone, I would have wondered the entire three miles into the woods here; but I was NOT by myself and had to be considerate of those I was with. Two of the girls were not walkers whatsoever--they sat on the beach chairs and just chatted while Jen and I explored and walked.

Mission Point is exactly on the 45th parallel. I had forgotten that. I failed to photograph this entire SIGN that showed the 45th parallel stretching around the earth, which was quite interesting! It travels right through France, and Odessa, Ukraine. The British Isles are quite a bit more north.

I'm glad I got these shots of the lighthouse today. It's such a pretty place. I'll add these to the ones from prior years ... and make a few cards.

Margaret made us a marvelous steak dinner--mine was even medium rare like I love it. We chatted around the table for a very long time. It was fun to get to know some of the ladies a bit better. I was feeling increasingly sicker as the evening wore on and I went to bed a little after 9:00! I slept very soundly until 7 in the morning, which was good. I was thankful I brought cough medicine along with me and plenty of lozenges too. But I felt little better when I woke up Saturday morning.

The girls wanted to do a bit of shopping on Saturday, so first we went to "The Mercato", otherwise known as "The Village" which is an old insane asylum that has been converted into a shopping venue. This place is HUGE. I didn't get many pictures of it--again, because I was with other people--but the whole environment was so ... sad. I couldn't help but think of all the people committed there in years past and the terrible things that happened to them. How dark life can be sometimes.

We stayed mostly on the main floor which had dozens of shops--boutiques, book stores, markets, etc. But none of us was really very happy there. After a little bit, all of the stores looked the same! And it was super crowded and claustrophobic.

We only stayed here for perhaps 45 minutes ...

... then we drove to shop in the downtown area. I didn't photograph anything about those shops. It's a typical beach downtown area with a really cute shopping area. I stopped in at a cute toy store and broused around for a happy 30 minutes. I also found Shelley's book in the bookstore there! It's always neat to run across her books, either in a library or bookstore. When we returned to Margaret's, I was exhausted. We ate a really nice lunch together, cleaned up the condo, and headed back to Grand Rapids. I hope I haven't infected all of my friends with whatever I have. I'm hoping to get into the doctor's office tomorrow and get treatment.

April 19 Those bloomin' butterflies

Wednesday:  Since it is getting late now in April and the butterfly exhibit ENDS at the end of this month, I wanted to go one more time--this time alone--and take a few more pictures of these beautiful creatures. I thought perhaps a Wednesday morning wouldn't be too terribly crowded--afterall, school is back in session following Easter and spring break ... but I was wrong about the crowded thing! It was pretty busy--I've seen it with MORE people, though, with a long line to wait in order to get into the conservatory--at least I didn't have to do that!

I'm posting a ridiculous amount of pictures--these are the best of the almost 200 that I took today. The butterflies were EVERYWHERE, and were very amenable to having the photos taken. Yay!

I don't recall ever seeing this particular butterfly before (below). I never did see it with its wings opened.

The Common Morphos were in abundance ... everyone's favorite butterfly it seems. Probably because it looks so entirely different with its wings spread out--the most gorgeous blue inside.

I'm pretty sure this is a Leopard Lacewing [Asia] below. It's one of my personal favorites.

See the gorgeous BLUE sneaking out from the wings of the Common Morpho?

Below might be an Orchard Swallowtail [Africa], but I can't be sure ...

I had never seen this particular butterfly before, and I decided that I liked it very much.

This one with the rather mangled up wings (below) is a Great Mormon [Asia]. I wished it had landed on a less distracting background ... 

Below is some type of Swallowtail (I think) ...

I think this one (below) is called the False Zebra Longwing [Central/South America] ...

And isn't this little orange butterfly so pretty? It might be a Julia Longwing [Central/South America] ... but I'm not sure!

Here is another Great Mormon, although he is difficult to see. I had to climb up on a rock just to get this shot--and I couldn't get behind him to do a better job.

It was a little chilly Wednesday morning, but I wanted to try to get my walk in and the trees were budding everywhere ... so I took a brief walk to see what I could see.

Deep into this swampy area I could see a swan nesting ... so I'll want to come back in a few weeks to see the cygnets for sure.

Altogether, I only walked 1.5 miles--but it was a beautiful 1.5 miles! I met and talked with an elderly woman on the boardwalk. We stood silently for awhile listening to the birds sing and all of the other sounds that you hear if you are quiet enough ... we exchanged just a few words, wished each other a pleasant day, and walked in opposite directions.

I love this time of year. It's SO interesting, isn't it? To watch everything come alive once again is SO thrilling. I'm thankful that winter turns into spring, aren't you?