Changing Plans

Flexibility has been a reoccurring theme this week. Going into this week, I had many plans made, and then made changes to them. For the most part, the changes worked out to be very fun and positive. Also, the Team Stayput photo contest has ended, and some of the photos that Kristel and Mike took are in the public photo gallery for September as featured photos. Hopefully this means that we may be winners!


Today was actually a day with no real set plans, so the fact that we were just doing things on the fly and some didn't work out was just more a result of lack of planning. I enjoyed a lazy morning, while Ryan did some work around the house, and then we went to Maybury for bike riding. We went a little later than usual, because we wanted to go to the Maybury Farm after our ride. Ryan had been talking up seeing the peacocks all morning to Keira, so when it was closed (it is only open Wed-Sun and we forgot about that part), we had to switch gears and drive over to the Kensington Farm. We had a slight scare when the entrance was blocked, but they were doing construction, and there was an alternate parking area to use. Keira had a great time seeing all the animals. It was difficult to get her to leave one section of animals to see the next. She really enjoyed the ducks and geese, and was much braver with touching the sheep, goats, cows, horses, and pigs.

I was expecting a tantrum when we left the animal area, but Keira was hungry enough to leave in search of food. We were surprised that the grill at the farm was closed, because it said it was open Memorial Day-Labor Day. It was also closed on the 4th, so we left in search of food. Our first stop was the Baha Fresh at the Town Center, and it too was closed! What is going on? We drove down to the other Baha Fresh by REI, just because we knew there was other food that Keira would eat near there, and fortunately, that was open.

To conclude our Labor Day, we went to the pool. This is possibly the last day will be open, so we were just glad that the weather was warm enough to take advantage of it.

On Sunday, we spent the majority of the day at Kris and Linda's. When we arrived, they were just finishing a web conference with Greg and Ellyn. It was their anniversary, as well as Avery's birthday. It was another beautiful day, so we spent a lot of time outside. Keira decided that their outdoor storage bin made the perfect playhouse, and had a lot of fun playing inside it.
She also enjoyed the sprinkler, but did not like it getting her dress wet.

Here she is feeling much better in her "diaper underpants" after getting all wet in her clothes.

Saturday marked the opening of college football season, as well as the opening of Parmenter's Cider Mill. It has been a tradition of ours to go get cider and donuts prior to going to football games. We stopped at the cider mill after a ride/walk at Maybury.
Keira jumping off a parking block sporting her BYU cheerleader outfit. She was keeping it neutral between Ryan and I. BYU should do really well this year, so it will be fun to route for them to take the spotlight away from the OSU vs UM rivalry we have going on in the family.

Keira in the train at Parmenters.

Ryan had planned to go the UM vs Utah game with a friend, Brian, as well as his parents. I was content to skip the game (even though extra tickets had come our way) and take Keira to Michelle S's Dances with Dirt pre barbeque. Unfortunately, just after finding a buyer for the final pair of tickets, I received a call that the BBQ was off, due to too many people cancelling on her. Needless to say, I was a bit bummed that I didn't know this earlier, because I could have gone to the game, but it would have been a challenge with Keira anyway. We do not get the Big Ten Network, so I had to watch the OSU/YSU game on ESPN gamecast, but did watch the end of the UM game on television. We did go to the pool during the game, which was great because it was the first time this week that the weather and our schedule cooperated enough to go.


Friday was a busy and restful day at the same time. Linda had volunteered to take Keira for some time so that I could get a break. Keira and I ran a few errands in the morning, but met up with Linda for lunch at Laurel Park. Keira ate an amazing amount of pizza at lunch, so much that I felt like I didn't get enough to eat because we shared a plate, and also ate a M&M cookie, so I was completely not worried about her needing to eat anything else the rest of the day. Linda took her home from there, and kept her until Ryan finished work. I did a lot of nothing, which was wonderful, as well as a few errands that are very difficult with Keira in tow. After Ryan picked her up, we headed over to Maybury for another walk/ride.

Thursday was another day of changes of plans. It was very rainy, and we had made plans to meet up with friends from church at Cass Benton Park along Hines Drive. We switched gears and ended up going to the mall to play on the mall play area and grab some lunch. Oddly enough, Keira did not eat any of the pizza that I had ordered for her for lunch today, partially why we did not have enough on Friday. She had a good time playing and I was able to visit with my friends.


Once Ryan got home, we were able to have the inaugural ride in the new BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller! I have heard people compare their double joggers to Hummers before, but this stroller is the Range Rover Sport of strollers. It can go off-roading and is made to handle the terrain, but also nimble enough to steer with one hand and also will handle and look great at Somerset! It rolls super well, it will roll away on seemingly flat ground if the brake is not on. Keira also enjoyed it. She was excited about being able to have the baby sit next to her. Ryan installed the infant carrier attachment later in the evening. The only disappointing thing about that is that none of our sippy cups will fit in the cupholders, but this isn't really unique to this stroller- they don't fit in our other strollers either.


Wednesday was a really hard day. We attended the funeral for Linda B, a great family friend of Ryan's. I met her son Kevin and his wife Michelle when I joined our church while I was attending the university ward, and then we both ended up in the Northville ward for some time together. I really wish I had known her the way that she wants to be remembered, because she was battling a type of Parkinson's disease the entire time that I knew her (about 6 years), so I never knew her really. It was very interesting to hear the talks about her at the funeral, because she does not seem all that different from me. She met her husband while working at Ford, and was actually married 33 years and 1 day before Ryan and I, in the same chapel. She seemed like such a strong woman, it was hard for me to imagine what her final years must have been like for her. Keira did not like seeing her family upset, and was quite difficult to handle. It was at this point that I realized that I needed to accept more help to make it through the rest of this pregnancy and take it a little bit easier, and stop expecting so much of myself. The highlight of the day was picking up my fancy new jogging stroller. This was a pleasant surprise, because I did not expect it to come in until Saturday. Keira had a huge tantrum in the store when I was picking it up, and refused to sit in it, and it was actually much easier to steer this giant stroller with one hand while carrying my bag and Keira than any of our other strollers. I guess you get what you pay for in strollers. It fits nicely in the trunk of the Mazda and I could pick it up without too much effort, which is a lot more than I can say for many of the other double strollers I looked at.

Tuesday was yet another change of plans. I had initially planned to get together with a different group of friends and their children from church for a playgroup, but it did not pan out. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with Lisa G to meet up at the Novi Sports Park. It was a great day to be outside, because it wasn't too hot, but still sunny.

We also had the viewing for Linda B, and were able to grab a quick dinner with Kris and Linda at the Grand Traverse Pie Company before dividing for Ryan to attend a scout training. They have the best cherry pie ever!


Monday was pretty low key for us. Being the beginning of the last week of "summer" and swimming, I had wanted to go to the pool everyday this week. Unfortunately, the weather was not on board with this plan. I had wanted to get together with Lisa G, but got too late a start on my errands. We had talked about going swimming together, and since that was out, I was feeling too lazy to come up with something else.

We did have a humorous dinner, because my mom had brought us homemade noodles over the weekend. Keira is not so good at eating noodles, but really enjoys them. We figured it would be messy, so we stripped her down and let her go to town. We were not wrong on the messiness.