Josiah's Birthday!

This past week, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday! He is such a special little boy, and a gift we weren’t really expecting, since he came 5 years after the twins. But none of us can imagine our lives without “Jo-Jo!”

Our family has a tradition of going on birthday trips instead of doing birthday parties. This year was no exception! And as usual, the destination was top secret.



Josiah started off his day by enjoying breakfast in bed!



After the rest of us ate a light breakfast (we were told we were going to be eating an early lunch), we talked with our Grandma and Grandpa via a Skype video chat. We miss them very much as we haven’t seen them since Christmas. We were especially glad to chat with them because my Grandma just came home after spending a few days in the hospital. Please pray that she continues to recover!



Josiah got to open one of his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa while they watched on Skype.



We left home after breakfast. By lunch time, we arrived at the same Mexican restaurant that we had visited two years ago for Josiah’s birthday trip! We enjoyed a delicious lunch together, and the waiters sang “Happy Birthday” (in Spanish!) to Josiah. He enjoyed sopapilla with honey for postre!



The Mexican fajitas I had for lunch.



Josiah with his sombrero and sopapilla.



“Give me some sugar, Senora!”



After lunch we continued driving into downtown. And then we pulled up to. . .



The Castle Museum!



 The Castle Museum used to be a Post Office. It has now been converted into a museum on Saginaw County history. Our first stop in the museum was the model train exhibit. J This was right up the boy’s alley! At the time of our visit, they were running trains from the steam era. I did look at the trains, but I always get caught up in the details of buildings, so I mainly photographed and looked at the buildings. I’ve always loved miniature doll houses, model sets, etc.



The “soon to be” turntable with some of the trains.

 

A portion of the model train town. The town is actually modeled after ones from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. The trains on this set are rotated, so in a month or two they will have trains from the diesel era, which will better match the town.



My favorite part of the town: the farm and church.



 I really enjoyed the section of the museum on logging history. Michigan was the number one lumber producing state from 1860-1910. The life of a logger was fascinating as well. Did you know that the stamp hammers used to mark logs were invented in Muskegon, Michigan? Crotched Rafting Pins were also invented in Saginaw. The rafting pins held the raft together, and the CRP’s were more efficient than the previous method of driving stakes into the logs and wrapping ropes around them.



I don’t know how well you can see it, but this is a picture of a picture of a logging sled piled 30’3” high and weighing 40 tons! The chains that held the logs in place weighed 2000 pounds! Now that’s amazing!



Being a shanty boy was not easy! Their days went something like this:

3:30 a.m. “Cookees” stoke or build fires for cooking and warmth.

4:00 a.m. Teamsters feed horses

4:30 a.m. Crew rolls out of bed

5:00 a.m. Big breakfast

5:15 a.m. Daylight hours were spent working in the woods

11:30 a.m. Lunch is at the worksite. Shanty boys either carried their own or it was delivered.

Nightfall: Dinner

9:00 p.m. Lights out

After the logging section, we spent a little bit of time in the archeology section of the museum. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a museum that doesn’t display “revisionist” history in their archeology sections. We usually prefer to read Christian sources on ancient history.

Then we went up to the main floor to learn more about the history of the city of Saginaw.



The “Huckster Wagon” was a fresh-produce wagon that sold goods in the city of Saginaw. This one was run by the Licavoli family from 1929-1965. How I wish we still had little “markets on wheels” like this! (And no, the Schwan Man doesn’t qualify! J)



Josiah and Rubia onboard the model trolley section of the museum.



Saginaw used to be famous for the pianos that were built there. A whole room of the museum was a display of pianos made in Saginaw. This one struck me because of the beautiful carving on the music stand.



Part of the museum was built to look like downtown Saginaw stores in the 1930s. This is a picture of the front of the portrait studio. What a huge camera!



The Myer Brothers jewelry store has been entered into the museum as well. They have many old silver kitchen utensils, hair pins, brooches, and jewelry on display here.



This section of the museum is a part of the original post office. It’s a hallway above the mail room. The postal inspector could watch through tiny windows to make sure that none of the workers were stealing anything, since large money orders used to come through the post office. But they never knew when he was watching them, because this hallway was dark.



Upstairs, we saw rooms modeled after different periods in the 20^th century. We saw a dental office, a doctor’s office, a beauty parlor, a kitchen, and a dining room/living room. They were all fascinating!



We climbed the original staircase to go upstairs! It’s 112 years old!



I think my favorite room was the 1950’s kitchen. I am amazed at how simple the kitchens were and how much was made in them despite that! Now we have more utensils than a restaurant in our kitchens, and we rely on microwave meals.



This living room/dining area was patterned after a home in the early 1900’s.



This is called an Eskwin Chair. This chair has everything you need: a lamp stand, a book shelf, a writing desk, drawers, a book stand, and a reclining back! It was manufactured in Saginaw during the 1930’s.



After checking out the gift shop downstairs, we headed out of the museum. But lo and behold, our trip wasn’t over yet! My siblings and I were pleasantly surprised to pull up to “Fuzzy’s Ice Cream” in downtown Saginaw! This place holds many special memories of time with friends!



Our family—minus Mom—in front of Fuzzy’s Ice Cream in Saginaw.



Several years ago, we met friends at a zoo in Saginaw for the twins’ birthday trip. Afterward, we came to Fuzzy’s Ice Cream and Roma got her finger stuck inside this bench. She made sure she did NOT touch it this time! J



The kids enjoying their ice cream.



Me, NOT showing off the concoction I had. J Actually, I don’t think I had eaten ice cream since Christmas, so it was a very special treat. And for the record, it was just a small bowl of ice cream with hot fudge sauce. JUST TO CLARIFY!!! J



On the way home, we stopped at a local pet store so Josiah could. . .



pick out a fish and snail to be his very own pets! He was very excited.



Josiah with his newly occupied fish tank.



He then opened his gifts. He was very excited to receive them! J



After dinner, Josiah enjoyed his from-scratch football birthday cake. *Shh, don’t tell anyone there was avocado in the cake.*



And that’s how we spent Josiah’s birthday! We are so thankful for him, and cannot imagine life without this little guy! J