The Henry Ford Museum

Since I didn't go to Michigan for Christmas, I decided to go for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We were able to spend the day at the Henry Ford Museum. I don't think I'd been there in years. I really enjoyed the exhibit about various civil rights movements. But of course, I had to take a photo in front of the Oscar Mayer weinermobile!

Oh boy!

                                       

On the Rosa Parks bus

                                     

Winter Break

One thing I was really excited about when I started at my current job last January was that the office is closed from December 24 - January 1. This meant that I could take a nice break. I took a couple extra days off and spent them with my family in Michigan.

Walking on Woodward Avenue with the beautiful Christmas lights

The Detroit Opera House - Stunning!

Parents ready to see Wicked

We made "fairy princess crowns"

My mom bought a portable ping pong table for my dad for Christmas. I'm pretty sure she likes it way more than him!

Santa's helpers

Cool Aunt Melanie

I traveled to Detroit last weekend to visit my family. Many people wondered why I chose a random weekend in June, rather than travelling for Father's Day. 

Well, when I moved to Chicago, I told my mom that I would visit more often since I was significantly closer. However, I had not visited home since I moved to Chicago, so I thought I was due. But if I didn't go for Mother's Day, how could I go home for Father's Day? Kids can't play favorites with their parents. So I decided to go home a seemingly random weekend in June. 

Little did I know that it was my hometown's ice cream social where my dad was singing with the Senior Singers. If you have seen Gilmore Girls and think of little town festivals, it was similar to that, but with A LOT less production value. But I did end up getting a mug from the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Wire House Museum that took place in 2005. Yep. 2005. That's how awesome my hometown is. 

Please enjoy some photos of my lovely weekend in Detroit City. 

The Rust Belt Market in Ferndale. It seemed like a good "Detroit" place to check out.

Comerica Park

Fireworks after Tigers' game

Hanging out at an ice cream social

It was nice to see the family and continue to establish my status as the cool aunt!

How do I maintain my "cool aunt" status? Well, I just convince a cute 4-year to go on a bike ride with me to the lake. We dip our toes in and chat about how many yards away the lone fisherman is from us.

Let it Snow

Sometimes I'm spontaneous. And then I run into a blizzard. After sitting through a chilly UM vs. OSU game that was very exciting, Lynn and I learned that the Detroit Lions were going to be playing in Philadelphia the next week. We checked the weather and saw 40 degrees and partly cloudy - not too shabby. So we decided to get tickets and take a day trip to Philly (less than 2.5 hours).

And then by Wednesday, the storm warnings were coming in. On Sunday morning, we decided that we had the time and we would just drive carefully on the way home, and all would be well. 

And this is was we drove to:

Pregame - shoveling every 5 yards

The view toward the stands

The view toward the field

We looked like abominable snowmen. The cold didn't start getting to me until the third quarter. Once the Eagles took a 22-20 lead and the Lions failed to do anything on their next possession, we decided we could listen to the Lions collapse on the radio and we could get on the road and get out of Philly sooner rather than later.

The game was fun. But, the Eagles fans were everything they are known to be - rude. Lynn and I both got 2 snowballs thrown at us. A guy a couple of rows ahead of us said, "What do you think about that, you sluts" when the Lions fumbled or lost yardage or something bad. I retorted, "Wow, that's clever." Everyone around us agreed with me and made that guy feel pretty bad. If you're going to insult me, especially over being a Lions fan, you have a lot of material. You should really think of some better insults. Another guy said it was good that we were girls because if we were men, we would have been punched.

Oh how I love the city of brotherly love...

We made it home eventually. It did take awhile, but all in all, it was a fun day.

Turkey Trot

Okay, okay. On to the life update.

I went to Detroit for Thanksgiving. I know I know. I didn't tell anyone that I was going to Detroit except 1 person. It was a stealth trip that was jam packed. With turkey, sports, movies, and pie.

The Lions won! (on Thanksgiving, no less!)
Pistons v. Lakers game (Pistons lost)
Catching Fire was AMAZING! My mom's reaction after the movie, "Wow! That was a really good movie" She even "volunteered" to watch it again with my dad since he couldn't come with us.
UM vs. OSU lived up to the rivalry even on a lackluster year (and I didn't freeze)

Posts only mean something if you post a picture so here:

Turkeys! (this photo was not taken in Detroit)

Photo shoot in the car

Those kids could have done a much better photo bomb. Do their parents teach them nothing?

Piston's game

UM v. OSU