We camped a few days in Stockbridge, Michigan just outside Ann Arbor and turns out we were only a few miles from the Chelsea Milling Company that makes the "Jiffy" boxes of baking mixes. While the Hands-On Museum in Ann Arbor was pretty fun, the highlight of our stay was definitely the tour at Chelsea Milling Company! The milling company is over 100 years old and is still family owned and operated. The staff was very welcoming and genuinely enjoyed sharing their company with visitors. Our tour leader, Mickey, made apple-cinnamon muffins that morning just for us and said "eat all you want, we have plenty"....after about 10 minutes she was saying "didn't you all eat breakfast?!" Even before we went on the tour, the kids were singing the praises of Jiffy after eating at least a half-dozen muffins each! We got to walk through the assembly line area where the machines fold the boxes, fill them up with muffin mixes and package them into boxes for loading onto trucks for distribution. We all received a "gift bag" at the end of the tour and we totaled 11 boxes of Jiffy mix to take home with us just from the gift bags. We also picked up a sampler box of 24 boxes of Jiffy mix with all the types of mix they produce....corn muffins, blueberry muffins, brownies, cakes, frosting....we'll have terrific baked goods for at least a couple days now! (just kidding, we don't really eat THAT much)
We did get to tour around Ann Arbor and their Hands-On museum had great exhibits for the kids to keep their hands active...and wet! Their waterworks station kept Michael and Mariana especially enthralled as they built piping and dams to route water all around...including down their shirts....Mariana might as well have gone swimming there! We walked around the University of Michigan a bit, but most students were already gone for the summer. Their Newman Center boasts a staff of 12 folks (including 5 priests) and they have loads of opportunities for their students to develop their faith during the school year.
The highlight of Ann Arbor was definitely stopping at Red Robin for dinner as we honored Julianna's birthday. While we tragically lost Julianna in this world almost a year ago, we joined the rest of the family in a special "out to dinner" night to celebrate Julianna's life with joyful laughter...and especially desserts! Julianna Michelle - pray for us!