Family Photo Album Travel and Visitors 1989 Smaller Trips: See pictures and Stories Below Link Month Days Place Who April 1 Frankenmuth, MI   May 1 Indianapolis Business Trip / Speedway  Dave May 1 Toledo Zoo with Jesse's Cousins   May 1 St Louis one day trip: The Arch and The Cardinals D & L June 3 Manistee with Dave's Cousin   June 1 Home improvements around the house   July 1 Chicago for one day: Museums and Wrigley Field D & L   July 1 Detroit Zoo   Aug 1 Indianapolis Indians minor league baseball game Dave   Aug 1 Day Trip to Ann Arbor: UofM Museum of Natural History   Aug 4 Toronto, ON: Anniversary Trip D & L   Sep 1 Edsel Ford HS Football Game with Marilyn   Oct 1 Birthday Party for Lyn's Grandmother   Oct 1 Family Time to Pick Apples Oct 8 Dave Business Trip to Water Valley Mississippi Dave   Nov 1 Jesse's New Waterbed   Dec 4 Disney World #2: Jesse's First visit  / Stay at the Contemporary     Dec 1 Bruce and Anna Visit   April 1989 Frankenmuth, MI All The Cheese Haus The Bavarian Inn Bronners Christmas Wonderland We took a Sunday drive up from Detroit to Frankenmuth, something we loved to do each spring to celebrate Michigan's beautiful warm weather and blue skies (after six months of cold and overcast). This was the first time we took Jesse (almost 2) so we visited some different sites, including the big mouse on the "Cheese Haus" and a nearby playland. This trip became famous in our family, because we called Lyn's mom at 9am to tell her we would be leaving in an hour and that she was invited along. Instead of saying "I have chores" or "I'd rather rest" she proclaimed "You CAN'T go to Frankenmuth on a moments notice. You have to plan the trip in advance". We said that simply that we could and that we would and that she was still invited, but she told us we couldn't go. Very strange. Oh well, we had fun day celebrating spring, cheese and chicken. (Dave's mom, passed on the trip, but asked us to pick up a loaf of their favorite fruit bread, which we gladly did). May 1989 Indianapolis / Racetrack Dave The deserted grandstands on a Wednesday evening The cars went amazingly fast Dave was consulting at Allison Transmission in the Indianapolis suburb of "Speedway", literally a mile for the famous racetrack. The Indy-500 is run on Memorial Day, and the three Saturdays prior to that are the formal "time trials" where the drivers earn their "pole position". However, during the week days, the drivers and crews want to test their machines, and shake down motors, transmission, tires. Dave's students made a point of taking him over one evening after work, just to watch the cars "drive around in circles". He still tells many stories, about the whiny sound of the engine and deceptively fast speed. The inside of the oval is a golf course 50 weeks of the year, but wall-to-wall RV's full of race car fans during the one day competition. Part Olympics, part high school shop class, and part Mardi-Gras according to the locals, who all had outrageous stories to retell. May 1989 Toledo Zoo All Jesse (just turned two) and his cousins at the Toledo Zoo Jesse petting a curious goat, minutes before his surprise When Jesse's 2nd birthday passed, we took the next week-end to drive down to visit the Toledo Zoo, which we preferred to Detroit's north-side equivalent. We took our two nieces, and spent the day getting them to run and shout, and scream and giggle, all things strictly forbidden at home. We visited the 'petting zoo' area where Jesse fed and petted the baby animals, especially a small goat. When he turned away and was telling us about what happened, the goat lingered then decided to see if Jesse had some hidden snacks in the side pocket of his shorts. Halfway through Jesse's animated description, he felt a pull on his pocket, then reached down to touch a wet nose. He jumped and yelped and needed to be held by his mom for a long time before his tears of surprise would stop. Of course, such small events like this become memories to last a lifetime and warm a parent's heart no matter how many times the story is told. June 1989 Manistee, MI All For a long week-end trip, we drove up to Manistee in the northern part of Michigan's lower peninsula. Dave's great aunt lived there, so we took his cousin and her daughter with us. We drove through Lansing and Muskegon on the way, and stopped to walk on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was a chance for us to spend some time with Jenny and Jennifer. We were particularly glad we went when Aunt Sylvia passed away a short time after. Jesse had just turned two years old Jenny and Jennifer, Jesse and Lyn Like any family visit, we met lots of relatives, some we hadn't seen in years, some we had never met, and others that we could not remember. Dave and Jenny were told dozens of stories about their parents and their older brothers and sisters. Uncle Richard had previously passed away, so many stories were reminiscing about the good old days. We all enjoyed the visit, then headed back home to Detroit. Dave with his cousin Jenny and Aunt Sylvia June 1989 Around the House All Granny "B" bought us a grandfather clock We had a new tree planted out front We sold the Granada Joe and John came over for a picnic It proved to be another busy summer for us. Lyn's Granny "B", wanted everybody in the family to have a grandfather clock with her name engraved on the 'given by' plaque. We purchased a large diameter tree and had it planted in the lawn away from the sidewalk and common area near the street. Dave's parents got a new car and gave us their old own, so we sold our Granada. Also, Dave's friends Joe and John (JD, Jesse's godfather) paid us a visit to enjoy our deck and yard. July 1989 Detroit Zoo All   We couldn't sit still, so we took a Sunday afternoon and visited the nearby Detroit zoo for some family time with just the three of us. While Jesse slept on the way home, w visited some of our old haunts on the north side of Detroit. Aug 1989 Indianapolis Indians Baseball Game Dave While continuing to fly to Indianapolis, Dave got to see a minor league baseball game with the Indians. One of his client teammates hosted him, and filled him in on lots of team history. The Indians were affiliated with the Expos at the time, and his friend longed for the days with the Cincinnati Reds. The stadium was ancient and has since been torn down, but it was used for filming several game scenes for the movie "Eight Men Out" about the 1919 Black Sox scandal involving Shoeless Joe Jackson. Aug-1989 Univ of Mich Natural History Museum All As summer waned, we drove Jesse over to Ann Arbor to see the Natural History museum affiliated with the University of Michigan. At age two, he mostly enjoyed the dinosaur bones and sparkling geode rock collection. Aug 1989 Toronto Anniversary Week-end Dave & Lyn Dave organized a sleepover for Jesse with Lyn's mom and surprised Lyn with a week-end anniversary trip. Since we were married in late August, our anniversary falls at the logical end of summer just before Labor Day week-end. The trip worked out so well that we actually took one for the next three years. This year was the surprise of taking the train to Toronto, to revisit the city like we had on our honeymoon, not knowing that Dave would soon change jobs and end up with clients in nearby Cambridge, Ontario. On the evening of our 10th wedding anniversary, we ate in a small Russian cabaret / restaurant where a young woman played the acoustic guitar and sang Russian folk songs. In our honor, she sang a beautiful rendition of "Love Me Tender", which we adopted as "our song" for the second 10 years of our marriage (replacing our previous favorite: John Denver's ballad "Annie's Song"). Sep-1989 Edsel Ford HS Football Game with Marilyn All When fall arrived, we took a Friday afternoon and watched a football game at nearby Edsel Ford High School, our alma mater and the place where we met. Marilyn had become a family friend from when she worked at the one-hour photo place and we were taking and developing so many pictures of the cute baby Jesse. Later she moved into our neighborhood, and we used to exchange popsicles with her on hot evenings (she liked the green ones and we didn't). Marilyn's son played on the team, and she asked us to come and shoot a couple rolls of film for her. These memorable pictures were included on a beautiful, warm and sunny autumn afternoon. Sept 1989 Sweeping the Deck All Lyn found matching flannel shirts for Jesse and Dave, so we dressed them up and shot these adorable pictures sweeping leaves on the deck. One was enlarged and held a cherished spot on our piano for many years. Oct 1989 Birthday Party for Lyn's Grandmother All Lyn's Grandma's Birthday celebration Lyn's parents with "Granny" on her big day Lyn's mom hosted a birthday party for her mother, the indomitable Granny B. Everybody got dressed up and we dined at the nicest restaurant in town. We personally had mixed emotions about the whole event, as Granny was difficult to please and always found some flaw or imperfection to any gift or celebration. She was a hard woman to love and seemed to always push the limits on her absolute expectation that everybody "respect their elders", no matter what. Oct 1989 Apple Picking Again All In late September, we went apple picking again at our favorite orchard and cider mill: Davies Orchard, in Ida Michigan. This year was Jesse's second visit, and we brought Lyn's mom and dad with us to enjoy their grandson. Unfortunately, the early apples are ripe some time around late September, when it is still too warm to enjoy the typically fall activity, so we waited a few more weeks and went out again by ourselves. More apples, and a childhood memory for Dave Dave and Jesse hamming it up for the camera The week-end before Halloween, we dressed Dave and Jesse up in their super-cute matching outfits and headed out in the cooler, crisp fall weather for more apples and cider (and pumpkins). We drove out to Apple Hill Orchard near Milan, MI just down the street from the more famous Wiard's orchard. Dave's parents visited Apple Hill every year when he was a kid. Sadly this would be one of Apple Hills last years in business, as over half of the orchard had already been cut down with several homes already built. Years previously, Dave's dad had bonded with the orchard's manager as they had both worked at the Ford Rouge Steel mill. Dave told stories about his parents letting him skip school to pick apples and how every night after dinner each family member would enjoy one or two of the "Steel Reds" variety that Apple Hill was famous for. Sadly, the land under the trees was becoming more valuable than the annual apple harvest, and it was obvious that no money had gone into maintenance or improvements for the last few years. But we still had a fun Sunday afternoon with more apples and cider. This one is too heavy! Everybody enjoyed a Sunday afternoon in Autumn On the way home, we criss-crossed the country roads in rural Wayne and Monroe counties, and found this self-serve pumpkin patch at a rural home. The crisp fall weather, the color of the trees and pumpkins, the smell of the autumn leaves even today are a favorite memory for all of us. We picked out a couple pumpkins and headed back home. They would become jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. Nov 1989 Jesse's New Waterbed Jesse Jesse was too big for his tiny crib His new waterbed and Shoney bear Jesse was already two and a half and it was well past time that he had outgrown his crib. Dave insisted he get a twin size waterbed (just like mom and dad) with a pedestal drawer unit to add storage for the tiny bedroom and a headboard shelf for Jesse's toys. Of course, Dave made us take pictures of the big day. Jesse helped to build and fill it, and he used it in Michigan and Utah, then got a new bed after our move to Florida in April 1995. Dec 1989 Bruce and Anna Visit All Bruce came to town from California to visit his parents and brought his steady girlfriend to meet us. He met Anna in Switzerland when doing some consulting work for her father and she moved to San Francisco to go to school. Jesse was a delight during the visit, and Bruce brought a new-fangled video camera with him which he used to record Jesse. He transferred the image to a standard tape for us. These are treasures today, our earliest moving pictures and sound of Jesse. Sadly, although they were very serious for several years, Bruce and Anna eventually parted company, so we were very glad they came to visit. Click to view a different holiday or year Original Web Upload July, 2001 Last Update: April 16, 2005