Ice Cream Review

Carl came up with a pretty fun and delicious idea, for our blog. He thought that we could spend the rest of what is left of the summer trying new ice cream stands and letting our friends and family know whether they should go there as well. So, he decided to make our first one, our favorite place.


King Kone is located on Ford Rd. just east of Merriman Rd. We used to live across the street from it when we were in our apartment and would go there all the time in the summer! They have very inexpensive prices and creative ice cream concoctions. They sell these frozen cups of mixed up milkshakes and flurries that people order and they mix wrong. They are called Mystery Bars, are super cheap and fun since you never know what will be inside!



On this trip, Alex got a double scoop of Superman ice cream. This stuff is so nasty, it tastes like a nutty fruit mess. I am assuming that kids like it because it is blue and it is ice cream and it is called superman and those are the only reasons, cause it tastes terrible!!


I got a single scoop of one of my all time favorites ,Mint Chocolate Chip. Yum!!


Jacob does not like cones because they are "too crunchy". So he ordered a Sundae. Unfortunately I cannot remember which kind, but they have at least 10 varieties, so it is easy to get them mixed up!

Carl was not feeling the need for some deliciousness that evening, so he passed and was once again the photographer of our journey. I did get a shot of him this time, but it was a pretty silly one and I think I may get in a bit of trouble of I post it, so needless to say, he was there and having a fun time too! So, there is our trip to King Kone. I love them because they have hand-dipped ice cream. That is always such a nice change from all the soft-serve sameness!

This is just a bonus photo from another of our drives. It should speak for itself.

long drives to nowhere in particular

Owning a car that can go more than 10 miles reminded Carl of an activity that we love; namely taking really long drives in random directions, hopefully getting a little lost and then making it back home again! This always proves to be great fun and we have seen some pretty amazing things on our drives. I thought as my first "real" blog return I would chronicle a few of them for you. We always take our camera with us on these adventures. The trick is actually remembering to use it!


This is Jacob, Me and Alex at the Plymouth Art in the Park eating a HUGE plate of sour cream and cheese drenched butterfly fries. They are pretty much potato chips that are all connected. Really the most ridiculous thing to eat as they make a terrible mess and you get it all over you. My shoe still has a cheese stain from this trip! :) We found this taking one of our random drives. The amazing thing is, Carl has lived here all his life, and had never heard of this festival but it has supposedly been held annually for over 20 years! We had a great time.


These next photos are from the same day but earlier in the trip. At this point we were around 6 mile and Eddie Hines. The kids saw this park and wanted to stop. Turned out to be a really awesome park with lots of fun spinning things on the jungle gym and a sweet little river running along side of it. I regret that Carl is never in any of these photos, but he the family camera man, so it is the price we pay I suppose.







I cannot remember what city this restaurant was in, but I just had to take a photo of the enormous moose that was on the side of the building. Of course, judging the speed of the car plus the speed of the shutter and also the general speed of me is not my strong point, so not a real great shot. Ha



Carl stopped the Car so we could take a good shot of this one. We were far out in the boonies on this day and we really couldn't resist snapping a photo of this rooster sculpture that was decorating someone's front yard.


A dream house we passed...oh to own this and make it my own...



I simply love this shot Carl took. This view is what the drives are really all about. Dirt roads like this are a huge reason I love living in Michigan. I haven't had this kind of foliage since I left Northern California. This was one of our best drives, but in the middle of it we had a bathroom emergency and had to head back to civilization. This area had endless possibilities for happiness! The woods went right up to the edge of the road, wildflowers everywhere. We have been trying in vain to find our way back to this spot, but have yet to find it. But that is what makes it fun we know, so we keep searching!


There are a few new places we have found in this state as well. There is a community on Cherry Hill road in Canton where all the houses are painted bright colors, making you think you may have accidentally driven into a movie set, or San Francisco. One one trip we ended up getting so lost that we had to buy a map. Almost ended up in Ohio, about 10 miles from Lake Erie! Funny enough, we were heading south trying to find I-94, ha ha! Neither of us have been that disoriented in a long time!! On that trip we went through the town of Maybee which according to their sign, they "Maybee the best little town in Michigan" hee hee! We also went through Raisenville which is located next to the Raisen River, so that explains the name of the town, but not the river... We also drove through Paris and Milan, how continenetal.

So we have had fun with our drives over the past few months. We can't wait until Fall when our drives will be even better. Nothing like Michigan foliage in the fall! Hope to see you out on the road!

Catching up

Since we were out of the blogging world for so long, there seems to be a lot to catch up on. Not sure if I will be able to do it all, so you should be sure to check our flickr page for a ton of updated photos.

Jacob is getting a pump!

Well, our little boy is growing up. We have passed our Diabetes year mark with no complications and are now eligible to get Jacob a pump. The paperwork is pretty intense, so we won't be getting it for a few months, but Jacob is really excited! His endo nurse fitted him up today with the tubing that he would wear every day with the pump. He is supposed to wear it for two days to make sure there is no problems with the site where it is injected. so, if all goes well he will be starting out the next school year with a new device to wow the school nurses with. The one we decided on was the Animas Ping shown above. Of course he will be getting a blue one, not a pink, ha!

Welcome Back!

Ok, it has been a horrifically long time since our family, well me really, has blogged. But, I hope that this is a permanent comeback as I have always enjoyed sharing our photos and tales here for our family and friends. So, welcome back Bellanger family, we've missed you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Carl and the boys outdid themselves again this year for Mother's Day. I was told that I had to stay in bed so that I could have my breakfast delivered, but I was awoken by Jacob insisting that I had to go downstairs because "Dad was burning the sausage," and that he needed help.
Um, ok... "Did he send you up here?"
"Mom, he needs help!"
"Ok..."
I am very wary coming down because I know I will get into trouble for peeking, but my fears were gone when I came down and saw Jacob flapping in his excitement. They (Carl) had decorated the kitchen, complete with cards from all and a vase of handmade roses. What a great way to wake up. Plus, the sausage was just right, no horrific burning. Carl told me later that he had indeed sent Jacob up but told Jacob not to let me know that. I am so grateful for my boys, all three of them and their love for me. I am so glad they are mine!

Here are all my cards that I got at various times during the week and the morning of. The heart baskets are from Church and the huge green one with the vase is from Jake at school.

This was my wall "Quote" the bottom says "Daddy, Jacob and Alex, 2009"
It really takes up most of my kitchen wall, so don't let the picture fool you, it is humongous!

Here are my beautiful roses. I love them Carl, thank you so much. They are so much better than real ones, because I can keep them always!

Here is my portrait that I got from Alex during his Mothers Day dinner at school. he also got me a lovely necklace and made me cookies in the school kitchen all by himself!
Jacob, along with his card from school grew some flowers in a planter for me and brought them home on the bus. I will post a photo when the bloom.

Our garden

We spent our weekend cleaning out the mess that was our backyard "garden". Seemed the only thing it had grown for the past few years was rocks. So, with Carl, myself, the two boys, 5 bags of topsoil, 4 bags of mulch, 5 bushes and 2 flats of flowers we transformed our rock garden into one that will actually grow something!

The before picture...this was after we had donated half the rocks to our elderly neighbor.

Jake was ready to be a gardener. We helped him plant the bushes and the flowers he picked out. Note my nifty new haircut!

I love this photo. My two boys.

This is how it looked at the end of Saturday. We could NOT do anymore! Gardening makes a body tired!

The final product. We still have a half a flat of flowers left and I think that they will got in the pots we have or in the front. We are glad to be done, but more glad that we did it. We have been staring at those ugly rocks since we moved in here a year and a half ago. Now we actually want to spend time in the backyard!