Day 11--Michigan fun

Day 11 (July 10th) we drove down from Alpena to be closer to the airport.  On the way we stopped at Frankenmuth, a great little "German" town with a super-sized Christmas store!  I have fond memories of Frankenmuth chicken dinners and Bronner's from when I was a kids--we went almost every year.  So for my own kids to experience this was very special for me.

Mid-day chicken dinner at Zehnder's.

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.

This place is huge!  Ornaments are categorized
all throughout the store.  They also have an
extensive collection of nativity sets (all the
Fontanini pieces) and Christmas Village sets
(like Studio 56).

Christmas in July--visit with Santa.

Grandma and Grandpa treated each kid with
their own ornament...Bunny wanted a chicken one.

Seddy liked his candy cane from Santa.

There were a lot of theme displays, like this
Detroit Tigers tree.

We went to evening Mass in Frankenmuth since
we'd be on a plane all day Sunday.  This church
had a special guest--the ArchBishop of Atlanta!
He is a good friend of the priest of the parish.

Once in Detroit, where do you think we went to dinner???
Big Boy of course!!  :o)
(and we got the same slow waiter, but that just meant we had
more time together....)

In the morning, it was sad to say goodbye to the CCs and to Erica/Carter/Violet.  And in the evening we said goodbye to grandma and grandpa as they continued on to their home near Toledo.  We have SO MANY great memories of our trip!!!  And we will see grandma and grandpa soon, in September, since we recruited my dad to help with some fall planting and landscaping before the baby is born....  ;o)