Instead of our normal week long stay at a beach house, we had a "staycation" in Ohio. Kevin and Luke flew together and I took Hannah and Gavin on a red eye. They did really well, they are great little fliers. The Pittsburgh airport had a giant skeleton of a T-rex.
Joyce drove the 2 hours home and we slept like babies the whole way. We went swimming at Mamo J's pool and then went home to unpack and pack for our weekend trip. We drove to Detroit that night. In 24 hours, Hannah, Gavin and I had been in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.
That night, in Detroit, Kevin and I went exploring while the kids got busy with their spoiling. We found the Joe Lewis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings (hockey), Comerica Park, the Tigers (baseball) and Ford Field, Lions (football). On the way home we drove down a street that you make sure your car doors are locked when you stop at a red light. We later found out that the strip club and rim store littered street was "8 mile." Always an adventure.
Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast. The kids ordered chocolate milk, check out the sprinkles and fancy chocolate syrup.
We went to
The Henry Ford.
I loved this museum, it had all kinds of cool American history items. The car Kennedy was assassinated in.
The chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated.
The Rosa Parks Bus.
Air Force 1
The most hilarious part of the day was when Gavin hopped the 6 inch barrier and decided to drive a car Henry Ford made in 1899! It was the second car Henry Ford ever made. Gavin had the steering "stick" (not a wheel) and moving it side to side made the wheels move side to side. We all almost had a heart attack! Poor Gavin... he was just trying to have a bit of fun and the way he said, "hey Dad! Look!", you could tell he was so proud of himself for getting in the car all by himself. Kevin caught this pic just after. He looks so deflated.
Here's Henry Ford's first "
quadricycle" ever made. See it protected by glass and not a 6 inch barrier!
The biggest train I have ever seen in my life. It was a coal train. We learned from the security guard, the 600 ton engine is supported by 20 feet of concrete underneath.
*and Kevin says I'm always on my phone...A giant snow plow.
Henry Ford was very interested in flying as well. As an inventor, he was great friends with other genius inventors of his time. The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, etc.
The museum had a paper airplane making station. It was a highlighted attraction for the Joneses.
Testing our inventions. Gavin hit the bulls eye of the target on his first try.
Learning about
barnstormers.
Generating enough power to light a light bulb. I will vouch for Kevin, he lit all the light bulbs, I'm just a lousy photographer and kept missing it. I made him keep doing, but he had enough. Everyone took a turn.
*still the strongest man in the universe, according to the kids
The
Oscar Meyer Wiener mobile was there and we made a Daddy-Gavin hotdog. I get such a kick out of this picture.
Gavin wanted Papa Tee to buy him a $20 Wiener mobile... what a random want... he wasn't happy with the small, less expensive one, he wanted the biggest!
We had a great time at this museum. We could have spent all day there but we had to go to the next activity. I will always remember dancing to 80's music making our own music video and all of up piling into a photo booth to take pictures... "BFF at the THF"
Greenfield Villiage was next. Surprisingly, the kids loved it.
It was really hot, but we still had a good time... frozen custard!
Thomas Edison's laboratory. It was moved to Greenfield Village along with the Wright Brother's home and store (from Ohio) in time to celebrate Edison's 80th birthday. The EPA came through a few years ago and made the museum get rid of all the hazardous elements and chemicals.
The original Ford Motor Company
We went to the Detroit Tigers game that night. First, we had to eat at
Hockey Town.
Kevin got to see THE "Cup" Ok, not the real one, but still.
Kevin at his 9th ballpark, Comerica Park. (He has 20 left, he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates game a few days after the Tigers game)
We had a wonderful trip to Detroit. I really loved the city and the museums. It was a perfect way to spend the Fourth of July weekend learning about great American inventors.
The next day we arrived in Toronto. We went to the CN Tower
It was pretty cloudy so we could only see the city. I'd love to see the view when it's clear. I guess it's one of the tallest buildings in the world.
The Hockey Hall of Fame was awesome. The kids had fun playing all the games on the lower level while Kevin drooled over all the hockey paraphernalia.
We dragged our kids all over the place. They were such troopers.
Poor Gavin. He complained that his heels were wet. I thought it was odd so I ignored him (Mother of the Year). Turns out he had worn a hole in the heel of his shoe and all the freezing water had soaked his feet. We were so far away from the car and Gavin's feet were frozen and wet we decided to take the subway back to the car after buying him some new socks.
