Summer Silliness

So since the last post, July's nearly passed us by. It's been full of all sorts of little fun bits, including lots of visiting former staff members and a bit of family, evening outings, vintage baseball, pretzel wenching it at the Commanding Officer's Ball, a lot of phlegm (icky! was sick for a couple of weeks), yachts, the Trivia Bowl, hiking, and giant underpants. Since the details are probably not the most interesting if you weren't actually here, this will be a mostly photo post with some brief explanations in the captions. Here's what we have...

(photos: Lee and Jim at our Moon Party with a nice, pink full moon rising in the background; the moon over the Straits; Jenny and Katie at the Tea Room for Jenny's B-Day... they both really like butter; Beth and Travis, former employees and fabulously cool people that came to visit and also got engaged at Robinson's Folly!; and Look! She's a nun! - Jenny with her giant underpants.)






(photos: Ollie in the middle of a gaggle of girls; having fun between square dances; Lee and Katie in front of a harbor full of racing yachts (Port Huron Bacardi Bayview Yacht Race yachts) while on our quest for popcicles; and Katie's blue tongue after we found our popcicles.)





(photos: Jenny, me, and Katie as Bavarian Pretzel Wenches at the Commanding Officer's Ball -- a staff function where we can dress up as just about anything and we eat lots, goof around lots, and dance lots; the overnight staff - minus Trace - at Pequodenong!!!!; Paul and Maria (looking very much like a muppet) outside Fort Michilimackinac; and most of the Island staff that attended the ball)





(photos: The crafties looking saucy; a particularly wenchy Jenny; Jenny and I with our beerstiens full of apple juice; and sunset at Michilimackinac.)





(photos: The Mackinac Neversweats and the Rochester Grangers before the big vintage baseball game; Trace and I at the game as "cranks"; Carolyn the owl swooping in on her prey before work one day; Bill "The Cat" Fritz preparing the man-child's head for a scene in our staff video; and my big acting moment finding the man-child's head.)






(photos: Katie and Carolyn at dinner at the Tea Room; Katie, Blake, and Bever getting ready for a hikey hikey; Peggy, Katie, and I all surprisingly coordinated; The Great Turtle Trivia Bowl; and Fr. Rey, Brother Jim, and the winning team of Fr. Rey's Babes (Katie, Margaret, and Val).)






Thanks to Katie for some of the photos from the COs Ball, the baseball game, and the trivia bowl!

Cute Kids, Canada Day, and the 4th

So our main season is about half over already, which is hard to believe. It's finally starting to get hotter here, so we've been pretty spoiled with mid-70s and blue skies. Not much news to report other than things are going well. I'm searching for a job for this fall and am finding only a few things here and there thus far, since not many jobs are posted yet for the area that I'm interested in.

Canada Day was a bit last-minute in its preparations, but it went well and was a good time, with the whole house out on the porch being merry. The 4th of July snuck up on us it seemed, but it went well. It was a long and busy day at the fort, but it's always fun. After fireworks that night, some of us went out for ice cream and went to the fabulously awful Haunted Theatre (thank goodness we get in for free!) before finally crashing that night. I saw the new "Pirates" movie and was a bit disappointed, to be honest. It was good, but still a bit too much at times. Johnny Depp is always fantastic. Jenny and I also dressed up as pirates for the movie, which made the entire thing worth it anyway.

Btw, Katie and I have started a new blog dedicated to determining the best-looking president ever (a much more difficult question, as most of them tend to be rather plain or goofy-looking rather than purely physically attractive), though it's still under much development (more details on the site, which is linked on both of our blogs). This summer is flying by! Things are busy, but good!

(photos: Me, Jenn, and two of the world's cutest kids that volunteered with us in the Biddle; Katie, Heather, and Lee with maple leaf-shaped jello on Canada Day; Katie and Fr. Rey celebrating Canada Day with our fantastic wagon decked out for the occasion; and Jenny, me, and Katie with the wagon and the house.)





(photos: Jenny and Carolyn "working" on the 4th; raising the humungous garrison flag on the 4th; the 12oz cannon salute (as compared to the normal 3oz charge); the crafties at the upper gun platform (Carolyn, Nicole, Jenny, me, crafty-in-trainging Lily, Jenn, Amy, and Maria); and the crafties after the 4th.) **Thanks to Katie C. for the photos of the 4th!!!

Ah, More Island Stuff... Starting Full Season!

Full season's going great! Here're a rundown and some fun photos of some of the goodies...

* 6 June - Carraige Tour Dinner: Fun staff photos at the Governor's Residence. Good cake!
(photos: The Crafties... amazing!; and us with Ben Kent, Trace, and Paul.)




* 16 June - Staff Picinic: Our annual full staff, all-site picinic to kick off the full season. We played wash-oos, giant pick-up sticks, chatted, and even did some nerdy historical dancing. Jenny's palm-reading "business" was in full swing. Phil, Katie, Jenn, and I went to a Lilac Festival wine tasting (mmm... and good cheese...) before heading over, and we decided that our wristbands made us the "cool" people. After the picinic, it was back to the Island for an evening with the Pub Runners at Sinclair's, complete with Dickie the Spoonman as the surprise guest pub runner.
(photos: Phil and Katie on the boat to the picinic (please note the cool blue wristband); Steve chasing away the random guys trying to swim; the Cool Table; trying to get rid of Tim at his final MSHP function; and Pub Runners and Dickie the Spoonman.)





* Days Off: I've made a trip or two to Petoskey for shopping and movies, some tasty falafel at Mim's, and unnecessary browsing at the fun bookstore downtown. I really enjoyed the movie "Cars" and last night a bunch of us went to Shepcot to see "Superman," which we all really enjoyed. Jenny and I found ourselves pretending to fly along with Superman everytime his theme music came on.

* Hikeys: We're starting the hike-all-the-trails thing again this summer, but trying to step it up a notch by jogging certain segments. There've been cool flowers, cool hiking buddies, and a large bunch of hawks. Cool!

* Fun reasons we've gone out at night: the Pub Runners, Tim's baby shower/going away party, the Queen's Bday, Ryan's bday, Carolyn's bday, Treasure Hunt Planning Committee meeting, Pistons Games/NBA Finals, Jazz and Wine night at the Gatehouse, and sing-a-long nights at the Mustang.

* Best Surprise Discoveries: Johnny Depp smells (we think) like patchouli and sandalwood; "Speed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is one of the best movie double-features; marshmallows dipped in red wine are delectable; Crocs are super comfy; string cheese doesn't melt well; Lily Porter is one of the most fun "corner girls" when square dancing; and badmitton is best played seated; and the Killer's song "All These Things That I've Done" is truly genius.

* Future plans...: Tonight is our annual Canada Day BBQ, so more info on that to come, I'm sure. Also, some of us are putting together a super fun and ubercomprehensive treasure hunt to reenergize the staff during the mid-season drag at the end of July. Should be a good time! Also planning fantastic costumes for the Commanding Officer's Ball at the end of the month, with Katie and I going as Bavarian Pretzel Wenches. Fantastic. More fun and mischief as it develops...

(photos: Historical clothing at the end of the day... Jenny and I disrobe in cute little piles apparently; Arch Rock; Carolyn and Lee May - candy extraordinaires; and Jenny, Lee, and I at Shepcot before seeing Superman.)