Gettin' Creative at little to no cost!

When you have something up your sleeve or if you just need a nice place to go, George George Memerial Park is a nice place to go! (You can even get married there.. and the ice cream truck comes!) 

George George Memorial Park is located at 40500 Moravian Drive, Clinton Twp, 48036. This park was officially presented to the Township with a dedication ceremony on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 11:00am. 

A large children’s play area and playscape, a covered public pavilion for picnics and other community gatherings, a fountain plaza area and more than 5,000 feet of walking and bike paths are all featured in this 30 acre park.(Clinton township website, see link below)

Sometimes kids get tired of the same o’l same o’l so you kind of have to get creative. I wanted to something special for Fathers Day and for the last day of school for Makayla. I decided to combine my need to do something that involved taking pictures and wanting to take her somewhere special so that it would save me time and money.  For Fathers Day, I wanted to take three photos of Makayla and frame them. I had her hold the three different words in three pictures. I   heart    You.  I wanted something special from her that was also creative. It turned out really nice. I had a frame at home and we just took the pictures. She loves being photographed and of course dressing up really girly!

Fathers Day Gift

After we finished up with the photos, I let her play on the playground. George George park is a REALLY clean park and people really treat the park with care. The equipment is safe and clean and the people were friendly. Makayla loves playing and I enjoy watching her release her energy. It was the first day of summer break for her.  

After we were finished I took her to Biggby Coffee for a treat. I figured she’d want a frozen hot chocolate, but she wanted a warm hot chocolate even though it was a hot day! Bigby coffee is a Michigan coffee shop, that gives you the option of getting every drink hot, cold, or frozen. It’s a really nice option to be able to have your favorite drinks during all types of weather. I like that option but I also like that they’re a Michigan founded company. Their prices are comparable to Starbucks. The experience is a bit different, they always have 4-5 different flavored coffee brewed and the atmosphere isn’t as businessish as Starbucks. Biggby also has a reward card, buy 12 drinks get the 13th free. And they send you coupons for 1.00 off in your email.

I enjoy doing things with Makayla whether its something simple like going to the park, or something extravagant like going to Disney on Ice. She brings something new to each and every day and I want her to be able to remember the different things that her father and I do with her.

This is my last post for this class, but I believe I may keep up with this blog to continue to write about different things that we do together. I can’t wait to tell her different memories when she gets older.  

http://www.clintontownship-mi.gov/RecreationInformation/FacilitiesRentals/WeddingsPhotoOpportunities/tabid/793/Default.aspx

http://www.biggby.com

All pictures of George George Park were found on Google

A Trip to the Big Top!

Going with my theme of things that only come around every so often, another cool experience is taking your child to the Circus. Now I realize, this may not be for everyone but we took Makayla when she was 3 1/2  and she loved it. She still talks about it to this day. I’d love to take her now when she has a bigger appreciation for the experience. She really seems to soak everything in and have her own perception on things.

The circus has been around for over 100 years. The shrine circus was first held in Detroit, MI for the Moselm Shrine Center. The circus was originally a 1 ring affair but eventually grew to three rings. It travels to many cities, but Detroit is always the biggest event they have. In 1996, it ran for 17 days and they did over 46 shows. Each January the first circus of the year is held in Flint, Michigan. And the last performance is Thanksgiving week held generally in Indiana and Louisiana. The circus travels to about 120 cities in the United States. A separate unit also travels to Canada locations.  (wikipedia)

Our tickets were I believe around 15 dollars apiece and we were right up against the actual ring where the action happened. At this time, my best friend from Oklahoma was visiting so we thought it would be fun to take Makyala while Bekka was down.

 
  
 
 As we approached the big top, we had no idea what waited inside. Of course they had acitivites to entice the kids with. A big slide, pony and camel rides,  souvenir stations, cotton candy, face painting, and when you got further inside, an Elephant ride. Each activity cost 1 ticket, which cost $5. Makayla rode the big slide and the pony ride. Afer enjoying some of the activities we found our seats. Makayla was 3 ½ at the time and I was shocked when she wanted to ride the Elephant! My heart was racing the entire time and I kept shouting, DON’T MOVE!!! 

We enjoyed the trapeze acts, the clowns, the dogs and the amazing horse show! She came out on a giant Clydesdale and then had her white horses with angel wings come out and do their routine. It was really beautiful.  

 



During intermission we took Makayla to get her face painted and she got a beautiful butterfly painted on her face. (I know what you’re thinking. WOW you spent a lot of money! Well, it was her first time and well worth it!) 







After the intermission they had the elephant act and another trapeze act with this contraption up in the air that had two wheels and at one point they were on the OUTSIDE of the wheels.. AMAZING. The things that they can do with their bodies and not show any fear was really beautiful to watch. 

I know that a lot of people don’t agree with the circus and that’s fine. They put on a really good show and the animals did a beautiful job.

Special Treat!

Metro Detroit has some really awesome venues that bring entertainment for kids every year. Going to things around town can be really exciting but when you're able to take your child to a show that includes characters they see on TV, it can be a really magical moment. They look up to these characters, whether it is Dora the Explorer, Elmo, or a Disney Princess. It’s a nice treat to go to something that only comes around every so often and really have a great and memorable experience with your child.The venues I’m talking about specifically are The Fox and The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Fox:

Found on Google

Found on Google

The Fox is located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, with over 5,000 seats.  It opened in 1928 and was the first movie theater to be constructed with built-in equipment for sound films. In 1988 the Fox acquired new owners and they restored the fox, at a cost of $12 million. The Fox now has live productions, including comedy acts, plays, and concerts. Including artists like David Copperfield, Sesame Street, Nick Jr. Live, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular to name a few. (Wikipedia) The inside of the Fox is Golden and Rich in color.. it really is indescribable but it's magnificent.

We have taken Makayla to see Sesame Street live 3 times and the last time we saw the show she got to meet two of the Characters. Her first show was when she was two years old and we were at the top balcony. The moment she heard big birds voice come over the PA, her eyes lit up! The music started, and out popped Elmo and the crowd went wild. It’s a great feeling to look around, see children enjoying the show and the parents are enjoying it as well.  I remember Makayla standing up on Tommy’s lap shouting “ELMO!! ITS ME! MAKAYLA! ITS ME!!”

The last time we went, was in 2011 and we had “sunny seats” This included meeting two of the characters prior to the show, and front row seats. We had a lot of fun at this show because we could see all the details really well and it was fun to see Makayla interact with the characters. We had no idea which characters we were going to meet.. We were hoping for Elmo, but we ended up with Grover and Abby Cadabby.. Which is okay because Makayla loves her!

The best part of Sesame Street Live is the tickets aren’t badly priced. Regular seats are like sometimes $40.00 but they always have certain days and times that you can get tickets for like $15.00 a piece. The days and times are different every time they come around, but they really try to make it an affordable experience for everyone.

We also took Makayla to see Nick Jr. Live. I’m not sure she enjoyed it as much and we weren’t able to take any photos. The crowd seemed different and their souvenir stand was quite higher than the one that Sesame Street Live has.

The Palace:

Found on Google

The Palace of Auburn Hills is the home of the Detroit Pistons.  The venue is a sports and entertainment venue. It opened in 1988 and has been the home for many other sports entertainment teams. The first musical act to perform in the Palace was Sting, on the Palace’s opening night. The palace has over 22,000 seats. Justin Bieber will be playing at the Palace in November of this year, and the show sold out in less than 15 minutes.

I took Makayla to Disney Princess on Ice. I didn’t tell her where we were going until we were on our way there, and I brought her snow white dress to change into and her snow white doll.  Once we arrived at the Palace, I changed her and told her where we were going. She was SO excited! She loves everything about Princesses, dressing up like one, pretending to be one! Disney on Ice is another show that has decently priced tickets, and they often have a code out where you can get seats for $12.00, that aren’t bad seats. We had a corner seat and we could see everything from where we were. Unfortunately due to lighting, the pictures weren’t the best. Makayla thoroughly enjoyed herself. The souviners at Disney are pretty pricey.. but I was sneaky and bought something at Toys R Us that was Disney princess related, and she thought we got it from there!

Princess On Ice was all about the Princesses(obviously!) and each one of them had their own story line: Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. Tinkerbell, Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and a lot of the main characters were there as well! At the end they all came together for a grand ball!

We enjoyed the show.. the way the skaters are able to move their bodies is amazing. During Cinderella's portion of the show they had an actual carriage on the ice with skaters in "horse" costumes and it looked just like they were galloping. During the Little Mermaid, the entire set was black light and their costumes glowed just like under the sea! I wish that my photos were better but with the different lighting and the fast movement they all didn't turn out very well!

Disney on Ice is coming back to the Palace October 3-7^th, “Disney on Ice, Rockin’ Ever After” Merida, from Brave, will make her first appearance.

All Pictures are personal, unless otherwise stated!