Registration and More

For the past few days, my computer has been MIA because of a virus it contracted while I was on the Internet. But thanks to my dad (let's have a BIG round of applause), it is now up and running. What happened was that this security system pops up and says that there are a bunch of viruses and trojans on your computer. I closed out of it, but it still downloaded itself on my computer and turned off the security system that is supposed to be on my computer. Every time you clicked on something, it would pop up and say it was infected and asked if you wanted to screen for an infection. It was extremely annoying. So, my dad backed up my files on a external hard drive and then wiped my hard drive or something like that, so that it was set back to factory settings. We transferred my files back onto my computer, and now it works perfectly. PTL! I guess that you don't know how much you use something until you can't. Seriously, I would think to myself, "I should look something up" or "I would like to email so and so," but then I'd realized that I couldn't. All I have to say is a big thank you to my dad, who spent time fixing my computer that he could of used to work on the bathroom or just relax. I know, gasp!
In other news, yesterday I had my registration for school. There, I got my school picture taken, paid for my yearbook/class t-shirt/agenda, and received my schedule. My picture turned out okay, but my smile is a little weird. I guess everything can't be perfect (although I come very close). Unfortunately, my schedule is all messed up, just like last year. I have the same teachers for all of my classes, except World History, but the hours are all different between the two semesters. I also have different lunches in each semester. While at school, I put up my pictures and magnets in my locker and looked around at my classrooms. I only saw 2 of my friends, and so far, I don't think I have any classes with them. I'll have to wait a few days to find out if any of my friends who are in band share any of the same classes, because their registration is on the 31st. Apparently, they are still at Band camp. School starts in a little more than a week! Yikes, I'll actually have to wake up before 10:00! I'm starting to dread it, kind of like the above sign that I found on the Internet. Funny, isn't that. But really, all you have to do is replace the 4 for a 7, and it would fit perfectly! Until then...

Cupcakes, Hazardous Material, Oh My!

I haven't really blogged in a while, but then again, nothing has really happened. Currently, I am studying for my health test, which I am testing out of. I figure that I've already had health in 5th and 7th grade, as well as being on the Anatomy team for Science Olympiad, so I already know most of the stuff that I would have been learning. And the other stuff is probably about "managing our feelings" or something of that nature, which I don't need to spend any time learning, let alone a whole semester. The test is tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning. Talk about early; I'm usually not even awake by then! Unfortunately, the only friend that I know was testing out, decided to take the class instead.

In other news, yesterday, I was out driving around with my mom, when we ran into this huge commotion. We were getting off the highway, and traffic was backed up for a long time. We had to wait 10 minutes or so to even get off the exit ramp. Apparently, there was an overturned semi on the overpass that we would have gone on, if we hadn't have gotten off the highway, except on the other direction. There were police all over, a helicopter, and I even spotted a Hazardous Material Response car! The reason we had to wait was that the police were directing traffic around the accident, and off of the highway. The situation seemed pretty nasty. When we finally got through that mess, we drove to Staples to pick up some supplies for the upcoming school year. Since I reuse a lot of my supplies, and searched through the house for extra folders that were hiding in cabinets, I only needed 2 binders and some pens. But that didn't stop someone (not mentioning any names) from spending at least an hour there. After we finally left, we made couple more stops at Target (where I bought a button up t-shirt, some cute socks and underwear, and my mom got a bike picture frame and more hangers (really, how many of those does she need?)), Starbucks, etc. I managed to get an hour of driving time, which helps somewhat (even if I still need around 46 more).

In the past week or so, there hasn't been that much activity, but there are a few more things to mention. One, I made these really delicious peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter icing. The recipe came with this milk chocolate glaze, but I decided that I'd much rather have more peanut butter to go with my peanut butter. Apparently, all you have to do to modify a normal frosting recipe is to replace the butter (or in our case, margarine) with peanut butter and add some more milk. Who knew it was so simple. I thought for sure that I was going to have to figure out how much I needed to replace, and write it down, but no. On top of the cupcake, I placed some of the peanut brittle that we had left over from our trip to Mackinac Island. And before you ask, they were delicious. They may even be the best cupcakes I've made. The second thing I should mention is that my sister made sugar cookies to compete with my cupcakes. She doesn't like frosting (I know, what a sin!), so the cookies were her substitute. I tried helping her, but basically just managed to get in the way. As expected, those were also good (although, one batch was cooked a little bit long). The last thing I want to mention is that we watched the movie The Right Stuff, per the recommendation of my oldest uncle. I must agree, it was very interesting movie. Although, it was more than 3 hours long, I enjoyed watching it immensely and would definitely recommend it. And that's pretty much it was far as excitement goes.

Driving Home

For all of those who were worried about me, worry no more! I arrived safely home on Thursday night. There were a few snafus along the way, but we all made it home in one piece. On Thursday morning, we woke up on Mackinac Island and ate our last breakfast at the Metivier Inn. I wanted to bring a bag up to the breakfast room, so that I could scoop some of their delicious granola into it to take home, but I decided that that might not be the best idea. Instead, "Sacajawea" got the name and number of the place where they bought the granola from. From there, we packed up all our clothing and rode down to the Shepler's ferry dock on Main Street. The plan was to take the 10:00 ferry back to St. Ignace, and from there drive home the scenic route. We were running a little early (can you believe it!), and arrived just as the 9:30 ferry was leaving. As it turned out, we had the boat to ourselves. I guess no one leaves the island on a Thursday at 10 in the morning. I would have to say that this was one of the more interesting ferry rides that I've been on. Right as we were leaving the harbor, we went over this ginormous wave that rocked the boat, and then the wind picked up. We had to hold onto our stuff so that nothing would blow overboard, not to mention that my hair blowing all over the place, mostly in my face. It made taking pictures quite hard. When we got back to dry land, we had to put all the bikes up and pack all our luggage, which took a while. But after that was accomplished, we were on the road again, and everything was pretty much uneventful.
The first stop on the route home was Harbor Springs, where we stopped to get lunch. My family has been there several times before when we went camping at Petosky State Park, but no one else had. It's a really pretty town, right along Lake Michigan. It's a little stuck up for my taste, but there are some nice stores there, and the view out to the lake is gorgeous. We ate at a restaurant named Turkey's, which was delicious. There was a little mix up on the seating and ordering, but when we got the food, it was all forgotten. Just like the last time we went there, my mom and I shared a garlic and cheese pizza. When we ordered four pizzas, my mom was worried that we were going to have a ton of leftovers, but as it turns out, only four pieces were left after everyone was done eating. I ate two pieces of my own pizza, and also two more of OMY and Aunt "Rose's" pizza, which was a ham, pepperoni, and sausage on a thicker crust. It was funny to count down the number of slices that were left, which went down quickly as people kept on grabbing more. When we were waiting for our food, some of us went down to look at this bookstore called "Between the Covers", which was actually in the basement of another store, and my mom visited the American Spoon store across the street from the resturant to stock up on jams and jellies. After leaving Harbor Springs, we drove ten miles away to Petosky, so that we could stop at this place called Roast and Toast to get some coffee and such. Unfortunately, there was traffic between the two towns, so it felt a lot longer than ten miles, especially with my cousin in the background complaining that she had to go to the bathroom.
The next stop on the road home was Charlevoix. The main attraction here were the mushroom houses. For those of you that don't know, mushroom houses are houses that have these undulating roofs that look like they should belong in a fairytale. After driving through this one area where most of the houses are, we got back on the road again. Charlevoix to my house is 4 hours away, and it was already around 4 PM. We had told the people watching Kingsley that we'd pick him up at around 8, so we had to hightail it out of there. Again, things were pretty uneventful until my oldest uncle, who was driving the car with all of us girls in it, stopped to get some gas. We were around an hour away from home, but when we tried to start the car again after getting gas, it just wouldn't. It would sound like it was starting, and then would just die again. After several calls to my dad, who was in the other car, and waiting for around 10 minutes or so, the car just started on its own. Just like that, as if nothing had happened. We called my dad back and drove home. After arriving back at home, we still had to pick up Kingsley, so we got back into the car and drove and got him. When we picked him up, his tail had been groomed so that it no longer looked like a bottle brush. It still looks kind of weird, but in the opposite way (I think it's too short).
Yesterday, my sister, OMY, mom, Aunt "Rose", and I piled into my aunt's pick-up truck and drove all the way to Kalamazoo, which is two hours away. The reason was to pick up these copper gutters that we had ordered for our house. We didn't want them to be shipped to us, that was too expensive, so the only other option was to drive over there and pick them up ourselves. On the way there, we texted questions to cha cha (a free question answering service), which amused us. Some of the things we asked were school mascots of towns around here, and other stupid stuff like that. We wanted to figure out if it was worth it to stop at a nearby Walmarts to buy some of the local school t-shirts. My favorite mascot that we found out was the Sturgis (South Dakota) Brown High School Scoopers. Really - look it up! Anyway, my aunt ended up buying a Kalamazoo Central High School Maroon Giants and a Paw Paw Redskins t-shirt. On the way back, we had to pick up our produce from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). After that we just ate dinner and watched Star Trek (the new movie). I picked two cucumbers from our garden that were huge. They're basically the only thing that actually grown this year, everything else was either eaten by deers or just didn't turn out. As for today, there isn't anything exciting planned. My mom did make her branberry muffins for breakfast. Aunt "Rose" likes to call them "colon blow muffins" because of all the fiber in them, but they are actually really good. "Sacajawea" invited us all to her birthday party tonight. I might go, but other than that, nothing exciting. And for now, that's all I have to report.

Our Last Full Day :(

Up until this afternoon, today was pretty much the same as the past few days. "Sacajawea" and I woke up at 7 in the morning and rode around the island with my mom. Unlike the last two times, we stopped and took some pictures along the way. Some of them turned out really nice, I guess the time and lighting was just right. When we returned to the bed and breakfast, we ate breakfast, which, once again, was delicious. In addition to the normal granola and oatmeal, I also had some sausage links and tried this one coffeecake like thing that turned out to be too sweet for my taste buds.
Like yesterday, one group went horseback riding. This time, though, it was my dad and "Sacajawea" along with my cousin OMY. According to my sources ("Sacajawea, my dad, and OMY), the ride was relatively uneventful, but fun. The other group, which consisted of my sister, mom, and I, went on another bike ride around the island. It was a little later than usual, so the road were all clogged up with the day tourist that come in from the ferries around that time. One of the interesting things that we saw on the ride was this group of about 30 or so boys running around the island. I think that it was some cross country camp or something like that. Anyway, some of them didn't have shirts on, and I wasn't complaining! Hehe. After that ride, my mom and I met up with Aunt "Rose" at St. Anne's, a Catholic church on the island. Seeing as it's a Wednesday, there weren't many people at mass. It was kind of funny because you couldn't understand a word that the priest was saying. It was obvious that English wasn't his first language. The only time you could understand what he was saying was when he was singing the one song, for which he pulled out a guitar to accompany the music. It was actually pretty cool.
We kind of just sat around after we got out of mass for a while until we decided we were hungry enough to eat lunch. We decided on The Gatehouse which is another one of the restaurants run by the Grand Hotel. The food was okay, but we had a fiasco in the ordering. My sister's hamburger got messed up, but other than that, everyone was satisfied. My "trapper burger" was huge and delicious. After that, I wasn't very hungry.
Now we get to where the excitement starts; my dad, OMY, and I went mountain biking. After walking our bikes up Fort Hill, which exhausted us before we began, my brother decided that he wanted to go with us. So, my dad had to go down and find him, and go up Fort Hill for a second time. When they finally arrived, we went and saw Arch Rock. As the name indicates, Arch Rock is an arch of rock that was eroded a long time ago. From there, we went on the actual bike trails. For the most part, they weren't paved and had a bunch of rocks and roots in them. It was fun thought. We went and saw the Sugarloaf (another big rock), this cave, Friendship Alter, and Fort Holmes. I don't know what the name of the cave was, but it was really cool. It's not marked and to get there, there is a steep embankment. When my dad got down there, he found a geocache, and we weren't even looking. We had looked at the possibility of doing it before we left, but it didn't come to anything. As my oldest uncle said, "It's cache, not geo-cache, since they didn't use the geo." My brother left us early because he was complaining the whole time about getting dirty. I don't know why he came in the first place. Before he left, though, a tree fell on top of me. Really. I was quite a bit ahead of everyone else, and there were these branches in the road. I thought that I would just ride through them, and maybe get poked in the face or something. But apparently, the tree had other plans for me. When I rode through, I closed my eyes so I wouldn't get poked in the eye, and all of a sudden, I feel all this weight on me. When I open my eyes, the tree is on top of me. One branch was wrapped around my foot, and it pinned me down. OMY was the first one to reach me after the tree fell on top of me, and at first she was confused. I certainly would be if I came upon someone with a tree on top of them. I eventually got out of the entanglement, and my dad had to wrestle with the tree to get it off my bike. That was about the time my brother left.
After he left, we were trying to find Friendship Alter. When my dad and I went biking the last time we were here, the trail to it was obvious. This time, not so much. We eventually found it, but it was after much searching. After finding it and taking a bunch of pictures for posterity, we rode up British Landing Rd. to go see the highest point in the island, Fort Holmes. I wanted OMY to see it before she left, but man, it was exhausting. Not to mention the 119 steps we have to climb up to see it. The view, though, is definitely worth it. By then, we were thoroughly overheated and thirsty. We decided that we didn't really want to see anything more, and rode downhill back to our bed and breakfast. I don't think I've ever exercised so much in my entire life! Of course, we had to have ice cream for dinner. All the children went and got ice cream from Kilwin's on Main Street while the adults went to dinner at some restaurant we've never been to called Village Inn. Most of the excitement of the day had already passed by that time, and we haven't done much since then. I'm so sad that today was our last full day; tomorrow we take the ferry back to St. Igance. And now I must say goodbye (or hello?) to our last night at Metivier Inn.

The Empress Arrives

Our second day on the island has been action packed. First, my mom "Sacajawea", Aunt "Rose", and I went on a bike ride around the island before breakfast, waking up around 7 AM. When we rode around the island, there were almost no people because the first ferry hadn't arrived yet with all the day people. For most of the ride, I was on my own, in front of everyone else. I enjoyed just being by myself, riding as fast as I wanted to. We arrived back to the bed and breakfast for the excellent breakfast that I have been waiting to eat for a while. They have the best granola that they apparently buy from some Amish people in Wisconsin. Delicious!!!! After going on that bike ride, the food was especially tasty. From there, we split into two groups; my Aunt "Rose" and my cousin OMY went horseback riding, while everyone else (minus my oldest uncle, Aunt "Rose" and brother) went on another bike ride. We were going to stop at all the attractions, but since all the first timers on the island weren't on the ride, we decided that we would go tomorrow. By the end of the ride, my legs were sooo sore. Two rides back to back can to that to a person's legs. For those who went horseback riding, my aunt rode a horse named Jewel, and my cousin rode a horse named Oliver. Apparently, all Jewel wanted to do was eat, but other than that, and horse flies, it went okay. They came back around the same time that we did from our bike ride.
The main event today was going to visit Fort Mackinac. We went and ate lunch at the Fort Tea Room. The people around us and below us must have thought we are a pretty dysfunctional family. You see, we had bought two family passes on Fort Michilimackinac, but for that to work, OMY and "Sacajawea" had to pretend to be oldest uncle and Aunt "Rose's" children. As usual, they took it a little far. Actually, a little would be an understatement. They were yelling all sorts of things out, such as that OMY was an accident and "Sacajawea" was actually wanted, seeing as she was adopted. I ate a roast beef sandwich, which was the sandwich special of today. It was okay, but for this meal, it wasn't as much the food as the experience that mattered. After eating, we went around video taping tours of the buildings and such. We even found another black hole!! "Sacajawea" and OMY joined in on this dancing demonstration and OMY got to dance with one of the soldiers who had this pointy hat that we decided was used for stabbing people in the stomach. It was fun just walking around making stupid comments about stuff.
In between visiting the fort and dinner, we didn't really do much. The past few times that we don't eat dinner, but instead get ice cream. But this time, we decided to go out. Dinner tonight was at this fancy restaurant called the Woods. It's right next to this inn that used to be a mansion and apparently, the restaurant used to be the play house for the daughter. That's one lucky daughter. I was going to ride my bike there with my dad, but the roads are all wet because of the rain. So, I was forced into take the carriage there, which turned out to be not that bad. A little slow, but nice. On the way there, "Sacajawea" decided that she was the empress of the world. From then one, she has had two personalities- the empress and "Sacajawea". In her first, everyone is a servant or body guard or something of that sort. But in the second personality, we are all related. The guy who drove the carriage back to the bed and breakfast really had to put up with some, well, interesting behavior. "Sacajawea" was waving like a queen/beauty queen to random people on the street- her minions. It was pretty funny. We (and when I say we, I actually mean OMY and "Sacajawea") even fed the horses, Daisy and Bruce, an apple that was taken from the restaurant. The driver's probably still wondering what was wrong with us.
A few random things to mention are: you have to watch this one video on YouTube called "Jane Austen Fight Club." If you know anything about Jane Austen, it's really funny. Also, we saw a police car driving around our street! Yes, you read that right, a car! I know, gasp! We were taking some pictures in front of the bed and breakfast when all of a sudden, my brother yelled out, "Car" and we all had to look around like dogs to a squirrel. There were a few other funny things, but that pretty much raps things up for today.

More Up North Pics

"If they are all men, is it still Peeping Tom?"

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to shoot you in the head"

"The Beginnings of Homosexuality/Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Up North Pics

At Java Joe's

Pasty

Up North

Yesterday was the start of our trip Up North. We left at around 7:30 in the morning and ate breakfast at Panera Bread. A few weeks ago, the plan was to go the scenic route along Lake Michigan, but my uncle (who wishes to be called "oldest uncle" to differentiate from my other uncles) had mentioned that he wanted to see some reenactments. So, we decided to drive straight to Mackinaw City and visit Fort Michilimackinac, which is right on the water. We bought some pasties ("Pah-stee", turnovers with meat: a UP specialty) and cookies from this one restaurant, and ate them on the park. We've gone there before, and they're really tasty. When we went into the fort, my camera decided to die, so I couldn't take any pictures inside the fort. It was really fun looking around. Some of the more interesting parts were the 8 person lavatories, and the many black holes (what they called these dark closets that misbehaving soldiers were put). There was also this house with a bunch of beds put together where the soldiers all slept together, and a bunk bed that was supposed to fit 2 solders in one bed. We took a picture and captioned it "the beginnings of homosexuality/don't ask don't tell".
After that we drove over the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace. We checked into the hotel that we were staying the night and walked into town. After walking around town and buying some gossip magazines at the bookstore, we went and got ice cream from Mom's Ice Cream. I chose almond joy, and it was delicious. We all went swimming in the pool, and then went to eat dinner at Java Joe's. Everyone ordered pizza; Smoked whitefish for my sister's friend "Sacajawea" and I; ham and bacon for my sister and OMY; deep dish for my aunt "Rose", oldest uncle, mom, and dad; and pepperoni for my brother. Then at night, there was also a bonfire at the hotel where we toasted marshmallows.
Today, we woke up early so that we could get breakfast from Java Joe's. My sister, who never eats breakfast food, was a little grumpy because she couldn't get pizza for breakfast, but the rest of us were happy with our pancakes, omelettes, and french toast. It has been raining all day, so we had to sit on the bottom level of the ferry to Mackinac Island. We couldn't sign into our rooms at Metivier Inn, so we walked around looking at the shops on Main Street. "Sacajawea" bought some stuff for her siblings at this toy store called Caddywampus. I believe they included a microphone shaped sponge and finger moustache tattoos for her brother and bacon lip balm and a cat butt coin purse for her sister. Haha. We went and ate lunch at the Ice House, which was good as well. I ate a chicken Cesar wrap, which was the special of the day. By the time we were done, it was pouring outside, and even with my rain coat, I still got wet. We plan on getting ice cream and maybe see a movie later, and that is the extent of our activities today.
On a different note, we've been seeing a bunch of people that we recognize. First, we saw this bicycle guy at the Panera Bread that we ate breakfast at, who, apparently, comes there often. And then we saw him again at Fort Michilimackinac!! We also saw my pre-school teacher at Java Joe's and my sister's friend's family (minus the friend) here on Mackinac Island! Not to mention that my mom swears that she saw the same people at the fort and here on Main Street and my brother said he saw someone from school. Creepy!!! Anyway, we've decided that it's "dry" enough to go on a bike ride, so au revoir!