Torzewski water park

Well, it's one week on from Emily's Last Day, so we're commemorating it by going to the water park she took Frederick to. Actually, they've been going to it for years, but she decided that this would be the day he would go on the Big Slide. It was the "last shoe to drop of the Summer" as she put it. And he did! For hours! And could only be persuaded to leave with a promise that I would take him the next day. And I did (and twisted my knee following him down, just to prove that I'm old and ungainly). But no harm in going for a third time in a week, is there?

The park is way out in the country, surrounded by the bucolic beauty you wouldn't believe existed if you spent all your time in Flint. In fact, it's so isolated that there aren't half as many people as you might expect. But even so, the Big Slide is the main attraction, and waiting in line is AGONY for all concerned. But we'll probably go one more time before it closes for the season on September 3rd. Especially as it's going to be in the 90s this weekend...

How the other half lives

Thomas's new school is about 40 minutes drive away from Flint in a rural enclave of which we were heretofore ignorant. The school itself is a branch of International Academy which (you might guess) has a curriculum that is uniform across many countries and thus better than most American schools. But it is located in a massive building belonging to White Lake High School. Yes, White Lake. As in "White Flight". And boy, is the surrounding area white. And Rich. This is Romney country. And you can kind of see why they might vote for him, because out here, life is good. Check out the library in nearby Milford:

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And here are some sights to be seen in Milford itself.

Tragically, not everything is perfect in White America. Here we see a vehicle "speeding" away after delivering the pernicious drug that keeps everything here humming:

Thomas's Birthday Part II

All the kids Thomas would want to come over on his birthday were out of town on his birthday (and it didn't help that he was in school on his birthday), so we had Omid, Thomas's percussion mate, and his sister Arezu (Is that how she spells her name? Some day we will ask.) over today to make up for things. For the first hour, they played in Thomas's room and all I could hear were squeals of laughter and crashes of furniture. Eventually, they came down, hungry and needing a change of scenario. After stuffing themselves with various food items, they headed outside for a water fight in the pool. Just about then, Simon and Frederick came home from the lake and Frederick joined in. Here they all are on the trampoline:

Frederick notices me taking pictures.

Here the point is for three to bounce all together to "pop" the fourth kid. Usually at least one kid gets hurt.

Frederick gets "popped."

Omid in the middle.

Arezu. (She's a pistol. Only missing a small bit of her small finger after messing with one of Thomas's turtles.)

If they spent three hours bouncing on the trampoline, why am I the one exhausted from having them over here?

Last days of the Summer

We're having a last flush of summer heat so Simon and Frederick headed back to Fenton's Seven Lakes this morning, this time to rent a boat (NOT a paddle boat which Simon ended up swimming alongside last time because a certain someone's backside sank it below the waterline) but a rowboat.

Frederick loves nothing more than the wind at his back and the sun in his eyes.

Various things growing in the lake. Better not to know, I say.

Frederick checks the shoreline. If only the lake was 10 times bigger and the boat had a motor...

Buying a piano

Emily, getting perilously close to her due date, worked her last day with Frederick today. (I don't think the reality of that has sunk in with Frederick--or any of us, for that matter.) We wanted to buy her a present to show how much we appreciate everything she has done for Frederick all these years--almost 8 years--but didn't want to get something technological since that would be out of date within a few months, or anything for the baby since that wouldn't really be for her...it was near impossible to think of anything. I finally remembered her saying a VERY long time ago that she always regretted not continuing with her piano lessons. Well, that was that. Both the FIM and UM-Flint have an annual piano sale (their piano departments sell off used/refurbished pianos so that they can then restock with new pianos). So Simon and I called both piano departments to find out more--we just missed one sale by a week, but we could go to the main warehouse which is about 45 minutes away and, strangely enough, about 10 minutes from Thomas's new school. Here it is:

For some reason Simon thought the fact that they had an old used Wurlitzer with ivory keys from about 1910 was really cool.

This is the main gallery, when you first enter, where the brand new Steinways are. We weren't interested in these pianos, though the salesman forced us to view them.

I guess Elton John buys his pianos here.

More pianos than you can shake a stick at. Needless to say, Frederick did have a wildly good time while I was taking care of the paperwork. (I did catch sight of him at one point playing one piano with his feet--things I hope no salesman saw. Though if Jerry Lee Lewis did it, why can't he, dammit?)

Here's the room we wanted: the used/refurbished warehouse in the basement. These are all pianos that come from music schools/university/programs that want to upgrade and sell these to this Steinway center to refurbish and resell. It is amazing, and slightly overwhelming, because each piano not only looks completely different but, of course has a unique tone and "feel." After a while, it all gets too much and you just point to a piano and say, "That one."

This is the other room, the work room, where they gut pianos and refurbish them. Our salesman, who also teaches university music courses in Detroit, said that they can empty out the fittings of a piano, fill it with electronics bits, and then you hook up your MP3 player to it to turn it into a modern player piano. Weird.

A bigger view of the workroom, but still only part of it. Here you can see some of the grand pianos being gutted and refurbished. They started at around $5,000--too rich for our blood though not, actually, too horrific, really. Also, just too damn big on an instrument for most houses.

What other strange things exist in little buildings that we don't know about? We bought the piano last Saturday and it was delivered about two hours ago. We told Emily she had to go home because her present was being delivered. We told her that she didn't have to like it, but she did have to be there to accept it. Simon added that she could sell it if she wanted, just don't tell us about it. She called about 30 minutes later, claiming that she loved it--astonished to see a piano movers truck arrive with a piano to her house. We'll have to take her word for it but she seemed pleased enough.

Thomas's 14th

Thomas finished his first week of school today at his new school. Nonetheless, he was in high spirits as he came home to celebrate his 14th birthday.

ALMOST too old for The Birthday Song and blowing out candles, Thomas admires his cake.

We haven't seen much of Thomas since he's opened his presents, various DS games and whatnot though he does occasionally emerge, demanding food and claiming of "lower lumbar pain." (I know who's giving ME lumbar pain.)

Table turnaround

Jami had a brainstorm and rotated the dining room table. After a dozen years, we finally made the obviously correct orientation. All those years we had to climb awkwardly past one another... What were we thinking?

Raccoon in the basement!!??

How did it get here? Grandpa claims now that it came and peered at him in the night. He thought "that looks like a raccoon, but it can't be!" Except it was...

The removal process:

Dunes and Falls

After the Fly Incident, we were cautious about future wood walks, and this sign didn't help:

However, we found that that particular fly was a very localized phenomenon and managed to go unmolested the rest of our explorations.  Grandpa was determined, dicky ticker and all, to scale a real dune.  So here he is, about to brave the ascent:

He made it to the top just in time to play Sherpa Tensing to my Edmund Hillary:

A hard choice indeed, but as we had already done one, we were ready for the other:

And very pretty it was, too:

Our lust for scenery sated, we set out for home.  And got a nasty speeding ticket on the way.  But seriously, 55 mph limits throughout the entire, practically empty UP?  Not fair.

Twelve Mile Beach

Now it's Saturday.  Grandpa resists the allure of the glass bottomed boat shipwreck-viewing tours and decides that it would be much more fun to go and look at Sites of Geologic Interest.  So here he is trying to buy a map in Munising.  No dice.

We remember mention of beaches along the shoreline that we saw from the boat the night before and set off to the one accessible by road.  We make it there in short order:

It's called Twelve Mile Beach for a reason.  The view one way:

And the other:

I suspect that the mention that people have been known to prance naked on these beaches was some part of the lure for Grandpa, who cannot resist:

He reports that the water feels about 65 degrees.  He has a brisk, bracing dip in the (very shallow, very clear) water then sets off, clad only in sandals, to explore the woods.  He didn't last long: he came flying out of the woods flapping frantically at massive swarms of a local fly that looks like a housefly and acts like a horsefly.  We suspect that the reported prancing of the naturists viewed from passing boats could be explained by futile attempts to fight off the flies.  We also suspect that there's a reason the beach is so empty.

Road Trip!

Grandpa had exhausted the delights of fixing up the garage and was getting BORED, so I decided it was time for a road trip.  So Grandpa and I (Simon) piled into the Prius and headed North to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to the town of Munising, which runs interesting cruises on Lake Superior (as previously documented here).  We set off Friday morning and arrived in plenty of time for the "Sunset Cruise", so naturally we stopped off at a nice coffee shop and used the free wi-fi.  Here's Grandpa in the "Falling Rock Cafe, Munising":

Here's Grandpa avoiding standing in the long line at the dock:

This amazing tree can only stay alive because its roots are going across to the mainland.  They used to run along a little rock bridge, but it collapsed years ago, leaving only the roots remaining:

The sun is finally setting, bathing everything in a golden glow.  Grandpa (in his pink Formenterra hat) is suitably entranced:

See what I mean about the golden light?  And look at the effect on the water: