A Road Trip

We went on a road trip to Ann Arbor and stopped in some places we like to see when we are visiting. One place is this store which is in the downtown campus area. They have lots of silly novelties and cards (Don't go there and read everything unless you take your sense of humor. I warned you!) and jewelry and great postcards and lots of retro candy.

I am sure you can find these band-aids in other places too, somewhere, but I got a chuckle out of seeing and reading these fun items. My kids love special band-aids and used to often get some from the East bunny and in their Santa stockings...each kid a different theme... not necessarily any of these themes!!

Hey! Check out those cupcake band-aids in the top right corner, above. Pretty cute, huh??

How about these tin banks, aren't the people groovy? The one on the left looks like the 1970's Penney's catalog!

The store has tons of postcards of movie stars and music people from today and yesteryear. I browsed through Clark Gable and Catherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn and some others. Didn't get any, just had fun looking.   E. bought some Beatles and Johnny Depp postcards. Just to satisfy our pure curiosity, we looked in the "J" section to see if we could find postcards still in stock of a certain singer/dancer with the initials MJ. Nope. Not even one! You're not surprised though --are you?

A. bought some fruity scented erasers and N. bought a couple of pieces of candy.

Then we went to another fun place. Zingerman's. It is a place like nothing else around our neck of the woods. You go up some steep, well traveled, worn steps to go through the door to a crowded wonderful shop with time worn wooden floorboards. Wonderful smells greet you, blended from hundreds of individual foods. It is a deli, bakery, restaurant. It is fascinating, always filled to full capacity with people and very loud and bustling with activity! At least whenever we have been. It is super fun to look at all the specialty foods and cheese, meat, fish and baked goods and salads. You can taste test yummy new things too. We tested whitefish spread and smoked trout spread. Delish!! If you get there at the right time you will see the freshly baked breads of all types, shapes and sizes being tossed (tossed, I tell ya!!) from one employee to another to be placed on the shelves for sale.

Once you exit the sensory overload atmosphere and you take a moment to collect your spinning thoughts you just kind of think, "Wow! That's some place!" I have that reaction every time I visit!

Here's a hint: You can get really cheap baked goods/breads if you go late in the day, and the sandwich specials are a little more affordable especially if you just get one thing and share it like we did.

Here's my weird mystery of the day. I took lots of photos of Zingerman's both inside and out. When I got home all I had was this one panoramic shot of the last 3 photos I took, all joined together. It shows what we ordered to eat out on the patio, and N. enjoying his food. I do not know how I did it. I didn't mean to set the camera that way--but I kinda like it. But all my other photos are missing!!

Now we will have to go back to take more photos.

Darn.

*silly grin*

Alive at Night??

Have you seen the movie Night At The Museum? We love to watch it over and over again!

Sometimes we pretend that these dioramas at the museum on the campus in Ann Arbor, Mi. can come to life and walk around and talk when the doors are locked at night and the real humans have gone away!! There are lots of these scenes in individual glass front cases. You can peer into the activities of people figures just inches high. I think it would be fun to create these little figures and structures and landscapes for a museum. Kind of like a combination of fairy house and doll house skills but very, very precise!!

It is so fun to believe that could happen and just what would happen when they wander around and meet all the other exhibits and dinosaurs and stuffed mounted animals.

We have loved to spend lots of time looking at how sticks and bark are used in these little scenes and we have tried to be more creative in our Fairy Houses in our yard because of it too.

There are many cases filled with displays of mammals and birds and fish and reptiles.

We noticed for the first time on this last trip that the stuffed Jack Rabbit has a nip missing out of his ear...there is a stuffed woodchuck displayed on that side of him and we decided the Woodchuck came to life one night earlier than the Jack Rabbit and took a bite!! OK so that wouldn't really happen but it was fun to make it up!!

Natural

If you are squeamish

about bugs and things

you may want to skip this post!!

Another curious thing at the museum in Ann Arbor

that we always look at is this

really cool, really very old, framed picture

all made from things that are

found in nature.

From far away, some of the pieces look like

beads or other more common art supplies.

Upon a closer look, you discover that every

ingredient is something else entirely. This "picture" really fools your eye.

There are beetles and other bugs and butterflies,

moths and even ...are you ready?...bats!!

In researching insects, and art made with them,I came across a person that creates insect art and she said I could give you the links to her info. You will think her stuff is as awesome as I do, I'm sure of it.

Her name is Katie Jennings

http://www.aquakej.etsy.com/

http://www.insectartonline.com/

When you visit tell her that

Amy at Abundant Curiosities

sent you!!!

Dinosaurs

[my N.]

This is exactly why my kids refer to the

Exhibit Natural History Museum

on the campus of U of M

in Ann Arbor as

"the dinosaur museum"!!

Road Trip-A2

We love to take frequent road trips to Ann Arbor, Michigan. We have many locations we faithfully visit there.

One place is the Exhibit Natural History Museum on the campus of U of M.

My kids have always affectionately referred to it as just- the dinosaur museum!
It has lots of other things inside too--
zillions of wonderful things to see, explore and learn. The very best part is that it is free. We like free!



Just the exterior details of the architecture is fascinating to me. I love all the wonderful craftsmanship that does not go into most modern buildings. I treasure the fact that years ago it was not all computers or machines doing this fancy work...it was the human hand and brain power behind it all.



I also love that inside the museum it smells old. Not stinky old but just old. Some of you will know what I mean. I am very much an olfactory nerve driven person. There's your vocabulary lesson for today= "olfactory nerve"!!

The sound of walking on wide marble steps and the feeling of my hand sliding along the smooth brass hand rail over the other heavy metals ornate banister thrills me. Weird, I know, go ahead and say it. "weird!" You won't hurt my feelings.

We never tire of going there. We always look at the same things over and over and never feel bored and we never fail to find something new to us within the 4 story tall building.

Come along with us (this is my daughter A. in the photo) and explore some of the museum.
I will break the photos into many different chapters. Put on your walking shoes and your learning eyes and ears.