Entries categorized as ‘Family Journal’
Norway Speedway Week #9
We had a fantastic weekend doing the traditional summer activities. Friday evening we attended the races at the Norway Speedway located at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds in Norway, Michigan. The kids faces lit up as the cars made their first turn around the corner and the blast of sound came into the grandstands. They really enjoyed the spectacle of the cars. One of their favorite movies is Speed Racer and they often pretend to be driving cars.
I wouldn’t go every week but it is something nice to do once a summer. I was surprised at the amount of people there, probably a couple thousand spectators. I know NASCAR is big in this area and it is nice to have an affordable alternative close by. It is good to see the amateurs in action and the kids enjoy it just the same. I know the Formula One is quite expensive. Tickets were $9 for adult and the kids were free.
Ocean Loves the Water / Sand Combination
The kids spend a lot of time playing happily (and calmly) in the sandbox Grandpa built for them. He went all out in preparation this summer to make sure his grandchildren had plenty to do. He assembled bikes, balls, fishing poles, etc. and even constructed a wonder sandbox that they have literally spent hours in. It is worth the cleanup afterwards for some precious moments of peace and easy supervision.
Sunday we ran in the “Run Your Bass Off” race. This is the 29th annual run and I have been running in it since high school when I am home in the summers. It is part of the Bass Festival in Crystal Falls, Michigan, held at the Runkle Lake Park. A bass is a type of fish and the weekend not only includes a fishing derby, but softball games, canoe races, etc. It was a perfect day for running with temps in the low 70’s and a cool breeze. I ran 48 minutes and was quite tired. The course is full of “rolling hills” and some of them in the end just killed me. I finished fourth in my age group. Not bad for me since I have not been getting in the miles of training. Nadia is still resting her knee and she did the 2 mile fun run with the kids. Ollie and Owen sprinted to the finish and I think next year we’ll try to have them run the 2 mile. I think with some training they could possibly to the “half bass” 5 km run. It was a great day seeing old friends and exercising in scenic Crystal Falls. It is a cute little town.
Owen and Ollie are finally hooked on baseball. We are big Detroit Tiger fans and my Dad watches all of the games. Owen found the glove grandma bought for him a couple years ago and all he wants to do it play catch. It was a “Field of Dreams” moment! He is getting quite good. As I was telling my brothers and father, getting a left-handed son (Owen) is a gift from God and we need to develop his talent as a possible Major League pitcher. If he can throw 85 miles per hour, he might get at least a shot. He is my retirement plan. It is funny that he bats from the right side, and Oliver, the right-hander, bats from the left side. Oliver is quite a good hitter!
July 12, 2009 - The Historic First Game of Catch (A. Kralovec Photo)
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: bass run, catch, sandbox
The waterfalls are located near Long Lake, about halfway between Iron River and Crystal Falls. We did the mile hike and the boys absolutely loved it. They were climbing over the rocks, crossing the log bridges, and generally being boys. Owen kept referring to the survivor series on Discovery Channel. The water was surprising warm, perhaps it is in comparison to Lake Superior. There is always some outdoor adventure awaiting us in the UP.
boys love to explore
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
After Target, we hit the beach as you can see. Marquette is my favorite town in the UP. It is the largest at around 20,000, and has a university (Northern Michigan University). It is located on Lake Superior and receives 144 inches of snow per year. It is one of the few places I would come back to live in the USA if I could find a good job there.
Ocean
Lake Superior is a huge freshwater inland sea. It is the largest of the Great Lakes and always pretty cold. We all got in yesterday, but not for that long. The kids really enjoyed the sandy beach, making sand castles, playing football, skipping rocks, and burying each other.
In the morning we watched the Federer versus Roddick final.
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: Lake, marquette, superior
Yesterday we had the traditional 4th of July BBQ in our backyard. The kids ran through the sprinkler and around the neighborhood. The adults laughed a lot and we ate a tremendous amount of food and drink. It was a nice way to reflect on 233 years of USA independence. I had a copy of the Declaration of Independence for us to read. It is one of the sacred documents of our country. In reading it yesterday, the authors are pretty clear in their opposition to King George and England’s policies. I can see why war ensued after the King received it. I wonder how long it took him to get it?
In the morning we went to the parade in downtown Iron River. It was pretty lame with only the West Iron County marching band and fire trucks. Ollie and Beau liked grabbing candy that many people were throwing out.
Two Famous Icons - Smokey the Bear and Riverside Pizza
Categories: Family Journal · Uncategorized
The Fire Truck Puts Out the Fire as the Kids Enjoy the Party
Anyway, unknown persons lit tires in the bottom of the unused smokestack in honor of a relative who passed away this week. He used to do this occasionally on the 4th. A while later, the Iron Mountain City fire truck came and put it out. I think it was unneccesary as it was not a fire hazard and only causing a bit of pollution. The police asked us who did it and we said we didn’t see anyone lighting it (true).
Owen slept over his cousin’s house and we took his little brother Beau.
Ocean and Nadia
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: birthday, party, smoke, stack, Tony
I didn’t have the camera with me yesterday (yes, surprise, surprise) but I wish I did as we had a fantastic adventure hiking to Bennan Lake. Jim and I took the four boys (Owen, Ollie, Tony, Beau) as well as Ocean on the Ge – Che Cross Country Ski Trail in the Ottawa National Forest. It is located close to our home in Caspian and is 6 miles long and goes by three lakes, Hagerman, Ottawa, and Bennan. Ge Che means “big lake” in the Ojibwa language.
We started from the car park near the Orville Lunn overlook and we walked the approximately 3 miles to the lake. Along the way we caught a toad, identified slugs, and picked up many ticks. The first half of summer is full of ticks. We had to pick them off several times off of all of us. When we arrived at the lake, several of us went for a swim. It is a beautiful, little lake with only one dock on that we could see. A pair of loons were swimming near by. When we got back, Nadia had prepared some pumpkin risotto and an angel food cake berry delight. What a great end to a great day!
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Owen Gets a Basehit Off My Brother
Later, when the boys got back, we had batting practice. Owen is working on getting rid of his upper cut. My brother Jim is an excellent coach and really helped him at Northside Field. We then took the boys for pasties and headed home. All in all, a fantastic day!
White-tailed Deer are a Common Sight in the UP
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The book has a lot of ideas of experiments to do that mostly involve explosions and gadgets. One of the boys favorite television programs is Mythbusters, and they love tinkering with experiments. We’ll continue to hone this one until we get the potato shooting out across the neighborhood. I made the “tennis ball mortar” with my science classes in Anaco to great success. They also had a homemade version of the fire paper lanterns that we had at our farewell party last month. I am also a pyromaniac and love blowing things up with the boys.
Owen said that someday he wants to be a scientist, soccer player, and a spy. He is not sure which one.
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: potato, cannon, mythbusters
I spent the morning sorting through the year’s financial corresponsdance. I am organizing our credit card statements, bank statements, retirement accounts, taxes, etc. Lots to do. In the afternoon we went to Iron Mountain. Last night we just hung out at the house.
Jim's Style Hasn't Changed - Love the shorts!
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
We are visiting the Upper Peninsula this summer holiday. We ran into to other visitors to this beautiful region, one wanted and the other unwanted.
The first is shown above – it is an Indian Blue Pea Fowl (Pavo Cristatus) that I photographed as it was walking along the road near the Ski Brule Resort. We were on the way home from Hagerman Lake it was walking in the middle of the road. People call them pea cocks but actually only the male is known as a pea cock. The female is known as a pea hen and the species is pea fowl. The bird is a member of the pheasant family and there are two species in its genus of Pavo. The other species is known as the Green Pea Fowl.
The Blue Pea Fowl is native to India. This one is obviously someone’s pet and they do make good pets. They serve as a “watch fowl” and need minimal care. They are from a temperate to tropical climate and so need to be protected from the cold winters.
Zebra Mussels On A Rock from Chicagoan Lake
The Zebra Mussel ( ) is a nuisance species. It is native to south east Russia, but with the advent of extensive global trade, bilge water containing mussels was dumped into Lake St. Clair, a small lake between Erie and Huron in the Great Lakes. It was first reported in 1988 and then spread throughout the region since then. It first appeared in Iron County lakes around the turn of the century. The New York Sea Grant Program has an excellent dynamic map showing the progessive spread of this mollusc. They are found all the way down the Mississippi River, all of the Great Lakes, as well as lakes throughout the midwest.
They are a nuisance because they are voracious eaters and they take away plankton and algae that would normally feed fish. The Zebra Mussel also clogs intake pipes as well as contaminated bodies of water with their feces. They are filter feeders and concentrate toxins in their bodies as they eat. Their feces contains much of these toxins.
We found them all over most of the rocks in Chicagoan Lake, which is close to my home. My friends have a cottage on the lake and their children were finding them and taking them off of the rocks. I applaud their efforts, but with females able to produce 30,000 – 100,000 eggs per year, it will be tough to manually get rid of them.
There is a ton of information on the web about the zebra mussel. One good article is found here. It will be interesting to see what can be done about them.
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: mussel, pea fowl, zebra
