Sunday, August 25, 2019

Happy Birthday And Merry Christmas!

First, Happy Birthday Jack!  Today is his birthday and all the boys came over with family and Craig called from Oregon to throw his happy greetings into the group!
A Texas sheet cake was his request and we had a really nice afternoon with everyone.  I must say, the weather has been absolutely perfect this weekend. Perhaps another request from the birthday boy? It was cool and no humidity and sunny...great weather for a quick birthday/anniversary trip.  Next weekend is our 45th wedding anniversary but I'm on call for that weekend. So I begged and was able to get this past Friday off so we could take a trip to Michigan to celebrate this weekend instead.  We'd been talking about going up to Dundee to the original Cabela's store.  It's pretty impressive! But then we'd also been talking about going further north to Frankenmuth, Michigan to see the Christmas store, Bronner's,  So after some back and forth deciding, we went to Frankenmuth first, stayed overnight there and then stopped at Cabela's on the way back.
A Christmas wonderland it is!
16 sections of Christmas decorations. If they don't have it, you don't need it!
Isles and Isles of glitz and glimmer. Christmas music playing and so much to look at. I found a few treasures and enjoyed just been amazed at the selection.Besides going to this store, we also headed to downtown Frankenmuth.  It's a Bavarian setting with tons of stores and we were told to stop for dinner at Zehnder's.  Holy cow, that was amazingly delicious!  The food was so good and the service was excellent. But there was so much food served we couldn't possible eat it all.  Thankfully we had a fridge in our hotel room so we could grab a doggy bag. (Arnie stayed here in Ashland with Jordan so no leftovers for him...sorry Arnie!)
The river is so pretty there and we missed getting a boat ride since it was late when we were done eating. Maybe next time!
The town is super cute, a bit touristy, but lots to do so if you're up in "Pure" Michigan, give it a go! The next morning we headed back toward home but stopped at Cabela's.
A bear hug anyone?
The store has an aquarium you can walk through.
A waterfall exhibit.
A few bison anyone? My in-laws raised buffalo for a bit and when my kids were little they called them "buttalos"!  We shopped and found some Christmas gifts and also a few bday gifts for Jack. It was nice to get away even for just over 24hrs! It was fun and relaxing.  Before bidding ado, I want to go back in time for just a minute.  On Thursday we attended a retirement party for one of our anesthesiologists,  Dr. Reed.
The guy with the happy face is him! He decided he'd had enough of computers and corporate medicine, and since he's 60, he said bye, bye!  On the way to the party we stopped and picked up someone you may remember:
My BFF, Donna! See her leg? Yep, she fell a few months ago and broke her tibia/fibula in 5 places! Yikes! A rod was put in her tibia and it's getting better slowly. She's hoping to get back to work next month. She's a trooper for sure! Well, it's been a busy end of the week that's been full of celebrating and enjoying.  Hope this next week is a good one for all of us! Fall has been in the air around the Pines and I'm not complaining! Night all!

10 comments:

jack69 said...

Happy birthday Jack.
Thanks for taking us on the trip, especially back to Frankenmuth. We did enjoy our stay there also. It was very interesting to us southern folk.
the pictures were good.
always nice to visit with you.
Thanks,
Sherry and jack

betty said...

Happy birthday Jack! Looked like a lovely getaway you guys did! I can't imagine going to a Christmas store like that! We have a Cabela's here. Its always fun to go in and look around and see what they have to buy plus their displays like the aquarium. The Cabela's here has a restaurant too. We've never eaten there, but had a good variety of food. Congrats to the doctor who could get out of the rat race of medicine these days! So much has changed as you know! About three weeks ago we took an overnight trip to Payson, Arizona which is about 2 hours from here in the mountains. It was nice to get away for that short period of time, very refreshing!

betty

Jean said...

Enjoyed your pictures and glad to here you were able to get away for a few days, Happy Birthday to Jack.

Kathy said...

I order from Bronner's online but it was so fun to see it like this. What a fun trip you had! Happy birthday to Jack and Happy Anniversary to the two of you!

acorn hollow said...

We are a chilly 48 degrees this morning but fine by me I love the crisp air. So sorry Donna broke her leg. She is looking good though. It looks like you had a good time on your mini trip
Happy Birthday to your husband and many more.
Cathy

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi YaYa!

I am later than usual coming over because, for the last week-and-a-half, Mrs. Shady and I have been away from home, staying with family in another part of the state and living out of suitcases while we handle important business. I didn't see your comment on my blog or this post until late last night and I was tired, so I decided to get some sleep and join you in the morning when I am fresher.

Happy birthday to Jack! I'm happy to know that Craig phoned with b-day wishes from Oregon. This has to be a first, YaYa. In the 25 years I have been following your blog :) I don't think I ever read the words "perfect weather." :)

I wish you guys a very happy anniversary this coming weekend, and I'm glad you had a safe trip to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate early while you had off work. I see on my map that Frankenmuth is way up near Saginaw. What an adventure it must have been to see Bronner's Christmas Wonderland - the "World's Largest Christmas Store" and then head south toward home and stop in Dundee, between Toledo and Ann Arbor, to visit Cabela's, the outdoor recreational and sporting goods specialty retailer. I'm sure Jack, an outdoorsman who camps with the scouts every year, was in his glory at Cabela's. I am amazed that it even has an aquarium! I'm sure you picked up some nice decorations at Bronner's. The snow will soon be flying and the Christmas season upon us. Your dinner in Frankenmuth must have been sensational: "Hospitality abounds with traditional family style chicken dinners and tantalizing breads and pastries in the world-famous Zehnder's of Frankenmuth Restaurant."

Congratulations to your colleague Dr. Reed on his retirement. He looks like a nice man. And best wishes for a complete recovery to my old friend Donna. I'm sorry to learn that she took a tumble a few months ago and broke her leg. In 2003 Mrs. Shady fell at work and broke her ankle in several places.

I'm thrilled that you and Jack had such a nice getaway to Michigan, YaYa. Happy anniversary week to you both!

Rick Watson said...

Sounds like a fun time. I’ve never heard of a Texas sheet cake. It looks yummy.

Julia said...

Wow, turn you loose for 24 hours and you sure can turn it into quite a celebration. Happy Birthday to Jack. The sheet cake looks tasty.
I'm so glad you could get away and have fun just by yourselves. You sure deserve it. While looking at Bronner's images online I saw a Christmas ball tree ornament that says"Nurses calls the shots" and I thought of you. I think that would an overload just being in that store. So much stuff.

Poor Donna, she has had the worst luck. She is a trooper like you said. I wish her speedy recovery.
Take care, Hugs, Julia

CHERI said...

Sounds like an awesome trip. My hubby loves Cabela's but we don't have a store near us so the catalog (to him) is the next best thing!!!! Over the years Cabela's has certainly see a good portion of my $$$$!!! And that Christmas store...wow! I love Christmas decorations but I've sworn I will not buy any more. We put up 4 trees every year and I am about to get too old!!!! Hard to believe but in about 3 months I will be dragging everything out...I start right before Thanksgiving!!! Tell that sweet man HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you both.

Gin said...

Happy Birthday Jack! Y’all do the most fun things. I would love that Christmas store. We have big Cabelas and Bass Pro’s in our town, but of course not as Super as the originals. We go to them a lot.