Wednesday, April 11, 2012

SPRING BREAK 2012

"What did you do on your Spring Break?" As kids, we looked forward to the time away from school and homework. We looked forward to sleeping in, watching cartoons, or maybe the annual family trip. Spring Break also meant Easter and a visit from the Easter Bunny. Having just finished my Spring Break, I have to admit that the excitement of time off is still a HUGE thing! It was a great way to recharge my batteries and get ready for the final trek to Summer vacation (we'll ignore the fact that I work year round).

                                                 A shot near the Casino on Belle Isle

The two week long vacation began with a Geocaching adventure on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan (seems fitting, as this is a caching blog). All the new caches for 2012 were released at the end of March, and several hundred of us took an opportunity to find as many as we could.  Happy to report we found about 23, with a few of them being from last years series.  We are hoping to make a few more trips between now and next spring to locate them all.

The next adventure took my son and I to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, to see the Titanic Exhibit.  I wish I had more pictures to share, but due to licensing rules, we were prohibited. Here are the only few pictures I was able to grab. If this exhibit makes its way to your hometown, make sure you check it out! It may be a bit pricey, but well worth it in the long run.
                           Here is the line for the 1:15 Boarding of the Titanic Experience.

Lent/Easter is a VERY busy time for me, as I am extremely active in my church.  I always look forward to the hustle and bustle of Holy Week, and make it a point to get to one service everyday to prepare my heart for the joy that Easter brings.  The only non church thing we did this week was a service project for Cub Scouts. 

                             The Boy & his Aunt transferring Koi into the Japanese Garden


We again traveled to Belle Isle, where we helped transfer the Koi fish from their winter digs, which were under the aquarium (way cool!) to the Japanese garden, located next to the aquarium.  The kids and adults all had a blast, and are already preparing to help out in the fall, when the Koi need to be returned to their winter abode. A special thanks to the Belle Isle Aquarium for giving us the opportunity to help out. Afterwards, a few of us took an opportunity to walk through the Belle Isle Conservatory, as well as, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.




The Belle Isle Conservatory, a unique opportunity to explore plants that are not indigenous to the United States. Walk through the aromas of other countries, without a Passport.










This swan used to be a floating attraction from Michigan's Bob-Lo Island--Detroit's favorite amusement park. Sadly, it closed in 1993.




Yesterday was my last day of break, and not wanting to stay home to take care of the things I really should have (you know, like an adult), I instead took the chance to go searching for art--okay, and a few geocaches. The Detroit Institute of Arts hosts an outdoor exhibit (along with several local cities), where replicas of famous paintings are displayed in... well, for lack of better words.....more unusual settings.  I decided to take a portion of D.I.A Inside/Out, and see what I can find.  Here are some of the portraits from the Eastpointe/Roseville area.  This trip allowed me to find eight pieces of incredible art, locate four more caches and allowed me to appreciate the things I normally drive pass in any normal day. Here are my top two favorites:

                 The top picture is entitled, The Nightmare, a painting from Henry Fuseli (1741-1825)
                                                                               and
                 the bottom picture is, Reading of the Story of Oenone, by Francis Millet (1846-1912)

So, for those of you who had time off of work: What did YOU do on break?!?

Share your stories here:D

Happy Caching,

Robyn