The plan for today was to meet at our cousin Pandy’s house for breakfast. Without the girls it took us no time at all to get ready and head out. When we arrived it was so wonderful to hear the kids excitedly share details of their special time together. Pandy made the kids pancakes as soon as they woke up and Lily kept telling us how incredible they were and saying she made “the best pancakes in the whole entire world.” Alyson and Pandy had put together a beautiful bagel and lox breakfast. We discussed the options for how to spend our day while we ate. Yesterday we saw an ad for The Jewish Food Festival taking place this morning and Bob was very intrigued to check it out. The ad pointed out there would be lots of activities for the kids and adults. We decided to spend the first part of the day there. For the mid to late afternoon we planned to go swimming at their swim club. Pandy decided to stay back while we went to the festival and swimming but we would end up back at her home for dinner.
We drove into Detroit separately and miraculously managed not to lose each other. We were able to park right next to each other in the lot. As we walked over to where the festival was we saw one of the craziest sites, the topsy-turvy bus. What is a topsy-turvy bus you ask? It is the brain child of Ben Cohen (co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream) and artist Stefan Sagmeister. Two separate school buses were used to create it. The roof of the bus has tires in the air because while the first bus stayed upright, the second bus was modified and welded upside down to sit on top. Tours were being offered and we had to check it out for ourselves. One of the many things we learned was the bus is powered by sunlight and vegetable oil.
Next, we made our way inside to check out all the booths. There was a scavenger hunt for the kids to complete. Several booths participated and would have an activity or a question for them at their table. When they completed what was needed their passport would be stamped. If you got all the stamps you would be given a prize. At the local Chabad’s table the kids were able to braid their own challah. Then they were given little foil baking tins to put it in, wrapped it in a plastic bag and were given baking instructions for when they got home. They also were able to make their own rugulach (a delectable Jewish pastry). They had squares of dough precut for the kids. The woman at the table instructed them to cut the square in half on a diagonal. The kids sprinkled their dough with the premade cinnamon sugar mixture. Finally, the woman told them how to roll it and they placed those in a baking tin and plastic bag too. At the table for my cousin’s synagogue I started talking with one of the women and she kindly gave me a congregation cookbook. I can’t wait to try out some of the amazing recipes when we get back home to Glen Mills! After spending a good amount of time exploring everything inside and enjoying some samples we headed back outside. Along the back of the outside section there were lots more tables set up. Most of these were local Jewish schools. They each had crafts for the kids to do. I think their favorite thing they created was a pinwheel. There were a few more booths set up outside that we checked out. Right by the Topsy Turvy bus was a mural on a large piece of wood with a drawing done in pencil and several colors of paint to use. All of the kids were more than eager to help the mural get some color.
As they were working a man from a podcast came over to interview them. All of a sudden we saw him come out of nowhere and start putting a microphone and tape recorder in their faces. The kids didn’t know what to make of this and the adults were all a little taken aback by this brazen man. Shortly after that we asked the kids if they were ready to go swimming and they responded in unison with a resounding, “YES!!!”
When we got to the pool the girls had to take a swim test with the lifeguard to see if they would have restrictions in the pool or not. Both Ella and Lily passed with flying colors and they were so proud of themselves. They got a bracelet to wear so the lifeguards would know it was safe for them to be in the deep end and go down the slides. The kids had a blast in the pool, swimming, sliding and playing games together.
After a relaxing and fun few hours we headed into the locker room to get changed and ready to go back to Pandy’s. We had a wonderful last dinner together.
Ella and Danielle were eager to bake their creations from earlier and share them with everyone. They turned out great and they were both beaming with pride.
Pandy made a point to get some special Michigan treats- Vernors ginger flavored pop (aka soda in our PA neck of the woods) and bumpy cake for dessert.
After spending a few more hours of quality time together, sadly it was time to go. The goodbyes were not easy. Alyson and I are going to try very hard to get our families together again sooner rather than later. Our hearts were full of gratitude (and our bellies full with tons of yummy food) for such an incredibly special weekend with our cousins. These memories will last all of us a lifetime. Until we meet again…
