Forest Area Warriors Pop Warner Football team has a fantastic season!

I was able to capture a really nice photo of the moon over beautiful Perch Lake in Kalkaska County.  This was taken a few hours before sunrise.

Pop Warner Football

        My son had his first Pop Warner Football game.  He was very excited.  He was especially happy when his team won.  The score was Forest Area 18 to  Boyne City 14.

Both teams did a great job.  I only wish it wasn't pouring rain during the entire game.

I found this game more exciting than any professional game I have ever watched.  It is amazing how having a son on the team can get you fired up about the game!

I must own 50 Star Wars novels and the plotlines have gotten crazy and the authors seemed determined to kill off every major character.  So this is what I want to see in the next novel.  Something that tells us that the events of the last twenty novels have all been a dream.

I wish I drew this but it was done by a fellow artist for me.  You can see his online gallery here: http://vagabondx.deviantart.com/

And if you have not been reading the novels this will make no sense at all to you.  :)

Another attempt to teach myself to oil paint

My first attempt to oil paint was on a 20X16 canvas.  I decided that I wanted to see if I could work on a smaller 8X10 Panel canvas.  It is a whole lot harder to do detail work.  I am not especially happy with this painting, but I am just learning, so I hope I will get better over the years.

I am including the reference photo for this painting.  It is a photo of the Traverse Area Community Sailing Center.

 

Boardman River Nature Center

I brought my son to the Boardman River Nature Center in Traverse City yesterday so he could work on his Boy Scout Tracking Merit Badge.  Before all you former Boy Scouts chime in that there is no such thing... I have to tell you it is a merit badge only offered in 2010 in honor of the 100th Birthday of the Boy Scouts.  There are about 5 or 6 decommissioned merit badges that were brought back this year.  If the scout does not finish the work this year he will be out of luck.

So anyway, my son needs to find tracks of wild animals and take photos of various types of animals for this merit badge.

Usually around my house I am always seeing animals.  Deers jump out in front of my car, wild turkey roam the nearby fields, there is grouse around and I even saw a black bear last month while down in Interlochen.

As soon as he starts this merit badge it is like all the animals disappear from around my house.  When we want to see them they go into hiding.

Eventually I decided to bring him to the Boardman River Nature Center in the hopes to see some animal tracks.

We were not disappointed.  We hiked down the trails along the Boardman River and also the Sabin Pond.  We found all types of animal tracks.  Of course everytime we see a huge track he says "I think that is a bear, lets see if we can track it."  I am like, "Ummm... no I don't think so."  I am pretty sure what he saw was the tracks of a large dog.  It was in a boggy area so it was very distorted and unfortunately we could not get a good photo of it.

The Boardman River Nature Center has great trails with some fantastic views.  If you are looking to connect to nature I would highly suggest a visit.  Also, during the summer and spring break they host various nature classes for the kids.

For more information on the Boardman Nature Center go to:  www.gtcd.org/nature-center/

Fun at Camp Greilick, Boy Scout Camp

This weekend my son attended the Camp Greilick WEBELOS Adventure Camp.  WEBELOS are Cub Scouts but they are the upper ranks of Cub Scouts and will soon pass over to Boy Scouts.  Because they are older boys they are allowed to do activities that are not age appropriate for the younger cub scouts.

Therefore my son was able to do fun activities like work in a blacksmith shop where they heated up metal and pounded them into functioning spoons.  My son was also able to climb the the rock tower.

There were all kinds of fun activities to include Geo-Caching, art classes, first aid courses, swimming, geology classes, outdoorsman classes, just to name a few. 

We were supposed to have heavy rain that weekend, but we experienced fairly good weather.

The scouts have all types of great opportunities for boys.  The council that covers the Traverse City area is the Scenic Trails Council.  If you have a son interested in joining the scouts you can find more information at the local council website:  http://www.stcbsa.org/main/portal.php 

Lot for sale at the end of Brakel Point

This is a lot that I have listed for sale on Brakel Point.  I was really happy with the way the photo came out.  You can learn more about it at www.realestateone.com/1710402

This photo is sunset over Silver Lake in Traverse City.

(Real Estate One, 511 E. Front St. TC)

Flowers along the shoreline

I was just taking photos of flowers around Traverse City.

Images from Hull Park in Traverse City

Recently I was in Hull Park In Traverse City and decided to take a few photos since it was such a beautiful day.  Hull Park is right behind the public library.

3 Br home near a lot of state land

I just listed a great home in the country.  It is about 5 miles from downtown Interlochen and would be great for anybody looking for property near state land.  The home is in great shape, has a 2+ car garage and a paved driveway.  For more information go to:   www.realestateone.com/1717042


There is a ton of wildlife in the area.  The neighborhood is peaceful and quiet.  It is a great place to live.


Donna Sweeney
Real Estate One
511 E. Front St.
Traverse City, MI
DonnaSweeney@RealEstateOne.com
 

Learning how to sail at the Traverse Area Community Sailing Center

My boys are learning how to sail at the Traverse Area Community Sailing Center located on the Boardman Lake in Traverse City.

I cannot say enough good things about this non-profit organization.  The cost of instruction is incredibly reasonable.  I calculated the cost of my son's two week course equates to under $6 per hour.

You can check out the various programs available at the school at the following link:
http://www.tacsailing.com/

The counselors are extremely patient and very knowledgeable about sailing.

The only drawback is now my sons want me to purchase their own sail boat.

National Cherry Festival 2010

I hope everybody was able to get out this week and attend the National Cherry Festival.  For those new to the area the Cherry Festival is Traverse City's premier event.  This year it is from 3-10 July. 

This weekend the US Navy Blue Angels thrilled everybody with their aerial acrobatics.  Later you could listen to music at the Bay Side music stage or watch a cherry pit spitting contest.

There is a little of everything for everybody at the festival.  Childrens' events, car shows, arts and crafts fairs, bake sales, the Midway, and even a beer tent for the adults.

For more information on the festival go to:  http://www.cherryfestival.org/events/everything.php

Fife Lake--The Best 4th In the North!

This 4th of July my son and I went to see the fireworks at Fife Lake, Michigan.  They did a great job as usual.  I think this is the 4th year in a row that we have attended the Independence Day celebration at Fife Lake.  The locals like it because they do not have to fight the traffic to Traverse City and the fireworks display is truly impressive.

Of course, my favorite place is the Fife Lake Dairy Bar.  That place has the BEST soft serve ice cream and they have a couple dozen great flavors. 

Fife Lake is an all-sports lake just off US-131 and about 30 minutes southeast of Traverse City.  It has a nice sandy beach and a public boat launch. 

I have a couple properties listed out in the Fife Lake area: www.realestateone.com/1709331  and also www.realestateone.com/1707985 .

Moody Blues Concert at Interlochen Center for the Arts

On 26 June 2010 I went to my first Moody Blues concert.  It was great.  I was shocked to realize that the drummer was 69 years old.  He joked that now when he says "Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll" the "Sex Drugs" now refers to Viagra.

They are a true classic band and I am glad to have finally been able to see them. 

The concert was at the Interlochen Center for the Arts which is an amazing place.  It has a great covered outdoor stage set in front beautiful Green Lake.

For those who are not familiar with the area the Interlochen Center for the Arts is home to the Interlochen Arts Academy which is one of the nation's top fine arts boarding school for High School students.  There is the Interlochen College of Creative Arts which has adult classes, there is the Interlochen Arts Camp where there is a great fine arts summer program for grades 3 to 12th.  The Center teaches art, dance, motion picture arts, music, theater, creative writing and so much more.  For more information on the center go to www.interlochen.org.

Log Lake in Kalkaska

If you are looking for a great beach in Kalkaska County can I suggest Log Lake.  It has a wonderful sandy beach perfect for skim boards...which my kids have not figured out how to ride yet.  But with those boards you cannot have the rocky beaches found so often in Northern Michigan.

Log Lake is a public no-wake lake that has a park and picnic area and there is also a camp ground right next to the beach if you are looking for a place to camp.  I was told there is great fishing there.  My son in this photo went snorkling and said he saw a huge school of fish.  I bought him a disposable underwater camera so maybe in the next blog I will have a photo of some of those fish.  For more information on what is going on in Kalkaska there is a great link I found: http://www.visitkalkaska.com/LogLake.htm

Cool Tech Camp

My son is in 6th grade and is now eligible to attend the TBAISD Career-Tech Center's Cool Tech Camp. This summer he is attending the TBA Drag Way class where the kids make wooden drag racers and then race them by a CO2 cartridge propelling them. My son thinks this is the "GREATEST CLASS EVER!" That is his quote.

Traverse City has tons of things for kids to do over the summer. There are courses run by the Career-Tech Center and also NMC's College for Kids. My younger child will be attending a course there this summer. For more information you can go to the Center's website at:  http://www.tbactc.org/student-services/summer-tech-camp.asp

My first attempt at oil painting

I took some oil painting lessons from the Art Center of Traverse City. I had never painted before with a real canvas and brushes. I did teach myself how to draw on the computer using Corel Painter and a Wacom Tablet, but I wanted to see how that compared to real life painting.

I must say Corel Painter mimics real world painting fairly well. I sort of like drawing on the computer better because the paint dries faster. :)

I would recommend the center for anybody wishing to learn how to paint or draw. You can find out more at the following link:

http://www.artcentertraversecity.com

June 26 is Kids' Free Fishing Day at NMC

A couple years ago I brought my children to Northwestern Michigan College's free fishing day. They loved it! My boys have absolutely zero patience when it comes to fishing and luckily you don't need any at this event. They threw in their line and a couple minutes later they caught a fish. The children were allowed to catch two fish from the stocked area where 1500 Rainbow Trout were packed into a fairly small area.

This year's NMC free fishing day is on 26 June from 10AM until 2PM. The following website has more information about this years event:

http://http//www.mynorth.com/My-North/June-2010/Kids-Free-Fishing-Day-at-Traverse-City-039s-NMC/

The last time I went with the kids they had people cleaning the fish and putting them in plastic bags packed in ice for the ride home. I am not sure if they are doing the same thing this year, but I hope so. It really is a great time for the kids.

Boy Scout Horsemanship Merit Badge Weekend

A couple weeks ago my scouts went to a wonderful horse farm in Interlochen to learn how to ride and care for horses in order to earn their Horsemanship Merit Badge. The scouts had a wonderful time. At the end of the weekend each scout was able to maneuver his horse and even back up a horse. They also learned how to care for a horse from grooming their hooves to mucking the stables. I was very impressed.