Brandon M. Homeschool

Monday, April 20, 2015

Our Tour of Methodist Children's Home in Redford

As a little girl, I have always noticed a beautiful mansion off of one of our local roadways. It wasn't until I was older I learned it was a children's home for neglected and abused children as well as orphans.

For years I always wanted to see what it was like as it looked inviting and hopefully these children were being treated well.

This past week, my family, along with other homeschoolers, got to tour the administration building as well as the campus, etc.

It really opened my girls' eyes to the seriousness of this and how blessed they are to have loving parents. Right now the Methodist Children's Home in Redford, MI, caters to boys. The majority have been pulled from abused and neglected homes. So heartbreaking. Very few are orphans.

The average stay in the children's home is 6-8 months. From Foster Care to Adoption. They have a variety of programs included volunteer opportunities for families. To learn more about the Methodist Children's Home including its rich history, visit. http://www.mchsmi.org/who_we_are/.

Here are some photos from our field trip.

Administration building lobby (Original tiles 1920's)

Front of Administration Building

One of the original cottages (currently not used)

Goodbye Wall. When boys are adopted along with date.

Another cottage

Touring

Our tour guide.

Beautiful historical chapel currently not used. Separation of church and state.

Inside chapel

Got rained on a couple of times. Back of property.

The back of administration building

Methodist Children's Home also has a nurse on staff, a school, a cyber academy and a recreation center. They also leave the home to see movies, etc. to live a life as normal as possible. A couple of boys were curious of all of us and joined our tour, haha. The youth specialists had to take them back to the cottages. We didn't want the boys to feel like we were there viewing them like it was a zoo or something. That would be horrible.

We left the home feeling blessed and would like to return as a family to help out with fun events and donations. We learned that there are no girls at this facility as they are at a different location called Vista Maria.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Our Visit to the New SEA Life Aquarium in Auburn Hills February 2015

The entrance of the SEA Life Aquarium!

Great Lakes Crossing Outlet mall in Auburn Hills, MI., recently opened a new SEA Life Aquarium. Based on all the media coverage and photos, it looked like it was going to be amazing.

I was previously invited twice. Once with my kids to come out (prior to launch) to fill up the tanks. We couldn't make it out due to bad weather conditions. We are just under an hour away from the mall. I was so bummed. It would have been a neat experience for them to wear hard hats, fill the tanks, and be a part of the media.

I was then invited as a blogger as part of the media to come out and tour the aquarium. I couldn't make that due to our homeschool schedule.

Finally, we were able to go on a homeschool field trip with other homeschoolers at a (discounted rate). Kelly's BFF Emily came along with us. The aquarium was more amazing than I thought it would be.

Experiencing a bubble inside of the tank....Bethany wasn't too sure. A shark was swimming around.

Playing with the Crustaceans.

Baby sea horse. Adorable!

Gaining more confidence in the bubble. =)

This turtle has a really long neck.

Ginormous Sting-Ray swimming right over us in the tunnel.

The play area after the aquarium.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

The Rest of our Adventures for 2014

Wow, we have been busy, busy. So busy, that I haven't been able to stay up to date with posts and pictures. And now here we are in 2015.

Just to stay on top of things and since I am seriously behind with many fun pictures, this post will consist of the rest of our adventures (in random order) from 2014. Enjoy!