Troy Daze & Bronner's

If you know us, we aren't much into touristy or crowded venues.  However, when our city - Troy, MI - had a 4-day-long festival right across the street from our house, I had to take the kids.  It was just too tortuous for them to see the craziness day in and day out and not go over there.  We set a strict budget, so they pretty much each got to go on one ride and play a few games.  My very favorite part, though, that made it all worth it was the free magic show we just happened to stumble upon.  They asked for a volunteer from the audience, and before I knew what had happened, Luke was up on stage!  He actually raised his hand and volunteered!  That is VERY out of character for him.  He went up in front of everyone, said his name in the microphone, and helped the magician with a trick.  I was snapping pictures and clapping like a crazy fool, because I was so giddy with excitement over this breakthrough for Luke.  He can talk when he wants to!   Yea!!!  Audrey also helped on stage, so it was very exciting for our family that day.  

 
The next weekend, we went as a family up to Frankenmuth, MI for another out-of-the-ordinary touristy experience.  We went to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, which is supposedly the biggest Christmas store in the world.  I have to say that I was expecting more, but it was pretty neat.  There were a LOT of breakable ornaments within Max's reach, so we couldn't stay for too long.  We did get a personalized ornament to commemorate the trip.  Our favorite part of Frankenmuth was the family-style all-you-can-eat chicken dinner at the Bavarian Inn in town.  It was really fun with the waiters and waitresses decked out in traditional German outfits, and the kids did well.  We are glad we made the trip.  I realized that I mostly took pictures of neat decorations and crafts that I wanted to recreate for cheaper at home - instead of pics of the family.  Sheesh.  At least we got one with most of us in it!