For as long as Ashley and I have been together, we have always gone to see part of her family in Fenton, Michigan, about 45 minutes north of Detroit. We left Denver on Wednesday morning on a nonstop flight on Frontier. Frontier Air Lines is cool because they have DirecTV on their planes, as well as cool animals on the tails of the aircraft.
Thanksgiving day was really awesome. I helped Ash's Uncle John deep-fry one of the three turkeys we had at dinner. A bunch of family and friends came over to Ash's step-mom Amy's house, who is always a great host to the annual get-together. I was too busy having a good time catching up with everyone to take any pics...next year I will!
On Friday Ashley and I took her little brother Jake and little sister Casey to this place called BounceU down in Brighton. It's a place to take kids where they can climb and bounce all over these huge air-blown bounce houses and various other things kids love. We all had a great time.
Although it was "technically" against the rules, Jake thought it would be cool to do a somersault down one of the slides....oh to be young again!
We spent a good two hours at BounceU and I'm not ashamed to say I was more wiped out than the kids were when it was time to leave.
(A little side story...we asked Jake where he wanted to go get lunch and he said "pizza". So we went to Pizza Hut near his house. We sit down and ask Jake what kind of pizza he wanted and he says, "I want chicken fingers." haha good thing we were at a Pizza Hut/Wing Street where we could get him what he wanted.)
Saturday morning Ashley, Amy, and I took the kids to a cider mill near Fenton. The kids quickly found a playground where Jake enjoyed the rope swing.
Ash helped her sister go for a ride on the rope swing as well.
At one point Jake thought it might be fun to ride on my back while I rode on the rope swing...
We always enjoy coming to see Jake and Casey when we go out to Michigan. They are such great kids.
On Sunday Ashley's Aunt Mary and step-mom Amy planned to throw her a bridal shower at Amy's house. So Ash's Uncle John and I took Jake to the Detroit Zoo for the day. On our way down, John pointed out to me a huge Ford factory that had recently shut down. He didn't think that it would ever re-open. The zoo, for a Sunday, was not very crowded at all. Jake posed near every animal he could find. He must have known that I'm a University of Texas football fan because he threw his horns up for this photo.
Cool Croc!
Even animals gotta eat! This one decided to eat some grass.
One of the coolest parts of the Detroit Zoo was the Australian Outback Adventure. Inside this gated area, there are probably 15-20 kangaroos running free, with no cages. There is a main walkway through the exhibit, and if a kangaroo comes near you you're supposed to stand still until it moves away. But all three of us though it was really cool how they got so close!
After picking up some food we made it back to the tail-end of Ash's party and I got to quickly catch up with her college friends (from left) Tiffany, Linde, and Courtney.
So after a long weekend it was time to go. We first want to thank Ashley's step-mom Amy for always opening up her home to us to allow us to stay there for the weekend. We always have a great time with her family and friends.
I have always been a huge fan of the University of Michigan football, so we always have to make a pit-stop in Ann Arbor on the way back to the airport to check out the Big House. Back in 2003 Ash and I went to the Michigan/Ohio State game where they set the record for attendance with 112,118.
Every sports fan has to go to a game at the Big House at least once in their life. It's something unforgettable to see. Construction to the Big House has been ongoing for several years and a new press box and luxury suites are two very noticeable changes you can see on either side of the field.
This is the ramp that the home and away teams take to get down to the field.
After grabbing a quick lunch in downtown Ann Arbor at Good Time Charley's, it was time to head back. Ann Arbor is such a beautiful college town. Especially when the leaves have recently changed.
We are already looking forward to our next trip to Michigan. Thanks again to everyone for such a great trip!
